Ugandan and Kenyan traders will be the biggest beneficiaries after their two countries yesterday signed a raft of agreements meant to ease trade, cement political ties and improve their social/cultural connections. The colourful signing ceremony, conducted at the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, was witnessed by President Yoweri Museveni and his host, Uhuru Kenyatta. President Museveni, who arrived in Mombasa today (Wednesday) morning straight from Johannesburg, South Africa where he had been attending the Saharawi Solidarity Summit, is in Kenya on a three-day state visit on the invitation of President Kenyatta. The agreements, clustered into three major categories; defence, trade and social affairs, focus on not only easing means of doing business between the two countries but also resolve some of the sticking issues that have hampered trade. For example, the pacts direct Kenya to consider increase of its sugar quota imported from Uganda to 90,000 metric tonnes from the current 36,000 tonnes. Uganda has been tasked to formally lodge a request to this effect that would create market for at least 54,000 metric tonnes of its surplus 90,000 metric tonnes it produces annually. On the other hand, beef exporters in Kenya can expect to tap into the Uganda market after the latter was directed to lift its ban on beef and beef products from Kenya with immediate effect. The poultry industry in Uganda will also have reason to smile after Kenya agreed to lift the ban on poultry products from Uganda within a week, dependent on Ugandan authorities furnishing then...

The company was represented at the Africa CEO Forum by its CEO of Africa Mr. Jerome Petit. Mr Petit told press that Bollore already has several partnership agreements with Chinese companies and intends to build even more relations. With more than 1,500 participants, this is the 7th Africa CEO Forum. It brought together to the East African nation international investors, sector experts, high-level policy makers and some of Africa’s top CEOs. The forum serves as a platform to deliberate investment topics and key challenges around Africa’s private sector led development. Bollere Transport & Logistics is a member of Bollore Group which deals in global supply chains and industrial projects among others. With its headquarters in Paris, France, the company operates across some 106 countries across the World with at least 46 of these based in African states. Since Bollore deals in logistics and related regulations all along global supply chains, it is only a strategic move to partner with China whose investment in African infrastructure grows every year. So far, Bollore has four partnership agreements with China’s Huawei, the shipping company COSCO, China’s Alibaba and the China Communications Construction Company. In fact, Bolloré Logistics was awarded by China’s Huawei two distinctive Awards, the Excellent Core Partner and the Best-Quality Logistics Service Award in 2017 at the Huawei Logistics Core Partner Convention in Shenzhen, China. Bolloré Logistics received the awards in recognition of its ‘excellence in managing Huawei’s international transportation and supply chain.’ Ancient Trade: China’s proposed Belt and Road Initiative...

The Government of Djibouti, through its Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Prime Economic Zones Company limited (PEZ) for the development of its 10-hectare piece of land located in the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Masoro, Kigali. The agreement will see a joint venture firm established by the two institutions to develop infrastructure and advanced factory units on the land. The land was offered to Djibouti by the Rwandan Government in 2013 in reciprocity to the 20 hectares of land Djibouti offered Rwanda at the Port of Djibouti. Djibouti also gave Rwanda an additional 40 hectares of land in its new Free Economic Zone in 2017 for trade. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of RDB (Rwanda Development Board), Emmanuel Hategeka said : “Our countries are experiencing strong bilateral relations and in addition to the signing of this MoU today, we have shared detailed plans with the Government of Djibouti on how we want to develop the land given to us in Djibouti.” The chairman of the DPFZA, Omar Hadi Aboubaker said: “Our goal is to open up Africa to the rest of the world by connecting Rwanda, which is at the heart to a third international sea port in Djibouti after Mombasa and Dar-es- Salaam. We will develop toll roads connecting Djibouti to Kigali and upon developing the infrastructure and factory units in Kigali; we will look for investors to whom we shall lease out...

