CHIEF executive officers of national private sector apex body associations of the East African Community (EAC), have called for swift action to overcome impediments to cross-border cargo movement in the region. Noting the importance of the free movement of cargo across the EAC partner states during the current Covid-19 pandemic in their meeting, the officers from the six member countries of the regional grouping have recommended that they should implement a coordinated regional approach for facilitating free movement of cargo. They want to see leaders ensure that health measures do not cause unnecessary cost and time burden to the free movement of goods and services across borders in the region. Plus, that there should be facilitation of free movement of cargo from the point of origin to the destination. Under the coordination of the East African B usiness Council (EAB C), the CEOs called upon the states to ensure that cargo flows smoothly and a relay system and transshipments of cargo is adopted. They noted that the process does not lead to exorbitant costs that could adversely affect transporters and consequently consumers. We call for issuance of certificates to truck drivers valid for a period of at least two weeks. The certificate notwithstanding, the drivers will also undergo mandatory temperature checks at the designated checkpoints. “ Ensure that all clearing and forwarding services loading and offloading equipment, as well as warehousing facilities are available at the borders to reduce border clearance time. Embark on rapid testing and joint border management....

The region was expanding at more than double the continental average in 2019. East Africa’s economy is tremendously dynamic and until now, it has been one of the fastest-growing sub-regions in Africa since 2013. As of 2019, before the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the region was expanding at more than double the continental average. Boasting of having three of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies in 2019, the East African countries of Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania, it is now time for the region to put in place measures that will assure the growth of the region post the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the low per capita incomes that have prevailed for decades, the region has experienced some notable social gains including East Africans living 6.7 years longer now on average than they did a decade ago. But even with these positive trends, the region still suffers from a number of serious vulnerabilities to its ability to sustain this strong economic performance. A joint report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Trademark East Africa (TMA) shows that the areas that need urgent attention to keep the region’s economy on an upward trajectory are majorly in intra-regional trade and investment. The limited intra-regional trade and investment constrain the structural transformation of the sub-region’s economies making it difficult for countries to achieve global, regional and national developmental objectives. The global economy is dominated by large countries such as the United States, China and India and small developing economies cannot effectively compete unless...

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 30th April, 2020: The East African Community has unveiled a comprehensive COVID-19 Response Plan to reinforce measures to protect and prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic within the region. The response plan was developed following a directive by the Joint Meeting of Ministers responsible for Health, Trade and EAC Affairs held via Video Conference, which directed the EAC Secretariat to finalize and submit the EAC Regional COVID-19 Response Plan to the Partner States. Among the key interventions proposed in the plan that was unveiled by the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of the Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, on behalf on behalf of the Secretary General, are risk communication and community engagement, which will entail strengthening sensitization programmes and awareness creation on COVID-19. The response plan further seeks to ensure access to Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) materials, laboratory supplies and equipment by the EAC Organs and Institutions, and the EAC Partner States. Another key intervention is to strengthen the region’s capacity for COVID-19 surveillance and reporting at all key border points, and build knowledge on safety measures, existing prevention and control strategies, and relevant regional guidelines. Mitigation of the fundamental impacts of the pandemic on the vital economic and social sectors of the region including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises is another key intervention outlined in the document. Other proposed measures include: building regional capacity to support Partner States on surveillance, monitoring and coordination of preparedness and response to the...

The Office of the Prime Minister through the National Secretariat for the National Task Force on Covid-19 has issued strong guidelines for cross border trade trucks and their drivers operating in Uganda. These guidelines are expected to curb imported Coronavirus cases by cargo transporters. In the last 2 weeks, about 20 trucks drivers have tested positive of this dreaded disease, to the bitterness of Ugandans who fear that these new cases that are largely imported may force government to extend the ongoing 21 days lock-down that is ending on 5th May. The transporters are largely agreeable to these guidelines save for one – introduction of relay driving. Byron Kinene, the Chairman Regional Transporters Association in Uganda has called for mandatory testing of drivers at port of origin, border posts and final destination. While appearing on UBC TV, he thanked TradeMark Africa for investing in Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System and urged Uganda Revenue Authority to add 10 minutes alarms for bad drivers that park in ‘undesignated’ areas. He called for drivers and population discipline including drivers chasing away the public mainly women from coming to their trucks and vice versa. Mr Kinene nonetheless asked Uganda not to undertake RELAY DRIVING as it is dangerous for trade, trucks, drivers & population alike. Kenya Transporters Association is also strongly opposed to the RELAY DRIVING idea. Below are the complete guidelines as issued by the Uganda COVID-19 task-force. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page...

The Covid-19 pandemic despite disrupting businesses that depend on international trade has presented various opportunities that the businesses should develop on. Disrupted supply chain have seen markets lack various products but they have seen to rise and start producing on their own. Kenya for one has started producing and manufacturing protective gear to combat the virus, which the country usually imports. In a webinar hosted by the Kenya Chamber of Commerce, various business leaders noted the potential Africa has, that will provide opportunities post covid. “We need to diversify our supply chain to be able to bounce back in business by creating Special Economic Zones in Africa,” said Mark Priestley, Senior Director, Trade Logistics at Trade Mark East Africa. Nations such as China and Dubai where most people source raw materials could set up in the SEZs and provide supply in Africa so that we are not heavily dependent on them. “However we need to protect our existing investors, as we reevaluate our supply chain to be more regional,” said Priestly. However according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), we are challenged by the competitiveness of our products. “To be able to maintain stable supply in Africa we need to heavily invest in logistics, power and labour to be able to compete globally,” said Job Wanjohi, Head of Policy and Research, KAM. Intra-African trade was at around 15.2 per cent in the period 2018, indicating that trade across the region is low. “We need to integrate the Africa value...

