Non-compliance of regional trade agreements by Rwanda’s neighbours is taking a heavy toll on the nation’s earnings from cross-border trade. Legislators are concerned that informal trade with Burundi, Tanzania as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, faces multiple barriers resulting in low export volumes to these strategic markets. A report tabled last week by parliament’s Standing Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs shows that while trade with DR Congo suffered as a result of the instability in the Kivu Province, Burundi and Tanzania have imposed restrictions intended to block Rwandan traders from accessing their markets. The highlighted practices are contrary to the provisions of the East African Community Customs Union as well as other trade agreements with regional trading blocs such as the Economic Community Great Lakes Region (CEPGL), which brings together Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. “We want the concerned authorities to address the issues we found,” said MP Adolph Bazatoha, who leads the committee that carried out an assessment at different borders. Mr Bazatoha said the issues had been forwarded to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs. Burundi is Rwanda’s second largest cross-border trade market after DR Congo, with agricultural and livestock products being the major commodities traded in informal transactions. However, trade with Burundi is carried out illegally after the government imposed trade restrictions with Rwanda. Worsening diplomatic relations with Burundi led to the closure of the border with Rwanda in July last year. Ties between the two countries deteriorated in 2015...

Tanzania wants a study conducted on the impact of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union on the East African Community, ahead of the Summit of Heads of State scheduled for next month. In an EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers’ meeting on trade, industry, finance and investment held in Arusha this month, Tanzania demanded that the EAC Secretariat conduct an analysis on the effects of the EPA on the Community. This, Dar es Salaam said, would bring about regional perspectives on the concerns they have raised with Burundi. “The results will guide the ministers’ and presidents’ decision on the EPA in the next summit or even at a later stage. Signing a bad EPA will set a bad precedent, which will compromise the region’s interests in subsequent Free Trade Area negotiations,” said Tanzania in the sectoral council’s meeting report. Tanzania further asked: “What is the rationale of Burundi signing the EPA while the EU has imposed an embargo on its exports? How will EAC partner states avoid such scenarios of the EU unilaterally putting embargoes on trade under the EPA while Article 136 of the EPA still refers to the same agreement that the EU has used to put an embargo on Burundi. How will the EAC partner states operationalise the free movement of goods while there is no free circulation of goods in the region and no refund mechanism for Customs duty paid to another partner state?” Tanzania’s concerns have been forwarded to the EAC Council of Ministers...

The decision by the US authorities to give Kenya security and safety clearance for non-stop flights will bolster investment flows from the world's largest economy, state officials have said. Transport CS James Macharia announced last Thursday the Federal Aviation Administration had finally granted the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport category one status after sustained investments to expand the airport's capacity and enhance its air safety. The approval of the JKIA followed a successful audit to ascertain it met the standards set by International Civil Aviation Organisation – the UN agency that sets standards for international air transport. Treasury CS Henry Rotich said the move will lead to increased tourists from the US in the coming years, subject to to the Kenya Airways getting codeshare deal with US airlines. “We have in the past used various airlines to deliver our goods to the US market but with the non-stop flights this will change,” he said in Naivasha, adding that sectors such horticulture will also be key beneficiaries. The value of imports from the US dropped 187.20 per cent to Sh43.89 billion last year from Sh126.05 billion recorded in 2015, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows. Exports, on the other hand, rose 7.57 per cent to Sh43.47 billion from Sh40.41 billion. "This achievement is an important milestone for Kenya-US bilateral relations. Both countries have maintained numerous and diverse areas of partnerships and cooperation in security, exports and imports as well as tourism,” Vision 2030 director-general Julius Muia said. “We expect...

