The Democratic Republic of Congo has emerged as a crucial export destination for the East African Community, accounting for around six per cent of EAC total exports from the region. President Felix Tshisekedi, who announced that his country's economic recovery is paramount in his first term, has already visited Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda within the first three months of his presidency, as he moves to secure trade ties. In his visit to Rwanda last week, he highlighted the need for security in the EAC and urged both Rwanda and Uganda not to escalate the political tensions that have affected free movement of people and goods. "I will not go into the details of what we discussed with both President Yoweri Museveni and President Paul Kagame, but I have listened to both presidents and I don't believe there will be an escalation of violence between them," he said at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali. Violent past President Kagame and President Tshisekedi also agreed to put behind them the violent past of their countries, and cooperate on ending armed violence perpetrated by armed rebel groups based in eastern DRC. "My problems in Rwanda end up being the problems of people in DRC and vice versa. We have to address these challenges. "President Tshisekedi has made commitments to the people of DRC and the people of the region. We must believe him and extend our hand of cooperation, as he does with us, and see how far we can go," President Kagame...

Confirmation last week by Presidents Museveni and Uhuru that the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will run all the way to Kampala was indeed a breakthrough agreement which removes a key uncertainty in the regional infrastructure linkages. A Kampala destination puts the final dot in the Mombasa/Kampala SGR viability. The SGR is already complete and in use up to Nairobi with completion of the extension to Naivasha expected by August this year. In 2013 Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta, Yowei Museveni and Paul Kagame of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda decided to jointly develop a number of regional rail and oil pipeline projects. Six years later, these projects are either under construction or are committed. However, the inter-country partnerships initially planned have changed especially with the entry of Tanzania into the regional infrastructure participation. In respect of the railways, the initial plan was a Mombasa/Kampala/Kigali SGR. However, when Kenya and Uganda delayed commitments for the Naivasha/Kampala sections, Rwanda opted for a partnership with Tanzania for a Dar/Kigali SGR. The Tanzania’s central corridor SGR has already reached Morogoro with plans for Rwanda to finance the section from Isaka in Tanzania to Kigali via Rusumo. While the funding for the Mombasa/Kampala SGR is by Chinese consortiums, financing for Dar/Kigali SGR is by various institutional and commercial sources. The Dar/Kigali line will be a “green” electrified SGR, a feature that Kenya and Uganda should strive to implement. Electricity also makes economic sense because it is a local resource while diesel is imported. Yes there will now be...

MEMBERS of Parliament from Uganda have appreciated the role of various agencies in facilitating trade at the Dar es Salaam Port through the Single Custom Territory (SCT) being implemented by member states of the East African Community (EAC). Exports from Uganda via the port stood close to US $30 million dollars (about 69bn/-based on the current exchange rate). The amount is about 599 billion Ugandan shilling during the financial year 2017/2018. The MPs also urged for improvement of infrastructure along the central corridor to expedite haulage of exports and imports from and to Uganda through Dar es Salaam Port, Mwanza and Port Bell across Lake Victoria. Led by Chairman of Uganda’s Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Mr Henry Musasizi, the lawmakers said the Dar es Salaam Port facilitates trade between Uganda and the rest of the world. “We are satisfied with transportation of goods from Uganda to the rest of the world and viceversa through the Dar es Salaam Port,” the MP commented during a familiarisation tour at the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) in Dar es Salaam yesterday, adding: “There have been some challenges such as delays in clearance of cargo but TPA has given us confidence and commitment to improve operations. This port is a very important point of entry and exit for goods from and to Uganda.” On the other hand, Mr Musasizi spoke highly of the ongoing expansion and improvement of the port through the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DSMGP), which aims...

