Since the creation of the Continental African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) endorsed at the African Union Summit in Niamey on July 7, 2019, we have been pushing forward the idea that a common market for and by Africans is possible and create a single market for goods and services to facilitate the free movement of people and investments and lay the foundations for a continental customs union. We continue to promote this economic integration among Heads of State and Government, emphasizing the sharing of economic benefits over historical rivalries and relative gains. This study is part of this process. It provides an overview of all the local and international challenges likely to increase or hinder the implementation of the agreement. It thus enlightens African decision-makers by providing them with objective figures to guide them in their decision-making. For the prerequisite for the implementation of the AfCFTA remains the political will to advance intracontinental trade relations. This will require stakeholders to coordinate and harmonize trade policies at the national, regional, continental and global levels. Rethinking government revenue sources The AfCFTA calls for the elimination of 90 per cent of tariffs on intra-African trade, which for some countries dependent on these taxes could represent a drop-in government revenue and thus an obstacle to the success of the agreement. However, according to data from the study, intra-African tariffs are low relative to tariffs between Africa and the rest of the world. About 1.5 per cent of Africa’s GDP or $37 billion comes from...

The Kenyan government says all transit cargo will be moved by the Standard Gauge Railway from Mombasa to Naivasha where truckers will pick them for delivery to Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Truck drivers have been seen as a weak link to spreading coronavirus and partner countries are trying to devise means to reduce their contact with the community. Early this month, the East African Heads of States directed the ministers responsible for Health, Transport, and EAC Affairs to adopt a Digital Surveillance and Tracking System for drivers and to immediately develop a regional mechanism for monitoring truck drivers to reduce the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The move is meant to reduce contact of drivers with local people, the main cause for the spread of coronavirus disease. Some of the cargo will move on the old meter-gauge railway directly to Tororo in eastern Uganda or Kampala, while fuel will be transported by pipeline to Kisumu, Kenya, and thereafter by water on Lake Victoria to Portbell in Luzira, Kampala or Jinja. This, according to the Kenyan minister in charge of transport, takes effect on June 1, 2020. James Macharia says the shift will cut off 600 kilometers that truck drivers would have to drive if they were to pick the goods directly from Mombasa port. Macharia said in a statement on Friday that Revenue authorities from Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Kenya will be accommodated at Naivasha inland deport to clear goods on time. Exports will also, be required to...

Traders are concerned over the growing storage bills due to cargo stuck at different entry ports, according to Uganda Cargo Consolidators Association. Speaking in an interview last week, Mr Jackson Katende, the Uganda Cargo Consolidators Association spokesman, told Daily Monitor that the slowdown in the pace of clearing cargo at different ports of entry has created cargo pileups, thus resulting into an increase in storage costs. "The slowdown in the pace of clearance and limited transport means has created problems for us, which has pushed us to the wall because cargo is taking long to leave ports. We are paying a lot of money just for storage," he said. Traders have only nine days within which they must clear their cargo out of ports of entry failure of which the have to pay for the extra days the cargo is stored at such points. Storage costs for a container, Mr Katende said, stand between $100 to $120 or between Shs378, 000 or Shs454,000, which are a large additional cost for the traders. Last week, Kenya Ports Authority said it would extend the free storage days from nine to 14 days. However, according to Mr Katende, even the 14 days will not be sufficient given the pileups that have been seen in the last few weeks at different entry ports. "Currently, delay in clearing of goods at ports of entry seems unavoidable especially in this Covid-19 period. No one prepared us for this. They should waive costs of storage," he said....

