South Sudan has remained tight-lipped on the fate of Kenyans and other East Africans working in its territory, five days after it introduced prohibitive work permit charges to lock foreigners out of its labour market. On Thursday, the country’s labour ministry announced that permit to engage in professional services like setting up a hospital, law firm or advisory services will cost Sh1,020,000 million ($10,000). White collar jobs also attract the same amount of fees per person. Cost of permit to engage in blue collar jobs goes up to Sh204,000 while casual workers now have to part with Sh102,000 to remain in South Sudan. Having joined the East African Community’s common market last year, South Sudan has an option to exempt the bloc’s citizens from the stringent work permit rules. It could also go the Tanzania way to retain the work permit fees but at reduced cost to EAC nationals. Tanzania, for instance charges East Africans $500 for work permit, just a quarter of the $2,000 it collects from other foreigner categories. At the South Sudan Embassy in Nairobi, officials declined to comment on the charges saying they needed clarification from Juba. The acting chairman of Kenyans working in South Sudan Anthony Kanyi however said the move would hurt formal sector employees. “It is going to be difficult for Kenyans working here as they will have to part with a lot of money to secure the work permits,” said Mr Kanyi. Mr Kanyi wants Nairobi and Juba to discuss the increment...

East African Community (EAC) is finalising plans for the transnational highway, which measures 450 kilometre-long, and expected to cost 600 million US dollars (over 1.2tri/-). The highway moves from Malindi, through Mombasa and Lunga Lunga on the Kenyan side, before crossing into Tanzania (Tanga), through Pangani and Saadani to Bagamoyo. The project was the centre of deliberations between EAC Secretary General, Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko and Executive Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) over the weekend when the highpowered delegation of 10 directors paid a courtesy call at EAC Secretariat here. During their mission to EAC headquarters, AfDB directors also discussed the bank’s collaboration with the regional block since the signing of a cooperation agreement in 1998. The agreement has resulted in the funding of several regional projects by the bank, mainly in the transport and energy sectors. The AfDB had agreed to fund the Malindi-Mombasa- Tanga to Bagamoyo Highway and that it would allocate the first tranche of money to the construction, which is expected to start anytime from now and take three years to completion. The road project will entail the rehabilitation of the 250- kilometre Malindi-Lunga Lunga Road and upgrading to bitumen standard the 175-kilometre stretch that links Tanga to Bagamoyo. The coastline road is expected to boost regional integration, cross-border trade, tourism, and socio-economic development, as well as improve road transport infrastructure along the Kenya and Tanzania coastlines, particularly between Mombasa and Bagamoyo. Apart from the proposed Malindi-Bagamoyo road, AfDB also funded the Arusha-Namanga- Athi River...

Dar es Salaam. The World Bank Group says it will support Tanzania’s industrialisation by focusing on deepening the EAC Common Market which is crucial in expanding the market for the manufactured goods. Steven Dimitriyev, World Bank Lead Private Sector Specialist for Tanzania said last week that if well utilised the East African Common Market can serve as a crucial market for the country’s industrial goods and services but restrictions remain that make trade in the region more difficult. And that is why the WB and other partners such as TradeMark Africa are ready to help Tanzania and other EAC partner states to work on all those issues that still hinder the full implementation of the Common Market protocol. “Our reasoning is that industrialising the Tanzanian economy will be achievable only if the EAC market becomes easily accessible for Tanzanian goods, services and labour which can be exported and traded across the region, on account of the large size of the market and the opportunities it presents for trade and business development,” Mr Dimitriyev, who was reacting to the Common Market Scorecard 2016 that indicated that EAC partner states still lag behind in some key aspects of integration, said last Wednesday. He added that the WB, therefore, intends to support EAC trade integration by including it in its package of assistance to Tanzania’s second Five Year Development Programme, which prioritizes industrialization as the approach to creating large number of new and better jobs for the population, especially the youth. The EA...