The East African dream of achieving a seamless Northern Corridor transport network is back on course after Uganda agreed to start construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Malaba to Kampala after years of uncertainties. Kenya was considering terminating its section of the SGR line at Kisumu should Uganda, which had indicated that it would build its line to connect to Tanzania, stuck to its guns. SGR is part of the Northern Corridor transport network, which connects the Port of Mombasa to the neighbouring landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. President Yoweri Museveni’s move comes as a boost to Kenya, whose financing prospects for the second phase had apparently been pegged on Uganda agreeing to put up a line from Malaba to Kampala. Kenya is now certain of extending the facility to the Ugandan border following the commitment by President Museveni that his country will construct a line to Kampala. “We have had great progress on these discussions. It will be a game-changer, especially for movement of cargo from Mombasa to Kampala,” said President Museveni. The Ugandan president made the remarks last week during his three-day state visit in Kenya where he toured various infrastructure projects in Mombasa and rode the SGR train from the port city to Nairobi. The Ugandan announcement concided with the visit by a Kenyan delegation to Beijing to negotiate funding for the second phase of the SGR. The high-powered delegation, comprising officials from the Treasury, Kenya Railways Corporation, Ministry of Transport...

Rwanda Standards Board has ventured into a financial agreement with Trademark East Africa on April 1 in Kigali. Followed by the agreement, Rwanda Standards Board has received USD 1 million to assist in continuing global best practices and provide improved services to its clients to enhance food safety and trade. According to the agreement between Rwanda Standards Board and Trademark East Africa, it will benefit farmers, pack houses, millers and transporters to enable them attain international standard requirements in food safety of local agricultural products. Hence, they will be enabled to access a wide range of markets both regionally and globally. Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) will utilize the fund in interventions such as automation of RSB processes to improve service delivery and increase customer satisfaction. It will also be utilized to develop a seven-year strategic plan that will guide RSB in keeping up with global best practices in standards for international sanitary and phytosanitary standards. "We want to ensure that we support standards and certifications to leverage the trading platforms and the improved physical and digital infrastructure," Country Director of Trademark East Africa, Patience Mutesi opined. Source: Devdiscourse

The Rwanda Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) and TradeMark Africa (TMA) have announced the official completion of Rusizi and Rubavu Cross Border Markets. The two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding to symbolise completion and official handover of the markets from TMA to the government of Rwanda. The handover marks opening the market space to traders for business. TMA partnered with MINICOM and Rubavu and Rusizi District administration to oversee construction of the markets for the last 1 year. United Kingdom’s Department for Foreign Development (DFID) and Embassy of Belgium in Rwanda provide funding of $ 3, 302 ,255.35 and 2,165,250.17 for Rubavu and Rusizi respectively. Rusizi market is all-inclusive with 186 spaces for trading in goods while Rubavu has 192 spaces. Markets facilities include cold rooms, Creche, warehousing, banks and forex bureaus, sanitary facilities as well as service parking. These cross-border markets directly respond to Rwanda’s National Cross Border Trade strategy that calls for the development of CBMS to promote trade between Rwanda and neighbouring countries; and it is expected that the markets will promote cross border trade between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. The MOU stipulates that TradeMark Africa (TMA) will provide a two-year technical assistance support that will ensure efficient operationalisation of the market and will also support the continuous monitoring of emerging lessons and results of the markets. This will be a critical building block towards the long-term sustainability of the outcomes of the programme. The handover paves way for MINICOM to set up...

The announcement by President Uhuru Kenyatta that Kenya will be gifting Uganda with land in Naivasha to put up a dry port has left many unanswered questions. It came with another announcement that Uganda would increase sugar and eggs exports to Kenya. ​ Uhuru further added that with the inland port in Naivasha and planned extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), goods will be able to move from Mombasa to Malaba in just two days hence boosting international trade. The sugar deal was struck back in 2015 to end a diplomatic tiff after claims that Ugandan traders were importing sugar cheaply and repackaging for Kenyan markets. According to the Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, Uhuru’s deal will create problems and suffering for local Kenyan farmers. Kuria called for the country’s legislators to reexamine the East Africa Protocol so that the deal is reversed. Reports indicate that Kenya’s annual egg production stands at 1.6 billion while its annual consumption is 1.2 billion. This means that poultry farmers are stuck with more 400 million eggs every year. One poultry farmer, Rachel Kuria, was quoted in the press saying that her profit margins have reduced from Sh50,000 to Sh40,000 per month before factoring in other costs such as medicines and chicken feeds. This is the more reason for regulating egg imports. It is important to encourage international trade, especially through the East African Community. However, this should be monitored to stop smuggling and repackaging of commodities on transit. As President Museveni put it on Wednesday, the trade deal will also...

