September 10, 2017 - A high-level delegation of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the financier of the Addis Ababa - Nairobi - Mombasa road project, visited the progress of the project on the Ethiopian side.  The Addis Ababa-Nairobi-Mombasa road project is an important section of the Cairo-Cape town trans-African highway, which will traverse nine African countries. Upon completion, the road connects Ethiopia and Kenya and will enable Ethiopia access the Mombasa port for its import-export trade. “The project is going well. We have witnessed some sections that have already completed and some are making progress. We haven’t gone very fine expectation as the original plans but a lot of mobilization has already done in fact,” he said. Noting the road project from the Kenyan side has completed a year ago, the Executive Director said “I hope the section remain on the Ethiopia side will also be done quick enough, so we will complete the corridor to connect the two countries as planned with the schedule.” He said the “We can say that this project is regional project which as you know it will connect the two countries, basically it will connect the East African region.” As Ethiopia is one of the countries least connected in the region, the Executive Director noted that “now it is being connected with excellent road facility.” The project will promote trade between countries the East African Community and also enhance integration. He added that the Ethiopian government is doing its work excellently for the implementation...

The treaty provides for Kiswahili to be developed as a lingua franca for the Community. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the East African Kiswahili Commission (EAKC) International Conference in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kivejinja said there is a need for Kiswahili to be used as a tool for integrating the people of East Africa. The conference in Zanzibar brought together Kiswahili stakeholders from the region to deliberate on how the development and use of the language can creatively be used in deepening and widening EAC integration and contribute towards the realisation of sustainable development in the region. Kivejinja underscored the commitment of the Community’s leadership in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and tasked the EACK with generating proposals on how Kiswahili can be used in the achievement of these goals. “I would like, therefore, to pledge the commitment of the council of ministers in taking forward the conference resolutions. We appreciate the progress being made by the commission and will continue to guide and enable it execute its mandate,” he said. The minister noted that with more than 120 different ethnic groups in Tanzania, Kiswahili was the most efficient and effective integration tool. “I would like to pay tribute to the founders of Tanzania for discovering an important tool in the foundation of the nation,” added Kivejinja. The EAKC executive secretary, Prof. Kenneth Simala informed the participants of the conference that the commission was working closely with regional Kiswahili associations in a bid to harmonise the activities of these associations....

The director of the Rockefeller foundation, Mamadou Biteye, said such challenges should be addressed if the continent is to realise agriculture. He made the remarks at the launch of a partnership between the Rockefella Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, USAID and AGRA to transform agriculture in African countries. The multi-million dollar Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) that was launched on September 5 at the 2017 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), is an innovative and transformative partnership and financing vehicle to drive inclusive agriculture transformation across the continent The organisations will provide up to $280m to catalyze the process in at least 11 countries in Africa, according to Biteye. 11 countries have been selected as priority countries, including Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. Source: New Vision

As the U.S. continues its wholesale review of all trade agreements and preference programs—including the African Growth and Opportunity Act—it seems to still be building up on the AGOA program that’s so far still set to run through 2025. Last month, the United States Trade Representative said Togo is now eligible to enjoy trade benefits under AGOA for textile and apparel products. A statement in the Federal Register said: “…Togo has adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent the unlawful transshipment of textile and apparel articles and the use of counterfeit documents in connection with the shipment of such articles…” Separately, the U.S. initiated a review in June of AGOA eligibility for Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, which came about when the East African Community (EAC) decided to ban imports of secondhand clothing to improve its own industry. The U.S. Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART)—which initiated the petition for review with the USTR—said the move to curb incoming used clothing is a barrier to U.S. trade, which goes against certain requirements under AGOA. According to local news reports in Rwanda, talks with the U.S. have begun. “We are talking to our partners in the U.S. We value our trade and relations with the U.S. and we are doing all that is possible not to be out of cycle and of course we have been engaging on the issue,” Rwanda Development Board chief operating officer, Emmanuel Hategeka, told the New Times. “We think there is a lot to gain if we...

Gas-rich Tanzania hosts a two-day congress aimed at bringing together policymakers and experts in the oil and gas industry. But the country needs to pick its strategic partners carefully, says analyst Anaclet Rwegayura. For ages, Tanzania's rich underground wealth was unknown. That has kept it safe for the present generation, which needs it to eradicate poverty. Many prospectors and investors have crisscrossed the country after the government opened the door to mineral extractors, and it seems that many thought the country's wealth was up for grabs. Did it ever come to their minds that Tanzania was hoping to capitalize on its resource endowments in order to kick-start its industrialization? Given the country's healthy economic turnaround with a roughly seven percent annual growth rate, the Tanzanian government is keen to see productive investments taking place. Extractive investors who cannot enable the country to create wealth and free the local society from the shackles of poverty, are not welcome. Developments and opportunities For two days beginning on September 11, representatives of international oil companies, indigenous producers, international and national service providers, financiers and consultants will meet in Dar es Salaam with Tanzanian policymakers and experts in the oil and gas industry to discuss, among many other issues, the implementation of the country's gas master plan. According to congress organizers, the UK-based CWC Group, this will also be the opportunity to discuss business opportunities in the Tanzanian energy market. On the road to an industry-led development, Tanzania should by all means avoid stepping into the unknown....

