Government is considering revising the current law on plastic products with the goal of banning single-use plastic materials such as straws, disposable cutleries among others, Environment minister Dr Vincent Biruta has said. Speaking in Kigali at the launch the National Environment Week on Tuesday, Biruta said that since Rwanda prohibited the manufacture, importation, use and sale of polythene bags over a decade ago “remarkable” environmental benefits have been registered. However, he said, the continued use of some “avoidable plastic products” remains a threat to the fight against environmental degradation. “Today, the challenge we face is no longer polythene bags alone, but all plastics, especially those used once and thrown away. We are in the process of revising the plastics law to reduce single use plastics and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of plastic recycling in the country,” Biruta noted. A fortnight ago, the Ministry of Environment and its affiliated agencies announced that they will no longer be using disposable plastics, including the traditional single-use water bottles. The institutions have since installed water dispensers and replaced bottles with glasses and cups in offices and during meetings. A few other public institutions such as the Ministry of Justice have since joined this effort and taken the “Beat Plastic Pollution” pledge and Biruta hopes others will follow suit soon. To demonstrate how far the ministry will go to drive this campaign forward, there was not a single plastic bottle at the event to launch the Environment Week. According to the minister, this was...

Arusha — The East African Community (EAC) has denied it is negotiating with China on a free trade agreement (FTA) proposed by the Asian economic giant. "Currently, there is no EAC-China FTA and no negotiations have begun, in this regard," an EAC official told The Citizen on condition of anonymity since she was not authorised to speak to the media on policy matters. She said recent reports on purported discussions on free trade between the EAC and China were due to "miscommunication". The official nevertheless confirmed that China had proposed to negotiate with EAC partner states a comprehensive FTA in order to boost trade volumes between the two sides. China, currently the world's second biggest economy, had also requested for a joint feasibility study with the community on the proposed trade arrangement. "This matter was considered by the EAC Council of Ministers in early 2016," the official said. She noted, however, that in view of similar requests received from other countries such as Turkey and Singapore, the EAC secretariat decided to undertake a study on implications of such negotiations. The study will inform the Council of Ministers, which is the policy organ of the EAC, on the way forward and subsequent response to requests by China and other foreign countries. "In this regard, the secretariat communicated with the concerned parties that the EAC was to undertaking internal consultations on their proposals and would revert after consultations are finalised," the official said. In June, last year, the EAC secretariat approved a...

Activities at Mombasa port remained paralysed yesterday due to alleged massive system failure. However, some sources have said operational inefficiencies, high level corruption and cargo losses at the port and at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Embakasi, Nairobi, have been engineered to undermine the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) freight services. More Cabinet secretaries yesterday arrived at the port to try to unlock the congestion that has hit the facility for a week. East African Community Affairs and Northern Corridor Development CS Peter Munya arrived at the port together with Transport Principal Secretary Paul Maringa and were in a meeting with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials for hours. “CS Peter Munya arrived this morning and is holding meetings with stakeholders,” said Hajji Masemo, a KPA public relations officer. Mr Masemo said KPA would issue a comprehensive statement today detailing the measures adopted to decongest the port of Mombasa and the ICD in Embakasi. There were reports that the congestion had affected transit trade between Kenya and its neighbours. Supervise clearance Mr Munya was joined by his Industrialisation counterpart, Adan Mohamed, who has been at the port since Friday to supervise the clearance of 11,000 containers to private freight stations. On Friday and Saturday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, KRA boss John Njiraini, Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina and representatives of Kenya's neighbours visited the port to assess the logistical chaos. The Standard has established that 32,000 import and export containers have been lying at...

