Traders in Kenya stand to benefit from increased efficiency following launch of the Information for Trade in Kenya web portal that aims at easing costs of trade. KenTrade CEO Mr. Amos Wangora said the portal will enable traders to access all the relevant documentation requirements for imports and/or exports of their respective commodities adding that their aim is to boost Kenya’s efforts to become a globally competitive player in the overall share of trade in the world. “It provides the current, potential traders and other stakeholders with total transparency on rules and procedures pertaining to import and export formalities, through detailed, practical and up-to-date descriptions of steps to go through, as seen from the user’s point of view to assist them to make informed business decisions,” Wangora explained. He added that the InfoTrade Kenya Portal together with the Kenya Trade Net System would provide an end to end solution on regulatory and documentation requirements in the country and to streamline and simplify trade processes for the business community. The portal has consolidated more than 120 documents and procedures required for import and export business in Kenya on one online platform. The portal is estimated to serve at least 1.5 million users per month and consolidates 73 documents under exports, 52 under imports and one under transits (cross-border trade) thus ensuring a shorter period in the export and import processes. Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) implemented the portal with financial support of approx. US$ 498, 000 from the United States Agency...

The portal consolidates all information on all laws, steps, licenses and other documents required for Import-export trade in Kenya Kenya becomes the first country in East Africa to comply with the article one of World Trade Organisation Trade Facilitation Agreement which is Transparency in export – import information. InfotradeKenya.go.ke includes a step by step guide to international trade, administration procedures, agencies to visit, permits, applicable fees among others. Kenya Trade Network Agency Chief Executive Amos Wangora says the portal will help importers and exporters transact faster and help make informed business decisions. He says the new portal will also create more transparency into international trade and reduce corruption. “Poor documentation of international trade procedures is a major stumbling block affecting traders in Kenya increasing lack of understanding of trade requirements in regard to exports and imports,” he said. The portal is estimated to serve at least 1.5 million users per month and consolidates 73 documents under exports, 52 under imports and one under transits (cross-border trade) thus ensuring a shorter period in the export and import processes. KenTrade implemented the portal with financial support of approx. Sh51.5 million from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through TradeMark Africa (TMA). The move comes even as the government plans to increase its exports by 20 percent per annum. The government is already working on an export strategic plan which will be ready in two months Source: Capital Business

Kenya will use this month’s meeting with Tanzania to push Dar es Salaam to sign the European market access agreement as the country fights to save its multi-billion shilling traded. If locked out, Kenya stands to lose out on its current preferential access to European markets, subjecting its exporters to higher tariffs and cumulative tax demands in excess of Sh100 million a week as was the case in 2014. Trade secretary Adan Mohamed said conclusion of the long-pending deal will be addressed during the meeting to be held before the end of the month to persuade Dar to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Kenya and Rwanda signed the deal in 2016, but it needs approval from all members of the East African Community bloc—which also includes Burundi and Uganda—to take effect. Nairobi is at the moment accessing the European Union under a special arrangement after three other members failed to endorse EPAs last year. “In the meeting with Tanzania this month we shall discuss the issue of EPAs as part of our trade negotiations with the country,” said Mr Mohamed. He said Kenya is missing out on opportunities outlined in the EPA agreement. A delegation from Tanzania will also be visiting the country to discuss the trade wars between the two states. This meeting will come after the one held in Arusha in September. Mr Mohamed has been leading the regional bloc in the push for an EPA within the member states in the last two years. In March,...

Kenya’s trade deficit widened by Sh215.6 billion in the first eight months of the year as the cost of maize and rail imports soared amidst flat export earnings. Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the cost of imports rose by 23 per cent or Sh216.3 billion to hit Sh1.156 trillion in the eight months to August, while export earnings only rose by Sh701 million or 0.2 per cent to Sh394.4 billion. Imports rose when the government was importing rolling stock for the standard gauge railway and, in the second quarter, when the effects of drought pushed up food imports. According to Central Bank of Kenya, the worsening of the trade deficit has also had an effect on the current account, widening it by 5.4 per cent in the second quarter of the year to Sh135 billion from Sh128 billion at the end of quarter one. “Food imports rose on account of increased importation of cereals and sugar during the first half of 2017 resulting from dry weather conditions. The increase in oil imports in the second quarter of 2017 reflected relatively higher oil prices on the international market,” said CBK in its quarterly economic review for the three months to June. The KNBS data shows that in the eight months to August, food and beverage imports accounted on average for 14.1 per cent of the total import bill, compared to just 7.8 per cent in a similar period in 2016. Exports on the other hand...

Kenya Ports Authority’s Mombasa Port and Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam Port are not business rivals, the KPA management said on Tuesday. The two ports complement each other in handling business for the east and central African region despite the fact that Mombasa is much larger than its Dar neighbour, a forum was told. “Kenya alone cannot handle the millions of tonnes of cargo destined for Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi annually. We need Tanzania to complement us. At the same time, Tanzania cannot alone handle all the cargo destined for east and central Africa region, so they need Kenya,” said Hajj Masemo, a senior corporate affairs official at KPA. Mombasa Port is ranked fifth in Africa after Egypt’s Port Said, Durban in South Africa, Tanger Med in Morocco, and Alexandria in Egypt. It achieved its one million container handling capacity two years ago, and has 21 berths compared to Dar e Salaam’s 13, while the Dar port made its 600,000-container handling capacity last year. To remain responsive to shipping and trade trends, KPA said it will continue with elaborate port modernisation programmes to position Mombasa as a world class port of choice. Managing director Catherine Mturi-Wairi said they have embarked on several expansion plans to modernize the port, including expansion of yards and berths, and an improved ICT process. “We have modernized cargo handling equipment, installed a state of the art integrated security system to control pilferage, dredged the port channel and widened its turning basin. Consequently, the port...

