Plans by the Kenya Revenue Authority to have at least 40 per cent of cargo arriving at the port of Mombasa transported to Nairobi on the standard gauge railway for clearance at the inland container depot are causing anxiety among transporters and importers. KRA Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Julius Musyoki said using the SGR is a part of the agency's strategy to ensure Mombasa remains the route of choice for traders in the Northern Corridor, as well as northern Tanzania, DR Congo and Ethiopia. "The SGR railway line is designed to carry 22 million tonnes of cargo annually, equivalent to 40 per cent of Mombasa ports throughout," Mr Musyoki told The EastAfrican. Recognising that volumes of imports and exports at ICD will grow exponentially, KRA developed the strategy to enhance efficiency in clearance time and provide effective controls on imports, exports and transit traffic, he added. While KRA is yet to formally issue a directive on the matter, importers and transporters say it would be illegal for the government to dictate how to conduct their business. "The government would be opening itself up to legal battles if it forced importers to transport their cargo by rail," said Gilbert Lang'at, the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa chief executive. He added that while the SGR had the potential to bring down transportation costs by as much as 35 per cent, the company that has been awarded the contract to operate the SGR has not given importers its operations strategy, particularly...

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is consulting internally on how to proceed after business leaders requested for more time to allow for further consultations on the EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016, The New Times has learnt. The Bill was recently re-introduced for the second time during the August 2016 sitting in Arusha, Tanzania, by MP Patricia Hajabakiga (Rwanda) after it failed to be approved at the Heads of State summit in 2013. The Bill aims at providing a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment through the prohibition of manufacturing, sale, importation and use of polythene materials in the East African Community (EAC). Ever since its reintroduction, businesses voiced concerns and they reiterated their call for more consultations during a dinner hosted by the East African Business Council (EABC) in Kigali on Tuesday. The EABC executive director, Lilian Awinja, said the Bill is a good initiative but since they have received concerns from members of the regional business community, the Assembly ought to consider allowing more time for “sufficient consultations.” “We kindly request that you allow us to undertake thorough private sector consultations and give input to EALA before the passing of this Bill,” Awinja told EALA Speaker Daniel Kidega and other lawmakers. The EABC has already officially written to the Speaker– and it will most likely take the Assembly to make a decision. During the dinner, Rwandan businessman Denis Karera, who is also the EABC Vice Chairperson, told lawmakers that the “sensitive Bill”...

An inaugural test run for the standard gauge railway (SGR) from Nairobi to Mombasa was carried out successfully using a passenger train. The passenger train left Nairobi at 9.30am and arrived at the Mombasa Marshaling yard at around 4.00pm. Speaking at the Mombasa marshaling yard (dubbed kilometer zero) at the Port of Mombasa, SGR Project Coordinator Johnson Matu said they were impressed with the initial test runs. "The test runs were meant to determine the train's performance ability on the new SGR track," Eng Matu said. The maiden test drive trip from Nairobi to Mombasa covered a total of 472km with the first stop being at Mtito Andei for two hours and five minutes. A specialised compartment fitted with a computerised system, which is able to see condition of track and relay it to the computer system was among the compartments hauled by the locomotive on the maiden drive. There was a two hour stoppage at Mtito Andei, which is the mid point of the 472km and included four coaches and two passenger locomotive engines of the DF 8B class. "We were cruising at a speed of 120km per hour from Nairobi up to Mtito Andei, where all the rail communication modern systems are in place," he said. But after Mtito Andei, it took longer for the train to cruise since they opted to travel at much lower speeds since the signaling and communication system are yet to be complete. "Manual system to the clear the incoming trains was used....

