Most sad to say, Tanzania has lost to the Grim Reaper one of its most illustrious pillars in entrepreneurship and the private sector in general, Ali Mufuruki, who died yesterday in Johannesburg. The holder of a BSc degree (1986) in mechanical design engineering from Reutlingen University in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Mufuruki was a prosperous businessman, founder and board member-cum-chairman-cum-trustee of several flourishing entities in and outside Tanzania. Mufuruki was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of the Infotech Investment Group family business; the founding chairman of CEO Roundtable of Tanzania (CEOrt), Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI East Africa), and Nairobi-based Msingi East Africa Ltd. He also served as board chairman of Vodacom Tanzania; Wananchi Group Holdings; a trustee of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS-SA); TradeMark Africa (Nairobi); Chai Bora Ltd; a trustee of Trustee ATMS Foundation and AMSCO (The Netherlands) and Legacy Capital Partners Ltd. Mufuruki also served at one time or another as council member-cum-chairman of the Grants Committee of the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences; chairman of the Tanzania Public Safety Trust Fund; Partner of East Africa Capital Partners (Kenya); Member of the Tanzania National Business Council, and of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Advisory Group on sub-Saharan Africa (AGSA). In early 2016, Mufuruki was appointed co-chairman of the UK Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the impact of UK Aid for Africa Free Trade Initiative (AFTI). Also, he co-authored a 2017 book with Rahim Mawji, Gilman Kasiga and Moremi Marwa titled Tanzania’s Industrialisation Journey, 2016-2056:...

A new ‘ultramodern’ cruise terminal at Kenya’s port of Mombasa is 98% complete, according to a report by Tourism Update. The terminal will have a passenger reception facility, restaurants shops, office space and conference facilities. It’s hoped that the terminal, which is being constructed by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in partnership with Trademark East Africa, will help the Kenyan government’s drive to grow tourism in the country. New cruise terminal building. Image credit: Kenya Port Authority Although the date has not been announced yet, it’s expected that the terminal will be commissioned early in 2020. Earlier this year, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Najib Balala, said that Kenya would like to tap into the rapidly growing cruise industry. With around 76 million travellers using cruise lines every year, cruise tourism is on the rise globally. The MS Albatros, which is operated by Phoenix Reisen, docked at Mombassa’s new cruise ship terminal in November, bringing over 400 tourists and 300 crew members to the port. According to Tourism Update, ‘two more vessels are expected before the end of the year.’ ‘The KPA has prioritised cruise ships calling at the port of Mombasa due to the high impact created in the coastal region by the arrival of such ships. The KPA has committed its resources to modernise the cruise terminal to meet international standards,’ said Daniel Manduku, MD of KPA. According to Africaports.co.za, the Port of Mombasa is located on the site of one of Africa’s oldest surviving harbours and can be traced...

(Ecofin Agency) – The Government of Rwanda has secured funding from the Netherlands for the development of four ports on Lake Kivu (Western Province), with the aim of increasing shipping, trade and tourism . According to the agreement, the Netherlands will co-finance 45% ($ 10.8 million) for the construction of ports and their facilities. Port development will be supported by TradeMark Africa, which is funding 50% of the project while the government will mobilize the remaining 5%. These different ports, with a total cost of $ 24 million, will be constructed in the districts of Rubavu, Rusizi, Karongi (at the Karongi Transborder Market) and Rutsiro. They should be operational by 2022. According to the Rwandan Transport Development Agency (RTDA), three of the ports will have a capacity of about 1.5 million passengers per year, which is expected to reach 2.8 million passengers by 2036. The smaller port, the fourth scheduled in the Karongi district, will start with a capacity of approximately 300,000 passengers per year by 2020 and target 400,000 passengers by 2036. Consolidated, they will have a handling capacity of between 270 000 tonnes and 580,000 tonnes. Once completed, these ports should open up the Western Province to tourism, increase connectivity between districts along the shores of the lake while boosting cross-border trade between Rwanda and the DRC. Romuald Ngueyap Source: EN24

