THIRTY ninth Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit ended yesterday, with the signing of three development cooperation programmes with the European Union (EU). The 47 million Euros deals for the period of five years are under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF). The programmes, which will be implemented by the SADC Secretariat are Support to Improving the Investment and Business Environment (SIBE), Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) and Support to Industrialisation and Productive Sectors (SIPS). SADC Executive Secretary Dr Stergomena Tax signed the agreements on behalf of the community while EU was represented by its ambassador to Botswana and SADC Jan Sadek. According to Dr Tax, SIBE programme aims at achieving sustainable and inclusive growth and support job creation through transformation of the region into investment zone, promoting intraregional investments and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), with the focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Trade Facilitation Progamme (TFP) will contribute to enhancing inclusive economic development in the SADC region through deepening regional economic integration. She said the SIPS programme aims at contributing to SADC industrialisation agenda, improving performance and growth of selected regional value chains and related services within the agroprocessing and pharmaceutical sectors. “The signing of the three programmes reflects an enduring partnership between SADC and EU towards enhancing SADC regional integration and social economic development, particularly at the time when SADC has committed to place industrialisation at the centre of regional integration,” Dr Tax said. According to Dr Tax, the programmes are interconnected and interdependent and collectively contribute to...

The Communication Authority and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority have ten days to comply with a government directive seeking to integrate state agencies with the national trading system. In a move to speed up trade facilitation and seal graft loopholes at ports of entry, all government agencies are required to automate their services and ensure they interface with the Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade)'s Single Window System. This comes in line with the kicking out of 24 state agencies from the ports , mainly Mombasa, where duplication of processes, multiple interventions and personal interests by state officers have been blamed for the delay in clearing of goods. KenTrade, a state agency under the National Treasury is mandated to facilitate cross border trade and establish, manage and implement the National Electronic Single Window System (Kenya TradeNet System). Chief executive Amos Wangora yesterday said 36 of the required 38 agencies have complied with the directive issues in July by Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua. The Star has established the two are yet to comply ahead of the September 1. “We are in the final stages with the integration and expect those who have not come on board to do so by September 1,” Wangora told the Star on the sideline of a media round-table in Nairobi yesterday. KCAA director general Gilbert Kibe said he was not aware of the directive. “I am not aware of that directive but also, we are a regulator we are not directly involved in trade,” Kibe...

Intra-African trade remained low at 14.4 per cent in 2018, with the continental countries trading more with the Asia, according to a revew by the African Development Bank (AfDB) The Annual Development Effectiveness Review 2019, shows the activity was low against a 2015 baseline of 14.6 per cent and a target for 2018 at 17 per cent. The trade is expected to reach 25 per cent in 2025. AfDB said non-tariff barriers and a lack of political goodwill to address the challenges impede progress. It also cites poor infrastructure in roads and energy transmission lines constructed or rehabilitated to enhance cross-border trade. “Intra-Africa trade could grow by up to 15 per cent if the bilateral tariffs that are applied today in Africa are eliminated and the rules of origin kept simple and transparent,” AfDB said. The bank points to barriers that could restrain the African regional economic integration that was given a boost in March 2018 with the established African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is projected to increase intra-African trade by 52 per cent by 2022. Kenya ratified the deal. AfCFTA became operational in July after meeting the ratification threshold from other 22 countries. “By committing countries to remove tariffs on 90 per cent of goods, liberalising tariffs on services and addressing other non-tariff barriers, AfCFTA is expected to significantly increase the value of intra-Africa trade and investment,” notes the report. According to the bank, barriers such as cost of trading across borders remains high, more than...

