Busia traders have supported a proposal by Governor Sospeter Ojaamong to allow them to import essential Ugandan goods without paying taxes. They say the hard economic times in Kenya and heavy taxation have frustrated businesses as few people can afford critical consumer products. The traders told the Star on Sunday that the flow of vital goods such as food products should not be restricted. The only responsibility of border authorities should be to ensure the products meet the minimum health quality requirements, they said. “It could have been better if there was free movement of goods in both countries where Kenyan goods go to the Ugandan side of the border tax-free and vice versa,” Edith Mamai who runs a retail shop in Malaba town said. If not, Ugandan goods will dominate the Busia market making the products from Kenya to lose the local market because imported products would be cheaper, Mamai said. The tax-free importation proposal was made by Ojaamong on November 19, when he hosted a USAID Washington and Trade Mark East Africa delegation at his office in Busia. The county chief said that there was a need for East African Community member states to allow business people at the border to enjoy tax exemptions. Oliver Epale, a businessman dealing in construction material said the governor’s proposal was welcome because Kenya’s tax regime was unfriendly to local traders. “The cost of Kenyan goods is high because of the rising taxes. This has forced people at the border to resort...

The tonnes of cargo ferried on Kenya's standard gauge railway freight service rose about 12 percent in the first nine months of the year, new economic data shows on Thursday. The train ferried about 3.26 million tonnes of cargo from the port of Mombasa to the Inland container depot in Nairobi, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data revealed. This was an increase from 2.92 million tonnes of cargo that was ferried in the corresponding period in 2018. The bulk of the cargo was transported in August, with the service clocking 430,450 tonnes, while the least in February at 313,936 tonnes, KNBS data indicates. The cargo ferried in the nine months generated a revenue of 7.54 billion shillings (about 75 million U.S. dollars), according to KNBS. Passenger numbers during the period were almost flat, however, with the train ferrying 1.18 million people between Nairobi and Mombasa in the months to September. Both the cargo and passenger services of the train dubbed Madaraka Express remain popular in Kenya, with the later set to boom this December as holidaymakers travel to the coast. Source: Xinhuanet

Kenya is negotiating with 44 African states for a new Free Trade Area for its agricultural and industrial products targeting a market of one billion people, Trade, Industrialization and Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has revealed. Munya said he was optimistic that all the target countries will assent to the Free Trade Area Treaty by July 2020 which will enable trade and other commercial activities to kick off among member states signatories to the agreement. At the same time, the Cabinet Secretary further stated that Kenya had entered into a new trade agreement with the United States of America (USA) where the two countries’ bilateral engagements had been upgraded to strategic status. Speaking in Nakuru when he presided over the inauguration of a Sh1.2 billion ultra-modern animal feeds manufacturing plant owned by consumer goods producer BIDCO Africa Group, Munya said favourable trade agreements within the East African Community (EAC) had exposed Kenya’s products to a market of 150 million people. “The new flow of local and foreign investments into the manufacturing sector in Nakuru is a blessing to both the region and Kenya as industrialization is the driving force for any economy. We need to create reliable regional and international markets for our goods and services if the economy is to grow,” he said. “No country has grown without industrialization, and no Industrialization is sustainable without reliable markets. Our negotiating teams have also ensured that our products easily access the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) without unnecessary...

Kenya is negotiating with 44 African states for a new Free Trade Area for its agricultural and industrial products targeting a market of 1 billion people, the Trade, Industrialization and Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary (CS), Peter Munya has revealed. Munya said he was optimistic that all the target countries will assent to the Free Trade Area Treaty by July 2020 which will enable trade and other commercial activities to kick off among member states signatories to the agreement. At the same time, the CS further stated that Kenya had entered into a new trade agreement with the United States of America (USA) where the two countries’ bilateral engagements had been upgraded to strategic status. Speaking in Nakuru on Wednesday when he presided over the inauguration of a Sh.1.2 billion ultra-modern animal feeds manufacturing plant owned by consumer goods producer BIDCO Africa Group, Munya said favourable trade agreements within the East African Community (EAC) had exposed Kenya’s products to a market of 150 million people. “The new flow of local and foreign investments into the manufacturing sector in Nakuru is a blessing to both the region and Kenya as industrialization is the driving force for any economy. We need to create reliable regional and international markets for our goods and services if the economy is to grow,” he said. “No country has grown without industrialization, and no Industrialization is sustainable without reliable markets. Our negotiating teams have also ensured that our products easily access the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa...