Kenya is experiencing a shift in the pattern of its exports and imports, with some of her key traditional markets slowing down on the goods they are sourcing from the country. After the release of the Leading Economic Indicators for June 2017, it emerged that Pakistan had leapfrogged Uganda to become Kenya's leading export destination, buoyed by growing tea purchases by the Asian country. Exports to Uganda, which has for decades been the top market for Kenyan goods, have for sometime now experienced marginal growth. Trade with Tanzania also took a hit following a diplomatic row, while China's hold on the country's imports tightened. It is clear that the trading landscape is changing - and has been changing for a long time. Twenty-seven years ago, Kenya's trade with Africa was almost insignificant. Africa's share of exports was six per cent while imports took up less than one per cent. Indeed, there was little, if any, trade with its East African neighbours in 1990 - perhaps due to the embargo that had been placed after the collapse of the East African Community in 1976. China which today has a stranglehold in most sectors of the country's economy, was nowhere in 1990. Its share of imports was a paltry 1.3 per cent, with Kenya getting most of its manufactured products from Europe. Today, the Asian giant - which has also grown to become the second largest economy in the world - after the United States is literally pouring its cheap manufactured products...

If the U.S. and China have their way, Africa could soon begin to reach its potential as the next great frontier for apparel and textile sourcing. While there are determined efforts by the U.S. government and some key companies, the Chinese plan being implemented seems more comprehensive and likely to create a longer-lasting influence on the continent. The American Way The recent Sourcing at Magic trade show featured an African pavilion sponsored by the USAID East Africa Trade & Investment Hub. The Hub boosts trade and investment with and within Africa by deepening regional integration, increasing the competitiveness of regional agricultural value chains, promoting two-way trade with the U.S. under the African Growth & Opportunity Act, and facilitating investment and technology. The program, initiated in the Obama administration, covers the East African Community countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, as well as Ethiopia, Madagascar and Mauritius. A spokeswoman for the program explained that since its launch in September 2014, it has supported $226 million in exports through AGOA, driven $51.2 million in private sector investment, helped more than 1,200 firms with capacity building assistance and helped create more than 33,000 full or part-time jobs. At the end of the project’s five-year mission, the goal is to facilitate $100 million in new investments in the EAC, increase non-oil AGOA exports to the U.S. by 40 percent, create 10,000 more jobs and double the value of intra-regional trade in the EAC. While AGOA was renewed in 2015 through to 2025,...

Kenya is seeking to safeguard its position as the region's preferred entry point through big infrastructure projects aimed at easing the movement of goods and people on the Northern Corridor. Three months after commissioning the standard gauge railway, the country has awarded the construction contract of the country's first expressway to an American company -- Bechtel International Inc. The 473km expressway will connect to the proposed Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway, thereby linking the Port of Mombasa to Malaba at the border with Uganda and onwards to Kampala. It is expected to improve connectivity, efficiency and safety of road transport between Nairobi and Mombasa. The six-lane expressway will be constructed at a cost of $2.1 billion. Uganda is already constructing the Kampala-Jinja Expressway, which forms part of the Northern Corridor. Commercial and industrial growth When completed over the next six years, the three projects will greatly improve the competitiveness of the Northern Corridor making it the preferred gateway not only for Kenya and Uganda but also for Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo. "This expressway will enable Kenya to competitively develop and expand internal and regional trade," said director-general of the Kenya National Highways Authority. Peter Mundinia He added that since more than 90 per cent of goods entering the East African region through the port of Mombasa are transported via road, the road project will lay the foundation for long term commercial and industrial growth. Of note is that the three mega road projects that are being constructed at a...

Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Zambia Monique Mukaruliza has called on the Rwandan business community to pick interest in the trade opportunities that Zambia provides. The envoy who also has Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique under her docket, said that Rwanda enjoys excellent relations with Zambia that should translate into increased trade and tourism opportunities. Mukaruliza made the remarks in an interview with The New Times at her office in Lusaka, Zambia last week. “Opportunities here are many and in different sectors. Zambia engages in large scale agricultural production of crops like maize, soya, and making of sugar. There is an opportunity we can get raw materials from here take them to our industries and export finished products to Zambia,” she said. Mukaruliza said that her office is now working on how tourists that visit Zambia’s tourism attractions can easily get information on how to access Rwanda’s tourism industry. “This would be easy for tourists visiting Zambia to add Rwanda on their list since we have direct RwandAir flights from Lusaka to Kigali,” she added. The tourism industry is a major and growing industry in Zambia only hindered by lack of a national airline. The situation comes with tourists having to use different connection flights to reach Zambia. “We usually get sugar from there. But we are now looking at doing business in Zambia at a more professional and formal level. It has been more of informal,” Benjamin Gasamagera, the Private Sector Federation (PSF) chair said. Rwanda and Zambia this year signed...

Rwanda’s economy is expected to grow at between 4.2 and 6.2 percent in 2017, but it may struggle to achieve the upper limit due to slowing public spending and the impact of drought on agricultural output, the World Bank said on Wednesday. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is undercut by weak private sector investment, lower than expected returns from public and private investment in the hospitality sector in areas like conferences and exhibitions and a volatile external environment, the Bank said. ‘It is 6.2 percent and this seems quite hard to reach. The impact of drought on agriculture which affected the last quarter of 2016 and first quarter of 2017 will be an issue,’ the Bank’s senior economist for Rwanda, Aghassi Mkrtchyan’’ said. At the launch of an economic update Aghassi said ‘the other issue is the fiscal restraint as government is very careful about debt sustainability…. That’s why we should not be expecting a lot of support to the economy from fiscal expenditure this year.’ The east African nation has posted strong growth rates in recent years fuelled by business friendly policies and inflows of foreign investment. The government has forecast 2017 growth at 6.2 percent and 6.8 percent next year. As a country that has been putting up impressive economic performance despite its history of instability, Rwanda’s long term development goals, dubbed “Vision 2020” is in full force. It envisions to become a service-oriented and knowledge-based economy with a middle income status by 2020 from its low-income agriculture-based...