US President Donald Trump's "America First" stance on global trade has hit Rwanda, by imposing tariffs on clothing exports from the tiny East African nation. The issue revolves around an obscure import, second-hand clothes, and Rwanda's refusal to back down from the fight. When did the dispute start? In March 2018, the US gave Rwanda 60 days' notice that it would be suspending the landlocked country from selling clothes to America duty free - a status it enjoys under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Agoa is the flagship US trade legislation designed to boost trade and investment in qualifying African countries by granting duty-free access to 6,500 exported products. "The president's determinations underscore his commitment to enforcing our trade laws and ensuring fairness in our trade relationships," Deputy US Trade Representative CJ Mahoney said at the time. Those 60 days have now expired. Why did Rwanda ban the import of second-hand clothing? The idea is to protect its nascent garment and textile industry. Many African nations were once home to vibrant textile industries. But decades of mismanagement, instability, and increased global competition have taken a toll. This can be seen in Ghana, where a study found that market liberalisation the 1980s had led to a sharp drop in textile and clothing jobs - from 25,000 people in 1977 to just 5,000 in 2000. Kenya had half a million garment workers a couple of decades ago. Today that number is in the tens of thousands. Second-hand clothing is one...

The Government of Korea and the African Development Bank have issued a Joint Declaration following the conclusion of the Ministerial Roundtable of the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Conference taking place during the African Development Bank’s 53rd Annual Meetings in which Korea announced a $5-billion bilateral financial assistance package for Africa. The Ministerial Roundtable is the signature event of the biennial KOAFEC Conference, gathering a peer group of African Ministers of Finance who also serve as the African Development Bank Board of Governors to discuss topical issues and a pan-African approach to engagement with Korea. Taking place under the theme “Africa and the 4th Industrial Revolution: Opportunities for leapfrogging?”, the Ministerial Conference highlighted the need for long-term planning for industrial development and execution of projects, as well as a focus on value addition in sectors where Africa has comparative advantage for example in agriculture and natural resources. There was also a need to further leverage technology such as the mobile phone for more inclusive growth, in favour of the youth. The $5-billion financial assistance package will be delivered over two years through partnerships with various development agencies, including but not limited to the African Development Bank Group. The package leverages resources from various Korean bilateral agencies and platforms, including the Knowledge Sharing Program, the Economic Development Cooperation Fund, Korea Import-Export Bank, among others. Specifically, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina and the Deputy Prime Minister of Korea, Dong Yeon Kim, signed three cooperation agreements for the implementation of certain components of...

The S.Sudan government is to use the Elegu/Nimule one stop border post to fight corruption that is constraining the business community using the border to cross into Juba. Corruption, according to officials from the ministry of trade industry and East African community affairs, is one of the most common challenges facing transporters using that route. This was revealed by the undersecretary in the Ministry of Trade Industry and East African Community Affairs of S. Sudan, Agak Achuil Lual Manok last week, during the site hand over of Nimule border point to the contractor, to start construction work so as to have a complete one stop border post. The first phase of the border post at Nimule will be constructed with funding worth $4m from Trademark East Africa, and this involves construction of the parking yard, access roads, and examination shade and drainage system. Already, the Ugandan side at Elegu has been completed, but may not fully be utilized because Nimule side isn’t complete. “The border post will bring all relevant authorities under one roof that means a trader will not move from place to place to clear their goods, which can be an avenue for corruption. Besides most of the clearing processes in OSBPs are online which again will reduce paper work, reducing human interaction hence eliminating corruption at the border post,” said Manok. He also added that post will reduce accidents of trucks being experienced on their side due to flooding in parking lot, which also has a poor...

Ugandan exporters will resume using the Single Customs Territory in July, according to Mr James Kisaale, the Uganda Revenue Authority assistant commissioner for trade. In an interview at the weekend, Mr Kisaale said exporters would resume using the system in July 5 following a brief suspension of the Single Customs Territory, a key stage in the attainment of the EAC Customs Union. Uganda had rolled out the system in March starting with coffee exports pending addition of other commodities such as tea, fish and hides and skins, among others. ““We don’t tax exports. [Through the system] exports will go out with ease [thus] increasing volumes [which] will boost domestic taxes. Ideally all exports would be ready to go by July 5,” he said, noting that the system was working normally for imports. Efficient movement of goods Mr Joseph, the Nkandu National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farm Enterprises chairman, in an interview earlier, told Daily Monitor that as farmers, clearing exports through the Single Customs offers efficient movement of goods, noting that the old system was more tedious, costly and time wasting. The Single Customs Territory seeks to minimise internal border controls on goods moving between partner states with an ultimate realisation of free movement of goods. The system, which is operated in a highly electronic and computerised environment, will allow exporters to reduce the time spent to clear goods to two from seven days that it initially would take. Source: Daily Monitor

