Ambassador Mfumukeko made the remarks yesterday when he received credentials from the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to Tanzania, Riitta Swan, to also serve as Ambassador to the EAC. He welcomed the continued support from Finland saying it had enabled the cto achieve its ambitious agenda. Mfumukeko also shared the steady progress made by the community in promoting integration through the four pillars as set out in the EAC Treaty, namely the: Customs Union, Common Market, Monetary Union and Political Federation, adding that the achievements attained so far were due to political goodwill among the EAC Heads of State. Speaking at the function, Ambassador Swan said that her appointment was part of her government’s commitment to deepen its cooperation with the EAC, noting the significance of regional integration not only for East Africans, but as an important source of growth for the continent as well. The Finnish envoy noted that there was a growing interest and knowledge about the EAC. She said that Finland views the trading bloc as an important partner especially in efforts aimed at ensuring peace and security in the region. She expressed her country's interest towards supporting integration agenda particularly in areas such as peace and security, climate change, trade facilitation and gender issues. Present at the accreditation ceremony were the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure Eng Steven Mlote and other senior officials. EAC is an intergovernmental organisation composed of six countries in the African Great Lakes region in eastern...

The chief executive of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi, has challenged local entrepreneurs to improve the competitiveness of their products, arguing that for a product to be made in Rwanda is not enough for people to buy it. She was speaking in Kigali on Tuesday at the inaugural National Business Forum (NBF) organised by Private Sector Federation. “Would a person buy a product made in Rwanda, just because it is made in Rwanda? Definitely no! We derive a lot of pride in being able to make things in Rwanda and to be able to live those goals in the country… it is a source of a lot of pride. But when it comes to quality, patriotism is not enough,” she said. Akamanzi further explained that the products to be branded nationally and internationally, they should be competitive in terms of quality and standards. The Chief Executive Officer of the National Agriculture Export Development Board (NAEB), Bill Kayonga, explained that quality and consistency should go hand in hand. “Out there, Rwanda has become increasingly associated with quality, getting things done, having a clean environment. In whatever we do, we really have to focus on quality. And there are quite a number of factors that also determine that.” At the market out there, he explained, consumers want consistency in the production of quality. Among other topics, the NBF discussions revolved around raising the competitiveness of local products, mindset change, building the brand for locally manufactured products as well as investing in...

In December 2017, the Government of Rwanda issued the Made in Rwanda Policy which provided a holistic roadmap aimed at increasing economic competitiveness by enhancing Rwanda’s domestic market through value chain development. Though the Made in Rwanda was being promoted for some years through the private sector, the new policy was aimed at bringing together existing government interventions under a clear policy framework and to address supply-side bottlenecks. Four years down the road, according to the Minister of Trade and Industry Soraya Hakuziyaremye, the numbers show that Made-in-Rwanda has taken major strides and contributed greatly to the economy. Hakuziyaremye, who was speaking at the inaugural National Business Forum (NBF) organized by the Private Sector Federation (PSF) said that since 2015, Made-in-Rwanda has contributed about Rwf510 billion to the economy –a sign that Made-in-Rwanda works. “The average rate of expansion of the manufacturing sector has been at a greater rate after the Made in Rwanda campaign started,” “In the three years prior to the campaign, manufacturing was stagnant at Rwf323bn for 2 consecutive years,” she said, citing the stagnated period being between 2011 and 2014. “From 2015 onwards, we have seen an annual growth of 11 percent on average contributing Rwf510bn in the last fiscal year,” “Adding mining and the construction sector, the contribution of the industry sector to the GDP is Rwf1456bn, up 49 percent from 2015,” she said, adding that Made-in-Rwanda works. In regard to exports, Hakuziyaremye said that the yearly rate of export growth has risen since the...

The 20th Edition of the annual East African Community Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Trade Fair, officially known as JuaKali Nguvu Kazi Exhibition is set for December 13 to 22 at Gikondo Expo Grounds in Kigali, according to the EAC Secretariat. The 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 partner states: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. In a statement, the Director-General Customs and Trade at the EAC Secretariat, Kenneth Bagamuhunda, the trade fair is expected to attract up to 1,300 exhibitors from EAC Partner States’ Trade Facilitation Institutions and  EAC Organs and Institutions. It is noted 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. Key areas of capacity building that will be covered by the symposium component include: cross border trade; products value addition; standards, quality assurance, metrology and testing; benefits and opportunities of the EAC integration process to SMEs; the bloc’s rules of origin; in addition to small and medium enterprise development and opportunities in the South Sudan. More about the JuaKali Nguvu Kazi Exhibition The EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the partner states and EACISO have organized the annual exhibition, since 1999, in order to support promotion of the...

TANZANIA and Namibia have struck an agreement that would deepen cooperation in five key areas envisaged to boost the two nations’ economies. Closing a three-day Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) meeting between Dar and Windhoek, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Prof Palamagamba Kabudi mentioned the targeted areas of cooperation as diplomacy, agriculture, tourism, health, business and investments, education, sports and culture. “Apart from sharing common colonial history whereby both countries were colonised by Germany, Tanzania has a lot to learn from Namibia in sectors of tourism, exporting processed meat and deep sea fishing,” the minister noted. Namibia can also draw a leaf from Tanzania in the fields of medicine, academic cooperation, agriculture and methods of combating drought, suggested Prof Kabudi. According to the Tanzanian minister, the new agreements of boosting economy were indispensable as statistics over the past ten years, showed that growth of trade and investment between the two was moving at a snail’s pace. The minister recalled Namibia’s exports and investments to Tanzania, saying Windhoek beer was topping imported commodities from the Southwest nation with many liquor consumers preferring the Namibian beer. On improving cultural relations, Prof Kabudi said the two nations agreed to recognise Kiswahili should as a liberation language for African countries and that Tanzania will spearhead establishment of the liberation heritage site. “Tanzania will select an area in which a world class liberation heritage site will be constructed. Soon it will be decided where the site will be located among the former...

