Michel Minega Sebera (R), Permanent Secretary at the ministry of trade and Country Manager, TradeMark Africa (TMA), Patience Mutesi sign the agreement. (Courtesy) The Ministry of Trade and Industry on Wednesday received $11.2m (approximately Rwf10bn) that will among others fund the construction of cross-border markets in different parts of the country. The money was announced on Wednesday during the signing of an agreement between the Permanent Secretary at the ministry, Michael Sebera and the Country Manager, TradeMark Africa (TMA), Patience Mutesi. The funds will partly go towards the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) to support the negotiation and implementation of trade agreements. The money will also be used for the construction and operationalization of cross border markets in different districts, according to officials from the ministry. Cross-border markets were introduced to help citizens around border communities to trade easily with neighbouring countries and also to formalise their trade practices. A number of these have already been built and in March this year, TradeMark Africa handed to government two of them – one in Rusizi District and another one in Rubavu District. The latest funding will specifically come from the United Kingdom through the Department for International Development (DfID) and the USAID. Speaking at the signing, Sebera noted that previous interventions of TradeMark Africa in the country have had a tremendous impact on the economy, saying they were crucial in the export growth the country has experienced over the years. He said that export growth has averaged to 10.8 per cent...

A team photo taken at VCC’s booth. (From left to right) Mr Sivam K., Business Development Director of VCC, Mr George Chan, General Manager (Africa) of VCC and Mr Viboon Chaojirapant, Product Development Director of VCC Facilitating Cross-border Trade with CamelONE™ The three-day World Customs Organisation IT/TI Conference and Exhibition was held at the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Around 900 delegates from 90 countries attended this event. The theme for this year is “New technologies for SMART borders – New opportunities for Trade, Travel and Transport”. Delegates were encouraged to explore different ways to achieve seamless and secured cross-borders trades. During the Tech Talk session, our Product Development Director, Mr Viboon Chaojirapant, shared about the importance of cross-border transit trade. VCC is also actively involved in the Single Customs Territory (SCT) Project which is funded by TradeMark Africa. One of the key objectives of this project is to provide a seamless flow of goods to enhance East Africa Community (EAC) trade. Lastly, Mr Viboon Chaojirapant also shared about the CAREC Advanced Transit System (CATS) and Customs Information Common Exchange (ICE) trade facilitation projects. CATS and ICE are two of the five priority areas identified by the CAREC Customs Cooperation Committee. CATS helps remove regional transit impediments while ICE establishes a data exchange mechanism. The Tech Talk session gave the delegates a better understanding of VCC, our solutions and also insights about cross-border trade. Many delegates went over to VCC’s booth after the session, to speak to Mr Viboon Chaojirapant to...

Some of the guests attending the Trademark East Africa UK Business Meeting at Serena Hotel, Kampala (PHOTO/Abraham) KAMPALA – Trademark East Africa (TMA) aid-for-trade,  with presence in several African countries, has welcomed firms in the UK to invest in Uganda. TMA has a regional presence in South Sudan, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This was during a meeting held at the Kampala Serena Hotel where various entrepreneurs and had an interactive session. The major agenda was about reducing on the bottlenecks that are hampering trade within the East African region. Mr. Moses Sabiiti, the Country Director and Programmes Manager in South Sudan revealed that East Africa is faced with high costs of doing business in comparison to other countries elsewhere. “We have the highest cost of doing business compared to other countries and this has yielded low dividends to the public. This arises from transport due to the poor infrastructure among others.”He noted. Mr. Sabiiti also stressed that TMA intends to promote trade advancements on a regional and International level. Mr. Richard Kamajugo, TMA’s Chief Operating Officer, revealed that the national electric single window has spread to a regional level and other transformations such as Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) , trade systems, mutual recognition among others are some of the achievements that have talked bottlenecks in trade. “We have for the last 25 years been working on sustainable ways to deal with poverty and this is through doing business effectively.  Due to this, some of the challenges...

The UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda, Lord Popat of Harrow, is in Uganda to further strengthen trade ties between Uganda and the UK. He is visiting together with UK companies engaged in the agricultural sector and spoke at the Agri-connect conference being held at the Serena Hotel. The conference sought to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to strengthen trade relations and opportunities with Uganda. The Agri-connect conference is hosted by the UK’s Department for International Trade in collaboration with Uganda Export Promotion Board and seeks to expand the UK’s investment in developing new supply chains in the agricultural sector in Uganda. During his visit, Lord Popat has also undertaken site visits to companies exporting goods to the UK including the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited and Kakira Sugar Works Limited. On Monday, he delivered the keynote address at the Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs conference where he shared his experience in business with young entrepreneurs. Lord Popat will meet with key stakeholders in the agricultural, health and energy sectors and with President Yoweri Museveni. The Uganda Ministry of Agriculture recently signed a £120 million MOU with two UK companies, Alvan Blanch and COLAS UK Ltd to develop agro-processing plants in Uganda. This is part of a £600 million UK Export Credit that is available to Uganda and is already financing the construction of Hoima International Airport and Kampala Industrial Business Park Namanve. Lord Popat expects his visit to Uganda will further build mutual prosperity for both the UK and Uganda....

Kenya will host the Source 21 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) International Trade Fair and high-level business summit from July 17 to 21, organizers said on Thursday. Sandra Uwera, CEO of COMESA Business Council, told journalists in Nairobi that the forum will bring together the policymakers and the private sector from the 21 COMESA member states who are the drivers of trade and economic development "It will include a presidential dialogue where heads of states will interact with business leaders on key strategies to enhance industry competitiveness and formulate strategies to enhance local sourcing and intra-regional trade," Uwera said. She added that the sectoral roundtables will also provide a platform for engagement on sector-specific issues. "The topics will be centered on manufacturing competitiveness, digitalization and trade facilitation, digital financial services and regional payment systems, standards and quality issues, smart and sustainable cities and the continental free trade area," the CEO. According to the organizers, the platform will also be a forum to address some of the key impediments affecting businesses in cross-border trade as well as promote industrial growth and competitiveness. Source: Xinhaunet

As we are now used to seeing and hearing, whenever the mainstream media report about Africa, it is always gloomy. This past week it has not been any different; former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s dramatic death in a courtroom, ethnic clashes in Mali that took hundreds, Ebola’s reemergence and a mysterious cargo of billions of new Ugandan bank notes that is begging for answers. There was little reporting about the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) and some good news from West African countries that could see them become the first to benefit from ACFTA. The 15-member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have announced their intention of creating one single currency to be named the Eco. All that remains is a few house cleaning matters such as creating the exchange-rate regime as well as the monetary policy framework. ECOWAS is walking the talk, something that should cause other regional organisations to sit up and watch, especially the East African Community (EAC). That organisation does not tolerate trouble-makers in its region; it has taken up arms against Boku Haram and other Muslim fundamentalist groups, and forcefully showed the intransigent Gambian strongman Yahya Jammeh the door. Now they have taken the next leap of faith in their journey towards integration, though it will be curious to know what role France will play in the new currency seeing that it controls the CFA, the common currency used in its former colonies. But definitely,...

The Director General of the French Development Agency (AFD), Remy Rioux, is on a two-day visit to Rwanda for talks on key areas of cooperation between Rwanda and France as the two countries look to stronger ties. AFD is the implementing agency of different development-oriented interventions that France is engaged with globally. The agency funds projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote economic growth, and protect the planet. This is the first official visit ever by an AFD director general since 1992. During his visit, Rioux will meet different government officials, mainly in agriculture, education and infrastructure sectors, to discuss possible areas of cooperation and projects that need financing. In a meeting on Thursday with the State Minister for Economic Planning, Claudine Uwera, he said that AFD will continue their interventions in Rwanda in the financial sector, which they have been running over the past 25 years. “The cooperation between our countries is on course to being rejuvenated; France wishes to not only support Rwanda but also get inspired by Rwanda’s development from a lot of innovations in the country as well as efficiency of public service,” Rioux said. He said that the two countries share the same SDGs objectives by 2030 where each of them is looking to leverage technologies and public policies to fight climate change in the interest of their peoples. Rioux yesterday signed an agreement worth Euros 20 million with Bank of Kigali to finance SMEs, mainly tech startups. Another agreement will be signed on...

