DEVISING a regional science, technology and innovation (STI) policy is among key priorities of Kigali-based East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) this year. The EASTECO executive secretary, Gertrude Ngabirano, said this last week after the Permanent Secretaries of Ministries responsible for East African Community Affairs visited the institution’s headquarters to discuss its strategic plan and priority programmes. Ngabirano said they have four priority areas with the first dealing with putting in place education-based policies at the regional level. “This year, we will be working on a regional STI policy. In the short run, for example, we’ll be working on putting in place a regional intellectual property rights policy,” she said, emphasising the importance of the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. “We will also be working on a regional knowledge management framework involving establishment of electronic data bases. For example, recent research can be availed so that the public knows what research has been done and people who are interested can build on what is already in place.” EASTECO is a semi-autonomous institution of the EAC mandated to promote and coordinate the development, management and application of science, technology and innovation in partner states. Ngabirano said the commission’s work is in response to the fact that regional students’ enrollment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is on the decrease as compared to other fields of study. STEM is normally more expensive, she noted, and there is a need to invest more in laboratories and...

The Kenya Ports Authority has reported a decline in import cargo at the Mombasa port in the past week up to October 4. The management said in its latest data that local containerised imports through the port stood at 2,483 twenty feet equivalent units (TEUs), a decline of 1,108 TEUs from the previous week. The decline could be attributed to muted business activities in the country, with many investors employing a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the October 26 repeat presidential election after the nullification of the August 8 vote outcome in which President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner. Bulk clinker was the leading import commodity, with 103,731 tonnes having been brought in through the port. It was followed by bulk wheat and bulk sugar, which registered 70,241 tonnes and 25,691 tonnes respectively. Other leading commodities included 14,698 tonnes of bulk fertiliser, 8,348 tonnes of bagged sugar, 5,841 tonnes of project cargo, and 5,260 tonnes of bulk sorghum. The general cargo terminal also handled 3,000 units of imported motor vehicles and 129 trucks. ‘’A total of 14 container vessels went alongside the container terminals, recording a ship average working time of 2.02 days as container dwell time registered 4.53 days,’’ said Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in a statement. Transit-bound containerised cargo, however, increased by 12TEUs during the week under review to stand at 5,591TEUs. Uganda, the traditional transit market leader, registered 4,477TEUs, representing 80 per cent of traffic, followed by South Sudan with 361TEUs, which was an increase of 126TEUs...

The commercial enterprise of U.S. companies selling used clothing to African countries doesn’t seem a likely source of controversy, but the issue has become one of contention on two continents. The East African countries of Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Burundi have been trying to phase out imports of secondhand clothing and shoes over the last year. The countries claim the enterprise undermines their efforts to build domestic textile industries and they want to impose an outright ban by 2019. In March, the Office of the United States Trade Representative threatened to remove four of the six East African countries included in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, a preferential trade deal intended to lift trade and economic growth across sub-Saharan Africa. Burundi and South Sudan, gripped by upheaval, had already been expelled from the trade deal because their governments were accused of perpetrating state violence. Across Africa, secondhand merchandise is the primary source of clothing. Rwanda has said it is seeking to curb the import of secondhand clothes, not only on the grounds of protecting a nascent local industry, but also because it says wearing hand-me-downs compromises the dignity of its people. Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame said that the region should go ahead with the ban even if it meant sacrificing some economic growth. “We have to grow and establish our industries,” Kagame said in June. “This is the choice we find that we have to make. We might suffer consequences. Even when confronted with difficult choices, there is...