The U.S.-China trade war and uncertainty over Brexit pose risks to Africa’s economic prospects that are “increasing by the day,” the head of the African Development Bank (AfDB) told Reuters. The trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies has roiled global markets and unnerved investors as it stretches into its second year with no end in sight. Britain, meanwhile, appears to be on course to leave the European Union on Oct. 31 without a transition deal, which economists fear could severely disrupt trade flows. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, said the bank could review its economic growth projection for Africa - of 4% in 2019 and 4.1% in 2020 - if global external shocks accelerate. “We normally revise this depending on global external shocks that could slowdown global growth and these issues are increasing by the day,” Adesina told Reuters on the sidelines of the Southern African Development Community meeting in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam. “You have Brexit, you also have the recent challenges between Pakistan and India that have flared off there, plus you have the trade war between the United States and China. All these things can combine to slow global growth, with implications for African countries.” The bank chief said African nations need to boost trade with each other and add value to agricultural produce to cushion the impact of external shocks. “I think the trade war has significantly impacted economic growth prospects in China and therefore import demand from China has fallen...

Uganda wants a more efficient system of moving cargo to help reduce costs on goods across East Africa. Kampala says that delays in scanning cargo in transit as well as its verification, its overstay at container freight stations (CFS) and corruption account for more than 20 per cent of losses in the goods that Uganda trades in. “More than 82 per cent of Uganda imports pass through Port of Mombasa; that is why we are meeting our Kenyan counterparts to address the logistics inefficiencies in import and export of goods which are estimated to cost $827 million to the Uganda business community and government every year,” said the Minister of Trade, Amelia Kyambadde. She spoke recently at the third Trade and Business Facilitation Symposium in Mombasa. Ms Kyambadde said that other hindrances including non-tariff barriers, poor enforcement of policies, insufficient information and undefined taxes, continue to hurt trade across East Africa. She expressed her concerns over the lack of implementation of some trade policies along the Northern and Central Corridors. Source The East African

The certificates were introduced by the common market protocol of EAC to make the businesses easier for the small-scale cross-border trade. The achievements were among the outcomes of the project on capacity building to informal Women Cross Border Traders (WCBT) and duty bearers on gender mainstreaming in trade. The project which was conducted by Tanzania Gender Network Program (TGNP) through financial support from the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) was intended to protect full economic rights and justice for women. TGNP had previously collaborated with the Ugandan based Eastern Africa Sub-Regional Support Initiative (EASSI) to review the Non-Tariff Barriers Act 2015 of which, some findings were used to develop a one year project which ran from August 2017 to August 2018. The WCBT Project Coordinator, Clara Kalanga, noted that TGNP managed to reach about 50 out of 150 businesswomen identified in cross border trade between Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. According to Kalanga, other project objectives were to lobby for the implementation of the East Africa Elimination of Non-Tariff Barrier (NTB) Act 2015 in gender the responsive manner and to enhance women’s capacity and awareness of EAC rules and regulations pertaining to cross border trade. “We put that objective to include information on rules of origin, health regulations, packaging requirements, standards, branding, customs classifications (tariffs, taxes, and duties) and intellectual property regulations,” she explained. Also, Kalanga noted that through the project implementation, TNGP had to improve women’s capacity in accessing the regional and other international markets in the course of experience...

Dar es Salaam – Tanzania’s ambassadors to foreign countries have commended the government for the efforts it had made in boosting efficiency of Dar es Salaam Port, thereby enhancing the economic growth of Tanzania and other countries using the port, including those in the SADC region. In addition, the ambassadors hailed the move of expanding; deepening and strengthening the port to allow it to handle many and large vessels and cargos. Currently, the port handles 13.5 million tonnes of cargo, and is expected to handle 28 million tonnes after completion of the expansion project whose implementation is in progress. Speaking during a visit to the port, the ambassadors said that the volume of cargo transiting through the port of Dar es Salaam from countries such Rwanda increased over the last few years as a result of enhanced efficiency of handling goods at the port. Tanzania's Ambassador to Rwanda, Ernest Mangu, cited the example of Rwanda, where  over 80 per cent of the country’s freight are handled at the Dar es Salaam Port. “The volume of the cargos from Rwanda operated through Dar es Salaam Port has increased as opposed to the past, and this is attributed to enhanced efficiency at the port,” he said. Ambassador Mangu, however, urged the port management to work harder in order to ensue further improvement in handling cargos and curbing irregularities being experienced by foreign customers. He cited thefts by some clearing and forwarding agents as one of the main factors behind many customers from...

