Tanzania has struck a blow for the Central Corridor transport system, after the country signed a deal with two Chinese groups — China Civil Engineering Construction and China Railway 15th Bureau — for the construction of a 3.2km bridge over parts of Lake Victoria. The bridge will connect Kigongo and Busisi areas in Mwanza region, and help to link Tanzania to Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi via road. Currently, vehicles take about three hours to cross to either side of the lake via a ferry — two hours in a queue to get onto the ferry and another hour to get to the other side. “The bridge will reduce transport time and facilitate trade among countries in the region,” said the chief executive of the Tanzania Roads Agency, Patrick Mfugale. The government, through the Marine Service Company Ltd and Uganda Railway Corporation, has also set up a one-stop centre for the smooth haulage of cargo and passengers. Tanzania’s Minister of Works Transport and Communication Isaac Kamwelwe said that cargo lorries arriving at Mwanza from the Dar es Salaam port will go directly to the freight ship destined for Uganda via Port Bell without their content being offloaded. Efforts by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to revive trade and transport on Lake Victoria received a boost in November last year when Presidents John Magufuli and Yoweri Museveni signed a landmark deal. Source: The East African

East African Community member states are working towards linking the regional electronic payment system to other payment solutions in Africa, to ease trade around the continent following the launch of the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The performance of the East African Payment System (EAPS), which was launched in May 2014, has been hampered by the reluctance of member countries to trade in each other’s currency, leaving Kenya to control over 98 per cent of the transactions through the system. EAC central banks are now exploring ways of transforming the system by linking it with other payment solutions in Africa to enable seamless transfer of cash across the continent at both retail and wholesale levels. Bank of Uganda’s deputy governor Dr Louis Kasekende said the move will help boost intra-Africa trade and support the growth of regional firms. Currently, Kenya dominates transactions in the EAPS, which allows citizens of member countries to make and receive payments in regional currencies — the Kenyan shilling, Ugandan shilling, Tanzanian shilling, Rwandan franc and Burundian franc. During the 2017/2018 financial year, Kenyans accounted for over 98 per cent of the transactions in this system amounting to $ 2.37 billion out of $2.41 billion, with a paltry $40 million being transacted by Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi. Source: The East African

Major businesses at the Coast will be hit hard following a new directive by the government to transfer all imported cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi through the Standard Gauge Railway. On Friday night, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said all imported cargo will be transported from the port to Nairobi through the railway starting August 7. SELL TRUCKS "All imported cargo for delivery to Nairobi and hinterland shall be conveyed by SGR and cleared at the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi while all cargo intended for Mombasa and its environs shall be cleared at the Port of Mombasa," read part of the notice to the public. The move will render hundreds of employees working in different Container Freight Stations (CFS) and clearing and forwarding agents in Mombasa jobless as more than 85 per cent of cargo would be cleared in Nairobi. Different stakeholders in the industry have protested against the government's move, saying the mandatory rule violates the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement which call for free flow of cargo by the most cost-effective means. Kenya is a signatory to the rules. Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa) chairman Roy Mwanthi said the association is set to issue official complaint to the government to demonstrate their frustrations. "The move has killed all CFSs and is the last nail to the economy of Mombasa as we expect hundreds of job losses," said Mr Mwanthi. More than 20 CFSs that have invested Sh12.5 billion in the...

The development of Uganda’s trade and economy requires efficient, reliable and competitive transport and logistics. Unfortunately, water transport, which is the cheapest and most inclusive mode of transport, is underdeveloped and under-utilised. Ninety five per cent of cargo and people move on roads and the over-reliance on road transport has, according to different studies, led to rapid deterioration of road assets, which has seen government spend about USD 21m in maintenance annually. Additionally, roads are an unsafe mode of transport, which according to World Health Organisation (2015) estimates makes economies such as Uganda lose almost 3% (USD 800m) of their GDP to road crashes. Currently, Uganda has serviceable national road network covering both the northern and central corridor. The limitation of rail and water transport pushes goods transport onto roads creating congestion and raising the unit cost of transport over longer distances. The current average transport cost per kilometre stands at USD 2, in Uganda. This is twice as high as that of comparative middle-income economies which stands at USD 1 per kilometre. According to the World Bank 2016 Logistics Performance Indicator, Uganda was ranked 58 (out of 180 economies). This ranking must be improved as poor logistics leads to a 0.4% contraction in the GDP of an economy. This problem will further be compounded by the upcoming Oil and Gas economy, which according to conservative estimates, will see an additional 1.2m tonnes of containerised cargo and about 13,000 jobs and passenger traffic added onto the current road load yet...