The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) seeks to integrate African economies and pull together a market with a consumer spending power of $1.4 trillion by 2020, and increase intra-African trade by $35 billion by 2022. While some countries may have issues with the AfCTA, most governments are behind it and momentum will continue to build to make it a reality. AfCTA is viewed as a game- changer that will allow the free movement of goods and services across the continent, allowing African businesses to tap deeper into the sizeable and growing markets. However, there are a few risks that ought to be managed going forward. The first has to do with the financing of infrastructure that will interconnect the continent. Africa has an annual infrastructure financing deficit of about $93 billion. An obvious next step will be the business of raising funds to build the infrastructure Africa needs because without it, AfCTA will remain a good idea with no lived benefits on the ground. Given concerns with rising debt levels of African countries, coupled with queries on the management of public funds, there is a risk that AfCTA can facilitate a debt binge to finance infrastructure in a context of poor institutional controls and capacity to ensure projects are efficiently financed and developed. African governments have to manage this by ensuring infrastructure plans are financed responsibly, that money reaches the projects and that they are completed in a timely manner. Without these controls, the sheer scale of financing that...

As East Africa’s oil producers race to meet their production targets, funding and infrastructural development hurdles threaten to delay the projects. Uganda, for instance, has been forced to rethink its early oil production date of 2020, after it became evident that the refinery at Hoima, which is expected to serve the domestic and neighbouring markets, will delay even further, because regional countries are yet to commit to the joint project whose final investment decision is expected within two years. The project operators now target 2023 to start producing petroleum products, including jet fuel, petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas. According to 2017 figures, by refining oil locally, Uganda will save $1.7 billion annually. In Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta is gearing up to roll out the Early Oil Pilot Scheme (EOPS), which will involve trucking the oil to Mombasa, on June 3. This programme has been marred by logistical and legal hurdles in the past year, leading to delays. Impassable roads Even as officials insisted that the scheme was set for launch, there were doubts that it would immediately succeed, as Turkana County, where the South Lokichar oil basin is situated, has experienced massive flooding that has left its roads impassable and the vital Kainuk bridge further dilapidated. Related Content Uganda signs $4bn refinery plant deal 70,000 barrels of oil ready for Kenya's pilot export Collapse of bridge delays oil transport to Mombasa It remains to be seen if the two companies contracted by Tullow Oil Plc will start moving the...

Kenya Railways will dedicate two trains daily to ferry empty containers from its Nairobi Inland Container Depot to the port of Mombasa to reduce the backlog. Responding to complaints over delays to return the containers, the Kenya Ports Authority said KR has scheduled one out of the five daily trains to ferry empty containers. “The Authority will be holding weekly consultative sessions with its customers to track the efficiencies of the new measures,” said head of corporate affairs Bernard Osero. An average of 540 containers of cargo are ferried to Nairobi ICD from Mombasa through the SGR following an increase of freight trains from one to five daily. In a statement, KPA also outlined eight key measures put in place to improve operational efficiency. The handling charges for both local and transit cargo have been reviewed from $103 to $80 per 20ft unit, and from $157 to $120 for 40ft. For Transit cargo, it was reduced from $85 to $60 for 20ft unit and $125 down to $90 per 40ft. The free storage period for import containers in Nairobi has been reduced from 11 days to four days to encourage importers to hasten collection of their cargo. KPA has also introduced a 24-hour work schedule including Sundays as well as opening a one-stop centre and returned containers that were erroneously sent to Nairobi. It is using Hand Held Terminals (HHT) to update slots in the yard and trace containers to enhance human resources capacity and equipment. “We wish to assure all our...