President Uhuru Kenyatta opened the first section of the Dongo Kundu bypass constructed at a cost of Sh11 billion, which will ease the perennial traffic congestion at Kenya’s second largest city of Mombasa. The 10 kilometre bypass runs from the Second Container Terminal of the Mombasa Port and joins the Mombasa – Nairobi Highway at Bonje near Mazeras. The only available connection to the southern part of the Kenya’s coast was using the Likoni Ferry along the Kilindini harbour that is plagued by traffic congestion. “This road we are commissioning today is a unique piece of infrastructure. It is designed with provisions to integrate seamlessly with the Port of Mombasa, the Moi International Airport, the Standard Gauge Railway, the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway, and the upcoming Mombasa Northern Bypass,” said the President at Bonje where the launch ceremony was held. The bypass is part of a grand plan by the Kenyan government to open up Kenya’s coast with several key infrastructural investments. These include the expansion of Port of Mombasa and its link roads, the development of Standard Gauge Railway both for cargo as well as passenger terminal as well as the development of the northern bypass which links the Mombasa- Nairobi road with the north coast at Kilifi. These are major connections to the Lamu Port under construction as well as to Tanzania border in Lungalunga, a major trade and commerce border port. The bypass is designed to ease the huge traffic snarl-ups that have always affected movement of people and evacuation of...

"The best is the enemy of the good" is an expression associated with Voltaire. It just might have critical relevance for the relation between the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), the Common Markert for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa)-the East African Community(EAC) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and the regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa. But on June 8, 2018, Kenya deposited with Comesa Secretariat in Lusaka, the instrument of ratification of the TFTA, having ratified ACFTA as well and deposited the instrument with the African Union Commission. Both South Africa and Uganda were also taking the same approach of ratifying both. Just a year ago, it all looked impossible to many around the world that Africa could have a Continental Free Trade Area. But for some, this was de javu, for it was the same trepidation in 2015 just before the TFTA was launched on 10 June in Egypt. The TFTA was an African revelation, for it demonstrated the palpable possibility of and spurred strategists towards a continental equivalent. Having missed the deadline of December 2017, ACFTA was duly launched a mere three months later on March 21, 2018 in Kigali, with 44 out of the 55 African countries signing the Agreement on the spot. World history was made, despite entrenched skepticism rooted in pessimistic narratives about Africa but delighting and vindicating optimists around the world. There was some pending work though. Precise time frames were duly set. Annexes (with detailed...

The Kenya Ports Authority has recorded huge improvement in cargo clearance and ship performance in just a few days since the new management took office. On Monday, the parastatal announced it had reduced the number of containers sitting at the port from an all time high of 22,500 to about 10,000. New MD Daniel Manduku attributed the improvement to efficiency measures, including seamless connection of operations between discharge and eventual delivery to location. "We are committed to ensure that the numbers go much lower while maintaining good business practice. Those discharging from the cranes, those transporting from the terminal, those evacuating out of the port, and those doing documentation, all work in harmony," he told the Star. Manduku said anyone implicated in graft will be summarily dismissed and prosecuted. He said no contraband will be allowed to pass through the port whose management is working with other agencies to enforce the law. Manduku said that the chain process must be efficient because a small break in the link is normally passed on to eventual clogging of the port. At the same time, he revealed that a new record ship performance has been registered at the Port of Mombasa, two years after the last one was set in 2015. Container carrier Ms Kota Lambai, docked at berth No.17 and recorded 82 gross moves per hour, handling a total of 4,367 Twenty-toot Equivalent Units (TEUs). The vessel recorded her first sling on Saturday at 8.20am and sailed on Sunday morning after registering...