TOP African Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have called for putting resources together in order to create an African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA). The CEOs shared their insights in the just ended Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, saying that unity, cooperation and economic integration between African countries are the way to go for the continent that is seeking to improve its economy. They voiced the sentiments in a ’CEO Talk’ session that hosted four top African CEOs - Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Ms Diane Karusisi, the CEO of Bank of Kigali; Mr Tony Attah, the CEO of Nigeria LNG and Mr Antonio Nunes, the CEO of Angola Cables. Ms Karusisi said that it was important to speak with one voice and that the CFTA demonstrates how Africa is coming together as a continent, at a time when other continents are finding other ways to develop themselves. “The CFTA is changing the narrative because people are looking at Africa as a bloc,where everyone needs a share of what they can do on the continent. So we have here the opportunity to say we are a united bloc and these are our terms, this is how we want it,” Ms Karusisi was quoted as saying in a conference report delivered after the forum and made available to the ‘Daily News’. The CEO of the first Rwandan bank commended the forum for raising awareness in people around the implementation of the CFTA and the intra-growth of trade and investment....

Some observers have questioned the deals, while others have welcomed them. In a highly political environment as Kenya’s, the disagreement is expected. But did Kenya get a raw or hot deal from the number of economic pacts that President Uhuru Kenyatta signed with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni during the latter’s three-day visit? The jury is still out there. However, it is high time some of these deals were subjected to scrutiny to ascertain their benefits before they are implemented. Parliament might be called upon to comb through these deals, just as they do with a number of policies. It is not the first time President Kenyatta has signed a trade pact. For the last five years, Kenyans have been treated to a series of pompous pact-signing ceremonies between Kenyatta and a host of other heads of states. Mind-boggling figures, enough to transform the country into a middle income economy in flash, have been quoted. Yet, to most Kenyans these benefits have barely been felt. Desperation to get some projects finished, such as connecting Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), should not be reason enough for us to sacrifice prudence when entering into international contracts. Funding for the completion of Phase 2 of the SGR from Naivasha to Kisumu had reportedly been locked until Uganda’s assurance that it would terminate its SGR to Kenya’s border was obtained. President Kenyatta might have succeeded in convincing Kampala to extend their SGR to Malaba, but this might have come at a high cost. In...

Last week’s visit by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni saw a number of deals sealed between Kenya and Uganda. Consequently, the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the multi-billion-shilling Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project seems to have been lifted after Uganda apparently bought into the deal. Nairobi offered Kampala land to construct a dry port in Naivasha, perhaps to get Uganda hooked into the project. But what is the cost of the deals and Museveni’s camaraderie with President Uhuru Kenyatta? Uganda secured opportunity to continue exporting poultry, milk and sugar to Kenya while we will export beef, pharmaceuticals and tiles. From the Economic Survey 2018, agriculture contributed 32 per cent to Kenyan’s GDP, manufacturing industry (17 per cent) and  service industry (47 per cent). With agricultural production on decline, Kenyans wonder if their interests were at the core of the deals with Uganda. For instance, poultry farmers have been incurring losses for lack of market for eggs, thanks to cheap imports from Uganda. Should Kenya be importing eggs, yet the country has surplus? Despite the East African Community’s Common Market Protocol providing for the tenets of free trade, there is need for Kenya to safeguard the interests of citizens.  There is need for the government to be clear on national goals which form the yardstick against which to measure achievement or failure of quest for our raison d’état. There is disquiet that Museveni scored more points in his trip for Uganda at the expense of Kenyans. Yet it is not automatic the country will uphold...