On April 27 every year, the Dutch community around the globe celebrates King’s Day. This year we commemorated the 50th birthday of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. King’s Day is a special occasion to the Dutch because it brings our nation together in celebrations marked by a flurry of activities such as flea markets, concerts and music festivals and the eating of Dutch traditional foods like raw herring. I hosted the local Dutch community — the second largest in Africa — and guests from government, NGOs and the private sector at my official residence for the King’s Day fete. During the event, I reiterated that the Netherlands is shifting its focus in Kenya from aid to trade – a culmination of maturity in our decades-long bilateral relationship. The aid to trade relation between the nations is a partnership meant to stimulate private sector development, promote innovative financing, market and value chain development, technology transfer and creation of a favourable trade and investment climate. The shift from aid to trade policy by the Dutch government in its relationship with Kenya calls for a paradigm shift in engagement meant to spur sustainable economic growth and development through trade. A major highlight of the new diplomatic discourse is the emphasis on increased private sector engagement as demonstrated for instance, by the recent visit to Kenya by a business delegation made up of investors from the Dutch health sector. The investors were scouting for investment opportunities in the health sector and to assist in...

The European Union on Thursday renewed calls for all East African Community member States to sign a regional trade deal that could see Kenya fail to get duty- and quota-free access into the EU. EU ambassador to Kenya Stefano-Antonio Dejak said the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) deal will avert loss of jobs in the region and boost trade volumes. The trade deal with the European Union gives EAC member states duty- and quota-free access for their goods to the EU as long as they meet the set health and safety standards. It also gives Europe similar access to the East African Community. Kenya and Rwanda signed the pact by the February 2 deadline while Tanzania and Uganda have requested more time to review the trade deal.  Burundi has said it will not sign after the EU questioned its human rights records. “Hopefully the EPA will in due time be signed by the EAC member States... it provides for specific instruments to make sure that the trade volumes between the EU and the region grow,” the EU ambassador said during an event to mark Europe Day. The EPAs deal needs approval from all members of the EAC bloc. Source: Business Daily

Kenya and the other member states of the East African Community (EAC) are now greatly outperforming the economies of most countries in the sub-Saharan region, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a recent report. The economic expansion rate for the region as a whole dropped to 1.4 per cent last year, the IMF found. That was the slowest rate in more than 20 years and below the level needed to keep pace with a burgeoning population growth. The IMF regional survey presents a generally bleak appraisal that runs counter to the “Africa Rising” narrative that has taken hold in recent years. A weak recovery to a 2.6 per cent growth rate is expected this year, but “the sub-Saharan African economic outlook remains clouded,” the IMF said. The anticipated uptick will mainly result from one-off factors in a few countries – “a recovery in oil production in Nigeria, higher public spending ahead of the elections in Angola, and the fading of drought effects in South Africa”. the global financial institution predicted. “The outlook is also clouded by the incidence of drought, pests and security issues,” the report added. It noted that the economy of war-ravaged and hunger-plagued South Sudan, for example, contracted by nearly 14 per cent last year. The poor overall performance is partly attributed to “a very substantial commodity price shock”. The steep downturn in the global oil market produced negative growth in Nigeria’s economy, the largest in the region. POLICY ADJUSTMENTS The IMF also pointed to a...

A study on gender equality in East Africa has found that despite being ranked among countries with the highest number of women in political leadership, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania are no different from Kenya, as real power to make decisions and deliver equity still belongs to men. With female leaders failing to influence political decisions, the needs of women who form the majority of the population in East African remain subordinate to men. The study is titled "East African Community Gender Barometer," which has baseline statistics, where partner states check off progress on implementation of the yet-to-be assented to gender equity law that was passed by the regional assembly in March 2017. It emerged that the large number of women in politics hadn't made much of a difference in achieving equity. The gender equality, equity and development law is meant to protect women and children against sexual and gender-based violence, force EAC partners states to provide free primary and secondary education for all, reduce maternal and child mortality and protect the rights of civilians during war. The law is also meant to get EAC partner states to achieve gender parity in politics, so that both women and men enjoy the same influence in budgeting and deciding which public services are the most important for the population. This has not happened. In Uganda, for example, issues that affect women are generally underfunded. Jailed Makerere University researcher Dr Stella Nyanzi has for example pointed government's failure to provide money for menstrual...

East Africa Community (EAC) member states are set to meet in June to fast track implementation of the single air transport market, the bloc said on Wednesday. EAC Senior Transport Economist Eric Ntagengerwa told a regional forum in Nairobi that the 14th EAC Sectoral Council on Transport, Communication and Meteorology will be considering the recommendations by the Heads of Civil Aviation and Airports Authorities to adopt the regional Air Transport Regulations. "The outcome of the meeting will allow the region to remove all the fears on eligibility criteria, market access, fair competition and others that are delaying the adoption of the regional regulations which are required to fully liberalize the EAC domestic aviation industry," Ntagengerwa said during the validation meeting to study on costs and benefits of air transport liberalization in EAC. In 1999, 44 signatory African States signed the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) that calls for the full liberalization of the African aviation industry by removing all restrictions on access, price, frequency and capacity in intra-African air transport market. The EAC Partner States have committed to fully implement the decision as part of the Common Market Protocol and in line with the ongoing efforts by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) to establish a single African air transport market. Ntagengerwa said that the domestic air transport within the EAC remains un-harmonized until the regional regulations on liberalization of air transport market, which were developed by the EAC Secretariat in 2014, are adopted. "Although some...