On August 13, Rwanda tea made by Kitabi Tea Company – a tea factory located in Nyamagabe District – fetched the highest price ever recorded at the Weekly Mombasa Tea Auction, outshining lots from other countries. It sold at a record $6.06 (Rwf5,300) per kilogramme. It was followed by tea from Gisovu Tea Factory, another Rwandan brand, which sold at $5.97 per kilogramme.  These are the highest prices ever realised at the Mombasa Tea Auction since 1956 when the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) was established, according to the National Agricultural Exports Development Board (NAEB). The achievement has fuelled optimism for greater fortunes among tea growers, exporters and government alike. Jean Damascène Gasarabwe, Director-General of Kitabi Tea Company, a subsidiary of Rwanda Mountain Tea, said that the factory sold 5,408 kilogrammes (over 5.4 tonnes) at ($6.06 ) a kilogramme) at the auction. It is the second time Kitabi’s tea has been sold at higher price than any other tea from all countries participating in that auction as it was also holding the previous record of $5.66 a kilogramme, as NAEB indicates. The achievement, Gasarabwe said, was realised thanks to considerable efforts invested along the entire tea value chain from tea growing by farmers, plucking, to processing, and better management. The factory, he observed, works with 5,000 farmers. Last year, it produced and traded over 2,500 tonnes of processed tea, and targets to produce and sell 3,000 tonnes this year. “It is like a student who has emerged the best...

There’s a wrong presupposition that something being pursued by many people is less likely to be successful compared to something being pursued a few people. At times, this may be true, or not. There’re no convincing factors to determine that the likely outcome would depend on a big or small number of members. Naturally, success depends on a number of factors. Today, there’s a seemingly perennial problem of financial constraints at EAC resulting from non-compliance with regular contributions to the EAC budget by the Partner States. This issue is potentially paralyzing the activities of EAC. It has been raised over and over again and is now causing a daunting prospect about the future of the EAC. If Partner States fail to commit to their obligations regarding regular contributions to the EAC budget, its future hangs in a balance. The East African Community (EAC) is a Regional Economic Community (REC) of six Partner States; inter alia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi and the United Republic of Tanzania, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. Under Article 132, paragraph 4, of the EAC Treaty provides that “the budget of the Community shall be funded by equal contributions by the Partner States…” Reneging on this obligation is increasingly paralyzing the implementation of EAC programmes and activities. Resources of the EAC principally come from regular contributions of the Partner States and have to be given equitably, regardless of a Partner State’s GDP or its economic outlook. These financial resources are utilised to run activities...

Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) have a huge bearing on the cost of doing business not only in Uganda but also the entire East African (EAC) region. NTBs are restrictions that result from prohibitions, conditions or specific market requirements that make importation or exportation of products difficult and/or costly. The EAC Elimination of NTB Act, 2017, defines NTB as laws, regulations, administrative and technical requirements other than tariffs imposed by a partner state, whose effect is to impede trade. Uganda loses about $827m (about Shs3.1 trillion) annually in logistics inefficiencies in import and export of goods. Yet logistics costs account for between 18 and 20 per cent of the sale price of goods sold in Uganda, according to National Logistics Platform. Currently, logistics bottlenecks and inefficiencies are present at multiple stages in the supply chain, including loading, delivery and warehousing, packaging and waste management. Traffic congestion along key transport corridors, roadblocks and checkpoints only push up time and costs of logistics, which are passed onto the shippers, but the consumers ultimately pay the price. Other challenges include absence of synergies within ministries, departments and agencies of government, insufficient information on trade and services, undefined taxes, challenges around Pre-Export Verification of Conformity and absence of Small and Medium Enterprises database, plus the high cost of finance. The 2018 port transit report places Uganda as the biggest user of the Mombasa port with about 82 per cent of her cargo passing through it. But Ugandan traders also lose their cargo more often whenever they...