Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Richard Sezibera has allayed fears of a significant trade impact that could result from the current impasse with neighbouring Uganda. Government late last week issued a travel advisory on Rwandans going to Uganda, owing to the spate of illegal detentions of Rwandans and irregular deportations that have been going on for the past two years. Addressing a news conference on Tuesday morning, Sezibera, who also doubles as the Government spokesperson, said that Rwandan borders remain open and allows entry of people and goods from Uganda, despite what he called misleading reports that the borders were closed. He however elaborated on the three issues that Rwanda has had with Uganda for the last two years, one of them being the frustration of goods transiting through Uganda and destined for Rwanda. Rwanda accesses the port of Mombasa in Kenya through Uganda in what is called the Northern Corridor and, according to Sezibera, several trucks headed to or out of Rwanda have been stopped by Ugandan authorities, sometime for weeks, before being released without any explanation. To minimize any negative consequences, Sezibera said that in partnership with the local private sector and allied ministries, there were ongoing efforts to ensure a steady supply of imports and commodities in the country to avoid shortages or price hikes. This will ensure that commodities required in Rwanda are available and at regular prices. He said that they were working on using alternative trade routes and corridors such as Central Corridor via Tanzania. In...

The Extraordinary Summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFA) that took place in Kigali, Rwanda last year brought together African leaders during which the agreement for establishing the free trade area was presented for signatures. The agreement was signed by 44 of the 55 African Union (AU) member states adding another 5 during the AU summit in Mauritania in June bringing the total number of committed countries to 49 by the end of July 2018. The Continental Free Trade Area (CTFA), will unleash Africa’s potential assembling a population of 1.2 billion people, with a GDP of $3.4 trillion as the world’s largest free trade area since the inception of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). To leverage on the CFTA cross border opportunities, Africa will require strategic infrastructure; both physical and financial. Physical infrastructure includes transportation networks such as rail, road and power that underpin the economic growth potential and financial infrastructure comprising of institutions that will enable effective operations and empower Africa to unlock and tap into the opportunities underlined by the agreement. Tanzania is known as the trade gateway for the neighbouring land locked countries through the port in Dar es Salaam. According to the Ministry of Trade, the port handles 60% of Rwanda’s exports and imports. Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Burundi and the Eastern region of Congo (DRC) all depend on the port of Dar es Salaam. Tanzania has commenced review of its policies to spur cross border trade in anticipation of the CFTA. In a statement issued by...

Rwanda has started to allow trucks carrying goods from Uganda to enter at one of the main crossing points on their shared border, the Ugandan government said on Monday, a sign that renewed hostilities have started to ease. Rwanda last week abruptly begun blocking cargo trucks from Uganda from entering its territory as well as stopping its nationals from crossing over to Uganda. Uganda summoned Rwanda’s ambassador to Kampala on Friday to protest against the border closure. Ofwono Opondo, Uganda’s government spokesman, said on Monday that the flow of cargo traffic had been eased at Mirama Hills, one of the three main border crossings between the countries.   Rwanda cabinet extends central bank governor's term by six years Uganda will review allegations of arbitrary detentions of Rwandese which authorities in Kigali have cited as one the reasons for stopping the country’s nationals from coming to Uganda, Opondo said. “Specific cases raised on alleged arbitrary arrests or detentions shall be handled through normal diplomatic channels,” he wrote on Twitter. Two other crossings including the busy Katuna border post remain closed, he said. The hostilities, fuelled by longstanding mutual suspicions and allegations of supporting each other’s dissidents, are unlikely to escalate into war because of overwhelming western diplomatic pressure on both sides to calm the situation, analysts said. Rwanda depends for much of its imports on a trade route through Uganda to Kenya’s Indian Ocean seaport of Mombasa. ove him or hate him, Kagame could be Africa’s Lee Kuan Yew The same...