At least 20 engineers are testing the standard gauge railway in readiness for the commissioning of train operations in July. On Wednesday, the train arrived at the Port Reitz station from Nairobi, with engineers saying the trains would travel at 120 kilometres per hour. “The train took two hours between Nairobi and Mtito Andei because the track there is complete. But from there we moved slowly because there are extensive tests that we need to do between Mtito and Mombasa,” Joshua Matu, the engineer who is coordinating the SGR project, said. “This proves that the journey between Nairobi and Mombasa will take four and half hours on the express train,” he added. Kenya Railways has said there will be two types of trains operating between Mombasa and Nairobi, the intercity and inter county with the former stopping only once at Mtito Andei while the latter will stop at all the seven stations. Mr Matu said for the next two weeks, engineers will be testing the track between Mombasa and Mtito Andei with a view to establish whether there are defects. “As the train moves, there is a system that takes images of the entire track and after that we analyse the pictures to establish if there is any part of the track that is not properly fixed or those that might have cracks,” he said. The engineer said the Miritini station will be complete by end of this month and was undergoing some final touches. This comes a week after...

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), on International Women’s Day yesterday, passed the East African Community (EAC) Gender Equality, Equity and Development Bill, 2016 after a lengthy debate. The Bill, moved by MP Nancy Abisai (Kenya), makes provision for gender equality, equity, protection and development in the Community and, after enactment, shall now await assent by the EAC Heads of State. “The Heads of State should assent to the Bill and pave way for its implementation. My hope is that once enacted, partner states will take it seriously,” Lilian Awinja, executive director of the East African Business Council (EABC) told The New Times. “The next partner state to appoint an EAC Secretariat General should appoint a woman in that office.” The Bill contends that whereas the partner states recognise the importance of gender equality and have developed programmes and enacted legislation in this pursuit, these efforts are at different levels and contain differences particular to each partner state. As a result, gender initiatives affect women, men and children differently across the Community. The passing of the Bill follows successful second and third readings after presentation of the Report of the Committee on General Purpose on public consultations held in the partner states. The committee chairperson, MP Odette Nyiramilimo (Rwanda), earlier told the Assembly that stakeholders in Kenya welcomed the Bill, saying it would give effect to the EAC Treaty and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In Uganda, she said, stakeholders called for broadening of the terms with...

The All India Skin and Hide Tanners and Merchants Association (AISHTMA) will sign agreements with three east African countries – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – to promote trade and investment partnerships in the leather sector. AISHTMA will sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Tanners Association of Kenya, and Uganda Leather and Allied Industries Association on March 9 in Chennai at a function to mark its Centenary Year. The MoUs will be signed in the presence of the delegations led by the respective countries’ Industry and Trade Ministers. “East African countries, which are rich in raw materials for leather sector, are looking to India as a partner for development. They have seen Indian leather industry’s growth in the past four decades – from less than a billion dollar exports level to $6 billion,” said M Rafeeque Ahmed, President, AISHTMA. The agreements will focus on supporting and coordinating activities related to production of quality hides and skins and manufacture of leather and increased value addition on hides and skins for domestic and export markets. Three months ago, a 10-member leather industry delegation visited the three countries and interacted with government officials about the possible investment and collaboration opportunities to develop the leather industry in their countries. These developments are part of the framework of ‘Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa’ , a South-South Aid-for-Trade Project implemented by International Trade Centre (2015-2020), and funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID). Source: Business Line

The value of inter-regional trade among East African Community (EAC) member states has reduced to Sh523.5 billion in 2015. EAC, Labour and Social Protection Cabinet secretary Phyllis Kandie said the value stood at Sh595.4 billion in 2013. She attributed the decline to weak capacity within individual EAC partner states to resolve most of the Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). The CS said this in a speech read by the principal secretary, Betty Maina at the launch of the Regional Market Scorecard 2016. “The scorecard points to the existence and emergence of several NTBs within the partner states, and the slow pace at which their elimination was being executed, subsequently undermining intra-EAC trade,” Kandie said. The scorecard facilitates implementation of the Common Market provisions while at the same time identifying obstacles and recommending interventions to mitigate barriers. She said non-recognition of EAC Certificates by member states was a protectionist approach that denied the business community access to the EAC market. The Scorecard 2016, launched in Kampala, shows that Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi still run their trade as separate and distinct markets, keeping their economies small and disconnected due to several bottlenecks in regulations. This, she said, was fuelled by failures of individual states to lift legal barriers, for example, refusal to recognise business certificates from other EAC members and double taxation. EAC presidents have signed a treaty that gives EAC countries freedom of movement of goods, labour, services, and capital. The protocol was signed on November 20, 2009 and came into...

Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Saturday affirmed his government’s commitment to construct a dry port in Mwanza region aimed at easing trade between Tanzania and Uganda. Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Magufuli said that upon completion of the dry port construction, there will be no need for Ugandan traders travelling to the country’s major port of Dar es Salaam, situated over 1,000 kilometers from Uganda. "At the same time my government will repair MV Umoja in Lake Victoria to ease cargo transportation between Mwanza and Uganda," said the Tanzanian leader shortly after the signing of diplomatic agreements between the two East African countries. Magufuli added that the two countries have also agreed to rehabilitate an 11-km road stretch from Port Bell in Lake Victoria to Kampala. He said the Tanzanian government had also reduced truck check points to facilitate fast transportation of cargo between the two countries. Magufuli commended trade growth between the two countries, saying statistics showed an increase from 89 million U.S. dollars in 2015 to 96.7 million dollars in 2016. Magufuli said the two leaders also discussed the construction of the 1,403-km pipeline to transport crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga Port in Tanzania. He ordered for immediate pipeline construction take-off, saying any minor issues will be resolved while construction activities were on progress. Source: Coastweek

The Kenya Pipeline Company has taken over storage facilities at the Kenya Petroleum Refineries in a three-year lease agreement ahead of planned early oil programme from June. The refinery, which has been dormant since September 2013, is set to be modified at an estimated cost of Sh1.5 billion to store waxy crude oil from Liokichar Basin for export, Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau had said in October last year. In the deal announced yesterday, KPC will manage KPRL’s existing storage facilities with the two state companies lending their technical expertise and assets towards the realisation of the government’s early oil programme. The lease agreement ends previous reports of an acquisition by KPC after it sought a consultant to assess the Mombasa-based refinery's viability. Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter yesterday said the lease agreement will enable the country shore up its strategic petroleum reserves from the current low of 12 days to 30 days, with plans underway to increase the reserves to three months. “KPRL has both storage facilities and grounds that will be used to increase the country’s ullage which will in effect create enough capacity for berthing vessels to discharge fuel into KPC’s system,” Keter said during the signing ceremony in Nairobi yesterday. He said the move will enable Kenya save billions of shillings incurred in demurrage charges annually for fuel vessels docking at the port of Mombasa, a factor that could significantly reduce the cost of fuel. “In addition to this, the government is looking to invest in...

Kampala — If all undertakings made by the Tanzanian authorities are fulfilled, Ugandan traders may sooner than later see reason to exploit the second door to import and export their goods through the Dar es Salaam (Central-Corridor) again. The Mombasa - Kampala route has always been preferred as the first door. Dar es Salaam Port is Tanzania's principal port with a rated capacity of 4.1 million down weight tonnage (dwt) dry cargo and six million dwt bulk liquid cargo. The port serves the landlocked countries of Malawi, Zambia, DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Over a decade ago the Dar es Salaam - Kampala, popularly known as the Central Corridor, used to be the other option for Ugandan traders to do international trade. Ugandan traders are now swarming at Mombasa Port as a seaport of choice. On average Uganda's goods transiting through the Northern Corridor (Mombasa - Kampala) is about 5.9 million tonnes per day. While meeting a delegation of Ugandan traders at the sidelines of President Yoweri Museveni's visit to East Africa's second largest economy at the end of February, Mr Deusdedit Kakoko, the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) director general, said: "Previously, at least 30 per cent of the Ugandan cargo used to be freight through Dar es Salaam Port. It has dropped to a per cent that is lower than 2 per cent." Reason for decline Industry observers say the Central Corridor has been plagued with a number of complaints ranging from delayed service, inefficiency, loss of cargo...