Tanzanian and rwandan tour operators have signed an agreement to promote their tourism products as one package. The pact between the Tanzania Association of Travel Operators (TATO) and Rwanda Tours and Travel Association (RTTA) signed in Kigali on March 5, is designed to market the two countries as complementary destinations and offer more products to tourists. “The key objectives of this strategic partnership is to make the best use of our comparative tourist products advantages for mutual benefits. We are hopeful that it will be a fruitful partnership," said TATO chief executive officer Sirili Akko, who signed the deal with the RTTA vice chairperson Carolyn Namatovu. The agreement was the culmination of a networking event in Kigali to share ideas on how to improve tourist numbers in the two countries. The organisations will introduce travel itineraries that cut across the border. Rwanda and Tanzania are popular tourist destinations, and each country recognises tourism as an important forex earner. The sector contributes over 50 per cent of Rwanda’s gross domestic product, mainly through the sale of permits to track the endangered mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park. The cost of one such permit was doubled from $750 to $1,500 in 2017. Other top tourism products offered by Rwanda are chimpanzee watching and a canopy walk offering scenic views in Nyungwe Forest National Park, plus kayaking and boat cruising in Lake Kivu. Tanzania is known for exceptional wildlife viewing safaris in its national parks, which now is number 21 after five...

The third joint Trade Policy Review of the East African Community (EAC) takes place on 20 and 22 March, 2019 to provide clarification from the EAC members on its trade policies and practices. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and the EAC, along with policy statements submitted by Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Report by the Secretariat: Summary The East African Community (EAC) consists of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan (which is not yet a WTO Member). Agriculture remains the key driver of the economies of the EAC countries but the services sector is the main contributor to their GDP. In fact, most of the populations (about 80%) live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. High costs of doing business limit the importance of manufacturing to these economies, while recent oil discoveries, mainly in Kenya and Uganda, are expected to boost the economic development of the countries. Nonetheless, EAC countries face various socio-economic challenges despite their favourable conditions for agriculture, their important sources of renewable energy, and their total population of over 168.2 million. With the exception of Kenya, they all remain least developed countries (LDCs) and are yet to significantly diversify their economies. During the period under review, the EAC WTO Members recorded strong GDP growth driven by increased public investments in transport and energy infrastructures, favourable weather conditions and strategic policy interventions. Agricultural production was boosted and, driven by buoyant tourism activities, the services...

A majority of African countries collect only about 16 percent of their GDP in taxes undermining their capacity to fund development projects. South Africa and Rwanda are some of the few countries that have been able to leverage new technologies to expand revenue collection to at least 25 percent. Ms Vera Songwe, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) executive secretary, said the ability to increase revenue collection is key to the continent’s capacity to finance its own development, in particular Agenda 2030 for sustainable development and Africa’s Agenda 2063. She was speaking at the opening session of the 38th meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Marrakesh, Morocco on Thursday. “The potential of Africa is, and has always been, promising. With a growing working-age population; abundant arable land and a multitude of other resources, the continent has all the pre-requisites for rapid economic transformation in the next decade,” she said. “However, ensuring the availability of adequate public resources and quality investments to drive structural change requires responsive policies that promote fiscal sustainability, optimise returns from economic activity, and enable economies to fully participate in an increasingly interconnected and globalised world.” At the conference, delegates are expected to discuss modalities of how to better finance Africa’s growth and ways to ensure that the young populations participate in the economies. Adam Elhiraika, the director of the macroeconomics and governance at ECA said African countries greatly needs policies to diversify...

