The Ministry of Trade and Industrialization has rubbished claims of a January deadline for the East African Community to sign a trade partnership deal with the European Union. The EAC heads of state were scheduled to hold the Heads of State Summit in early January but that has been put off until mid February. The regional trading bloc was expected to use the summit to get a way forward on whether to sign the economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the EU after years of back and forth negotiations. Trade Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed however said there was no timeline set with the European Union as to when the deal will be signed, despite having already missing the October 2016 deadline. “I want to e very clear that there is no January deadline to sign (EPA),” Mr Mohamed said on the sidelines of the ongoing CCAfrica Food Standards conference. Kenya is the only member of the East African Community that stands to lose with trade restrictions being imposed by the EU. According to Mr Mohamed, presidents of the five EAC countries are yet to agree on a suitable date to hold the meeting. “The heads of state summit will happen at the right time when the diaries of the heads of states will allow. That (EPA) will be discussed at the summit,” he said, while responding to journalists. The European Union had in October said it would allow for extended negations between the five partner states that now appear to behind...

The East African Community (EAC) is yet to make any meaningful gains since it became active some 20 years ago, a new report shows. According to the International Monetary Fund report, implementation of the customs union and the common market have not led to “a major increase in economic and financial integration”, with the trade bloc’s member countries still looking far and wide for their imports. The report, titled Integrating Markets for Goods, Labour and Capital in the East African Community, identified inhibitive laws and regulations by member countries as the main detriments to integration. The region, the report says, still imports goods such as industrial supplies, fuel and lubricants, transport equipment parts and accessories, processed foods and beverages from outside the region. Some of these goods are available in the region. “The share of intra-EAC imports in total imports has not increased in the past 15 years and most imports continue to come from outside sub-Saharan Africa,” says the report, which found that more than 85 per cent of total imports into the region come from outside the EAC. It is mostly small landlocked countries of Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda that have higher ratios of GDP of imports from the EAC. For Kenya and Tanzania, says the report, the “ratios are very small”. Indeed, goods that the landlocked countries import from Tanzania and Kenya are mostly imports sourced from outside the region. However, this arrangement is bound to change with some countries such as Uganda opting to fly their...

ReportsWorldwide has announced the addition of a new report title KENYA – INFRASTRUCTURE AUG 2016 to its growing collection of premium market research reports. This report provides a comprehensive industry profile, analysis and outlook of Kenya’s infrastructure sector. Kenya witnessed a thriving building and construction sector in 2015 registering a growth of 13.6% in value added. This growth was on account of the on-going public infrastructure projects and private sector development in the real estate sector and is mirrored in the increased cement consumption. Kenyan infrastructure sector is amongst top-five biggest and one of the fastest growing industries in the country and one of the biggest contributors to the country’s GDP. Kenya also provides the largest market in East Africa for construction industry’s products, such as cement. The country’s annual production of cement represents 53% of East Africa’s total capacity. During 2015, Kenyan cement market continued to grow strongly driven by the increased Government investment in the infrastructure segment and increased housing sector demand. Cement production went up by 8.0% from 5.88 million tonnes in 2014 to 6.35 million tonnes in 2015. The demand for cement continues to be robust and is predicted to more than double over the next five years To view a detailed description and Table of Contents please visit: www.reportsworldwide.com/report/kenya—infrastructure-au… The report provides a SWOT analysis, full overview of the sector and its segments with a focus on the sector’s growth and value. It analyses the country’s residential, commercial, transport and energy infrastructure, and provides an...

