EAST African Business Council (EABC) has hailed President John Magufuli and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta for their quest to promote the role of private sector in the East African Community (EAC) integration process. EABC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Mathuki issued the laudatory message to the two leaders who are part of the EAC Heads of State Summit, saying that the duo has demonstrated and reiterated their commitments to the EAC integration during their recent meeting in Chato, Geita. “Their words and action have re-energised optimism and reassured the East Africans of their deep commitments to uphold the spirit of the EAC regional integration process,” said Mr Mathuki yesterday. He further commended the EAC Summit for recognising the role of the private sector as the engine and driver of economic growth, reaffirming commitment to the principles of the EAC Common Market. The principles include nondiscrimination of nationals of other partner states on grounds of nationality, equal treatment of nationals of other partner states and transparency in matters concerning other partner states. “Indeed, political goodwill is critical to accelerate and boost intra-EAC trade and opportunities that lie on our own doorsteps. Together, we remain as one people, one destiny,” said Mr Mathuki who is also a former East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member. Policy predictability and maintaining a liberal stance towards the Freedoms and Rights enshrined in the Common Market Protocol shall increase cross border trade and investments and significantly contribute to employment creation, export growth, revenue collection, wealth creation...

Our relations with Tanzania have not always been the strongest. A few weeks ago, MP Charles Njagua, also known as Jaguar, ruffled feathers with his xenophobic remarks about Tanzanians working here. However, his populist statements were quickly condemned by the government and all those who recognise that there is no place for such intolerance in Kenya. After all, the trade and tourism exchange between Tanzania and Kenya make a big contribution to our economy. According to Magufuli, there are 504 Kenyan-owned companies in Tanzania, valued at $1.7 billion (Sh170 billion). Moreover, these companies provide 50,000 Tanzanians with jobs. At the same time, 24 Tanzanian companies in Kenya are valued at $189 million (Sh19 billion). Last year alone, 10 per cent of the more than two million tourists to Kenya were Tanzanian, totalling 222,216 visitors. That’s the second largest group after Americans. We won’t accept dirty cash, UK tells money launders But despite this mutual dependence, relations have not always been smooth, especially regarding trade. In July 2016, Tanzania declined to participate in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, leaving Kenya and Rwanda to sign with the EU individually rather than as a fortified trading bloc. More recently, protectionist policies have made it difficult for foreign traders to access Tanzanian markets. Though we are both members of the East African Community (EAC), traders going in both directions have been frustrated by duties on some goods, bans on certain commodity imports and cargo hold-ups at border crossings. Close terms But...

Local business leaders have decried the low level of penetration and application of ICT among the business community across the East African Community (EAC) saying that this was among the major impediments to doing business in the region. This was observed Thursday during a dialogue dubbed ICT for Business, which was organised by the East Africa Business Council (EABC) a regional body that brings together private sector associations and corporates from EAC partner states. The meeting was aimed at collecting views from business owners on the best approach that can be used to fast-track the adoption of ICT in their daily business dealings at the regional level. Dennis Karera, the vice chairman of the council said that though governments have championed the campaign on ICT penetration and adoption, there has been slow uptake in this area among the private sector across member states. “We are all aware of the benefits ICT can bring to our businesses from time-saving to being compliant with government regulations  like paying taxes on time but it is regrettable that still, you conduct business with someone and they invoice you using a pen,” he said. Karera also warned business leaders, that if they continue to shun ICT, it will be very difficult for their businesses to survive, saying that governments are striving to broaden the market through initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area. “We therefore have no option but to embrace ICT,” he said. Going forward, Daniel Murenzi, the Principal Information Technology Officer at...

Heads of State drawn from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are keen to see the incorporation of small and medium enterprises under the impending border-less trade on the continent. The leaders who were represented at the opening of COMESA’s high level business summit in Nairobi on Wednesday lay emphasis on the growth of the micro-enterprises who between themselves contribute to the largest share of jobs and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) output. “Each government should have the political will to support SMEs as they wouldn’t be able to penetrate a continental market by themselves. Further, we risk developing a free market which only serves the big boys,” noted Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu. While the continent is adequately resourced with a hardworking and enterprising populace, trade between partner states has remained well below average as exports to the rest of the world remain dominant. Intra-trade within COMESA accounted for a mere Ksh.814 billion ($7.9 billion) in 2017 in comparison to a greater share of Ksh.9 trillion ($86.9 billion) in total global exports. Acting Mauritian President Paramasimuv Pillay attributed the depressive trade play-out to continued barriers to regional trade to further pile pressure on partner states who remain keen on sheltering their internal markets from any external influence. “We must promote policies and measures to better the business climate by, for instance, eliminating barriers to SME licensing. We can also seek to relax some of the rules of origin to enable enterprises to source for raw materials widely,” he...

The volume of cargo handled at the Dar es Salaam port grew by 2.3 per cent to 3 .9 million tonnes in the quarter ending March compared to 3.8 million tonnes registered in the corresponding quarter 2018. According to the Consolidated Zonal Economic Performance Report issued by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) for the quarter ending March the Dar es Salaam port accounts for 9 7 per cent of the total cargo handled by Tanzania Port Authority’s main seaports. “This performance was mostly associated with streamlining and easing of documentation processes at the port, expansion of berths and improvement of infrastructure, particularly road network to neighbouring countries,” stated the report. Conversely, the volume of cargo handled at Mtwara port fell following decrease in cashew nut exports while at Tanga port, the volume of cargo handled declined largely due to decrease in exports of sisal products, cement and timber coupled with a decline in import of petroleum products. In the corresponding quarter ended March 2018 saw the volume of cargo handled at sea ports of Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara increased by 23 .6 per cent to 4.1 million tonnes. The improvement was attributed to the ongoing modernization and harmonization of operations at the ports coupled with cessation of single custom territory between Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Cargo handled increased across all ports, except Mtwara where the volume of cargo handled declined on account of the slowdown of imports through the port. Noteworthy, imports accounted for the...