Just when poverty-reduction efforts around the world were already slowing, recent forecasts indicate that the global economy is heading into a period of deepening uncertainty. That makes measures to boost growth and expand economic opportunity all the more urgent – which is why revitalising trade must be high on the global policy agenda. The evidence is clear: as an engine of economic growth and a critical tool for combating poverty, trade works. With today’s trade tensions, it is easy to lose sight of the progress the world has made over the past few decades of economic integration. Since 1990, more than one billion people have lifted themselves out of poverty, owing to growth that was underpinned by trade. And today, countries are trading more and deepening economic ties even faster than in past decades. There are currently more than 280 trade agreements in place around the world, compared to just 50 in 1990. Back then, trade as a share of global GDP was around 38%; in 2017, it had reached 71%. Open trade is particularly beneficial to the poor, because it reduces the cost of what they buy and raises the price of what they sell. As new research from the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation makes clear, farmers and manufacturing workers earn more income when their products can reach overseas markets. In Vietnam, for example, a series of trade reforms in the 1980s and 1990s helped transform the country into an export powerhouse, sharply reducing poverty there....

A new study has urged member countries of the East African Community (EAC) to adopt labour migration policies based on international best practices, improve data management and boost the operationalization of One Stop Border Posts. The comparative study assesses migration patterns and policy issues in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania – four of the six EAC countries. In 2010, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that there were about 19.3 million migrants in Africa, of which 8.4 million were classified as migrant workers. In 2015, the estimated population of the EAC, which also includes South Sudan and Uganda, was over 145.5 million people, with a gross domestic product of about USD 147.5 billion. As the region intensifies efforts to achieve its integration milestones, specifically within the context of the EAC Common Market Protocol, cross-border labour movements have made labour migration a pertinent issue for the partner states. The East African Common Market Protocol provides for the movement of persons, travel documents and the free movement of workers in particular. It focuses on three migration issues: national policy frameworks, data management and migrant worker practices. “We appreciate the commitment and cooperation from the United Republic of Tanzania in conducting this study and are confident that the presentation of the results will assist the Government of Tanzania and the other three EAC Member States in improving their management of migration flows, in particular those related to labour,” said IOM Tanzania Chief of Mission Dr. Qasim Sufi. “As people throughout the world are becoming more and more mobile, labour...

The Kenya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia organized the first Kenya-Tunisia Business Forum with the aim of creating long-term economic relations between Tunisia and Kenya. The forum which was held in a Nairobi hotel saw the participation of a high level delegation from the Kenya and Tunisia government led by State department for industry PS, Betty Maina, Tunisia Minister of Commerce Omar Behi as well as high level investors from both countries. Source: Business Daily

The Kenyan Government is back to the negotiating table with China for another loan of around 370 billion shillings to complete the third phase of the standard gauge railway (SGR). The Kenya Railways Acting Director Philip Mahinga said that the corporation was in negotiations to seek finance for the extension of the railway to Malaba in Busia County. The SGR, which will be 974-kilometres with the distance from Mombasa to Malaba in Busia County, will leave Kenya more heavily indebted to the Chinese country with obvious concern of the country succumbing to China. The SGR was only able to give an annual revenue return of 10 billion shillings despite using up 12 billion shillings to finance its annual operations in the same year. The taxpayer has hence had to part away with one billion shillings every month to finance the SGR that brought a loss of 2 billion at the end of the year not forgetting that it was expected to also repay a monthly servicing of its loan which amounts to 36 billion shillings. For the SGR to be viable, it needs to make returns of over 48 billion yearly to sustain itself and repay its loan. The SGR should have been in a position to sustain itself and repay its loan in its current state before another loan can be added onto the taxpayer’s shoulders, unless the Government does not care for the countries assets. 2019 has been predicted as a scary year for Kenya as the grace...