As the border closure between Rwanda and Uganda entered day six on Monday, the Uganda Revenue Authority revealed that it was taken by surprise by Rwanda’s action, and that pleas to Kigali to find a quick solution to the crisis went unheeded. A March 2 letter by the Commissioner for Customs at URA Dicksons Kateshumbwa to his Rwandan counterpart revealed the scale of the crisis. “Whereas the rationale and spirit behind the decision is appreciated, it would have been more appropriate to undertake the measure as a joint decision, considering the fact that the affected borders are OSBPs (one-stop border posts) where either side is interdependent on the other,” said Kateshumbwa. “Besides, a decision of this nature would ideally give ample time to the stakeholders to enable adjustments to be done so as to comply and in the case of customs to rationalize manpower so that we facilitate trade smoothly. In this particular case, the implementation of the decision was done on the very day of notification.” 'UNCLOG BORDER' Mr Kateshumbwa said most of the stranded cargo had already been cleared under the Single Customs Territory. “We have a clogged Gatuna border post with 10 Rwanda registered trucks, 49 Uganda registered trucks, 37 Kenya registered trucks and nine Burundi registered trucks all carrying mixed goods,” he said, adding that some of the trucks are carrying perishables while 17 of the Kenyan registered trucks are carrying petroleum products. “Therefore, considering the potential risk of these highly flammable products as well as...

While the movement of Rwandans into Uganda is still restricted at the Mirama Hills/ Kagitumba Uganda-Rwanda border, the inflow of trucks has generally increased following the closure of Katuna and Cyanika border posts. Several trucks are parked in Ntungamo town 37 kilometres away from the border due to the long queue on Kagitumba border awaiting clearance to transport goods to Rwanda. However, only a few trucks are coming from the side of Rwanda to Uganda. "We have been clearing on average 40 trucks a day, but now we clear more than 250 daily since the other posts are closed. The government invested too much in constructing this one-stop border post and clearing only 40 meant that it was not performing as expected. I think this is a blessing in disguise for this border and people living around it," Mr Ali Kakande, the clearing agent at Kagitumba border, said on Monday. Residents of villages around this border say the border is busier than it has ever been in the past 20 years, but there is no business going on apart from clearance. "When you allow trucks to move and the people's movement is limited then how do we make business? Rwandans are not allowed to enter Uganda, while us are allowed to enter without interruption there is mutual suspicion that we can avoid too, we can't take there anything for sale and they can't cross to get anything, the border has been deployed with soldiers including on illegal routes, there is...

Uganda is denying charges from neighboring Rwanda that, among other things, it has arrested and tortured dozens of Rwandan citizens, in the latest round of a diplomatic feud between the two nations that’s led to tensions at the border. The Ugandan foreign minister also denied Kigali’s allegations that his country harbors armed groups fighting against Rwanda, while Rwanda’s ministry of foreign affairs on Tuesday denied reports that Rwanda was building up troops along the border with Uganda. “It is false that Uganda hosts any elements fighting Rwanda,” said foreign minister Sam Kutesa in his statement. “Rwanda knows this very well as it has been a matter of confidential communication at the highest level of the two countries.” For his part, Rwandan foreign minister Richard Sezibera denied Uganda’s accusations of intentional border closures in violation of their East African Communitycommitments. Uganda also denied that it ever closes its borders to Rwandans, although there is currently a crossing at Gatuna on the Rwanda side that’s closed through May because of construction upgrades. Yet Sezibera restated Rwanda’s belief that its citizens are arrested, tortured and held without contact by Ugandan authorities. That claim was refuted by Kutesa, who said law-abiding Rwandans are always welcome to visit his country but Uganda will always enforce its laws within its own right to do so. “It is not true that Uganda arrests, tortures and harasses Rwandans,” said Kutesa, noting the country’s open door policy. “It is not by mistake that Uganda continues to be the largest refugee...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday released a concessional loan of 256.2 million U.S. dollars to Tanzania to support construction of a 260-kilometer Kasulu-Manyovu road project in western region of Kigoma. An agreement on the loan was signed in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam between Tanzania's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Doto James, and the AfDB Country Manager for Tanzania, Alex Mubiru. James said the loan will help funding completion of the construction of the road which was estimated to take five years of implementation, facilitating economic activities in the western corridor. The official added: "This road section forms an integral part of the Central Transport Corridor, which plays an important role in the development and facilitation of national and international trade flows in the region." He said the successful implementation of the project will link the port of Dar es Salaam with the country's western regions and open up regional markets in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He said the project will also involve development of social infrastructure including rehabilitation of markets and community water supply and sanitation and construction of health centers in project areas. AfDB Country Manager Mubiru said the signing of the loan agreement increased the transport sector portfolio of the AfDB Group in Tanzania to approximately 880 million U.S. dollars. "On behalf of the AfDB, I would like to reaffirm our commitment in supporting the people and the government of Tanzania in their efforts...

