Tanzania is banking 45% of its financial budget to be spent on infrastructure development. According to the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, a budget of Tshs4.5trillion was mentioned, that will cover for the development, among other projects. Out of the amount, the transport sector will take a huge chunk, totalling Tshs 2.5trillion, while Tshs1.9trilion is for works sector and the remaining Tshs18billion is reserved for communication sector. Among areas of priority, is Tshs 900billion for the construction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Morogoro to Dodoma. In the current financial year, the government has allocated Tshs 1trilllion to cover the Dar es Salaam -Morogoro patch, in which President John Magufuli, has already laid a foundation stone and the project, is ongoing. Prof Makame Mbarawa further said that during the next financial year, the government has set aside Tshs 200bilion for rehabilitation of Dar es Salaam-Isaka central railway, which will include bridges and culverts and to rehabilitate railway lines within Dar es Salaam Port. He said the projects will be supported by the World Bank. Another project highlights in transport sector to be covered during the 2017/2018 fiscal year is Tshs 187billion for the modernization and expansion of the Dar es Salaam Port and a sum of Tshs 87billion for the construction of a Multi-Purpose Terminal at Mtwara Port. He said Tshs 500billion has been allocated for the continued revival of the national carrier – Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL). During the next fiscal year, Prof Mbarawa said, the amount...

Kampala – A year ago, several logistics companies were at risk of closing shop as commercial banks sought to recover their money. “It has been tough,” is a common phrase you will hear from most of them. Estimates revealed that in 2016 the oil and gas sector players alone had reached Shs70 billion. It was a disaster for the companies that had lined up to tap further into oil opportunities. Some indeed burnt their fingers. About 1,000 workers were laid-off by the various players in the oil sector, including logistics companies. For the logistics companies, the losses were rather high because they were almost put out of business. Oil companies had been spending about Shs2 trillion prior to 2013. However, by 2015, these amounts had fallen to about Shs1.2 trillion. About 30 per cent was spent on local content. Of this about 70 per cent was for payment of logistics services. This money dried up as oil companies also cut back on expenditure in 2014 due to a combination of factors. The first; delayed oil production licences. The second was the low oil price environment at the time that shrunk investment in the oil sector. Since then, logistics companies that had been involved in the oil sector have not recovered. Some of the equipment they had bought was exclusively for the oil sector, making it hard for them to diversify income sources. Now they are braced for yet another phase. Oil company needs In August 2016, the Uganda government granted...

IN SUMMARY Such interventions include: Incorporation of cross border market channels, construction of cross border markets, equipping borders with mini labs for standards resting and quality upgrading as well as trade information desks for women and informal traders Kampala. The ministry of Trade together with TradeMark Africa (TMA) are in advanced stages of developing a strategy to improve trade across borders. The proposed strategy lays out planned interventions and priorities that will eliminate some of the challenges faced by women and informal traders. Addressing the participants during a stakeholders’ meeting to review the strategy held in Kampala last week, Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde said government is going to coordinate different stakeholders in different ministries charged with trade facilitation. “The strategy has also been developed and approved and we are now going to present to Cabinet. We are giving it less than a month. We are also going to ensure that they work on infrastructure and also approve the National Export Development Strategy which comprises all these projects,” she said. Speaking at the event, TMA Uganda country director Moses Sabiti said the cross border plan is a strategy that supports national exports in Uganda. “... given that 70 per cent of informal traders are women, it is important that interventions are focused to ensure that there are processes in place to help them to gainfully engage in trade,” he said. As part of its contribution to the strategy, TMA will support interventions that complement infrastructure work such as the one stop...

