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Local manufacturers set to benefit from new intra-Africa trade pact

Local manufacturers are likely to benefit immensely from a newly implemented Africa-wide trade pact that provides access to a bigger market for their goods. The African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocol, launched at the Africa Union summit in Niger on Sunday after five years of deliberations, provides a single market of goods and services for 1.2 billion people with an aggregate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over $2 trillion (Sh200 trillion). ELIMINATE DEFICIT The adoption of the historic 55-nation agreement makes the whole continent a single market. Protocols will be aligned such that a Kenyan farmer can export avocado to Egypt duty-free, just as a Rwandese will be able to buy cocoa from Ghana. Kenyan manufacturers and exporters are upbeat that the trading bloc will be a boon for the country’s trade. Export Promotion Council chief executive Peter Biwott said Africa-wide trade, if well planned, could double the country’s exports, thereby eliminating the Sh1.15 trillion gap between exports and imports. “We import [goods worth] Sh1.7 trillion and we export Sh613 billion. The deficit can be eliminated if we increase our manufacturing and export enterprises. We target to get our exports to the mark of Sh2.3 trillion,” said Mr Biwott. Robust plan The government, he said, has a robust plan to make export trade efficient for existing enterprises as they recruit and train new ones in collaboration with the county governments. This is in a bid to scale up the range of products besides improving the manufacturing sector as a...

High Expectations As Uganda-Tanzania Business Forum Is Launched In Kampala

The ceremony presided over by State Minister for Regional Affairs Philemon Mateke was held at Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in Kampala. Uganda’s High Commissioner to Tanzania said the Forum will be held in Dar es Salaam under the theme “Promoting bilateral trade and investment for growth and sustainable development.” The one-day private sector led event will be attended by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Tanzanian counterpart John Pombe Magufuli. Kabonero further revealed that discussions and presentations will revolve around new and existing trade and investment opportunities in Uganda and Tanzania. He said the event will be preceded by a Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) of Ministers from both sides to resolve the existing trade barriers. The business forum comes against the backdrop of increased concerns by Ugandans that movement of people and goods especially between Mutukula and Dar es Salaam is hindered by dozens of checks by Tanzanian authorities. Uganda is determined to tap the Tanzanian market which has remained tricky for decades. The Tanzanian ambassador to Uganda said the construction of the standard gauge railway is underway with hopes of reaching Morogoro in the next few months. Thereafter, he said, the railway line will be extended to Mwanza. This would allow cargo movement from Dar to Mwanza before being loaded on water vessels on Lake Victoria enroute to Port Bell. The private sector is being encouraged to invest in water vessels to transport goods on Lake Victoria. Mateke said Uganda and Tanzania enjoy excellent cordial relations which the private...

East African Community at 20: So much done, so much to do

On November 30, 2019, the East African Community (EAC) will be celebrating 20 years of existence. Lest we forget, it was on November 30, 1999 at Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha, Tanzania that three heads of state of the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, put pen to paper to sign the treaty reviving the EAC. Again, to jog our memory, the EAC had earlier been established from 1967 and it collapsed 10 years later in 1977. The current EAC 20-year journey has been remarkable, the inevitable challenges notwithstanding. The framers of the Treaty establishing the EAC envisaged a community that would be anchored on four pillars. This is aptly captured in Article 5 where, the Partner States undertook “to establish among themselves, a Customs Union, a Common Market, subsequently a Monetary Union and ultimately a Political Federation”. The Partner States have signed and ratified three protocols in line with these pillars. Implementation of these protocols is at various stages with a commendable degree of success. The pillars are very crucial forerunners to the ultimate goal of Political Federation. Thus, in 2017, the EAC heads of state agreed on Political Confederation as a transitional model to full East African Political Federation. All the Partner States have, accordingly, nominated experts and set up a team that is currently working on the confederation constitution. Uganda’s former Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki and Makerere University’s Prof Murindwa Rutanga are part of this team. When asked...

Uganda Steps up Preparations as AU Operationalises Free Trade Area

The AfCFTA will be governed by five operational instruments – which are – the Rules of Origin; the online negotiating forum; the monitoring and elimination of non-tariff barriers; a digital payments system and the African Trade Observatory. Each one was launched by different Heads of State and Government that included President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi of Egypt who is current Chairperson of the AU; Mr. Moussa Faki Makamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission; and President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, who is the Champion of the AfCFTA. The launch ceremony included “a roll call of honour”, at which the 27 countries that have ratified the instruments of the AfCFTA were announced, and those that have signed but not yet ratified were mentioned. A commemorative plaque of the signing was also unveiled. The AfCFTA agreement was adopted and opened for signature on 21 March 2018 in Kigali. It entered into force on 30 May 2019, thirty days after having received the twenty-second instrument of ratification on 29 April, 2019 in conformity with legal provisions. “The speedy entry into force of the AfCFTA is a source of pride for all of us”, said AU Commission Chairperson Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat. He described the free trade agreement as one of the instruments for continental integration in line with the objectives of the Abuja Treaty and the aspirations of Agenda 2063. Uganda’s preparations Uganda’s Trade Minister, Amelia Kyambadde last week said Uganda was prepared to reap from...