Somaliland and Ethiopia have launched a US$ 400 million road project linking the two countries, ADV learnt here on Monday. Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi and senior Ethiopian government officials laid the cornerstone to the project on Friday, sources. When completed in 18 months, the road will link Somaliland’s Berbera Port with Ethiopia’s border town of Togochale. It will provide access for landlocked Ethiopia to an additional seaport and significantly boost trade between the two countries. Speaking at the occasion, President Abdi described the project as one that demonstrates the “warm people-to-people ties” between the two countries. For his part, Mustafa Mohammed Omar, the regional deputy President of Ethiopia’s Somali Region said the Berbera-Togochale corridor was instrumental in facilitating import-export trade for Ethiopia’s growing economy. The 72 kilometre-road is an ambitious and strategic road project that will also enable Somaliland to benefit greatly from the winds of change blowing across the Horn of Africa. The ‘New Business Ethiopia’ newspaper explained that the road project which was launched on Friday, is being funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. The source recalled that in October 2018, the Dubai Ports World launched the construction work of the Berbera port and signed a 30-year concession agreement to administer the port which is located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden. The source also recalled that a few years ago, Ethiopia signed a 19 per cent joint venture agreement with Somaliland for the Berbera seaport while Dubai held 51 per cent...

Kenyan exporters to the United Kingdom will benefit from reduced trade barriers following the launch of United Bank of Africa-UK.UBA, now the only Sub-Saharan African bank to conduct banking activities in London and 20 other African countries including Kenya, officially unveiled its London subsidiary following regulatory approval from Prudential Regulation Authority, an agency of the Bank of England, to offer wholesale banking activities in the UK. UBA Group Managing Director Kennedy Uzoka said UBA-UK will strengthen the bank’s abilities in meeting the growing cross-border financing needs, while positioning the bank as the prime conduit for trade and foreign investments into and across Africa, as well as export flows to the United Kingdom. “With our expansion in London, African countries trade barriers with the UK have been reduced and we now expect top African exporters to the UK will take advantage of the new bank,” said Mr Uzoka in London during the official launch. He urged investors in the UK to take advantage of the London based Pan African bank to do direct foreign investment in Africa especially in the 20 African countries where UBA bank operates. “We are now set to offer UK to Africa direct investment to boost trade between the UK and African countries. We don’t expect anything negative from the Brexit issue, whatever happens will not affect the UBA-UK vision for Africa,” he added. Kenya’s High Commissioner to the UK, Manoah Esipisu, who also attended the launch of the UBA-UK Bank, welcomed the development saying it is...

Speaking at a press conference held Friday at Skyz Hotel Naguru, Ogoola explained the need for professionals in Uganda to attend the 1st Annual East African Community Conference, slated for 15th March at Naguru Skyz Hotel. Hon. (Rtd) Justice James Ogoola addressing the press during the 1st Annual East African Community Conference at Naguru Skyz Hotel on Friday March 1, 2019. Photo by Karim Ssozi Speaking at a press conference held Friday at Skyz Hotel Naguru, Ogoola explained the need for professionals in Uganda to attend the 1st Annual East African Community Conference, slated for 15th March at Naguru Skyz Hotel. Hon (Rtd) Justice James Ogoola said that youths and professionals should harness the opportunities the East African Integration presents.  Speaking at a press conference held Friday at Skyz Hotel Naguru, Ogoola explained the need for professionals in Uganda to attend the 1st Annual East African Community Conference, slated for 15th March at Naguru Skyz Hotel. The conference, he added, will be held under the theme ‘Legal, Economic and Business Implications of East African Intergration. “Because East African Intergration brings not only economic but also legal business and political implications, we anticipate to have participants from a wide variety of back grounds including, bankers, economists, lawyers, entrepreneurs, accountants, retailers, logisitics handlers, oil and gas practitioners, civil servants and politicians,” he explained. He added that the East African Community Conference will provide an opportunity for companies, individuals and organizations looking to trade across the region to gain visibility, learn best practices...