The operation of East African ports to GDP grew between 2013 and 2017, as their Southern African competitors registered a drop, a new report shows. Dynamar’s East and Southern Africa Container Trades 2019 Report says East African ports’ contribution to GDP rose from 34 per cent in 2013 to 40 per cent in 2017 as South Africa experienced a 5 per cent drop from $367 billion to $349 billion over the same period. Darron Wadey, a shipping analyst, attributes the improved performance of the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa to increased business from the region’s landlocked countries, which has increased the number of containers handled by the ports. “Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are competing for hinterland cargo to Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. State controlled ports are under increasing pressure to improve and develop their strained infrastructure,” reads the report. However, the port of Durban is still the largest port on the continent, with a 2,700,000 Teu capacity, compared with Mombasa’s 1,190,000 Teu. Among the 22 ports that intercontinental liners calls at, five are on the East African coast, 10 in Southern Africa and the others on Indian Ocean islands. East Africa’s ports handle more agricultural exports and imports of materials used for development, equipment and machinery and vehicles. In Southern Africa, minerals from Mozambique and Zimbabwe comprise the bulk of cargo. The expansion of the Dar es Salaam port, which is aimed at improving effectiveness and efficiency under the Dar es Salaam Maritime...

East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers and head of the body’s organs will Friday convene in Kigali to brainstorm, plan and strategize on how better the bloc can deliver on its objectives and mandate. At a retreat that will be held at the Kigali Convention Centre, the bloc’s leadership will among other things review, discuss and adopt a report containing recommendations and the timeline of their implementation. According to a programme, President Kagame, who is the current Chairperson of the six-nation bloc, is expected to open the retreat and deliver a keynote address. With Rwanda as the current East African Community, the retreat presents an ideal opportunity to mobilize support and focus on key initiatives. According to the retreat’s concept note, the officials will seek ways to fast track the integration and cooperation on issues such as Customs Union and Common Market. The officials will also review and seek to improve the financial and administrative management of the East African Community organs to increase efficiency and effectiveness. The summit will also seek to include and involve more stakeholders in the integration process such as the private sector stakeholders who have often decried low involvement in multiple initiatives. Among the topics likely to feature prominently at the retreat include the low involvement of private sector in integration initiatives, which players have often said has locked them out of opportunities. Speaking at the recent Africa CEO Forum, Tanzanian businessman Ali Mufuruki lamented that most of the drivers in EAC integration have...

President Uhuru Kenyatta has offered landlocked Uganda land to build a dry port in Naivasha town, President Yoweri Museveni has said. Museveni was in Mombasa for talks with Kenyatta aimed at boosting ties between the neighbouring states. The two leaders visited the port of Mombasa and travelled to Nairobi by train on the newly built standard gauge railway. They were received in Mombasa by Transport CS James Macharia, Governor Hassan Joho and Kenya Ports Authority boss Daniel Manduku Museveni said:"We shall take advantage of the petroleum facility built in Kisumu so that we transport our petroleum products across Lake Victoria and save our roads from wear and tear occasioned by the heavy trucks." Museveni, in the company of his host, became the first foreign head of state to travel by train on the Chinese-funded SGR. Museveni began a state visit to Kenya on Wednesday as the two leaders focused on strengthening ties between their nations. Museveni said the railway line had ended landlocked Uganda's "perennial problems of delays" of cargo at the port of Mombasa. He hoped it would be extended to reach Uganda's capital, Kampala. “With reinforcement for the inter-land economy, we are looking forward to the extension of the SGR. "I know that once completed it will take 24 hours to Kampala," he said. The ride was seen as a major endorsement in the push for Kenya and Uganda to build a seamless SGR through Kenya’s western border to Kampala. Financing for the Uganda segment of the SGR...

Kenya continued with its efforts to woo back Uganda to the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project, with President Uhuru Kenyatta saying his administration plans to stop transportation of cargo by road. Kenya has offered several lucrative deals aimed at enticing Uganda to build its SGR line to Kampala. Yesterday, Uhuru offered Uganda land to develop a dry port for its cargo in Naivasha. Ongoing reforms The President also promised to continue with ongoing reforms to improve efficiency at the port of Mombasa, removal of non-tariff barriers such as corruption and red tape in clearance of cargo. Naivasha is being developed into an industrial park.  Museveni had developed a cold feet on SGR. Ugandan officials have been blaming Kenya for failing to commit to financing the remaining two SGR phases, that is, Naivasha to Kisumu and Kisumu to Malaba sections of the line. Kenya secured a Sh150 billion loan from China to extend the railway line from Nairobi to Naivasha after  completion of the Mombasa-Nairobi section. The offer of land to Uganda comes just a day after President Yoweri Museveni renewed commitment to the joint development of the SGR line to Kampala. The latest development means Kenya will offer Kampala autonomy to take charge of its own goods and any transshipment to DRC and Rwanda, that passes through their territory. Uhuru said SGR will have reached Naivasha by August this year and therefore the dry port will be ideal for transit cargo.“I have confirmed to President Museveni that with that development in Naivasha and...