Under-utilisation of the transport system on Lake Victoria is causing the countries sharing the water resource revenue worth $60b (about Shs222 trillion) annually. Currently, the four member states sharing the lake Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda are only earning revenue worth $6b (about Shs14.8 trillion) from the resource. Speaking at a Joint ministerial meeting on Strategy for Lake Victoria integrated transport programme held in Kampala recently , Uganda’s Transport and Works minister Ms Monica Azuba said: “Over the years little achievement around the inland water transport especially on Lake Victoria which has great potential for enabling safe and cost effective transport within the region.” Although there have been significant milestones that have been achieved in other transport systems like road transport in the region, significant steps in railway and air transport over the past decades, it’s not been the case with water transport. In Uganda for instance, Ms Azuba said the water transport sector has suffered great deterioration over the last 35 years as a result of flooding and neglect of infrastructure. “The industry has dilapidated landing sites, ferries, boats and canoes, lack of Aids to Navigation, lack of nautical charts and Life Saving Appliances-Life jackets,” She noted. Kenya’s cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure, Mr James Macharia remarked the importance of developing other infrastructure networks like roads and railways saying they are linkage to water transport. Source: Daily Monitor

Government of Kenya has given Uganda 20 hectares of land to build an inland container port at Naivasha. "The distance from Mombasa port to Nairobi is 700 kilometres and Nairobi to Naivasha is 120km, making it 820km from Naivasha to Mombasa, which is too long. So a port being at Naivasha will shorten the distance," Mr Kiema Kilonzo, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Uganda, said yesterday while addressing the media ahead of Kenya's Independence Day on Thursday next week. He said the port will be managed solely by government of Uganda as Ugandan traders will not have to travel the long distance up to Mombasa but rather clear their containers at Naivasha. He noted that building of the inland port will bring Mombasa port closer to Uganda as Kenya's standard gauge railway will be used to bring the containers from Mombasa port to Naivasha where they will be cleared from by Ugandan traders. He said Uganda Revenue Authority will now have to move their Mombasa office to Naivasha to make it easy for traders to clear their containers in time. The High Commissioner noted that Uganda is Kenya's biggest trading partner in East African Community. When Daily Monitor contacted the Ministry of Works and Transport public relations officer, Ms Suzan Kataika, about the progress on the Naivasha port project, she promised to get back to us but did not and neither did she answer our repeated calls to her cellular line. The ministry's Chief Engineer, Mr Samson Bagonza, could not...

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...

The European Union and COMESA have signed 8.8 million Euros Contribution Agreement to increase private sector participation in sustainable regional and global value chains through improved investment/business climate and enhanced competitiveness in the COMESA region. The funds will be used to implement the Regional Enterprise Competitiveness and Access to Markets Program (RECAMP), focusing on agro-processing, horticulture and leather products. RECAMP will also support pre-selected value chains based on the potential to generate value addition, job creation and attraction of investments to the region. The EU Ambassador to Zambia and Permanent Representative to COMESA, HE Jacek Jankowski and Secretary-General to COMESA Chileshe Kapwepwe signed the Agreement. RECAMP will address critical issues, such as the provision of business information, facilitating market linkages, harmonizing regional industrial policies and creating a conducive business environment to attract investments. It will strive to ensure collaboration with activities of national trade support institutions and business development and service organizations in the Member States as they provide services to value chains as part of their mandate. These include product development; facilitate technology transfer, provision of business intelligence and connection to buyers. The program will identify champions or lead firms within the selected value chains that have both backward and forward linkages with SMEs and other intermediary firms in order to enhance effect coordination reduce coordination failures and improve competitiveness. In her remarks, Ms Kapwepwe said the program will make efforts to enhance the capacities and skills of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to make them capable players in...

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....

Twenty years down the integration road, there is still so much more to accomplish despite notable progress registered by EAC members’ countries over over economic integration. Issues of Non-Tariff Barriers remains a matter of concern and it’s seem it is not about to go away just yet. Ismail Musa Ladu, attended the 2019 East African Business Summit in Arusha Tanzania and now reports. Source: NTV