The deadline for the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union elapsed again this week without any firm decisions by the EAC. The EPA was supposed to ease comprehensive access to the wider European market devoid of quotas and other restrictions. Of the EAC members, only Kenya and Rwanda have signed the agreement and the others still holding out are only hurting the region’s growth prospects. Many argue that they have to carefully study the implications of signing, whether their interests will not be shortchanged. They fear that their counties will be inundated with European merchandise. Those could be valid reasons as the EAC’s population of over 160 million is a tempting market for anyone and many countries would like to take a piece of the pie. But should we continue on that narrow-minded approach of fearing competition? EAC should look at the larger picture since the world today is a global village. We should be looking out for opportunities and not fear to venture into the unknown. There is a Kinyarwanda proverb loosely translated to mean that “a bird that does not fly out will never know where food is plenty” (Akanyoni katagurutse ntikamenya iyo bwera). We need to test the temperature, otherwise we may never know what suits us or what comes as a double-edged sword. We have to be daring and do away with paranoia. The world is a competitive stage and we ought to measure our...

The government has raised concern over the steady decline of Kenya's regional trade market share which is threatening to wipe away economic gains. The Industries, trade and cooperatives ministry says unlike previous years where Kenya enjoyed dominance as the economic powerhouse for the region dominating in agriculture, tourism and export industry, the country has begun loosing grip to her peers. The decline in the manufacturing sector’s output has also affected trade with industries struggling to cope in a tough business environment, characterised by massive layoffs and closure of some businesses. Manufacturers are grappling with high cost of energy at Sh11 per kilowatt hour, compared to Ethiopia, where factories are enjoying lower tariffs of between four and five cents per kilowatt hour. East African Affairs Principal Secretary Betty Maina, said this was a pointer that the country needs to improve the quality and competitiveness of local goods in order to regain market access within the region. “This has been gradually taking a turn with most of the countries in the region that once relied on our products and commodity resorting to other markets that they have identified cheaper and of better quality,” Maina told the Star in an interview. Threats from illicit trade are also a major concern for manufacturers. According to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, local industries are losing at least 40 per cent of their market share to counterfeiters which has “unfairly” reduced the industry’s earnings.  India and China control a major stake of imports to Kenya, latest...

Kenya and South Africa are mulling over establishing a joint business council and joint technical committee to address issues related to migration and trade barriers. The council will mainly bring business people on board, while the technical committee will be a government-to-government affair. The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mombasa chairman James Mureu said there have not been serious cooperation between the two countries, which makes them lose out on their business potential. He spoke on Monday when South Africa envoy to Kenya Koleka Anita paid a courtesy call on Kilifi-based Milly Glass. a container glass and table ware manufacturer. Mureu and Anita said the council and the committee will replicate business from the two partners and enhance social cooperation. They said the two units will ensure signed bilateral trade agreements between South Africa and Kenya are activated. “There is no point of signing a bilateral agreements a country if we don’t breathe life into them and make sure that they are brought to realisation,” Mureu said. President Uhuru Kenyatta and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma signed four memoranda of understanding and two bilateral agreements, which could improve relations between the two countries, during Zuma’s visit to Kenya on October 2016.  They signed an agreement on defence cooperation, which the leaders said will help define their working relations in combating security threats in the region. Anita said if the South and East Africa community come together, the resulting market force will be felt across the entire continent....

Deadline for signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union lapsed, yesterday, with the former still undecided. The deadline, which was initially October last year, had been extended to February 2 (yesterday) to give member countries more time to review the document and come up with a common position as a bloc. By the lapse of the previous deadline, only Rwanda and Kenya had signed the agreement. However, the agreement is expected to be effective if all EAC partner states accede to it. Across the region, opinions on whether to sign it or not have been sharply split with some with the view that EPAs are not ideal for the region as it will open up the region to more European exports which could promote unfair competition and kill regional industries. Those for the agreement argue that the deal provides for EAC exports access to European markets duty-free and quota-free, while the European Union access to EAC market provides for a gradual liberalisation of tariffs. During the previous EAC heads of state summit held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, the leaders requested for additional time for clarification on some of the contentious issues raised by partner states before considering the signing of the agreement as a bloc. All the production is exported to France. Faustin Niyigena Rwanda-Kenya statement of intent Despite EAC’s delay to sign the agreement, representatives of the bloc say they are encouraged by the determination shown by Rwanda and Kenya...

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and Tanzania's President Dr. John Magufuli will meet February to agree on East Africa's way forward on the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The EPA is supposed to be negotiated between the EU and member states of the East African Community (EAC). Kenya and Rwanda have already signed the deal but it won't be operational until all the East African Community member states sign the agreement, which is protested by Tanzania. Museveni said the EAC leaders need to discuss the issue, point on point because scattering it without discussion would be a mistake. "EPA is also about East Africans. If we scatter it without discussions, it would be a mistake. Am more worried about the unity of East Africa," he said in Addis Ababa. EAC Heads of State led by their chairman Magufuli had agreed in September to push to later the bloc's commitment on the deal to allow more deliberations and negotiations on the matter. The Tanzanian parliament already voted against signing of the EPA negotiated between the EU and member states of the East African Community. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Burundi and agreed to meet and to harmonise on how to handle the situation. Museveni is mediator in the Burundi peace process while former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa is facilitator. President Museveni meets leaders of Sudan, CAR, Zambia and Namibia President Yoweri Museveni, in his new role of First Vice-Chairperson of the African Union, has met a series of African...