A partnership agreement to launch a joint venture which will see the development of Djibouti’s land in Rwanda, was signed on Thursday in Kigali between the two countries. Djibouti has a 10-hectare piece of land in the Kigali Special Economic Zone which it was gifted in reciprocity to the land that Djibouti had given Rwanda back in 2013. The agreement was signed by leaders from Prime Economic Zones Ltd which manages the Kigali Special Economic Zone and Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority, and was witnessed by Rwanda Development Board (RDB). The joint venture could be established as soon as next week and would pave way for the beginning of the work to develop the land, including designing of project proposals. “Together, we are going to develop infrastructure, advance factory units on the 10 hectares. In the next few months or years, we should see something on the land,” Emmanuel Hategeka, RDB’s Chief Operating Officer told the press during the signing. Jeanne Isabelle Gasana, the Managing Director of Prime Economic Zones (PEZ) told The New Times that both the companies will each have 50 per cent stake in the new joint venture. The leaders did not share many details about the plans for the development of the land, the kind of investments they will make and specific timelines for completion of activities set to be done. However, Aboubaker Omar Hadi, the Chairman of Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority indicated that this was part of the bigger plan for the...

Indian investors have been urged to leverage on the government’s big four agenda and set up textile and pharmaceutical industries in the country. Indian High Commissioner to Kenya, Rahul Chhabra said there was need for Indian investors to partners with their Kenyan counterparts to create more startups in a bid to bridge the trade deficit between the two countries. Speaking Tuesday during an annual trade and investment promotion in Nairobi, Amb. Chhabra noted that India is one of the largest trading partners of Kenya with a total trade volume of Sh200 billion in 2018. “India’s old straight ties with Kenya are known and even though we are trading at 2.2 billion dollars, this is just touching the surface. It should be easily close to 5 billion and should be immediate,” he said. He explained that although the trade volume reflects growth of more than 9 percent from 2017, there still exists a huge potential to increase it even further. To bridge the deficit, the High Commissioner asked Kenyan investors to take advantage of direct trips to Mumbai and create partnerships that will assist them access the huge Indian market and also get partners to help them with capital and skills to startup business in the country. Equally Indian investors were urged to explore and invest in the pharmaceutical and textile sectors that have huge economic potential. “India is the 3rd largest country investing in Kenya and has invested 3 and a half billion and as trade and investment flows. We...

Tanzanian Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Wednesday urged the East African Community (EAC) member countries to invest in digital technology to accelerate implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Hassan said digital health technology also stood a better chance of strengthening regional healthcare services and addressing all aspects of poverty. "We can no longer ignore the direct correlation of poverty and social vulnerability in aggravating poor health," she said when opening the 7th East African Health and Scientific Conference at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in the business capital Dar es Salaam. She said Tanzania has already embarked on digitizing its healthcare system through the Ministry of Health and several other agencies to help track medicine consignment from purchase point to delivery point and online reporting of the adverse effects of the use of medicine and cosmetics. "We have recorded positive impact of our healthcare sector since we embarked on digitizing our systems," she told the conference that has attracted researchers and scientists from the east African region, Africa and beyond the continent. However, the Vice-President said challenges still remained in having adequate manpower to support these initiatives and funds to train new manpower and come up with new initiatives. Gibson Kibiki, the Executive Secretary of the East African Health Research Commission, said digital health technology could improve health governance as well as access to quality and effective delivery of health services. "The rapid increase to mobile technology in Africa has fostered a conducive environment for the use of...