Kenya has joined the league of Africa oil exporters after its first consignment of 200,000 barrels fetched $12 million on Thursday afternoon. That means the sweet light crude sold at $60 per barrel, an uptick of nearly 40 per cent above the $43 per barrel that the government had set as the break-even point for the Early Oil Pilot Scheme. President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the breakthrough on twitter with a concise message: "We are now an oil exporter." He expressed confidence that the oil trade would help grow the economy and end poverty. “So, I think we have started the journey and it is up to us to ensure that those resources are put to the best use to make our country both prosperous and to ensure we eliminate poverty,” said President Kenyatta. The oil production statistics were disclosed by London-based Tullow Oil, which has exploration and oilfields in Turkana. Source: The East African

Chief Guest Hon. Amelia Kyambade , Minister of Trade Industry and Cooperatives giving keynote address at the opening of the Symposium The 3rd Trade and Business Facilitation Symposium organized by the Consulate of the Republic of Uganda in Mombasa commenced Monday morning at the Pride Inn Hotel in Mombasa. The Symposium is taking place theme ‘Enhancing Trade Facilitation along the Northern Corridor’. Key on the agenda is in depth discussions on how to increase the level of trade between the two countries and how best to utilize the Northern Corridor. In attendance is Hon. Amelia Anne Kyambadde Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Members of Parliament of respective Committees on Trade, Foreign Affairs , Uganda’s Consul General to Mombasa Amb. Tayebwa Katureebe, Amb. Kiema Kilonzo, Kenya’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Amb. Richard Kabonero Uganda’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Uganda’s Ambassador to UAE, Amb. Zaake Kibedi, Uganda’s Consul General to Guangzhou Amb. Solomon Rutega, Uganda’s Charge D’Affaires to Qatar Amb. Simon Ajiku, Amb. Paul Mukumbya  Head Regional Peace Dept., Mr. Micheal Wamai Head Regional Economic Dept, Commissioner Dickson Kateshembwa Commissioner Customs and other  Senior officials Government  of Uganda and Officials from the Republic of Kenya. In her opening remarks, Hon. Amelia noted that the main objective of this symposium is to bring together different stakeholders involved in trade facilitation to discuss and exchange views and provide an opportunity to address existing and emerging the challenges faced in the export and import trade. The Minister further reiterated that Government of Uganda...

The Workshop brought together key Stakeholders, Transport Corridors and Development Partners to discuss the challenges posed by GHG emissions and agree on a common methodology for measurement. Stakeholders and Development Partners from Member countries of three Transport Corridors namely; Northern Corridor, Dar es Salaam Corridor and Central Corridor established a road map of actions towards a joint effort of reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Pollution in the transport sector by harmonizing emissions data collection, sources and estimation methodologies. As a way forward, after a two day mobilization workshop on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Pollution in the Transport Sector held in Nairobi,  Kenya, from 30th to 31st July 2019,  participants recommended that emissions data collection requirements should include among others, Vehicle/equipment type, distances covered, tonnage carried, amount and type of fuel consumed, and Emission Factors. The aim of the two day workshop was to mobilize key Stakeholders towards reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Pollution by fostering a common understanding in harmonisation of comparability of indications and methods of collecting emissions data, calculation methods and agreeing on common emissions factors to be used. Specific objectives were to have a common understanding of the environmental impact of GHG emissions, the principles and evaluation methods of GHG emissions,the importance of monitoring & evaluation processesrequired, Carbon off-setting options, the use and options for sustainable energy utilization; and identifying the reporting requirements and validation techniques for GHG emissions, assessing the benefits of a GHG reduction program as well as sharing experiences on GHG evaluation in the transport and...