Africa’s future growth depends on policies that allow free movement and enable young people to look for opportunities beyond national borders. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi said at the ongoing Kusi Ideas Festival at Intare Arena in Kigali that the continent currently has a generation of young people who were more interested in collaborations than competition. Dr Kituyi spoke on the panel discussion themed, ‘Borderless Africa and why it is a winner’, that also featured Linus Gitahi, a board member of Msingi East Africa, and Rwanda Development Board chief executive Clare Akamanzi. “These young people look for opportunities beyond national frontiers. They overlook analogue boundaries and all the physical boundaries as they chase their dreams. This is the future and governments now need to create policies for them to ease travel, access and movement across the continent,” Dr Kituyi said. The panellists challenged Africa’s leaders to open up their borders to migrants and allow them to thrive within the continent as opposed to being self-centred and closed up, putting restrictive travel and migration policies. “We need to understand that almost 53 percent of migrant movements is intra-African and for Africa, we should take advantage of this. “Migrants are good both for the country they move to in terms of new and fresh human resource and also the countries they come from, through remittances. We need to encourage that,” Dr Kituyi said. “The millennials want to trade the way they go about their activities in...

THE East African Community (EAC) has formally started the process of screening the membership application by a giant state –the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Initiating the process, The EAC Council of Ministers has referred the application to the 21st Summit of the EAC Heads of State for consideration. The 21st Summit of the Heads of State that was expected to take place here this year was postponed to early next year, after a request by one of the members. Senior Public Relations Officer in the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department of the EAC Secretariat, Mr Simon Owaka, explained that the Chairman of the EAC Council of Ministers, Dr Vincent Biruta, has written to the EAC Secretariat on the request of the DRC to join the Community. Dr Biruta, who is also Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, made the move and referred the issue to the Summit. The Council noted that Article 3 of the Treaty specifies matters to be taken into account by partner states in considering the application by a country to become a member of the Community. DRC, which has a population of more than 81 million, seeks to join the EAC that celebrated its 20th anniversary last Saturday with the bloc prioritizing removal of trade barriers, increasing intra-trade as well as focusing on a political confederation towards political federation. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi wrote to EAC Chairman, Rwanda President Paul Kagame in June this year, seeking to join the Community, months after there had been speculations...

President Uhuru Kenyatta has termed current trade agreements with the European Union as largely imbalanced. Delivering his maiden address as the incoming president of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), he said the EU had been a long time export destination for products from the 79-member state group, but lamented the fact that the relationship has not always favoured the members. “For a long time, our relationship has been focused on sustainable development, poverty reduction, integration of the ACP in the global economy and access to development funding, especially from the EU,” President Kenyatta said. The ACP is holding its ninth summit at Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi. The summit, which started Monday and ends on Tuesday, has attracted 18 heads of state, several ministers, EU representatives and other top ranking officials from member states and development partners. Among the key issues under review at the conference are the revised agreements signed in Georgetown that created the ACP, an organisation that aims to ensure sustainable development and poverty reduction within its members. Source: Daily Nation

The 20thEdition of the annual East African Community Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSES) Trade Fair, formerly known as JuaKali Nguvu Kazi Exhibition is set for 13th to 22nd December, 2019 at Gikondo Expo Grounds in Kigali, Rwanda. The 20th Edition Trade Fair themed;EAC@20: Building EAC through Micro and Small Enterprises jointly organized on a rotational basis by the EAC Secretariat, the East African Confederation of Informal Sector Organisation (EACISO) in collaboration with EAC Partner States,  brings together artisans from the six (6) EAC Partner States comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. According to the Director-General Customs and Trade at the EAC Secretariat, Kenneth Bagamuhunda, the MSE’s trade fair is expected to attract up to 1,300 exhibitors from EAC Partner States’ Trade Facilitation Institutions and  EAC Organs and Institutions. He disclosed that during the exhibitions, daily symposia will be conducted to build the capacity of the artisans on integration matters and other issues pertinent to the development of their businesses. The key areas of capacity building that will be  covered by the symposium component include the following: Cross Border Trade, the EAC Simplified Trade Regime and dealing with NTBs Products value addition Standards, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing (SQMT), Benefits and opportunities of the EAC Integration Process to SMEs EAC Rules of Origin MSMES and MSE’s development and opportunities in the Republic of South Sudan The 20th MSE’s EAC Exhibition is expected to be officially opened by His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda....

