South Sudan began witnessing a significant recovery in trade along the border with Uganda after securing a peace deal that brought security. Deliberate movements and businesses at Nimule, a border town, are an indication for stability that satisfies both South Sudanese and Ugandans. Accelerated business that was enjoyed after the peace agreement was signed was a considerably positive change in the twon, stated South Sudanese businessman Tombe Abdullamid. "My business at the border is very flexible and the verification of the goods at both the Ugandan site of Elegu and Nimule is very encouraging," Abdullamid added. Source: MENAFN

EXPANSION of Dar es Salaam Port under the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP) has reached 50 per cent, it has been learnt. The project is aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the port for the benefit of public and private stakeholders.    It involves two components, including improving the physical infrastructure and institutional strengthening and implementation assistance. Project Manager Anastazia Seledi explained that the project was half way of its implementation in the wake of a good job done by the contractors. It is constructed by the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). The project is being financed in part by the World Bank, which has provided roughly $350m in loans and grants, while the bulk of the remainder – approximately $70m – is being provided by the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA). The UK’s Department for International Development has also put forward grant assistance. The Port of Dar es Salaam 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 es Salaam’s capacity far outstrips that of the country’s next two largest ports, Tanga and Mtwara, which combined handle around 1m tonnes of traffic annually. In order to improve the Port of Dar es Salaam’s operational efficiency, donor-funded trade initiative Trademark East Africa is providing the TPA with technical support in the rehabilitation of...

Vibrant sustainable economies require the full inclusion and participation of all citizens and especially women, a joint statement by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and TradeMark Africa (TMA) says. This 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. TMA and URA 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 Mr.  Frank Matsaert said 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 Mr. 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 to...

In a week that marks the anniversary of the treaty for an African continental free trade area, signed in Kigali on 18 March 2018, this column asks whether it is a turning point on the road towards economic integration. There are signs of progress: the inclusion of negotiations on trade in services; progress-tracking on removing barriers to trade in goods; easing the movement of persons; and improving hard and soft infrastructure to lower trade costs. But starting off with a small membership that does not include all the big players and the possibility of backsliding under the guise of indiscriminate promotion of regional value chains pose serious threats. Source: the Forum

On a trip to East Africa last week, a beaming French President Emmanuel Macron was driven through the grounds of the Kenyan president’s official residence in a locally assembled Peugeot 3008 car. Two days earlier, he toured churches hewn into the rock in Ethiopia. On a visit last year, he went to a Nigerian nightclub. Macron, 41, is trying to recast the style of France’s engagement in Africa, where it was once a colonial power, hoping that building warmer cultural and personal ties will help boost business, trade and investment. He signed contracts worth about 2 billion euros ($2.27 billion) while in Kenya, whereas British Prime Minister Theresa May did not conclude any on a similar trip last August. A consortium led by Vinci secured a 30-year concession worth 1.6 billion euros to operate a highway linking the Kenyan capital and Mau Summit in western Kenya. Renewables firm Voltalia sealed a 70-million-euro contract for a solar power plant and an Airbus-led consortium won a 200 million euro deal for coastal and maritime surveillance. But Macron’s four-day tour of Kenya, Ethiopia and former colony Djibouti showed how big a battle France faces in Africa, where China, Turkey and others have moved in quickly and aggressively, and competition is fierce from African countries. In 2017, French exports to Kenya, a former British colony, were about $200 million — about half Uganda’s exports to its neighbour. China exported $3.8 billion, making it Kenya’s biggest trading partner. The personal touch is vital when competing...

Pakistan emerged as the leading buyer of Kenyan tea as the commodity exports to the country surged to  15.2 million kilogrammes, equivalent to 15200 tonnes, which is valued at US$34.79 million (Sh3.5 billion) during the month of January 2019. According to data from the Tea Directorate, the Asian country purchases accounted to 32 percent of the total volume that was exported during the period as it continues to cement its position as the top buyer of Kenyan whose. “Pakistan was the leading export destination for Kenyan tea,” said the directorate. According to a report by Business Daily, total tea exports during the month amounted to 47 million kilogrammes with 43 countries importing the beverage, which was up from 32 countries in the corresponding period last year. Kenya’s top 10 tea export destinations accounted for 87 percent of the export volume with all the key markets recording higher imports from Kenya compared with previous year. Among the other key destinations of the commodity included Egypt at 11.07 million Kgs, UK at 5.82 million Kgs, United Arab Emirates at 2.79 Million Kgs and Russia importing 1.84 Million Kgs of Kenyan Tea. Sudan imported 1.44 million Kgs, Yemen 1.12 million Kgs with Saudi Arabia absorbing 0.78 Million Kgs while Switzerland and Afghanistan imported 0.77 million Kgs and 0.75 million Kgs of the commodity respectively. According to the directorate, significant higher tea imports from Kenya were also recorded among the emerging markets of Iran, Nigeria, Ireland, Turkey, China, Malaysia, South Africa, Canada, Oman, Chad and...