National carriers in the five-nation East African Community bloc stand to lose market share to international carriers should the proposed open skies policies be implemented, a study suggested yesterday. The study by global management consulting firm InterVISTAS on costs and benefits of open skies shows that increased competition from non-national carriers could threaten the profitability of airlines in the region. “While increased competition has the potential to weaken the viability and profitability of home carriers in some instances, liberalisation also offers a means to restructure the carriers and protect profitability by expanding into new markets,” InterVISTAS senior vice president for aviation forecasting Ian Kincaid said in Nairobi. The research states that whether the home carrier prospers or suffers under liberalisation will highly depend on the quality of its management and how the carrier chooses to respond. In 1999, the Yamoussoukro Decision was adopted by 44 African countries, recognising that the strict regulatory protection that sustains national carriers has unfavourable effects on a country’s economic growth. The decision was aimed at liberalising air transport in African countries to create a conducive environment for foreign and regional investment.The survey commissioned by the East African Business Council and the EAC Secretariat is aimed at providing information on the impact of implementing the Yamoussoukro Decision in East Africa. “Implementation of YD remains pending mostly due to a lack of clear and specific information regarding the impacts of enacting such liberalization,” Kincaid said. EABC CEO Lilian Awinja reiterated the sluggish implementation of open skies by...

May 09, 2017: In a bid to reduce dwell time and increase competitiveness, Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has directed government institutions at the Dar es Salaam Port to operate 24 hours a day and seven days a week (24/7). The Prime Minister said during the 10th Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC) meeting that all government institutions including Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) and Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) should reschedule their working hours to enable the port operate 24/7. The directive came in response to complaints of inefficiency at the Dar es Salaam Port, where dwell time is between 10-13 days. The port’s closest rival, Mombasa Port has dwell time of 3-4 days reportedly. The Port of Dar es Salaam is the principal port serving Tanzania. According to the International Association of Ports and Harbours, it is the fourth largest port on the African continent's Indian Ocean coastline after Durban, Mombasa and Maputo. The port acts as a gateway for commerce and trade for Tanzania and numerous bordering landlocked states. Source: Logistics Update Africa

Kenyan lawyers will start practising in other East African countries if an agreement between member states is approved. The government, through the Ministry of East African Community (EAC) and the department of Labour and Social Protection, has announced elaborate plans that will enable lawyers to work freely within the bloc. Barack Ndegwa, the secretary in charge of integration in the State department responsible for the EAC, said there is a mutual-recognition agreement being drafted to facilitate the move. “We are working on the mutual-recognition agreement that will see lawyers from the neighbouring EAC partner states such as Uganda and Tanzania come to work in Kenya while ours also work in their countries,” said Mr Ndegwa. He was speaking in Nakuru during a two-day workshop organised for Law Society of Kenya lawyers. Mr Ndegwa noted that the establishment of the EAC court in Tanzania will require lawyers from member states to handle matters and represent their clients at the court. He said lawyers from member states need exposure on the East African Treaty laws that are being drafted to understand how the East African Court of Justice operates. He said the court has already opened registries in the capitals of member states. Mr Ndegwa was accompanied by East African Court of Justice Registrar Yufnalis Okubo and David Njoka, the director of political affairs in the State department of the EAC and integration. Source: Daily Nation

Prevalence of trade barriers in the region is a contributor to food shortage especially hampering movement of grains. East Africa Grain Council (EAGC) says trade barriers have pushed business of grains from formal, well-regulated channels to informal, unregulated and inefficient mediums. Grain experts say informal trade translates to higher food safety risks, lower quality, high post-harvest losses, higher transaction costs and ultimately higher consumer prices. “Today, 70 per cent of maize, 63 per cent of dry beans, 57 per cent of rice and 89 per cent of millet are traded informally across national borders. This scenario has exposed more than 10 million East Africans to hunger,” Eagc Board Chairman Bernard Otim told People Daily during the council’s Annual Members’ meeting in Nairobi. Despite importance of regional food trade in availing markets for producers and affordable food for consumers, export bans, import bans or both, are active in a number of countries in Eastern and Southern Africa region. Otim said there are close to 20 countries affected by such a scenario in the region. “It is an irony that our governments have been quick to sign regional and continental commitments to support agriculture but have been slow to back such commitments with concrete action and resources,” he said. A few of these countries have committed 10 per cent of their national budgets to the agricultural sector as per the AU Malabo Declaration. Regrettably, development of the grain sector in the region is inhibited by a restrictive policy environment, characterised by ad...

While many new African rail lines have been proposed over the past 20 years, there is a growing trend of them actually being built. To take one example, the first phase of the new standard gauge line in Kenya, from Mombasa to Nairobi, is approaching completion. Indeed, it is this project that may have given added emphasis to the development of the Tanzanian line. Both new lines, as with the ageing colonial-era lines in the region, connect landlocked Eastern Africa to the rival ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, Kenya and Tanzania’s competing windows on the world. Mombasa is already the larger of the two and its possession of a far superior rail connection could have proved deciding in attracting business. The new contract relates to the 300km section of line between Dar and Morogoro. A joint venture of Turkey’s Yapi Merkezi and Mota-Engil of Portugal were awarded the contract in December following a competitive tender managed by Tanzania Railways Corporation. Both companies have made Africa a marketing priority. Yapi Merkezi had requested financial guarantees on the project from the Turkish government. Ankara is keen to encourage much greater involvement in Africa by Turkish companies. However, the government and the state owned rail utility may have to review the tender process for future contracts. Although a massive 40 companies asked for the tender application documents, only one bid was received. It is possible that the successful contractors were prepared to make an attractive financial offer in order to aid...