Kampala. East African currencies, including the Ugandan and Tanzanian shillings as well as the Rwanda franc have taken a beating as they continue to weaken against the dollar. The Ugandan shilling has edged downwards by 3.6 per cent against the dollar since January while the Tanzanian shilling has edged by 1.8 per cent. The Rwanda franc has been a bit resistant only weakening by 0.9 per cent. The Uganda shilling has been the worst hit closing last Thursday at Shs3,824 against the dollar, according to Bank of Uganda. The weakening trends present a tricky situation for the region, which has been recovering from a difficult period characterised by a rapid increase in imports, relatively violent elections and slowed economic growth. This has not been helped by stagnated or reduced growth in the export sector. The Uganda shilling, according to Mr Stephen Kaboyo, the Alpha Capital managing partner, has been undermined by surging dollar demand amid low forex inflows. “Bank of Uganda’s intervention [last week] provided a short period of relief,” he said, highlighting the likelihood of continued weakening of the Uganda shilling in the weeks ahead. “Outlook indicates sustained weakening in the coming days on account of intense demand from importers and commercial banks,” he said. The Central Bank, Mr Kaboyo said, had last week only sold Shs101b worth of dollars against the targeted Shs180b after the unit lost almost Shs50 of its value in just three days. Earlier, Bank of Uganda had said it would not intervene in the...

Tanzania’s priorities in the 2018/2019 budget are its flagship infrastructure projects and creating a conducive environment for investment and business, especially in the agriculture sector. In the budget presented last week on Thursday by Finance Minister Philip Mpango, the focus was on agriculture, infrastructure and industrialisation. Dr Mpango is seeking to improve irrigation infrastructure, warehouses and markets, supply of inputs, dissemination of skills and development of the livestock and fisheries sub-sectors. On industries, he is proposing to implement a recently developed blueprint for regulatory reforms to improve the business environment. The budget also plans to prioritise social services such as clean water, free basic education, improved health facilities and supplies. The finance minister has allocated funds to support electricity generation, construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR) and improving regional and rural road connectivity, air and marine transport. The construction of the SGR, new trunk roads, revival of the ailing Air Tanzania Corporation, expansion of airports and ports also top the government’s agenda. The government is allocating 12.9 per cent of the total budget amounting to Tsh4.2 trillion ($2.1 billion) to the development of major infrastructure projects aimed at making Tanzania a middle-income economy in the next seven years. About Tsh1.4 trillion ($700 million) has been earmarked for the construction of the SGR between Dar es Salaam-Morogoro (300km) and Morogoro-Makutopora in the capital city of Dodoma (422km).This is significantly higher than the Tsh900 billion ($400 million) set aside in the 2017/2018 financial year. The government has set aside Tsh215 billion...

Tanzania is proposing to implement sweeping changes in the East African Community common external tariff (CET) regime, increasing duty on almost three quarters of the goods, as it seeks to protect local industries. Kenya also announced similar measures, but on a smaller scale, saying it is important to grow local industries and increase production while protecting producers from cheap imports. Last month, finance ministers from the East African Community agreed to effect changes to the CET and make amendments to the EAC Customs Management Act 2004, to protect local industries and farmers from cheap imports of items like sugar, maize, wheat and rice, as well as Customs-related taxation measures. However, only Tanzania has sought to fully implement these changes in the 2018/19 fiscal year, with Kenya only proposing to implement three of the proposed 25 changes. Uganda and Rwanda have not proposed any changes in the budgets delivered on Thursday. The current CET is based on three bands: 25 per cent for finished goods, 10 per cent for intermediate goods and zero per cent for raw materials and capital goods, with a limited number of products on the “sensitive goods” list, which attract rates above the maximum 25 per cent. The three-band tariff package has been blamed for killing competitiveness of local businesses and obstructing intra-regional trade by forcing them to pay duty of 25 per cent on some imported inputs which should ordinarily attract zero per cent or 10 per cent duty. The EAC CET was last reviewed in...

Transport and trade in and around the port city of Mombasa received a major boost with the opening of the first phase of the Sh11 billion Dongo Kundu bypass. The bypass will ease transport of cargo by road from the port of Mombasa and boost business between Kenya and Tanzania. Residents, too, will have an alternative to the congested Likoni channel once phases two and three of the project are complete. “There is also the Dongo Kundu special economic zone whose construction will move faster because of the completion of the road. When the zone is complete our youth will secure employment,” said the president, who was flanked by his deputy William Ruto and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho. President Uhuru Kenyatta said the road will open up the economy of Mombasa and the entire country. He said the 10 kilometre Miritini-Mwache-Kipevu link road or phase one of the Dongo Kungu bypass was part of the thousands of kilometres of roads his government was doing. Related Content Sh11bn ocean bypass ready for use MAJOR DEVELOPMENT “There are those who said that some roads like the Mariakani- Bamba road will not be a reality but they can now see that movement has been smooth on that road and no passenger or motorist is delayed,” he said. The major infrastructure development by Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has transformed Mombasa, easing traffic and movement of people and goods. Mombasa is Kenya’s main international gateway by sea and therefore crucial to its economy. The...