The East Africa Business Council wants countries which have not joined the regional electronic cargo tracking system (RECTS) project to do so sooner than later as the latter is considered to be effective in safety of goods while in transit. Urging Tanzania and Burundi to join Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya in embracing a harmonized electronic cargo tracking system, the apex body of business associations of the Private Sector and Corporates from EAC partner states, is emphasizing that the system reduces the cost of doing business. The EABC Executive Director Lilian Awinja has reiterated that RECTS is, among others, “a very good idea that is reducing diversion and theft of transit cargo.” “Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda are already on board, and this is something we appreciate because it adds value to the Single Customs Territory (SCT),” Awinja said, adding that the EABC needs the revenue authorities in the two other countries to “take up the cost of that gadget because it is in their best interest to have these gadgets on the trucks.” “What we need is to see Tanzania and Burundi join the regional cargo tracking system. The revenue authorities should support this whole process and make sure that they own it and we work together as a region, so that it is implemented uniformly across all partner states. We are supposed to work together. We are in a Customs Union.” Rwanda launched the e-Cargo tracking system which is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through Trademark...

Political jitters scared away traders from neighbouring countries, denying Kenya a massive Sh7.8 billion in exports and re-export earnings. This is according to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). The Latest Economic Indicators, August 2017, shows that Kenya lost Sh6 billion in re-exports and another Sh1.8 billion in exports between January and July 2017, leaving a huge hole in the country’s exchequer. Re-exports- or export of imported products, particularly to landlocked countries in the region- took the biggest hit as traders opted for a different route. And the likeliest route chosen by these traders, analysts noted, was Tanzania’s Central Corridor served by the Port of Dar es Salaam. Between January and July, 2017 re-exports declined to Sh38 billion from Sh44 billion it managed in the same period last year, as political temperatures rose. And with the October 26 elections cast into doubt after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga opted out of the race, things could get worse. Kenya’s re-exports into neighboring countries includes petroleum products and manufactured articles. Although re-exports have generally been slowing down, a dip of 11 per cent during this period was significant compared to a marginal decline of 1.8 per cent in the same period in 2016? In 2016, a 12.1 per cent decline in the value of re-exports contributed to a decline in the value of total exports from Sh581 billion in 2015 to Sh578.1 billion. “The decline in re-exports was attributed to a contraction in the re-exports of petroleum...

The ongoing oil and gas conference in Juba, South Sudan is sending the right signals to international investors and the East African Community. Going by the declarations made early this week by senior government officials led by Vice President James Wani Igga and the Minister for Petroleum Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, all indicators are that the government is going all out to ensure the world’s youngest nation will soon be pumping at least 500,000 barrels a day. It sounds ambitious, but it’s doable. If this target is met, it will come after close to five years of a bloody conflict that cut down oil production from 350,000 barrels per day to a pitiful 130,000 barrels currently. The increased output would provide desperately needed revenues for a government which since independence has relied on oil to cater for all its expenses. However, it is easier said than done to achieve the set targets without some hard work getting done as a matter of priority. For starters, South Sudan’s regional oil and gas infrastructure is limited to its pipeline link to Sudan. To increase production, experts say the country will need to integrate its energy infrastructure with that of Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. How can South Sudan and its neighbours cooperate to plan, finance and build infrastructure? What can South Sudan do to better exploit its position in a regional market of 150 million people in Eastern Africa? These are the questions that delegates of the first ever Africa Oil and Power conference...

This was a declaration made by over 300 delegates from Africa and international players in grain industry during the closing of the 7th African Grain Trade Summit in Dar es Salaam. The summit was held under the theme: “Setting New Horizons to rethink Grain Trade for Food Security and Prosperity in Africa,” and was opened by the Tanzania  agriculture minister, Dr John Tizeba. The EAC Partner States with the threat of high population growth were urged to borrow a leaf from emerging developed economies such as Brazil and Mexico who have transformed their people through agriculture. “African economies heavily rely on agriculture as a major source of income, but untapped potential has resulted in persistent poverty and limited wealth creation,” Alehandro Terminel, the chairperson of the board of the Terra Wealth Trader Company, Mexico told delegates . Terminel observed that the continent’s food security has declined over the past five decades despite interventions from governments, the private sector and development partners. “Africa has a rapid population growth of which 60% are under the age of 25 with higher preference for rice consumption than maize. This calls for crop diversification to meet consumer needs within and outside the continent,” he stated. The delegates observed that the infrastructure remains a top issue in the region with some agricultural areas with high potential of agricultural production still inaccessible. “In the Great Horn of Africa, some states are still volatile and this has hampered development and social well-being of the grain sector in the region,” Yohannes...