President Yoweri Museveni’s recent state visit to Tanzania was to rescue the crude oil pipeline project after Dar officials pushed to revise the low tariff that lured Uganda to prefer the southern route to the one through Kenya. When President Museveni flew to Dar es Salaam on February 25 on the invitation of his counterpart John Pombe Magufuli to hold bilateral discussions, top on his list of priorities was the issue of harmonising the tariff that Uganda will pay for its oil to be transported through the port of Tanga in northern Tanzania. Energy and Mineral Development Minister Irene Muloni was guarded, only saying that discussions between the presidents were around “issues of intergovernmental agreements to conclude” after “discussions with our partners about the incentive of the Tanzania route.” But sources said the discussions in Dar es Salaam revolved around the tariff, and President Museveni returned to Kampala with a major victory after his visit ensured “the only impediment” that was still facing the $3.5 billion oil pipeline was removed. Becoming stubborn “The only impediment was Tanzania. The ministers were becoming stubborn, insisting that Tanzania should get more from this pipeline. The president flew there, put on his Museveni magic and got the issue out of the way,” he said. The incentive that among other things lured Uganda to choose the southern route is the tariff of $12.2 per barrel of oil that Uganda will pay to move its crude oil through Tanzania, which Ms Muloni says was “the best...

Tourism between East Africa and the granted Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as Category One status is expected to herald the new beginning of direct flights to America from Nairobi, with a new chapter of growth in regional tourism. After Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) won Category One status from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last month, there are new hopes heralding East African tourism, looking for faster growth through the Kenyan entry point. By attaining the highest International Aviation Safety Assessment status, Kenya is now standing as East Africa’s aviation hub for American tourists booked to the East African Community (EAC) member states most of whom are lacking key tourist services. Kenya’s Transport Cabinet Secretary, James Macharia, was quoted by The EastAfrican as saying that Kenya Airways and other interested local operators will fly directly from Kenya to the United States once the necessary approvals and last point of departure (LPD) rights are granted. Mr. Macharia said that with the attainment of Category One status, Kenya Airways will immediately apply for approval to codeshare with US airlines while concurrently pursuing approval for direct flights. RwandAir, the other major airline in the EAC says going through Kenya is also an opportunity the airline can explore. Jimmy Musoni, the Head of Commercial Planning at RwandAir, noted, however, that they were yet to undertake a study to weigh their options. Direct flights to the US will significantly reduce the time taken between the US and East Africa to as little...

President Paul Kagame has said the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) will be called upon to play multiple roles as the African Union (AU) undergoes reforms, including championing cooperation. The President made the remarks Monday while addressing a special sitting marking the start of a two-week session of the regional Assembly in Kigali. Kagame said that as the AU undergoes reforms the regional assembly will be charged with more responsibility as the African Union – a continental union consisting of all 55 countries on the continent – delegates implementation of development agenda to regional economic communities, including the East African Community. “Of particular note for the EALA is the decision to direct more responsibility for the implementation of Africa’s common development agenda to the Regional Economic Communities,” Kagame said. The reforms process, Kagame said, will also see the annual AU Summits held in July transform to serve as coordination meetings with the various regional economic communities. “To that end, the Heads of State decided that the annual July Summit of the African Union will be transformed into a coordination meeting with Regional Economic Communities,” the President said. He explained that this means that greater contributions will be needed from “all of you as East Africa’s legislators, both as strong advocates for the imperative of reform and as champions for closer cooperation between the East African Community and the African Union Commission.” Kagame in January – during the AU Summit in Ethiopia – presented reforms which were adopted by African leaders...