Tanzania has launched an international gold trading centre in the gold-rich region of Geita. Tanzania will thus join South Africa and Botswana, which boast a gold exchange hub and diamond bullion market respectively. The centre, inaugurated on March 17, is among reforms introduced in the mining sector in the past three years to curb mineral smuggling. The gold hub is meant to ease mineral trading, and ensure that businesses pay the required levies to the government. Geita produces over 40 per cent of the gold exported from the country. According to Geita Regional Commissioner Robert Gabriel, each of the five districts in the region will have one gold collection centre for small-scale miners, and two banks where gold trading will be taking place. Early last month, parliament approved a Bill designed to relieve small-scale miners of the burden of paying withholding tax of 5 per cent and an 18 per cent value added tax. This leaves the holders of a primary licence with a 7 per cent tax obligation only. The development is in line with President John Magufuli's latest directive to ensure that Tanzania takes the lead in the international gold business. "We are not profiting from our gold as we should," said President Magufuli. In 2017, President Magufuli ordered the military to construct a 24km perimeter wall surrounding the tanzanite mines in Mererani, Manyara Region, to curb smuggling of the rare gemstone. Later on, he gave a 30-day ultimatum for installation of surveillance cameras round the tanzanite mines....

Regional feuds are reaching a boiling point. Last year, Excel Trucking a Kenyan-based transportation company was contracted to transport a consignment of goods from Mombasa to Soroti, Uganda on behalf of another firm. The sub-contracting agreement mandated the company to deliver the goods to clearing agents – Rock Trust Contractors, on behalf of Wilta Cargo Services, another Ugandan firm, by December 31, 2018.  The goods were delivered by December 20, intact ten days to the deadline. However, Rock Trust Contractors impounded the trucks stating that it was owed money by Wilta Cargo. “We were informed the trucks can’t be released until we pay Sh1.5 million which was unreasonable since we fulfilled our contractual obligations and have no part to play in any existing dispute between the two firms,” said Excel Trucking Chief Executive Francis Omondi. The trucks were stuck in Uganda for three months with Rock Trust ignoring orders from Kenyan and Ugandan authorities to release them to Excel Trucking. “This is very unprofessional and threatens trade relations between Kenya and Uganda because transporters from Uganda fear they could face the same treatment on the Kenyan side,” said William Kidima, an official at Wilta Cargo and a representative of Uganda Traders Association. Last week, the trucks were forcibly removed from the custody of Rock Trust after intervention from Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Excel Trucking is now seeking damages for the illegal seizure of its assets.  “We have lost close to Sh2 million in business and expenses moving between...

I think so little of the squabble between Uganda and Rwanda, which blew up when Kigali decided to close the Katuna border (in Rwanda Gatuna) to build a one-stop border point, that I won’t dwell much on it. There’s, however, a telling and interesting story behind the Gatuna/Katuna name. Until 1926, Katuna was part of Rwanda. It became part of Uganda when the Belgians and British cut a deal over the two countries’ border. Which brings up a question that many puzzled non-Ugandans have asked me – are Banyarwanda one of the “tribes” of Uganda? Under President Yoweri Museveni’s rule, who is or is not a Rwandan is as emotive an issue as who is or isn’t a Kenyan Somali. Thus, while in the 2009 Kenya census there was an uproar after it reported “too many Somalis,” leading to that specific statistic being quashed, the 1991 census in Uganda also found “too many Banyarwanda,” and their numbers were fudged when it became a hot political potato. The reality is that, as the wonderful Ramkrishna Mukherjee observed in his book Uganda, an historical accident?, first published before Independence, already by that time Ugandans of Rwandan ancestry (a result of migration, political phenomena, and intermarriage dating back to the 14th century, were probably one of the largest nationalities in the country. Today, that hasn’t changed. At the end of last year, I asked Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani (author of When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda) where he saw the...

Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to demilitarize the disputed common borders between the two countries within one month, the defense ministries of the two countries said on Monday, says Anadolu Agency. Lt. Gen. Kamal Abdul Maroof, chief of staff of the Sudanese national army, told a press conference in the capital Khartoum that the two sides would implement the previous recommendations of a deal for forming a demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries. “After we listened to a report from the United Nations Interim Security Forces For Abyei [UNISFA], we agreed that within one month that all the forces within the demilitarized buffer zone would be pulled out from this area,” he confirmed. “We will also send a joint technical team from the two sides and with experts from the UNISFA in one month to the border areas to make sure that all the forces will be redeployed out of these areas,” he stressed. Kuol Manyang Juuk, South Sudan’s defense minister, told reporters that border crossings between the two nations would also be opened within one month, adding that the defense ministers would also meet on April 17 to follow up implementation of the deal. “Now we have taken measures to evacuate the buffer zone and make sure that there are no soldiers within that area and that would be verified by UNISFA, and we have also created crossing points, and along these crossing points migration and other offices would be opened,” he explained. Sudan has led the mediation...