The country’s newly-elected representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) have pledged to take the region’s integration agenda to the next level when they begin their duties next month. Rwanda’s new team of nine for the Fourth EALA was elected by both Chambers of Parliament yesterday and will be sworn in on June 5 together with their counterparts from Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, South Sudan and Tanzania. MP Odda Gasinzigwa, a former minister for gender and family promotion, said: “I will not let my country and the region down. I will work with my colleagues to heighten the integration agenda of the East African Community.” Gasinzigwa was first elected to the regional Assembly last October and yesterday won re-election for another five years. Among the new entrants at the regional Assembly is Fatuma Ndangiza. Despite being a first time legislator at EALA, she is no stranger to East African Community (EAC) affairs since she, among others, previously headed Rwanda’s team on an EAC experts verification committee set up to work on the introduction of South Sudan into the EAC. Ndagiza says she is happy to take on her new duties. “It is another responsibility I have been given and I wish to assure Rwandans that they will be well represented. It is clear that the Community has achieved a lot but wherever there are obstacles, we will work together to remove them. “Under the Common Market Protocol, for example, we will collaborate to ensure that agreements already signed are implemented...

The project is carried out in collaboration between TCCIA and ZNCCIA. The project started in 2012 at TCCIA and was then extended to ZNCCIA in 2016. TMA has already invested more than $600,000 in the project (TCCIA & ZNCCIA). ZNCCIA has benefitted from ICT equipment to operationalize the system, solar system as a backup power for the system, consultancy to develop the system and a Technical Assistant to coordinate the project. Zanzibar, Tanzania, 15th May, 2017 – Trade efficiency systems in Zanzibar is expected to become efficient with launch of an NTB monitoring and electronic certificate of origin systems by the Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (ZNCCIA). Both systems have been supported by TradeMark Africa (TMA). The two systems have been developed as part of efforts by the Zanzibar private sector to facilitate advocacy and monitoring of NTBs. The launch was graced by the Zanzibar Minister of Trade, Industry and Marketing, Honorable Amina Salum Ali, ZNCCIA Executive Director, Ms. Munira Humoud and TMA Tanzania Country Director, John Ulanga. The two systems will support ZNCCIA in fulfilling its goals of improving the business environment in Zanzibar by developing evidence based advocacy through realistic data and information gathered by the aid of the NTB monitoring system. The electronic certificate of origin will ease the issuance of certificates of origin by reducing physical movements and time taken to process the document. The target is to reduce the time for issuance of the certificates from the current four days to just...

Arusha, Tanzania | JUMUIYA| The 18th Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit has been set for May 20, 2017, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Top on the agenda is the consideration of EU-EAC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and Sustainable Financing Mechanism for the Community. The Summit will also consider the status of the EAC Political Federation, the appointment of a Deputy Secretary General from the Tanzania, the appointment of a Judge from South Sudan to the First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice. The Summit will also receive a report on the roadmap for the accelerated integration of South Sudan into the EAC, and consider progress report on the implementation framework for the EAC Institutional Review. Also on the agenda are: a progress report on the verification exercise for the admission of the Republic of Somalia into the EAC; a report on the modalities for promotion of motor vehicle assembly in the region and to reduce the importation of used motor vehicles from outside the Community, and; a report on the review on the textile and leather sector with a view to phasing out importation of used textiles and footwear. The Summit will consider assenting to Bills passed by the East African Legislative Assembly and will also present awards to the winners of the EAC Students Essay, 2016. The Summit will also declare the transformation of the EAC into a Common Higher Education Area. Source: The Independent

KIGALI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda Trading Company on Thursday inaugurated a new coffee processing facility at the Kigali Special Economic Zone, expected to improve export volumes for Rwanda's quality coffee. The new facility would allow the company to double its production capacity, the company's Managing Director Clay Parker said at the inauguration. This mill can process seven tons per hour, and we can make close to three containers of 19.2 tons for export per day up from only one per day, he said. Parker said the factory will be buying coffee produce from 80,000 Rwandan farmers. The factory procures over 20 million kilograms of coffee cherries per season. The targeted export markets include U.S., Europe and Asia, according to the factory. The government recognizes the importance of coffee sector and efforts were in place to ensure increased production, said Robert Opirah,Rwanda's Director General for Trade and Investment at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs. In 2015, Rwanda exported about 19,000 tons of coffee raking in about 62 million U.S. dollars. This year, the government targets 22, 650 tonnes of coffee exports projected to earn about 68 million USD, according to officials. There are about 400,000 million coffee farmers in the east African country. Enditem Source: XinHua Net

“Trade has been growing over the past years save for ‘just’ last year … the removal of non-tariff barriers is among issues to be resolved,” he explained. Dr Mahiga was speaking during the 34th EAC Council of Ministers meeting held yesterday ahead of the 18th EAC Heads of State Summit scheduled for tomorrow in Dar es Salaam. The minister noted, for instance, that other countries in the regional bloc had raised concerns on existence of Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), complaining that the two entities were subjecting traders to double inspection of goods. “They look at the existence of the two institutions as a form of non-tariff barriers to trade … so these are among issues to be sorted out,” he stated. Earlier during the session, Uganda’s third deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Affairs, Mr Kirunda Kivejinja, urged countries in the bloc to focus on how to fast-track the integration rather than dwell on minor issues. “Uganda and Tanzania could become the food basket of the EAC given their vast arable land but you will hear people discussing trivial issues like how many Tanzanians, Kenyans or Rwandese are employed at the secretariat. Source: Daily News