The East African Community (EAC) has made positive strides to anchor economic development. Most of the investment seems to be under infrastructural development interventions, including the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) – covering railways, roads and energy sectors. This is one step. The East African Community has been among the fastest growing regions with about 6.5 % economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decades. Regional integration has been at the fore of this growth, as the Member states to foster economic development. The EAC economies by way of household employment are dominated by agriculture which is the core economic sector employing 90% of their respective populations and accounting for 24% to 46% of gross domestic product (GDP). Meanwhile, the EAC remains a net importer of manufactured products. So how do we reverse this and anchor locally based industrial sector? What would it take for local manufacture and assembly of electronics like motor vehicles, electric circuit breakers and fittings, cookers, dry cells, solar panels and machine parts? How do we leverage petroleum related products such as plastics and other products? Whereas opportunities do exist in large scale farming, irrigation, value addition; processing, pre-packing and specialization, in order to exploit regional and international markets, the opportunity for industrial growth is not being strengthened in locally producing quality inputs for use in the agricultural sector. With our good soils and fresh water in EAC, why would the region import processed animal feeds, chemicals given our fertilizer deposits, cement or even ceramics...

At Friday’s opening of Bank of Kigali’s service centre on Kigali Heights, I was honoured to meet several eminent gentlemen and a lady that loyally follow this column, the best motivation for any writer; they also gave me some honest feedback regarding my profile picture. “It makes you look like a giant,” said one gentleman. Disclaimer: I am only half a giant. “You actually look older in the picture,” said another gentleman. I am actually 360 months old, a long time if you are polite enough not to convert it into years. Another gentleman teased me about the green jacket and the striped shirt. The banter left me in such a great mood that I could have written a wonderful romance essay that night. To be fair, the feedback on Friday about my profile picture is consistent with what others have told me before. Pictures are lovely. They are a form of writing and a good way of advancing viewpoints. In media framing, pictures are the best tools of composition and currently, the best case study is the media’s pictorial representation of the cantankerous US President Donald Trump. Based on the feedback, I will be changing my profile picture, soon. But it is not only me with a picture to fix; East Africa’s picture of regional integration is increasingly becoming blurry as members place more focus on their respective national priorities. Originally, the picture we drew from East Africa’s rhetoric on regional integration was that member countries were harmonizing their...

Kenya on Wednesday launched a regional electronic cargo tracking system to monitor transit cargo in real time within its borders. Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner General John Njiraini told journalists in Nairobi that Nairobi joins Uganda and Rwanda who are already using the system. The new system represents a key milestone in the drive to cement East Africa cooperation by promoting cross border trade. The new system replaces the existing Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) where monitoring is done independently through stand-alone platforms. The initiative will integrate the transit cargo tracking platforms of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda which form the Northern Transport Corridor. There are currently plans in the offing to rollout the system to South Sudan, and Tanzania and ultimately to destinations out of East African Community bloc especially Democratic Republic of Congo. Njiraini said that by integrating the transit cargo tracking platforms, the three countries aim to achieve seamless operations across borders. "The overall aim is to make custom border checks redundant and in addition to eliminate opportunities for cargo diversion that existed due to border changeover processes when each country uses separate cargo tracking systems," he added. The KRA chief said that by having customs administrations systems in three countries tracking the same cargo on the same platform, it eliminates the opportunity for collusion between importers and custom officials in a bid to evade taxes. The taxman noted that cargo tracking is necessitated by the fact that transit cargo forms 40 percent of cargo cleared from the...

Burundi’s attempt to join the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is not necessarily a blow to the East African Community but it is a reminder of the tensions that remain in the regional grouping, especially over politics and governance arrangements. On the face of it, there is nothing exceptional about Burundi’s application to SADC; Tanzania, a key founding member of the EAC is also a member of the southern bloc, as is its neighbour to the west, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Beneath the surface, however, Burundi’s move represents a hedging of geopolitical bets by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s government against what it sees as hostility from some EAC members, in particular Rwanda. Relations between the two countries have been sour since Bujumbura accused Kigali of supporting some of the groups that emerged to oppose President Nkurunziza after he stood for a third term of office in 2015 in what critics said was a violation of the Arusha Agreements that ended the country’s civil war. Rwanda has denied any involvement in the political instability that has ensued in Burundi but President Paul Kagame has publicly criticised his counterpart’s regime and accused it of massacres. While the public rhetoric between the two countries has since died down, the political tensions continue. Five of Burundi’s representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) have promised to boycott the fifth plenary session due next week in Kigali because of the tensions between the two countries. In addition, an EAC mediation process to end the...