President Yoweri Museveni is in Dar es Salaam to inspect improvements on Tanzania’s main port so that it can be used as an option for Uganda’s exports and imports. According to Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzania Minister for Foreign Affairs,  Museveni’s visit to the Dar es Salaam port was to encourage Ugandan businessmen to resume using the port as an alternative to the Mombasa port in Kenya. Museveni is set to inspect improvements at the port that serves landlocked countries of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mahiga said Tanzanian President John Magufuli invited Museveni to visit when they met in Addis Ababa during the African Union heads of state and government summit last month. Museveni and Magufuli will also hold talks aimed at cementing bilateral relations and cooperation in business, energy, transportation and good neighborhood. Uganda last year opted out of the planned Kenyan route for oil, and went for the Hoima-Tanga pipeline route as the best option citing least tariffs to transporting the crude to the coast for export. The pipeline is to traverse about 1450km from Hoima in western Uganda to the Tanzania port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean coast. Total E&P Uganda will construct the $4 billion crude oil pipeline. The pipeline is expected to transport 230,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Tanga for shipment to the international market. Improvements are also ongoing to improve the rail route from the Tanzanian ports to the rest of East Africa. Source: Nigeria Today

Uganda President, Yoweri Museveni, arrives in the country tomorrow for a two-day state visit, to explore various potential areas of bilateral economic partnership, among them, the improved cargo clearance at the Dar es Salaam Port. President Museveni will also hold talks with his host, President John Magufuli on the East African Common Market as well as the ongoing project for the construction of the 1,443-kilometre pipeline to transport crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga Port, among others. Mr Museveni's visit further aims at strengthening bilateral relations between Tanzania and Uganda as well as discussing various regional and international matters, areas of cooperation between the two countries including energy, business and infrastructure amongst others, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga Addressing a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Dr Mahiga said a plane carrying the Ugandan leader will touch down at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) tomorrow at around 9:00a.m. "The president and his delegation, on the first day of the visit to the country, will take a short breather after leaving the JNIA at Dar es Salaam's Serena Hotel before heading for the State House where Mr Museveni will be received by Dr Magufuli for a closed door meeting," Dr Mahiga said. Later in the day, President Magufuli and his guest will hold yet another open meeting that will be attended by top leaders from both countries that will be followed by a State Banquet for Mr Museveni hosted...

East African customs authorities have adopted an electronic system to track lorries travelling between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to speed up journeys. The trackers will allow officials and traders to monitor trucks travelling to and from the Kenyan port of Mombasa. A device will be attached to vehicles and is intended to help prevent hijacks and goods being tampered with. Uganda, which pioneered the project, says journey times could be cut from three-and-a-half days to just 36 hours. Detours detected The geo-mapping, known as the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking (RECT), will apply to the main road stretching from Mombasa port to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, known as the "Northern Corridor". Officials will be able to monitor journeys on a map and be able to immediately detect any detours. About 90% of goods through the region are transported by road with the risk of cargo being targeted by criminals. Customs officials say drivers have also been known to take diversions and siphon off freight, for example offloading coffee and adding stones to make up the missing weight. "There has always been that unpredictable aspect of not knowing whether your goods will reach or they won't reach and that in itself is a very serious discomfort, now this will resolve that problem," Kassim Omar, chairman of the Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents in Uganda, told the BBC at the launch in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. "The level of assurance guarantees the buyer abroad or the supplier from this end that what...

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has today launched three customs trade facilitation programmes that will improve the ease of doing business in Uganda and the East African Community, and also promote trade and Investment. The trade facilitation programmes funded by Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) will be used to monitor transit cargo under customs control in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The Trade Mark East Africa funded URA innovation aims to ease trade facilitation through a centralized Document Processing Centre (DPC), Introduction of a Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) and accreditation of new Authorized Economic Operators (AEOS). Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde, joined by Evelyn Anite the State Minister of Finance for Investment and Privatization, launched the services at the URA headquarters in Nakawa, Kampala on Friday. They were joined by URA Commissioner General Doris Akol , World Custon Organisaition Director Compliance Anna Brigette and officials of Trade Mark East Africa (TMA), a not-for profit established to support the growth of regional and international trade in East Africa. "Our dream of being the model tax body is starting to bear fruits. RECTS and other innovations ensure better trade facilitation," said URA's Akol at the launch. RECTS is a web-based integrated system that will be used to monitor transit cargo under customs control in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Previously, each country operated a separate national cargo tracking system. According to officials, this posed challenges like lack of complete transit monitoring mechanisms leading to cases of dumping, delayed bond...