Kenya is in talks with the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) member states to develop a common regulatory framework that will fast track the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. AfCFTA deliberations not only bind all ARSO member states to commit to the progressive elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, but are expected to contribute immensely in sustainable development of Africa. This is through poverty reduction by improved harmonization of standards and conformity assessment,  and coordination of trade policies and instruments across African countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). While addressing delegations from African countries during the official opening ceremony of the 25th ARSO General Assembly and the Africa Day of Standardisation forum, Hon. Peter Munya, MGH, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives reaffirmed the government’s commitment in promoting intra-African trade through elimination of import duties and non-tariff barriers. “As a signatory to both the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and AfCFTA agreements, Kenya is committed to ensuring that Technical Barriers to Trade are reduced as a way of ensuring market access for all players. In this regard, we will continue to commit necessary resources to ensure sustained participation in the ARSO Standards Harmonization programs,” said Hon. Munya. It is estimated that if all the 55 African countries join the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, the market size would include 1.7 billion people by 2030, with an estimated US$6.7 trillion of cumulative consumer and business spending making it the world’s largest free trade...

The East African Community budget was presented to East African Legislative Assembly on Wednesday afternoon with the bloc planning on spending $111,450,529, up from the current budget of $99,770,716. The budget was presented by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Damas Ndumbaro of Tanzania. The 2019/2020 Budget is themed, “Transforming lives through industrialisation and job creation for shared prosperity. The priority interventions for include the consolidation of the Single Customs Territory and promotion of intra and extra EAC trade and export competitiveness, development of regional infrastructure, effective implementation of the Common Market Protocol and the enhancement of regional industrial development. Under the proposal, the secretariat will receive over $53.3m, East African Legislative Assembly $18.9m while the East African Court of Justice has been allocated $4.2m. The Inter-University Council for East Africa will receive $9.6m, Lake Victoria Basin Commission $13m while $ 4.1m is earmarked for the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation. East African Science and Technology Commission shall receive $ 1. 9m, East African Kiswahili Commission $ 1.5m and the East African Health Research Commission is set to receive $4m. The 2019/2020 Budget is to be financed by Partner State contributions through the Ministries of EAC Affairs at a tune of $49.8m while ministries responsible for Education will contribute $4.4m and ministries responsible for Fisheries $ 2m. Development Partners will support the community more than the members states, to the tune of $54m while member universities will inject into the kitty $ 468,300. With donors and development partners...

Trade experts from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are meeting in Nairobi this week to discuss ways to address industrial disparities in the region. The experts said the implementation of the COMESA Industrial Policy, which was adopted by COMESA Council of Ministers in 2015, is expected to provide the pathway towards addressing the growth gaps that exist on the supply-side such as low-value addition, low employment rates and weak cross-border trade volumes. Betty Maina, Principal Secretary in charge of industry at Kenya's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives who opened the meeting late on Tuesday said a robust GDP growth of near 6.5 percent in the region has not led to economic transformation. Maina said this disparity has resulted from preoccupation with low value-added products and trading in primary products and natural resources. "Despite regional integration being of special importance in Africa, COMESA member states still trade more than 90 percent with other parts of the world due to lack of industrial diversification and products' complementarity among themselves," said Maina. Maina said the affected products are mainly those with few forward and backward linkages to the rest of the economy. The three-day meeting will thus discuss the draft action plan of the implementation on the COMESA Industrial Policy and review the COMESA regional guidelines on the local content policy. "The low level of intra-COMESA trade, which has not broken the 10 percent threshold of total exports over the years, is a reflection of a low level...