KAMPALA – The Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperative, Amelia Kyambadde has reported an increase in Uganda’s merchandise exports, a majority of which are agricultural which rose by 40.2% between 2016 to 2019. While giving the sector’s performance at the Office of the Prime Minister, Kyambadde said the exports increased from $2.92125bn in 2016 to $4.09565bn in 2019. She further said since the launch of the Buy Uganda Building Uganda (BUBU) policy, there has been the growth of locally produced programs. “Locally owned companies have continued to have an equal share of the national cake in terms of contract award in the value chain,” she said. Kyambadde said with the COVID-19 epidemic, the responsiveness of local Industries has been enabled by BUBU policy to produce sanitizers, salt (Kampala), NYTIL (masks and protective wear). She also said that the BUBU logo has been registered under the Trade Marks Act of 2010 and gazetted in the Uganda Gazette and will be rolled out in the next Financial Year 2020/2. Kyambadde said “The Ministry trained and continue to train professional bodies and their membership on the reservation and preference schemes under Government procurement and the BUBU initiative.” The minister further revealed that a total of 1,258 cooperatives were registered during the year, bringing the total number of registered cooperatives to 21,454. “The cooperatives provide range services to their members which include financial services, agricultural marketing, transport, energy, housing among others,” she said. She added that the ministry conducted offsite and onsite supervision of...

A bilateral meeting between Rwanda and Tanzania agreed to resolve the issue of cross-border truck drivers as part of the move to contain the new coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Infrastructure said on Tuesday. The two countries had failed to reach an agreement, threatening to disrupt cross border trade, especially between Rwanda and Tanzania despite more than 80 per cent of Rwanda’s goods being imported through Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian truck drivers and owners had contested health guidelines that the Government had put in place as part of the measures that were aimed at curbing COVID-19, particularly swapping of drivers at entry points. The new guidelines signal a mutual understanding and willingness between two countries to address the spread of COVID-19 in the region and promote cross border trade. New guidelines The Government says that all incoming cargo destined for Rwanda shall be offloaded at designated areas at points of entry, namely Kiyanzi (Kirehe) and Kagitumba (Nyagatare], the same move that Rwanda had earlier proposed. For cargo that cannot be offloaded at designated areas at the points of entry, trans-shipment service where containers are exchanged from one truck to another is recommended and availed. For cargo that cannot be offloaded or transshipped, like petroleum products and perishable goods, trucks will be escorted to their destination at no cost. Drivers will be allowed to stop only at designated Testing stops for health breaks. The government already established temporary customs clearing facilities at Rusumo in Kirehe district comprised of inland cargo depot from which goods...

Things are getting ugly at the borders as truck drivers test positive for Covid-19 in large numbers. Tanzania is angry that 53 truck drivers were denied entry into Kenya this week because they tested positive. In a tit-for-tat move, Tanzania banned all Kenyan trucks from crossing the border. In Uganda, a mob attacked a Muslim truck driver from Kenya who had left his cab to do his prayers. And there are long tailbacks at all borders as truck drivers seek clearance to cross into neighbouring countries. Last month Germany donated mobile testing labs to East Africa, including two to Kenya, through the Community Secretariat. A key function of the East African Community is to facilitate free trade in the common market yet member nations are still reluctant to fully embrace free trade. The Secretariat needs to sort out this mess by ensuring that long-distance truck drivers get tested before reaching the borders. The Secretariat should create a special Covid-19 passport for travellers to show that they have been tested and found negative in the previous week. A Covid-19 passport would help repair East African integration. Quote of the day: "He has money. She will wear the mask he needs." Source: The Star

Many African countries are all too familiar with the social and economic upheaval posed by outbreaks of infectious diseases. Recent experiences with Ebola are fresh in peoples’ minds across West and Central Africa, as are those with TB and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. As a result, African countries understand the need for regional coordination in overcoming public health challenges. The World Bank Group has responded swiftly to each of these health emergencies – often through a regional response designed to counter immediate threats while also strengthening countries’ capacity to be proactive in detecting and responding to outbreaks. There are important lessons to draw from these experiences as we combat the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). First, leverage existing regional networks and operations to catalyze an immediate, large-scale response. Helping countries strengthen cross-border collaboration for detection and response to outbreaks is a long-standing priority of the Bank Group’s regional integration efforts in Africa. Large-scale investments, strong networks, and a joint vision among stakeholder countries are already in place. They are now being activated and scaled up quickly in response to COVID-19. The Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement Program (REDISSE) – a $670 million operation across 16 countries of West and Central Africa – has quickly mobilized over $193 million to help 13 countries with entry-point surveillance, reinforced laboratory testing capacity, infection prevention and control, access to essential medical equipment and materials, and risk communication. Having responded to Ebola in the last few years, REDISSE has provided countries with early and immediate access to financing so...