President Museveni and visiting top Chinese communist party’s executive, Mr Wang Yang, on Friday launched completed sections of the 51.4km Entebbe expressway. Mr Wang, who is chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, described the expressway as a “starting point in Uganda’s economic takeoff.” “Travel time [on the expressway] will be cut from two hours to 40 minutes. I hope the road will give Uganda the wings to fly to industrialisation and Vision 2040,” Mr Wang said. He said the road is part of China’s Silk Road belt project, the initiative to enhance connectivity from mainland China to Africa and Europe, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Mr Wang, the number four in the Chinese communist party’s politburo, was accompanied by senior Chinese government officials, who included vice president of Exim Bank. They arrived in Uganda from the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville on Wednesday for a three-day state visit. Chinese-African support President Museveni described the Entebbe expressway as an outcome of enhanced Chinese-African support, which includes bankrolling the Shs1.5 trillion expansion of Entebbe International Airport, and the Karuma and Isimba hydropower dams, with combined cost Shs6.7 trillion. He urged China to deal with African countries, not as narrower regional economic groupings such as East African Community, Common Market for East and Southern Africa, Economic Community of West African States and Southern African Development Community, but as one trading bloc after the recent signing of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) treaty in Kigali, Rwanda in...

KAMPALA, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Bridging over a swamp fully covered with green weeds, the 1,450-meter-long Nambigirwa bridge in southern Uganda is one of the longest bridges in East Africa. The bridge is part of the Chinese company-built Kampala-Entebbe expressway that links the Ugandan capital Kampala and the country's main gateway Entebbe International Airport. The whole expressway project consists of a four-lane dual carriageway with the length of 49.56-kilometers, bridges, major interchanges, underpasses and toll plazas. The construction of the project started in 2012. China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), the constructor, handed over a 4.1-kilometer-long reconstruction section on Nov. 12, 2017 and a 37.21-kilometer-long toll section on May 18, 2018. Currently, the expressway is capable of being open to traffic and is in trial operation. Funded by the concessional loan from China, the expressway is expected to alleviate problems in terms of travel time and comfort, and to enable people to do business more efficiently, according to Edward Katumba-Wamala, Ugandan Minister of State for Works. Over the years, travelers passing through the Entebbe airport have increased hugely, and the number of the travelers is likely to increase with time, Wamala told Xinhua. On the other hand, the traffic volume in Uganda has been increasing over the years and roads that were made for the traffic of the 1970s can no longer accommodate the traffic of today, he said. One of the pains people are facing when travelling to and from the airport is that at times they would miss...

Rwandan coffee will be showcased at the World of Coffee exhibition in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from June 21 to- 23, the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) has confirmed. The World of Coffee exhibition is Europe’s largest coffee gathering and one of the world’s distinguished coffee events. Over 6000 coffee professionals will convene in Amsterdam for the event organized by the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), which Rwanda subscribes to. Rwandan Coffee with its complex and diverse flavours will be exhibited and tasted by prominent European specialty coffee importers, roasters and retailers. Officials say the 2018 edition of the World of Coffee will be another opportunity for Rwanda Coffee to reach thousands of coffee industry stakeholders as the exercise will generate business deals and seek more investment opportunities within the coffee sector in Rwanda. “This is an invaluable experience for international coffee enthusiasts, key industry players and of course many other interested parties to discover and enjoy the specialty coffees from Rwanda’, said Rwanda’s envoy to Netherlands, Jean Pierre Karabaranga said. A delegation of 15 exhibitors from Rwanda will participate in the exhibition. Their participation will be facilitated by a joint collaboration of the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in The Netherlands and National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). The Rwandan exhibitors will also raise awareness about the up-coming ‘African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition’ to be hosted in Kigali in February 2019, he said. Source: The New Times