Kenya’s trade deficit in the nine months through September 2019 narrowed by 3.24 percent, or Sh27.85 billion, partly helped by reduced demand for industrial imports. The deficit — the gap between imports and exports — dipped to Sh833.03 billion in the January-September period from Sh860.88 billion in the same period last year, data published by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) indicates. This the first drop in deficit since 2016. Total imports dropped 3.68 percent, or Sh48.97 billion, year-on-year to Sh1.28 trillion, the statistics show, largely driven by a drop in key drivers of production in Kenyan factories such as machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and manufactured materials. Expenditure on machinery bought from abroad reduced by 5.5 percent to Sh327.21 billion, manufactured materials dropped 5.69 percent to Sh221.64 billion, while orders for chemicals dipped 7.75 percent to Sh177.78 billion. Total exports, on the other hand, slipped Sh21.12 billion, or 4.5 percent, to Sh449.47 billion due to reduced earnings from domestic exports largely farm produce. Source: Business Daily

The construction of a new dry port in Wereta, in northern Gonder of Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia has been completed at a cost of US $3m. Expected to facilitate Ethiopia’s trade with Sudan, the cost of construction was covered by the Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Enterprise, the state-owned shipping giant. The port The port which will be the eighth one in the country, will rest on three hectares piece of land and will be able to accommodate 1,000 containers at once. The regional government has set aside 17 hectares of additional land for the port to use as demand increases. Currently, the contractor is in the process of hiring and structuring human resources for use at the port. The facilities include a warehouse, a terminal, offices and a cafeteria. The other 7 dry ports in the country include: there are seven dry ports in the country: Modjo, Qality, Gelan, Semera, Dire Dawa, Kombolcha and Meqelle. They have an aggregate capacity of hosting 24,000 containers at a time and handle over 90% of the country’s exports, which stand at around US $3bn worth of goods, and imports, which is almost five times that amount The main one is Modjo Dry Port, which is located in the eastern inlet of Addis Abeba. Established a decade ago, it hosts 78% of the country’s shipping and logistics services. Facilitate trade Asheber Nota, communications director at the Enterprise said that the port will greatly facilitate trade with Sudan. Ethiopia’s exports to Sudan, mainly coffee, tea, meat...

On July 7, 2019 African Heads of State and Government held their summit in Niger and signed up the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The signing was a continuation of a long process. It includes the summit where 44 Heads of States and Governments met in Rwanda in March 2018 to deliberate on the matter. The free trade area is among the key issues of discussion in the continent and beyond. New as it is, there are many unknowns in this potentially very important initiative to boost trade in Africa. This piece contributes in making the AfCFTA more known. AfCFTA The AfCFTA is a free trade area outlined in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. Source: The Citizen

The East African Community (EAC), with a population of about 168.2 million and a combined GDP of US$ 155.2 billion is one of Africa’s fastest growing regional blocs. Growth in the EAC is driven by a progressive manufacturing sector characterised by agro-processing and industrial production and exports, says EAC Trade and Investment Report 2018. According to the report, the export sector is dominated by tea, coffee and horticulture. The region possesses significant amounts of extractive resources including oil and gas, high value minerals and renewable energy. This Report provides a detailed analysis of the trends for the year and synthesises the prospects for enhancement of trade and investment in the region. “The aim is to provide a platform for stakeholders, academics and policy makers to review the status of trade and investment, examine the developments at the regional and global level that have an impact on trade and investment in the EAC and measures to link the Region to the global economy,” it says. Key developments during the year 2018, with potential to influence future trade and investment outcomes, include the positive economic growth of the Region that positions the EAC as a trade and investment hub; the growing Global Value Chains that impact on agricultural production and industrial processes; logistical infrastructural development; and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The East African Economy expanded at 5.7 percent in 2018, up from 5.6 percent in 2017. The report attributes the growth to increased infrastructure investment in roads, rail and electricity;...

Speaking at an EAC high level EA business and investment summit held in Arusha this week, Serengeti Breweries Limited’s Managing Director, Mark Ocitti whose company is currently investing 14 million pounds (over 40bn/-) in expansion of its three brewing plants in the country, said the bloc’s tax regimes are not business friendly. Giving his views at a plenary session entitled, ‘Tax regime harmonization-fears, benefits and practical way forward’, Ocitti said, “The list of stays of implementation continue to grow due to concerns in terms of economic asymmetry between EAC member states in terms of revenue considerations, support for infant industries; affordability, high quality and sufficient availability of inputs, focus on growing competitive upstream industries and supply of high quality products at affordable prices for consumers.” Ocitti called for speedy tax harmonization among the EAC members saying that though some significant ground has been covered, the prevailing barriers to trade needed to be quickly managed in order to have a steady flow of investment and free movement of goods and services. “Vehicles such as duty remission schemes continue to play a crucial role in supporting manufacturing in EAC,” Ocitti argued while noting that different interpretation of the EAC Treaty’s article terms such as ‘import’ by the members has led to the higher domestic taxes charged on goods originating the bloc, a protectionist move that has lowered intra-EAC trade. Explaining on the impact of the current state on the brewing industry, the SBL chief executive noted that differences in the domestic taxation...