NAIROBI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on Wednesday launched the COMESA Source 21 Business Facilitation Handbook to provide market information and investment for its members. Amany Asfour, immediate past chairperson of COMESA Business Council, told a regional forum in Nairobi that access to information across African economies has been hindered by the fragmented nature of respective national markets. "The handbook is the first step in combating lack of knowledge in the region and limited access to trade information in order to promote cross-border trade," said Asfour in Nairobi. The report details the amount of imports and exports that each member conducts within the trading bloc. "The business facilitation handbook will act as a tool to provide businesses with data that can inform their transaction and logistical costs while trading certain products in the region or looking to engage in partnerships within COMESA," said Asfour. She decried the low level of value addition in the region, adding that regional economies will prosper once processing and value addition of raw materials takes root. COMESA is a regional economic organization in Africa with 21 members. Source: xinhuanet

More than 500 open-air market traders have agreed to temporarily relocate to Kenya’s security strip at Soko Matope to pave way for construction of a modern fish market. They, however, appealed to the county and national governments to assure them of their security because they are going to operate on the Kenya-Uganda border.The county, through the World Bank, is set to start constructing a Sh60 million cross-border fish market at the Busia border after the contractor signed a tender agreement last Friday.According to officials in the department of Agriculture, the contractor is expected to take six months to complete the project, which will enable the traders operate in a conducive environment.The traders have been operating in makeshift structures and with no sewerage system since the market was started more than three decades ago.Market planBusia Cross-Border Fish Market Management Unit chairman Francis Akech praised the county government for prioritising the market's construction.“We have agreed to relocate to a temporary place for six months. We are glad that the county has assured us the new site will be guarded by our security officers,” said Mr Aketch.Aketch said the traders need clean water, toilets and electricity to ensure that they can preserve and store their fish.Busia fish market is one of the largest in East Africa and the county government is said to be collecting more than Sh50,000 in revenue from fish traders monthly.At least 30 tonnes of fish valued at Sh12 million, from Uganda and Lodwar in Turkana, are offloaded at the market...

The move is aimed at speeding up the clearance of goods and services as a way of promoting regional trade. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s Directorate of Customs and Excise (DGDA) and the Uganda Revenues Authority (URA) have signed the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS), a standards operating procedure that will extend electronic cargo tracking to DRC. The move is aimed at speeding up the clearance of goods and services as a way of promoting regional trade. The project worth $642,000 is being funded by the Department of International Development (DFID) through Trademark East Africa.DRC joins other East African countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda already implementing the Electronic Cargo Tracking system (RECTS).   The project will be implemented in three phases with the first phase being the launch of the Uganda Office; the second phase will be opening of the Goma office in eastern DRC while the final phase will be the launch of the Kinshasa command center, according to  Moses Sabiiti, TMA’S Country manager for Uganda and South Sudan. “The introduction of an electronic cargo tracking system to the Northern Corridor will reduce transit costs, lengthy transit times caused by physical checks in transit countries and across the DRC territory,” said Sabiiti. He added that the system that was launched on Tuesday at URA offices, will reduce the risk of freight diversion between the place of origin and checkpoints hence combating fraud and increasing the country's tax revenues through trade. “For DRC, this is the best solution...

Nairobi — Deputy President Dr William Ruto wants Kenya to seize the opportunity of access to free trade area market so as to bridge the trade deficit it is facing. He said it was regrettable that despite trade volumes growing in recent years, it was not in favour of Kenya as it was importing more than it was selling to foreign markets. Addressing the Third Kenya Trade Week on Monday at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Dr Ruto noted that Kenya must "act early and decisively to claim a strong position" in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a bloc of 1.3 billion people and $ 3.4 trillion. "To achieve this, it is important to develop a national strategy to guide our approach and it is my hope that the Ministry of Trade is already engaged on this task," said the Deputy President. He told the Summit trade is bedrock to the economic aspirations of the country, and as such, "it is vital that we explore all avenues to expand the reach and value of Kenyan products both within and without our borders." He further noted that it was through trade that Kenya, and Africa at large, would create jobs that is much needed for its growing population. According to the Kenya Bureau of Statistics, the country's exports grew from Sh537 billion in 2014 to Sh613 billion in 2018, indicating a 14 per cent rise. During the same period, imports went up from Sh1.62 trillion in 2014...

After four years of talks, an agreement to form a 55-nation trade bloc was reached in March, paving the way for Sunday’s African Union summit in Niger where Ghana was announced as the host of the trade zone’s future headquarters and discussions were held on how exactly the bloc will operate. It is hoped that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - the largest since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1994 - will help unlock Africa’s long-stymied economic potential by boosting intra-regional trade, strengthening supply chains and spreading expertise. “The eyes of the world are turned towards Africa,” Egyptian President and African Union Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at the summit’s opening ceremony. “The success of the AfCFTA will be the real test to achieve the economic growth that will turn our people’s dream of welfare and quality of life into a reality,” he said. Africa has much catching up to do: its intra-regional trade accounted for just 17 per cent of exports in 2017 versus 59 per cent in Asia and 69 per cent in Europe, and Africa has missed out on the economic booms that other trade blocs have experienced in recent decades. Economists say significant challenges remain, including poor road and rail links, large areas of unrest, excessive border bureaucracy and petty corruption that have held back growth and integration. Members have committed to eliminating tariffs on most goods, which will increase trade in the region by 15-25 per cent in the medium...