Kampala — Government has secured funding for the construction of the first logistics hub at the Gulu Railway station, targeting the markets in South Sudan through Alegu and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through West Nile. South Sudan and DRC are Uganda’s largest export markets. According to Mr Benon Kajuna, the director transport in the ministry of Works and Transport, the hub will be constructed on at least 24 acres – provided by the government. The project will cost $8.6m (Shs30.96b) of which $5.6m (Shs20b) is available with funding from DFID and TradeMark Africa. “In October 2016, we completed a pre-feasibility study for the project, with designs expected at the end of this year. Currently, a consultant is working on the proposed design for the project. We expect construction to commence by end 2018,” he told delegates attending the Joint Oil and Gas and Logistics Expo 2017 at Kampala Serena Hotel Conference Centre last week. A logistics hub is a designated area that deals with activities related to transportation, organisation, separation, coordination and distribution of goods for national and international transit, on a commercial basis by various operators. Gulu is one of the four areas designated in Uganda where there is a planned logistics hub. The Gulu hub is expected to serve the two export markets for Ugandan goods but also for re-exports destined for DRC and South Sudan. It will be a Private-Public Partnership (PPP), with some private sector players expected to come on board. According to Mr...

The East African Community (EAC) has saved $3.4 million from cost-cutting measures designed to reduce travel expenses. For the 10-month period from May 2016 to February 2017, EAC travel expenditures fell to $9.1 million compared to $12.5 million during a similar period the previous financial year. The Community’s travel expenditure includes air tickets and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) for EAC Staff, Partner States’ delegates and other participants at EAC meetings. In April 2016 the EAC, which has been facing financial constraints, adopted administrative and institutional reforms aimed at cutting down costs and reducing wastage in its expenditure. Some of the most significant cost reductions were in expenditure drops on air tickets for EAC staff by $456,491 and air tickets for Partner States’ delegates and other participants to EAC meetings by $408,273. DSA for EAC staff declined from $4.5 million to $3.2 million; and for Partner States’ delegates from $4.4 million to $3.5 million in the same period under review. EAC Secretary General Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko noted that the Community’s overall travel budget has significantly reduced over the past three financial years; from $28.1million in 2014/2015; to $28.0 million in 2015/2016; and now $21 million in the current financial year. Source: Foot Print To Africa

The East African Community could follow in the footsteps of African Union in its quest to find an alternative financing mechanism, a regional lawmaker has said. During last year’s African Union Summit in Kigali, the Heads of State adopted a self-financing mechanism, proposed by former African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka. The African Union (AU) model aims to raise $1.2 billion (about Rwf898 billion) annually to reduce heavy dependence on external partners to finance Africa’s development projects. Rwandan members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) say regional ministers of finance are set to meet in Arusha, Tanzania to consider the various proposals on the table and finalise the matter of alternative financing for the bloc. “I believe the proposals are similar to those put forward by the African Union. We’ve had proposals for a number of years, but the Council requested for more clarification as there were more issues to be considered,” MP Patricia Hajabakiga, the chairperson of Rwandan EALA chapter, told a news conference in Kigali yesterday. Finance ministers from the bloc start meeting today until May 8 to consider various matters connected with the region’s financial muscles. During their latest country tour, the lawmakers met and held discussions with heads of key government departments with a direct bearing on the regions integration agenda. MP Martin Ngoga (Rwanda) said the matter of an alternative financing mechanism for the Community was among the issues they discussed with Finance and Economic Planning minister Claver Gatete recently. Ngoga said: “The minister...

Government is providing 20 acres of land, in close proximity to the current UN Logistics base, to expand UN operations. The Government of Uganda also welcomes proposals by the UN in the Global Service Delivery Model to consolidate further, the Entebbe Regional Service Center so that all peacekeeping, special political and other missions’ national staff and uniformed personnel are serviced out of Entebbe. These remarks were made by State Minister for International Affairs, Hon. Okello Oryem, in a meeting with Ms. Lisa Buttenheim, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 28th April 2017. The Minister welcomed the ASG to Uganda and appreciated the support from the Department of Field Support in the transformation of the Regional Service Center Entebbe (RSCE), to what it is today. He encouraged other senior members of the UN leadership to continue to visit the RSCE. He said that he is looking forward to a visit by the UN Secretary-General when he convenes the Refugee Solidarity conference in June of this year. Emphasizing that Government remains ready to strengthen collaboration with the UN, Hon. Oryem also commended the leadership of the RSCE and MONUSCO for remaining engaged with the Government of Uganda and encouraged that this continues.  He pledged the Government’s commitment to provide support for its expansion of the RSCE. The Government, he said, will continue to give priority to Security, Infrastructure and other facilities and also mobilize the private sector to supply goods and services to...