USD4.4 Million Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System was unveiled today and will further reduce transit time, cargo theft and diversion of goods in transit Kampala, 24th Feb 2017: Revenue Authorities in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have officially unveiled a Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTs) enabling them to jointly track movement of goods from port to destination electronically; that is from Mombasa Port to Kampala and Kigali. The system will reduce the cost of doing business by reducing transit time, enhancing cargo safety and helping traders to better predict arrival of goods.  The service will be free as Revenue Authorities will meet all operational costs. Speaking at the unveiling of the system at Uganda Revenue Authority offices at Nakawa, Kampala, -  URA Commissioner General Doris Akol said, “The partnership with Kenya and Rwanda helps us monitor goods from end to end, easing cargo handling, improving revenue collection and reducing diversion of un-taxed goods into the market. It will lead to improved fair trade as goods that have not been taxed will not be diverted to distort the market. This will benefit our traders and assure potential investors of level playing field in our region”. The United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) has supported the project by giving USD4.4million grant through TradeMark Africa. A DFID official said “DFID is proud to be partnering with Government of Uganda, and with key partners including TMA, to reduce Uganda’s barriers to trade with the rest of the world.  Increasing Uganda’s trade with its...

Rwanda is stepping up efforts to cut down the biting trade imbalance. According to 2016 monetary policy and financial statement released today by Central Bank, the country’s trade deficit dropped by 5.9% in 2016 (representing $1649.7m) from $1752.5m in 2015. While presenting the statement at Serena Hotel in the capital Kigali, Central Bank Governor John Rwangombwa said that improvement has been attributed to the country’s continued economy. “Despite global and regional economic challenges, Rwanda’s economy remains resilient at 6.1% in 2016 from 6.9% in 2015,” said Rwangombwa. According to National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), the deficit in the balance of formal trade in goods was $83.52 million in December last year, registering a decrease of 3.33% compared to the previous month of November 2016. Year-over-year, said the report, the formal trade in goods deficit decreased by 21.59% on the deficit of December 2015. In 2014, Rwanda intensified efforts to brand local products to expand its export base and cut down the nagging 75% trade imbalance. Rwanda’s trade imbalance continued to widen up to last year. For instance, Uganda and China remained major exporters to Rwanda as of December last year. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), Rwandans increasingly demanded for; cement, cellular phones, medicines, vehicles and fertilisers from these countries. These commodities, the report noted, represented 15.95% of Rwanda’s total imports in the third quarter of 2015. There is a possibility that home-made products can help the country to significantly cut down trade imbalance,...

East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 22 February 2017:The 2nd high-level East African Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition (EAMBS) organized by the East African Community (EAC) is scheduled to take place 23rd - 25th May, 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda. The three-day conference themed "Harnessing the Manufacturing Potential for Sustainable  Economic Growth" will bring together top executives in the manufacturing and agri-business sectors, policy and decision makers, as well as key financial institutions from Africa and beyond to dialogue and explore opportunities for investment in manufacturing and agri-business in the EAC region. The EAMBS will include an exhibition where investors, enterprises, researchers and academia will collectively showcase new products and services as well as exhibit the latest advances in manufacturing technology and innovation, particularly those with relevance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) The official opening of the Summit is expected to be presided over by the President of the Republic Rwanda, H.E Paul Kagame Speaking  ahead of the Manufacturing Summit, the Director of Productive Sectors at the EAC Secretariat, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana, said  the Summit which is co-organized by the EAC Secretariat, the East African Business Council (EABC) and Government of Rwanda, will provide a strategic platform for an extensive and intensive dialogue on opportunities and challenges of industrialisation in the region. Mr. Havugimana noted  that Summit is a platform borne out of the recognition that sustainable economic growth and development in East Africa is unattainable without creating a vibrant and diversified manufacturing sector. ”The Manufacturing Business Summit marks an important turning point for...