Uptake of the new maritime insurance law compelling importers to buy policies from local underwriters has been slower than expected. This comes as the Government struggles to come up with modalities to ease its implementation by industry players as well as Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The new law came into effect on January 1. “As a Government, we have asked KRA to work with stakeholders in the insurance industry for everybody to start feeling the effects of the law. It is not an easy thing, but I am sure in the short run, proper modalities to implement the law will be put in place,” said Maritime and Shipping Affairs Principal Secretary Nancy Karigithu. Ms Karigithu spoke yesterday during the signing of an agreement between Kenya and Denmark that will see local players in the maritime and shipping sector get advanced training from Denmark for a period of five years. Insurance firms are eyeing Sh17 billion in revenue in the wake of the new marine law. DEMONSTRATED CAPACITY Industry estimates show the new requirement will push marine cargo insurance premiums handled by Kenyan underwriters from Sh2.9 billion in 2015 to over Sh20 billion going forward. About 90 per cent of cargo import insurance is currently handled by foreign firms, with importers usually paying premiums as part of a package (cost, insurance and freight) to the exporter who handles the underwriting. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows Kenya imported goods worth $15.7 billion (Sh1.6 trillion) in 2015, 90 per...

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data last week showed Kenya’s exports to Uganda had declined by a massive 20 per cent in the first 10 months of 2016. The Leading Economic Indicators report has raised fears that the country is losing its grip on its biggest market for locally produced products. In 2015, Kenya’s exports to Uganda were valued at Sh68.6 billion, up from Sh60.7 billion in 2014. And while Kenya’s total exports between January and October 2015 were worth Sh52.2 billion, this dropped in the 10 months to October last year to Sh41.8 billion. The decline is an indicator of the changing face of trade relations between Kenya and Uganda. Evidence of this shift can be seen in Nairobi’s city centre. Amid the beehive of commercial activity in downtown Nairobi, one type of business stands out: the large number of shops selling brand new shoes, handbags and clothes. Kampala industrialising Demand from shoppers for this merchandise is so popular that most stores occupy the space that two or three stalls would. These products are made in China, and like most Chinese goods, they are cheap. However, most of these items are not flown or shipped into Kenya from China – they are flown directly from China to Uganda’s city of Entebbe. From there, they are brought into Kenya. This was unheard of a few years ago when a ship carrying merchandise from the Asian country would dock at the port of Mombasa. Ugandan traders would then make their...

IN SUMMARY Public health and veterinary officers at Busia and Malaba border posts had been placed on high alert to ensure no imports of poultry products are allowed in until the situation in Entebbe has normalised. Kenya has banned importation of live birds and chicken products from Uganda following a confirmed outbreak of Bird Flu in the neighbouring country on Sunday evening. Chief Veterinary Officer Juma Ngeiywa said all public health and veterinary officers at Busia and Malaba border posts had been placed on high alert to ensure no imports of poultry products are allowed in until the situation in Entebbe has normalised. “Permits issued to chicks, eggs, poultry meat and breeding chicken importers will have to be reviewed to safeguard spread of Bird Flu to Kenya,” Dr Ngeiya said. The alert follows a Uganda government announcement that the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which infects both animals and humans, had been detected following tests on carcasses of white winged-black tern birds that died on the shores of Lake Victoria near Entebbe at Lutembe beach on January 2. A second incident was confirmed last Sunday at Bukakata area within Masaka district, 75 kilometres from Kampala City, when carcasses of five domestic ducks and a hen tested positive to HPAI prompting re-activation of the National Task Force to co-ordinate the fight against Avian Flu. Acting General Health Services Director in Uganda Anthony Mbonye, however, allayed fears of people contracting the Avian Flu, saying the probability of bird-to-human infection was low. “Any...

China's massive export engine sputtered for the second year in a row in 2016, with shipments falling in the face of persistently weak global demand and officials voicing fears of a trade war with the United States that is clouding the outlook for 2017. In one week, China's leaders will see if President-elect Donald Trump makes good on a campaign pledge to brand Beijing a currency manipulator on his first day in office, and starts to follow up on a threat to slap high tariffs on Chinese goods. Even if the Trump administration takes no concrete action immediately, analysts say the specter of deteriorating U.S.-China trade and political ties is likely to weigh on the confidence of exporters and investors worldwide. The world's largest trading nation posted gloomy data on Friday, with 2016 exports falling 7.7 percent and imports down 5.5 percent. The export drop was the second annual decline in a row and the worst since the depths of the global crisis in 2009. It will be tough for foreign trade to improve this year, especially if the inauguration of Trump and other major political changes limit the growth of China's exports due to greater protectionist measures, the country's customs agency said on Friday. "The trend of anti-globalization is becoming increasingly evident, and China is the biggest victim of this trend," customs spokesman Huang Songping told reporters. "We will pay close attention to foreign trade policy after Trump is inaugurated president,” Huang said. Trump will be sworn in on...