Ndoto ya Tanzania kuwa nchi ya uchuni wa kati ifikapo mwaka 2025 ipo karibu kutimia.  Hayo yalisemwa jana na Dkt. Tausi Mbaga Kida, Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wa Taasisi ya Utafiti wa Masuala ya Uchumi na Jamii (Economic and Social Research Foundation- ESRF) katika semina iliyoandaliwa kwa pamoja baina ya taasisi hiyo na Benki ya Dunia kujadili safari ya Tanzania kuelekea uchumi wa kati.  Akizungumza katika semina hiyo, Dkt. Tausi Kida alisema kuwa hadi kufikia sasa pato la wastani la mtanzania ni dola za kimarekani (USD) 910 wakati inahitajika kwa taifa kufikisha kiwango cha pato la wastani la USD 995 kuwa taifa la uchumi wa kati.  “We are almost there – tumekaribia kabisa kufika” Kinachotakiwa sasa ni kuzidisha juhudi ili kasi ya ukuaji wa uchumi usishuke bali izidi kuongezeka – alisema.  Ili kuifikia lengo hilo, Dkt. Tausi Kida alishauri pia kufanyika mageuzi katika sekta ya kilimo kwa kuongeza tija sambamba na kuongeza usindikaji wa mazao ya kilimo hii ikiwa ni katika jitihada za kuondokana na kilimo cha kujikimu na kujikita zaidi katika kilimo cha kibiashara chenye kulenga mahitaji ya soko la ndani na nje.  Sambamba na hilo, Dkt Tausi Kida alishauri pia kuongeza uwekezaji katika rasilimali watu hususani kuboresha upatikaji wa huduma za afya, elimu na maji kama njia ya uhakika ya kuondokana na umaskini ifikapo mwaka 2025.  Akifafanua zaidi, Dkt Tausi Kida alieleza kwamba tangu mwaka 2000, Tanzania imekuwa ikitekeleza Dira ya Maendeleo ya Taifa (Development Vision 2025) inayolenga kuifikisha Tanzania kuwa nchi ya uchumi wa kati ifikapo mwaka 2025.   Dkt....

Expansion of the Dar es Salaam Port under the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP) has reached 50 per cent. The project is aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the port for the benefit of private and public stakeholders, raising the flow of cargo from around 20 million tonnes to 28 million tonnes annually. In a 2014 report by the World Bank, inefficiencies at the port were costing Tanzania and its neighbors up to Tshs.5.9 trillion ($2.6 billion) a year. The project involves two components, including improving the physical infrastructure and institutional strengthening and implementation assistance. Project Manager Anastasia Seledi explained that the project was half way of its implementation in the wake of a good job done by the contractors, the Chinese Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC). The project is being financed in part by the World Bank, which has contributed roughly Ths.805 billion ($350 million) in loans and grants, while the bulk of the remainder – approximately Tshs.161 billion ($70 million) – is being provided by the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA). The UK`s department of International Development has also put forward grant assistance. The port has seen rising traffic over the past five years between 2011 and 2016. The pressure of the increased traffic put on the port`s infrastructure and intermodal connections is particularly notable, given that it currently handles roughly 95 per cent of Tanzania`s external trade. Dar port`s capacity outstrips that of the country`s next two largest ports, Tanga and Mtwara which when combined can handle...

Vibrant sustainable economies require the full inclusion and participation of all citizens and especially women, the latest joint statement by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and TradeMark Africa (TMA) says. This, it says, should be anchored on creating opportunities for decent work driven by innovation and infrastructure development. Revenue authorities, due to their strategic role in trade within countries, are best positioned to initiate and marshal women participation in trade. URA and TMA made the statement while signing an MOU that stipulates the two institutions commitment to scale ongoing initiatives already undertaken by the revenue authority under the banner Women Traders Trade Facilitation Framework. Building the capacity of women in trade and simplifying customs clearance processes and procedures will be core of the initiatives supported. Further the two institutions will advocate for gender responsiveness among partners and stakeholders, improve access to trade information and build platforms that will enhance communication between URA and women traders. TradeMark Africa (TMA) CEO Frank Matsaert stated that ensuring women participation at all levels of trade and supporting pragmatic interventions that resolve women unique challenges can only be done if the private and public sector build partnerships. This, he said is pivotal to East Africa’s economic transformation. “It is crucial to ensure that all its citizens, especially women, are involved in trade and other economic activities” said Matsaert, adding that he hopes the MOU will lead to implementation of transformative projects in Uganda which can be scaled up to other countries. Mr. Matsaert emphasised TMA’s commitment...