DAR ES SALAAM, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The East African regional business and private sector watchdog on Wednesday praised truck drivers for their continued delivery of essential commodities across the east African borders amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The East African Business Council (EABC) based in Tanzania's tourist city of Arusha said in a statement that the truck drivers were among those risking their personal health to keep products moving to stores, hospitals, homes and elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the impact of COVID-19, truck drivers continue to deliver essential commodities including food, personal protective equipment(PPE), medicines, raw materials within and across the East African Community (EAC) borders, said the statement. "The EABC appreciates and recognizes the selfless dedication of truck drivers who are delivering goods to health facilities, factories and consumers," said the statement signed by Peter Mathuki, EABC Executive Director. "This will boost the availability of medical, PPEs and food crucial to protecting the health of our citizens and improving food security in the region," said the statement. The statement said stigmatization against truck drivers should never be an option, as this may lead to a disruption in the supply chain in the EAC member countries of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, thus affecting further trade and investment. "Let us support our truck driver in the region, our unsung heroes on the wheel delivering essential cargo into and out of our countries," said the statement. Enditem Source: xinhuanet

COVID-19 and the African trade dynamics Just like other countries in the world, African states were not prepared for the spread of the novel coronavirus. Interestingly and as expected, two powerful African states, Egypt and Nigeria, recorded the first cases of the virus in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Of 54 countries in Africa, 53 countries have recorded cases of the virus and only Lesotho is yet to record any. This record in Lesotho has perhaps been linked to a lack of testing materials and not that the country is indeed free from the virus. Source: Wikipedia Trade in Africa has primarily been a case of a producer exporting raw materials to foreign countries for production and the original producer importing the finished products. This situation has seen Africa contribute so much to global trade than it is given credit for. Indeed, Africans have a penchant for foreign goods, without necessarily producing the same goods. Producers who have made what can be referred to as “Made in Africa” products have not reaped much profit as much as their foreign counterparts because the African market is saturated with foreign products. For instance, 75% of the world’s cocoa is sourced from Africa yet Africa imports most of its chocolates. The oil-producing states in Africa contribute significantly to global crude but almost all petroleum products in Africa are imported. Source: World Bank The Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 suggests that the total trade record from Africa to the rest of the world was about US$760 billion between 2015 and 2017 and contributed between 80-90%...

With the current fast-changing developments, policy makers need to know what is happening to the economy in real time, but they often must settle for data telling them what happened many weeks ago. And international trade, which links countries through a complex web of supply chains, is an area where timely information is especially valuable from a global perspective. Most trade takes place by sea, and – for navigational safety purposes – virtually all cargo ships report their position, speed, and other information many times a day. A new IMF methodology using these data can help better inform us how international trade is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on machine-learning techniques, we can provide better answers to simple questions such as: How big is the drop in trade activity? Should it be attributed mostly to exports or to imports? A new approach Using over one billion messages from ships over a period of five years, the newly-developed methodology closely replicates official trade statistics for many countries and for the world in aggregate. It is available at a daily frequency in real time, while official statistics are typically delayed by many weeks. At the global level, our indicators built from ships’ radio signals closely approximate monthly official trade statistics (with a correlation of nearly 0.9 in levels, and around 0.4 in quarter-on-quarter growth rates). The top panel of our Chart of the Week shows a dramatic fall in Chinese exports in the wake of initial lockdown measures to contain the spread of the...