A blockbuster African trade deal is unlikely to be implemented before early next year, an official said on Friday, after the disruption caused by the new coronavirus made the current July 1 deadline unworkable.Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area, told Reuters that while only the heads of state of the 55-member AfCFTA could sanction changes to the deadlines, the cancelled summit between leaders planned for May in South Africa left few options. “It is only after the summit that you can say we have a new trading date. The next opportunity of a summit is on 2 January 2021,” Mene said.The continental free-trade zone would, if successful, become the largest since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994, stitching 1.3 billion people together in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc. Mene’s role is effectively chief adviser to government leaders, who hold the exclusive right to approve all parts of the deal and its implementation. He has advised them to defer the July 1 implementation deadline due to the extraordinary circumstances. It would have required nations to liberalize at least 97 per cent of their tariff lines and 90 per cent of imports. Mene is instead advising them to allow free movement of goods, despite borders being closed to human traffic as part of virus containment efforts, and to allow zero duties on 40 specific goods that would help combat the virus, such as soap, disinfectant and personal protective gear. “The current circumstances simply are not...

African Business leaders have appealed to governments to take the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) deal negotiations on July 1 seriously to enable the continent is to economically recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The call comes just two days before the planned African Union (AU) ministerial meeting to be held on the May 5-6th that will be discussing the trade response to Covid-19 and the state of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Ahead of the meeting, business leaders have petitioned heads of state to uphold the AfCTA deal discussion deadline in which member states are supposed to make a landmark decision on the trade agreements to kick start business between each other. The commencement of trading within the AfCFTA is slated for 1st July 2020. Driven by President Paul Kagame, the AcFTA deal that was signed in Kigali on March 21st 2018 by several countries (over 50) and July 1 was set for the agreement to come into force. To push the deal, business leaders, through the AfroChampions network, have signed a petition a joint letter in response to rumours in international media that the AfCFTA date of July 1 will be postponed until next year. The AfroChampions network was mandated by the African Union to coordinate private sector discussions around the AfCFTA. One of the signatories of the letter, Paulo Gomes, the former Executive Director of the World Bank and Chair of Executive committee of AfroChampions said that ministers meeting next week had a duty to...

Africa’s extreme vulnerability to the disruption of international supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to reduce the continent’s dependence on non-African trading partners and unlock Africa’s business potential. While African countries are right to focus their energy on managing the immediate health crisis, they must not lose sight of finalizing the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which can be a tool to help them do just that. Africa’s economy is highly dependent on international markets—for both its imports and exports. Given that an estimated 53 percent of African imports originate in countries that have been highly impacted by COVID-19, the pandemic is interrupting the region’s access to critical products. With two-thirds of African countries being net importers of food and medicine, global trade restrictions and cross-border blockages risk creating shortages and increasing the cost of items essential to mitigate the immediate effects of the pandemic. At the same time, global supply chain disruptions are expected to result in export earnings losses of $101 billion, with an estimated $65 billion for oil-producing countries and massive hits in other export sectors, such as the garment and cut-flower industries. Similarly, the pandemic has seriously disrupted key services industries on the continent, including tourism, transport, and logistics services. The operational launch of the AfCFTA—originally scheduled for July 2020—is now postponed. The next round of negotiations, scheduled for May 30, will likely not happen before November or December. Wamkele Mene, the newly elected secretary-general of the AfCFTA Secretariat, has noted that...

In 2019, Africa remained the leading destination of Kenya’s exports accounting for 37.6 per cent of the total exports at Sh224.2 billion, with exports to East African Community partner states, accounting for 62.6 per cent of the total exports to Africa. This is according to the recent economic survey 2020 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). The region is followed by Europe which is the country’s second-leading export destination with 25.4 per cent of the total exports at Sh151.3 billion. The data carves a sculpture of the sprouting fruits of the efforts put in place by the East African Community (EAC) treaty which aims to accelerate economic integration and political development of the 6 partner states. The community has for decades now been working on a system that will facilitate the achievement of the monetary union (having a single currency in the community) and ultimately a political federation of East African countries. All these steps together with the customs union and common market which have already been established will see that economies of trade are achieved, command respect and a stronger voice in the world community and improve social interactions between states. “Exports to African countries was Sh224.2 billion in 2019 with Uganda remaining the leading export destination, accounting for 28.6 per cent of total exports to Africa,” reads the report by KNBS. Exports to Rwanda and Tanzania also increased by 29.9 per cent and 13.0 per cent, respectively increasing the exports to EAC by 8.0 per cent to...

Movement of trucks and cargo is now classified under essential services in the East African Community in line Covid-19 Administrative Guidelines. The measures, outlined in a 17-page document, and seen as a response to rising cases of positive Covid-19 cases among long distance truck drivers, further directs country Commissioners of Customs and other agencies to allow scanned documents in lieu of original documents that may take longer to be physically couriered to facilitate faster movement of goods. Further, transporters must use the EAC gazetted transit routes along the Northern and Central corridors while partner states should waive fees on port and border handling charges for essential goods required during this period. Closures opposed The joint EAC team chaired by deputy secretary general in charge Productive and Social Sectors, Dr Christoph Bazivamo, head of Health department Dr Michael Katende, and the director of Customs and Trade, Kenneth Bagamuhunda, cautioned partner states against closing border crossings by imposing measures that impede access to all designated points of entry and exit of cargo. “We are seeing Uganda issue guidelines limiting the number of people per truck to one, while Rwanda has directed that goods be offloaded to warehouses at the border, causing delay in movement of goods,” said Mr Bagamuhunda. “Movement of trucks and cargo must be treated as essential services,” he said. EAC is opposed to Rwanda’s directive that truck drivers offload their goods into a warehouse at the border and drive back without proper arrangements at the border with Uganda. It...