TRADE within East Africa and Great Lakes Region is set to flourish in the wake of ongoing measures by Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to revamp and expand its terminals, according to stakeholders in the transportation sector. The multi-billion projects, they said, will improve and expand trade between Tanzania and the neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with an estimated 210.4 million total population. Marine Services Company Limited (MSCL) Chief Executive Officer Eric Hamisi said here the state-owned marine firm depends much on improved TPA’s infrastructure to exploit the growing market in the transport sector in all major lakes in the country. MSCL, which currently operates four ships in its fleet of fifteen, including cargo ships and an oil tanker in Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa, reinstated its operations in 2015 after years of subdued performance. They are ML Wimbi, MT Sangara, MV Umoja and MV Clarias. As part of government’s efforts to add more ships into the MSCL fleet, two vessels- MV Victoria and MV Butiama- are currently undergoing major renovations. The new ship to be named ‘MV Mwanza-Hapa Kazi Tu’ with the capacity to carry 1,200 passengers, 400 tonnes of cargo, 20 small vehicles and three trucks is also being constructed in Mwanza at the cost of US dollars 39million (89.7bn/-). The vessel, which will be the largest in Great Lakes region, measures 92.6 metres in length, 17 metres width and 11.2 metres height. It will...

THERE is still need to exhaustively go through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) content and see how it will benefit the country before rectifying the pact. The Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Engineer Stella Manyanya said that the AfCTA pact is considered to be an important one by the government as it aims at connecting a market of 1.3 billion people and trade worth 3 trillion dollars, but it was cautious on best modality before taking a ratification step. “All Tanzania wants is an assurance that there will be a win-win provision equally for all countries before ratification of the AfCTA which is of unique importance for Africa to push an agenda of fighting for economic freedom,” Engineer Manyanya said in Dar es Salaam as she officially opened Africa Industrialization day which went in hand with industrial exhibition on Saturday evening. The deputy minister cited that one of the areas the country was still examining cautiously before the ratification step includes assuring itself that the pact will get rid of ill will competition between nations but instead, harmonize trade between the involved countries for positive change. She cited an example of areas which may lead to ill will trade is that of not properly working on demandsupply curve among African nations which lead to countries scrambling to produce and export similar products, a move which may turn to be a setback to realization of the AfCTA pact to its intended potentiality. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization...

EAST African businesswomen are calling for the establishment of a digital economy to facilitate women doing business in the region. The women who met here last week under the auspices of the East African Women in Business Platform (EAWiBP) observed that they still lacked skills of doing business using digital economy. They also decried the lack of regional accreditation for Women in business and the lack trust when doing online business among business women. “We are calling the six partner states to establish a digital platform for showcasing products and services to boost regional trade and develop an EAC business accreditation policy,” outlined Ms Nancy Gitonga, the platform’s regional coordinator while delivering the recommendations from women in business focal points from the six partner states at a consultative workshop on mainstreaming gender-related challenges in the EAC regional agenda. The East African businesswomen opined that creating a database for the service providers as business centre will help them access business services across EAC partner states. They also rooted for the formulation of a creative technological based service platform for linking farmers and traders for enhancing trade as well as establishing women in business innovation and incubation hubs within the EAC. “There’s limited digital infrastructure that can benefit women small and medium entrepreneurs there it is equally important to have such platforms,” suggested the EAWIBP regional coordinator. EAWiBP also wants the inclusion of its members in the EAC Common External Tariff(CET) review team. Among other things, the review team will seek to...