Tanzania has joined its fellow members of the East African Community (EAC) -- Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi -- in increasing the pace in harmonisation of local product standards in order to be ready to take advantage of the soon-to-be-introduced EAC Free Trading Area in December. The Director of Trade at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha, Alhaj Rashid Kiboa, revealed here Monday that the establishment of the tripartite FTA involving the EAC bloc, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), would become a reality this December. “That is why this year’s 20th Meeting of the East African Standards Committee is sitting in Arusha for two days to speed up harmonization of product standards within the EAC region, so that it is ready to export goods and services across to the central and southern parts of the continent as from 2018,” he said. However, Kiboa pointed out that there was still a need for Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan to speed up the adaptation and for the Standardization Quality Assurance Metrology and Testing (SQMT) for product certification in the six EAC partner States before venturing further outwards into the continent. The Acting Director-General of the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Prof Egid Beatus Mubofu, said so far, more than 100 standards had been harmonized across the region with more to be approved this year, and that it only remains for the six EAC Member States to adopt such benchmarks...

US$253m in loans has been approved by The African Development Bank (AfDB) to the Kenya and Uganda for the upgrading of a 118 km road section connecting the two countries and the construction of the 32 km Eldoret town bypass, in Kenya. The development which is projected to be complete in 2021 will enhance the living standards of citizens in the two countries. Kenya is set to receive a whopping US$147mand Uganda US$106m. The AfDB loans will cover the costs 89% for Kenya and 88% for Uganda with the governments contributing 11% and 12% respectively. AfDB Infrastructure, Cities and Urban Development Department director Amadou Oumarou confirmed the reports and said in a statement released last month that the proposed intervention was in line with the AfDB’s Ten Year Strategy, which also includes five priority areas for development – the High 5s – which are Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. “The intervention meets four of the High 5s by contributing to the integration of the East African Community countries; improving the quality of life by providing socioeconomic facilities for people in the zone of influence; increasing agricultural production through access to markets; and the reduction in transport costs, which lowers the cost of doing business that will play a pivotal role in industrialization,” Oumarou explained. The project also includes the construction of a one-stop border post in Suam to facilitate trade between the two...

Kampala. Japan is pushing for a bilateral agreement with Uganda in a bid to expand and strengthen trade and investment between the two countries. While meeting the Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde at her office in Kampala last week, Japanese Ambassador to Uganda Kazuaki Kameda, said his government is considering starting preliminary consultations with Uganda, to exchange opinions on the possibility of initiating official negotiation as soon as possible. He said there are a number of areas to be covered in this agreement with emphasis on trade promotion and protection of investments. Mr Kazuaki requested the government of Uganda to look at the possible timing and place of negotiations. “Uganda has been a long time business partner with Japan and it is the reason why Japan would like to renew and strengthen this relationship further for mutual benefits,” he added. Mr Kazuaki also lobbied Uganda to support Japan’s candidature to host the Olympics in 2025. He informed the minister that Japan has picked interest to host the World Exposition in Osaka in 2025 competing with France, so far. He added that Uganda and Japan have had a cordial relationship, diplomatic relations since independence in 1962 and that Japan has made a contribution in private investments in the industrialisation drive of Uganda especially through manufacturing, value addition and employment creation. Ms Kyambadde welcomed the initiative, saying it comes at a critical time when Uganda is working towards reducing the trade deficit between the two countries. “Uganda’s main exports to Japan include coffee,...