The Kenya Trade Network Agency has devised an information system for traders that will reduce fraud and simplify regulatory procedures. The information trade portal will serve as a one-stop-shop for the trade community having integrated at least 31 of the 35 state agencies involved in trade. InfoTrade portal will provide traders and other stakeholders with transparent rules and procedures pertaining to import and export formalities. This will be through detailed, practical and up-to-date descriptions of steps to go through, to assist users make informed business decisions. “If you are a trader, the portal will enable you to access all the relevant documentation requirements for imports and or exports of your respective commodities from the comfort of your office or place of business,” Kentrade chief executive Amos Wangora said during the launch. The portal will enhance compliance in the trade sector by cutting back unwarranted penalties resulting from documentation errors which would in turn reduce chances of corruption. It will host information on trade related laws, regulations, acts and legislations, a summary of foreign trade processes and boost transparency in the sector. It is in line with World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation. Source: The Star

Traders in Kenya stand to benefit from increased efficiency following launch of the Information for Trade in Kenya web portal (www.InfoTradeKenya.go.ke), which has consolidated more than 120 documents and procedures required for import and export business in Kenya on one online platform. The portal is estimated to serve at least 1.5 million users per month and consolidates 73 documents under exports, 52 under imports and one under transits (cross border trade) thus ensuring a shorter period in the export and import processes. Completion and launch of the information portal makes Kenya the first country in the East Africa Community (EAC) to fulfil Article 1 of WTO Trade Facilitation agreement which requires member states to publish their trade procedures online, displaying them step-by-step, with contact information on enquiry points, access to forms and other required documents and all relevant trade and customs laws. Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) (www.KenTrade.go.ke) implemented the portal with financial support of approx. US$ 498, 000 from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through TradeMark Africa (TMA) (www.TradeMarkEA.com). United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) provided technical assistance. Presiding over the launch, the National Treasury Principal Secretary, Dr. Kamau Thugge said, “The InfoTrade Kenya portal is part of the Government’s initiative to facilitate trade in line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation, to which Kenya is a signatory and obliges governments to be transparent and to provide information to businesses.” He explained that the Government has been at the forefront in streamlining...

The Government Wednesday unveiled a web portal that summarises information on international trade. The Information for Trade in Kenya web portal consolidates more than 120 documents and procedures required for the import and export businesses. A trader is expected to take a maximum of five minutes to access information from the platform by Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade). United States Agency for International Development (USAid) through TradeMark Africa funded the project to the tune of $498,000 (Sh51.3 million). Source: Standard Digital

Toyota Tsusho has secured a contract from the Kenya Ports Authority to supply 16 cranes for the Phase 2 development of Mombasa Port as part of a collaboration with Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding. The deal is valued at approximately JPY7.2bn ($64m) and will involve the delivery of four gantry cranes for quayside operations, in addition to 12 transfer cranes for yard operations. Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding will manufacture all of the newly contracted equipment and delivery is expected to be completed by around 2020. The cranes will be similar to the units previously delivered during Phase 1 of the Mombasa Port project and will be designed to ensure efficient port operations, as well as facilitate an increase in rapid cargo handling operations to reduce vessel lay time. The newly signed deal is supported by funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency’s Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) loan programme, which seeks to promote the export of high-quality infrastructure from Japan. Mombasa Port is situated in Kenya and currently serves Uganda, Rwanda and other East African nations. It also functions as the launching point for a wide range of goods flowing into Kenya and the surrounding region via the East Africa Northern Corridor. Phase 1 of the port development initiative saw the construction of a new container terminal at Mombasa Port last year in order to expand the facility’s cargo handling capacity from 720,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 1.3 million TEUs. The port intends to further increase its capacity to roughly...

Rwanda’s business community should take advantage of the recently installed modern infrastructure at Mombasa port to increase trade, Catherine Mturi-Wairi, the Kenya Ports Authority managing director, has said. Mturi-Wairi said the authority is committed to facilitating regional trade through provision of efficient and convenient services, adding that they look to raise and sustain the port performance to world class standards. “We are working on a plan that will further reduce unnecessary delays at the port. Already, we have expanded yards and berths to handle more cargo, revamped the ICT system for faster document processing, and modernised cargo handling equipment. “We have also installed a new integrated security system to control pilferage, dredged the port channel and widened its turning basin, enabling the port to attract and accommodate larger vessels,” she said on Monday during a stakeholders meeting in Kenya. The port recently invested more than $1 billion to expand facilities to boost its capacity to handle more cargo and attract larger carriers. “The modernisation and expansion programmes have multiplied the port’s capacity to handle larger ships and turn-around more cargo. This will also help reduce the cost and transit time,” the official told The New Times. The port handled a total of 22,756,448 tonnes of cargo for the period January to September compared with 20,566,156 tonnes registered in the corresponding period in 2016, reflecting an increase of 2,190,293 tonnes or 10.6 per cent. The cargo handled between January and September was equivalent to 202,661 Twenty Feet Equivalent Units (TEUs). Cargo...