Ethiopia, whose economy recently overtook Kenya’s, is now the fastest-growing economy in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new World Bank report. This means Ethiopia’s economy will further stretch its lead on Kenya’s even as the latter grapples with economic headwinds, including heightened political temperatures that have left investors jittery. “Ethiopia is likely to remain the fastest-growing economy in the region,” noted the Africa’s Pulse Report released yesterday. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), another Bretton Woods institution, projects Ethiopia’s economy to grow by 8.5 per cent this year, three percentage points higher than Kenya’s, which is expected to grow by five per cent. The Bretton Woods institution noted the growth came about despite the expected slowdown in public investment. Ethiopia’s economy overtook Kenya’s, with the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - or the total value of goods and services produced annually - hitting Sh7.4 trillion last year compared to Kenya’s Sh7 trillion in the same year. And although the report projects Kenya’s growth to recover as inflation eases, recent developments on the political front have left the country’s economy in a precarious position. Already, GDP growth in the second quarter of this year slowed, growing by five per cent compared to 6.3 per cent in the same quarter last year as agriculture, manufacturing and financial services all took a beating. It was the slowest Q2 growth since 2012 when the economy expanded by 4.3 per cent. A drought, which swept across the whole of the Horn of Africa, is to blame...

The main civil works for the new Sh48 billion Mombasa-Nairobi pipeline is now 95 per cent complete, Kenya Pipeline Company has said. KPC Managing Director Joe Sang yesterday said the project, called Line 5, will be commissioned by December this year. The final testing being undertaken on the project ahead of the commissioning will include hydro-testing, station mechanical and electrical works. Sang’ said Line 5 will have the capacity to pump 1,000 cubic litres ( 1 million litres) of oil per hour from Mombasa to Nairobi. Currently, KPC pumps 80 per cent of all imported oil products in the country with the remaining 20 per cent being transported by road. “This new Line 5 project will be running concurrently with the Old Line 1, which was put up in 1978. This therefore means that we will eliminate transportation of oil products by road in Kenya,” said Sang. Sang said Kenya lost several East and Central African markets after Line 1 became small and could not adequately supply the region. Last financial year, KPC transported 6.3 billion litres of oil from Mombasa through line 1. Sang’ said they expect to transport millions of litres once the new Line 5 is commissioned. At the same, he said they are putting up additional four-tank storage facility in Nairobi with a capacity of 133 million litres. Currently, KPC has a storage facility of 100 million litres in Nairobi. “We will have a total storage facility of 233 million litres. Nairobi consumes about 60 per...

High trade facilitation costs and poor logistics services are hampering foreign direct investment and growth in the east African region, a senior Kenyan official said on Tuesday. Principal Secretary for Trade Chris Kiptoo said smooth logistics not only reduces the cost of imports but is vital to producers to be able to participate in global production circles and eventually move into new business. “Improving logistics includes several dimensions such as enhancing logistics capabilities, the development of rehabilitation of physical infrastructure, and the streamlining of trade-related procedure,” said Kiptoo during the launch of the 2017 logistics performance survey in Nairobi. The report, released by the Shippers Council of East Africa (SCEA), said the climate of conducting business has improved in the region, thanks to right policy choices, the rise in intra-regional trade, and an enabled private sector. The report, which analyzed the performance of trade logistics with respect to indicators of time, cost and complexity against those of the world’s leading trade hubs, indicates that reforms initiated by the region’s member states are finally paying off. “We will use the indicators to interpret the performance of the logistics chain, reveal to both policy makers and businesses the full extent of bottlenecks, and propose appropriate redress measures,” Gilbert Langat, the CEO of the Kenya Shipper’s Council, said during the commissioning of the study. Road freight costs have fallen “due to improvements made in road infrastructure, reduction in the number of police checks and enhancement of weighbridge efficiencies through automation,” Langat said. “However,...