Kigali: The UK will sharpen its focus on economic development in the world’s poorest countries to help create the economic growth that will sustain rapidly growing populations, provide a long term solution to poverty and deal with the root causes of problems that affect Britain and Rwanda, International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced Tuesday. Over the next decade a billion more young people will enter the job market, mainly in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa’s population is set to double by 2050. This demographic challenge will add to the pressure of protracted crises and mass migration. DFID’s first Economic Development Strategy sets out how investment in economic development will help developing nations speed up their rate of economic growth , trade more and industrialise faster, and ultimately lift themselves out of poverty. By helping the world’s poorest countries grow their economies, this investment will help create the UK’s trading partners of the future, boost global prosperity and address some of the root causes of global issues such mass migration and instability that affect the UK. International Development Secretary Priti Patel said: “There is no task more urgent than defeating poverty. The UK has a proud record of supporting people in desperate humanitarian crises, but emergency help alone won't tackle the global changes we face. With dramatic increases in population across Africa and Asia, developing nations must act fast to create jobs and investment, which is why Global Britain is leading a more open, more modern approach to development through our...

In Summary In the 1990s, when Uganda was a reform star, Kenya was labouring under Kanu misrule and corruption, Kampala exploited the opportunity to rise to regional leadership. While many elsewhere see the EAC as a model of cooperation, it is also a fact of history that at various points the progress of one country or the other in the region has been dependent on the misfortunes of its neighbours. On Monday, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs minister Amina Mohamed lost the election for chief of the African Union Commission to Chadian foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat. On Tuesday she said some of the pledges of support made by neighbouring countries were “deceptive”. Ms Mohamed went into the elections with many calling her the “front runner”. The East African Community countries had backed her, as had others in Igad. But if reports are to be believed, Burundi, Djibouti, and perhaps most surprisingly, Uganda, threw her under the bus in the end. While Kampala has not yet spoken officially, sources there say Uganda decided not to vote for her in the seventh round because at that point she couldn’t win. The suggestion being that without any prospects for her victory, it was time to curry favour with Mr Mahamat who looked set to take it. Not surprisingly, in Uganda where its own candidate, former Vice-President Speciosa Kazibwe, was felled quickly and ignominiously when she contested for the job during the deadlocked vote in Kigali last July, the media coverage of Amina’s fortunes was...

The East African Community meeting that was to be held this weekend to discuss the Economic Partnership Agreement between the region and the European Union was postponed after several member states failed to hand in key trade data, putting in doubt a subsequent meeting that would have set the agenda for the upcoming EAC Heads of States Summit in February. "Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda are yet to hand in their data to the Secretariat, while Kenya has already done so. We are not sure when they will, so upcoming meetings have been delayed indefinitely until the Secretariat receives all the data," The EastAfrican was told. Last week, the EAC Secretariat wrote to the Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda tax authorities and statistic agencies, through the ministries responsible for EAC affairs, asking them to provide the latest tax and trade input data. In a letter dated January 13 from the EAC Deputy Secretary-General Jessica Eriyo, the member states were asked to provide data showing the products they are trading in, value of imports, source of the products (exporting country) and the tax rates. "We request you to liaise with your respective revenue authorities and bureaus of statistics to urgently provide the EAC Secretariat with the trade input data for the past 10 years to 2015 by January 18," the letter reads. It has since emerged that the lack of data has cast doubt over subsequent meetings. "We have postponed the meeting that was scheduled to take place in Nairobi at the end...

Kenya had the highest number of mega infrastructure projects in East Africa in 2016, Deloitte has said, noting it helped the country to maintain its lead as the regional powerhouse. There were 11 ongoing projects valued at $7.01 billion (Sh727.98 billion) in the country last year, the consultancy firm said in the 2016 Africa Construction Trends Report. The top projects comprised both public and private investments such as the standard gauge railway, the Lamu port berths and the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project. “Lake Turkana Wind Power Project is the single largest private sector investment in Kenya’s history. Once completed, it will provide 310 megawatts of power to the grid, approximately 18 per cent of Kenya’s installed capacity,” the firm stated. Kenya was followed by Ethiopia and Uganda, each with nine projects, and Tanzania with eight. In total, East Africa had 43 projects valued at $27.4 billion (Sh2.84 trillion) spread across Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. These translated into 15 per cent of the 286 development projects – valued at $50 million (Sh5.91 billion) and above – that had broken ground across Africa by June 1 last year. The report says the transport sector accounted for the largest share of projects in East Africa last year, with 15 road and bridge projects. Energy and power projects were many, making up just over a quarter of all projects, estimated at more than $10.7 billion (Sh1.11 trillion). “Energy supply and access is an integral part...

IN SUMMARY Tourism secretary Najib Balala said the growth was a sign that the recovery campaigns were bearing fruit. Arrivals through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport jumped by 16.2 per cent to 782,013 last year compared to 672,789 visitors a year earlier. Moi International Airport, Mombasa arrivals last year grew by 22.2 per cent to 92,872 compared with 75,983. International tourist arrivals increased by 16.7 per cent to 877,602 from January to December last year compared to 752,073 in 2015. Last week, Tourism secretary Najib Balala said the growth was a sign that the recovery campaigns were bearing fruit. According to statistics from the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), arrivals through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport jumped by 16.2 per cent to 782,013 last year compared to 672,789 visitors a year earlier. At the Moi International Airport, Mombasa arrivals last year grew by 22.2 per cent to 92,872 compared with 75,983. Cruise ship visitors, however, went down by 17.7 per cent to 2,717 last year compared with 3,302 visitors previously. United States emerged as Kenya’s top source market after overtaking the United Kingdom, which, for years, has been the country’s leading market. Arrivals from the US market to Kenya rose to 97,883 last year up from 84,759 in 2015 while the UK market had 96,404 arrivals down from 98,523. India was third largest market for Kenya with 64,116 arrivals last year up from 49,756 in 2015 while Uganda came fourth with 51,023 up from 29,038 previously. China displaced Germany and Italy...