Germany says eager to invest more in TZ

THE German government has expressed its readiness to support Tanzania’s industrialisation drive by encouraging more investors to invest in the country. Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Mr Jorg Herrera, expressed delight over the Tanzanian government’s continued efforts to improve the business environment. Mr Herrera was speaking at the ongoing 43rd Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair in which some German companies were participating to showcase their products. He said President John Magufuli (pictured) had been emphasizing on the need for a conducive business environment that has been complimented by the government’s decision to start implementation of the Blueprint on July 1, this year. “When the Vice President. Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, opened the Saba Saba exhibitions, she emphasized on the need to improve the business climate and implementation of the blueprint ... this is very important in attracting more busi-nesses,” he said. He said that they were ready to encourage more German investments into Tanzania and were hopeful that the business climate would be improved further. “Investors, especially foreign ones, are more encouraged by the blueprint which we are sure will simplify the tax system,” he said. He said that investors also wanted a reliable legislative regulatory framework that gives assurance that the rules of the game will not change as well as assurance of companies to use International arbitration. He explained that investments they have so far include Twiga Cement and Kanuf Gympson. He noted that Germany was also in discussions with...

President Kagame Says AfCFTA Implementation To Unify Africa

President Kagame and Chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) has said that the implementation of the new African free trade area is an important step forward towards the unification of Africa. He was speaking at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union on Sunday in Niamey capital of Niger where he joined other Heads of State and Government from across the continent to launch the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). He thanked Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou for the role that his country and him have played in signing the free trade area pact and hosting the participants in Niger to launch it. “History will record the central role played by the President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, in bringing us to this point. Our task now is to finalise the remaining negotiations and operational instruments in a timely manner,” he said. Also discussed at the summit were key issues including the removal of non-tariff barriers and regulations controlling trade liberalization, rules of origin and the development of a digital payment system. Meanwhile, Nigeria honored the promise it had made earlier on Tuesday by signing up to the pact. President Muhammadu Buhari noted that free trade must also be fair trade. “As African leaders, our attention should now focus on implementing the AfCFTA in a way that develops our economies and creates jobs for our young, dynamic and hardworking population,” he said. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea have also joined making the number of countries that...

What it will take for Kenya to hit magical 10pc growth

The last time Kenya’s growth surpassed 10 per cent was in 1966, 1971 and 1972. The few sectors that grew at more than 10 per cent last year included electricity supply, transport such as postal and courier activities, accommodation and food services plus information and communication. When shall we reach that magical rate again? What needs to be done and by whom? Ten per cent appears ambitious but is reachable. China did that for years to reach her current state of development and start challenging the big economic powers like the US and Japan. Six per cent is not far from 10, but that four per cent makes a big difference in the long run. It would not be an exaggeration to say that without 2007/08 post-election violence, 10 per cent was achievable. This brings us to what needs to be done to reach that magical number. Election cycle We start by decoupling politics from economic cycles. Many will loudly say it’s not possible. But Italy keeps churning out new governments and its economy still grows. Must every election be about fear? Even a new constitution did not disperse the tensions that accompany every election cycle. More than 56 years after independence, we still can’t manage our politics from grassroots to the national level. Has devolution translated to tangible economic growth in the counties? And why are so many hotels coming up in the counties instead of factories? Closely tied to politics is our attachment to tribes, which has paradoxically...

African leaders bank on free trade agreement to create customs unions

The African Union expects the single market to boost trade among the 52 out of 55 member states who have signed the pact. The leaders are rooting for removal of intra-trade fragmentation among African Countries to attract small- and large-scale investments. Sunday in Niamey, Niger 52 out of 53 countries signed the AfCFTA agreement and according to AU the free trade pact will rally all the African people to promote the regional economic growth. The leaders are banking on the AfCFTA to create customs unions that will attract investors boosting the already existing eight regional economic blocs half of which have customs unions. The Sunday meeting saw Nigeria and Benin joined the list of signatories, leaving Eritrea as the only member of the African Union that have not signed into the historic accord. Niamey has become the trade zone headquarters for the AfCFTA while Ghana is the secretariat of the trade zone. The trade deal came into force on May 30, after the deposit of the required minimum 22 instruments of ratification by AU member states to the AU Commission. Now a total of 27 countries have deposited their AfCFTA ratification to the AU Commission after five more instruments of ratification including Gabon and the Equatorial Guinea deposited theirs on Sunday. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission said July 7th will be officially celebrated as the Day of African Integration. “July 7 from now on will be officially celebrated as the Day of African Integration in commemoration of today’s historic...

Tanzania’s Dar-Morogoro SGR to begin operation in December

Isack Kamwele, the east African nation’s Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, said in a news conference in Dar es Salaam that procurement process for wagons and locomotive engines has been completed. Kamwele said procurement of 1,430 cargo wagons, 20 locomotives, 60 passenger carriages and five sets of multiple trains has begun. “We have already set some funds to purchase the engines and we expect by this December the maiden operation of SGR from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro will start,” said him. Kamwele directed the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) authorities to ensure some local sub-contractors were paid on time to speed up the construction process and avoid corruption within the SGR project. “The contractor of SGR project is so far doing a good job, unfortunately, I have been receiving some complaints from sub-contractors that the contractor was delaying to pay them,” he said. “Once local contractors do their work they should be paid on time to avoid delaying the SGR project,” said the minister. Source: CCE News