In the past 10 years, Kenya has adopted a new spine for national economic growth, shifting from the initial focus on agriculture and service industry, with infrastructure now largely considered the enabler to development in hitherto neglected regions and sectors. MASS EVICTIONS In Nairobi, the quest to rejuvenate the capital city’s infrastructure has been so upbeat, more so in 2018, that we now speak of mega infrastructure projects. Road construction has seen the largest of these ventures. Planned and ongoing construction projects include A104 (Mombasa Road) from the Likoni Road junction to James Gichuru Road junction by the government and Nutrip, funded by the World Bank; European Union-funded ‘Missing Link 15 B’, commonly known as Deep Sea road; James Gichuru-Rironi road; and dualling of Ngong Road. There are also plans to build a highway bridge connecting Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Mombasa Road to Kangemi on the Nakuru highway. The 28km bridge, an expressway, is expected to stem the problem of passengers missing flights at the JKIA due to perennial traffic congestion in the city centre. The same mega road projects have happened in Mombasa, as seen in the expansion of the Sh6 billion Moi International Airport-Port Reitz-Magongo and Mombasa-Miritini roads into dual carriageways, interchanges and overpasses. Ongoing projects include the dualling of the Mombasa-Mariakani highway, Dongo-Kundu Bypass and Mombasa Northern Bypass, which were set to increase efficiency in the Port of Mombasa. Construction of a road connecting the Mombasa port to Bujumbura, which a recent report indicated is finally...

TradeMark Africa (TMA) has signed a $3.14 M financing agreement with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which is aimed at ensuring that EAC countries comply with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The agreement was signed by TradeMark Africa (TMA) CEO, Frank Matsaert and the Secretary General of UNCTAD, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi in Geneva. The initial TradeMark Africa (TMA) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Financial Aid Arrangement was signed in 2015 and implemented from early 2016 with three components: Trade Facilitation (TF); Trade Portals and Gender. The main objective of component I was to assist in setting up the institutional environment for Trade Facilitation in five East African Community (EAC) Partner States (PS); Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The main activity was focused on creating the National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs) in the five mentioned PS and to empower them through a capacity building program allowing them to coordinate and supervise their national TF processes, including implementation of the World Trade Organisation Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA). The main achievements of the capacity building program were WTO TFA ratification by Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda and the notification of A measures by the EAC PS in 2015 and the B and C measures for Rwanda in June 2018. As of 2017, the five EACcountries have had their NTFC legally established and operationally functional. The current cooperation agreement was foreseen to end in December 2017. However, due to several delays at national levels...

On a recent trip to Ethiopia, Britain’s new international development secretary Alok Sharma announced plans for a new commission to mobilise private sector investment for bankable infrastructure projects in developing countries. During his two-day visit, Sharma allocated £10m of infrastructure investments to East Africa’s fastest growing economy, Ethiopia. The funds were earmarked for clean energy and sustainable infrastructure projects in Ethiopian cities, the Department of International Development (DFID) said.As one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, Ethiopia has “huge potential for future trade with the UK,” DFID added. Commissioning infrastructure The new commission aims to mine the expertise of UK and international business leaders in order to scale up infrastructure development in Africa and other emerging economies, according to DFID. Deploying a team of experts with experience in infrastructure development in Africa and Asia will help mitigate the risks of infrastructure projects and make such ventures more attractive to foreign investors, especially those in the City of London, Sharma said. “The focus will be to help make investment in infrastructure in developing countries more attractive to businesses and investors,” the department said. African economies on the continent currently face a £140 billion annual infrastructure gap, which requires urgent private sector investment, the African Development Fund says. The Commission hopes to facilitate private equity support to build infrastructure projects and create better trading partners for Britain, Sharma said. This Commission will aim to turbo-charge investment in green, sustainable infrastructure, leading to more jobs, better access to basic services and opportunities for businesses, creating the UK’s...