China’s President Xi Jinping convened a summit of some 30 global leaders to discuss what is arguably China’s most ambitious economic project to date: “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR). Its two main initiatives – the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the Twenty-First Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) – involve billions of dollars’ worth of trade, development and connectivity projects spanning three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe. It is no surprise, then, that OBOR is being projected as China’s articulation of a new global order. For the moment, *reports seem to suggest that a small group of African states, including Kenya, Djibouti and Egypt, are official participants in OBOR – though certain blueprints and maps also include South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania. It is inconceivable that South Sudan will not be central to any OBOR strategy targeted at the eastern part of the continent. In addition to serving as a key repository of oil reserves, South Sudan also acts as the end-point for major infrastructure and connectivity projects being planned and implemented in Kenya. A new railway line is expected to link up Mombasa port, the capital Nairobi, and Kenya’s neighbouring countries. A railway and pipeline is also envisaged to link the ports of Kenya to oilfields in South Sudan and Uganda, while also connecting with Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi to facilitate exports of these countries’ products. South Sudan’s significance in an economic integration plan for East Africa is thus indisputable. For a regional connectivity plan to work,...

East Africa has developed something of a reputation for gender equality in politics over the years. Rwanda has a higher percentage of women in parliament than any other country in the world while Burundi, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda are also among the highest ranking nations for female political figures (top 31 of 130 world parliaments) However, the latest East African Community Gender Barometer report by EASSI suggests those numbers don’t paint the full picture of gender equality in the region’s political environment. The study finds that, despite women sitting in many parliaments seats, they generally lack the same political influence enjoyed by their male peers. According to the group responsible for the study, Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are no different from other countries in the region when it comes to handing political power to women. Female politicians lack power in East Africa Rwanda and Bolivia are the only two countries in the world where female politicians outnumber men. Rwanda tops the list where 61.3% of the country’s members of parliament are female (source: ipu.org). Gender equality was a key part of Paul Kagame’s strategy for rebuilding Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. More than two decades later, Rwanda is the shining example of gender equality in politics, but it seems the stats might not tell the whole story. The latest EAC Gender Borameter report suggests these numbers don’t always translate into political influence for female politicians in East Africa. According to Dr Josephine Ahikire, the Dean at the School of Women and Gender Studies who designed the...

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and their South Sudan counterparts recently signed a memorandum of understanding to monitor and ensure high standards of goods in transit between the two countries. The MOU signed on Wednesday May 10 by Dr Ben Manyindo, the executive director UNBS and Dr Mary Gordon Muortat, the executive director of the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS), signals a commitment by the two bodies to work together on issues of standardization and conformity assessment (testing, certification and inspection), metrology, calibration and training. This will be done through development of direct relationships between the two bodies, ensuring standardization assessment, joint training programs and exchange of information among other methods. IMPROVEMENT IN TRADE The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and their South Sudan counterparts recently signed a memorandum of understanding to monitor and ensure high standards of goods in transit between the two countries. The MOU signed on Wednesday May 10 by Dr Ben Manyindo, the executive director UNBS and Dr Mary Gordon Muortat, the executive director of the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS), signals a commitment by the two bodies to work together on issues of standardization and conformity assessment (testing, certification and inspection), metrology, calibration and training. This will be done through development of direct relationships between the two bodies, ensuring standardization assessment, joint training programs and exchange of information among other methods. Source: All Africa

Have you ever considered how competitive a country would be if donkeys and camels were the primary mode of transport for its cross-border trade? Over long distances, a donkey can trot at a leisurely 9 km/hour but it can notch up a top speed of 43 km/hour. That is approximately how efficient trade would have been for our forefathers in Africa’s ancient trading kingdoms around Timbuktu and similar cities. It took a trade caravan 40 days to cross the Sahara Desert in those medieval times. Fast forward to the twenty-first century and you would think that things must be totally different and that Africa would have considerably accelerated. Not quite, when you consider that the estimated effective speed of road transport within the Southern African Development Community, for example, is between 6 km/hour and 12 km/hour.[1] The road infrastructure has substantially improved since the medieval era and trucks can move as fast as anywhere else in the world. But when drivers have to be stopped at numerous checkpoints and are forced to spend days at borders, the average speed of an entire journey reduces to donkey pace. It is therefore unsurprising that Africa faces the largest trade costs of any region in the world. And many of the challenges are man-made. Granted, geographic constraints, such as having more landlocked countries (16) than any other region in the world, put Africa at a disadvantage. But such geographic barriers have not prevented Switzerland or Austria from participating effectively in international trade. In...

Dar es Salaam — Tanzania will this Saturday host East African Community (EAC) leaders for the much-awaited regional bloc’s Heads of State Summit. So much is at stake ahead of the high-profile meeting that was thrice postponed over the past few months at the request of the hosts, Burundi and Kenya. Apparently, as the leaders finally meet in Dar es Salaam, the main issue of interest will be what direction to take for the Community that has of late been dogged by fresh cracks, and a financial crisis, which derailed the implementation of key projects. Granted, it has been a rough year for the EAC. Member states are still entangled in the confusion that was brought by the tricky trade deal with the European Union – with Kenya and Rwanda on one side pushing for the ratifying of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and Tanzania leading a splinter group that is against the pact. Last September, the EAC presidents met in the wake of Tanzania’s stiff opposition to the deal. It was during the meeting that the leaders decided to give technocrats more room for consultations on EPAs and to review their position in January. But there is no sign yet that member states will reach common ground. Kenya has, since 2007 been pushing for the deal to be concluded with speed. Being the only developing state in EAC (the rest are classified as Least Developed Countries that enjoy duty-free trade with EU without reciprocating), Kenya has had to lobby...