  Last week’s arrival of the first batch of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) locomotives has done little to quell public debate on whether Kenya really got value for money. The jury is also still out on the number of hours it will take to shuttle between Nairobi and Mombasa, with opinion divided on the maximum speed of both the passenger and freight trains. While Ethiopia’s electric train attracted much fanfare, Kenya’s diesel engine locomotives were welcomed last Monday with mockery, likening them to century-old trains. A random search online shows that the Dongfeng 11 (DF11) model was produced between 1992 and 2005, with a total of 459 units having been made.Transport experts say train journeys are nothing new in Kenya, with East Africa Shuttles and safaris putting the number of travellers who have travelled between Nairobi and Mombasa in the past 10 years at more than 2,000. However, the journey usually takes 17 hours over the narrow gauge railway, the only consolation being the a relaxed view through the scenic Tsavo National park. ALSO READ: It's all systems go as Mombasa port gears up for SGR locomotives arrival The arrival of the Dongfeng 11 (DF11) diesel locomotives has created a buzz with the expectation that they will halve the time it takes to travel by road - which is the most preferred means of transport for many Kenyans - to four hours, an immense improvement on the 17 hours by rail by any standard. Not everybody, however, is optimistic...

IN SUMMARY Last year, EAC Council of Ministers did not formulate any proposals to be adopted. Kenya is now banking on the Council of Ministers who will convene in a fortnight to persuade its regional partners to finalise discussions on the ratification of the EPA by the February 2 deadline. The East African Community Heads of State Summit, which was to be held in the first week of this month, has been pushed to next month, after the regional ministers of trade and East African affairs failed to agree on some of the issues to be ratified, top among them being the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. This has caused anxiety in Kenya, which is now banking on the EAC Council of Ministers who will convene in a fortnight to persuade its regional partners to finalise discussions on the ratification of the EPA by the February 2 deadline. “The ministers have been having back-and-forth discussions over these issues since November. Had the ministers agreed on the issues, then we would have seen a Heads of State Summit later this month, at which the EPA signing would have been timely because of the European Union deadline,” a source said. “However, this wasn’t the case, and the Ministers will now meet in the week of January 23.” East African Community Affairs Principal Secretary Betty Maina confirmed that the summit will take place in February, because the council did not finish its business last year and has therefore not formulated...

The United States has strengthened its position as Kenya’s third-largest export destination — making it Nairobi’s most valuable economic partner outside East Africa. Kenya’s exports to the US grew seven per cent to Sh35.3 billion in the first 10 months of 2016 as exports to Britain tumbled by a similar margin to Sh30.9 billion, according to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data. The growth saw American consumers open a Sh4.4 billion gap over their counterparts in the UK, wider than the Sh2 billion in 2014 when the US first outpaced Britain to become the third largest importer of Kenyan goods after Uganda and the Netherlands. The KNBS data also shows that the US overtook Britain for the first time as the top source of foreign tourists who visited Kenya in the year to October 2016, cementing its position as a crucial source of dollar inflows in addition to diaspora remittances. International trade experts said local traders are increasingly opening more supply channels to the US, helped by increased interactions with American investors. “Besides the renewal of Agoa [the African Growth and Opportunity Act], Kenya’s increased visibility on the global map is as a result of conferences like the Global Entrepreneurship summit that attracted US President Barack Obama,” said Joseph Kosure, a consultant in international trade. Kenya is a beneficiary of the preferential trade pact, Agoa, which allows sub-Saharan African countries to export goods to America tax-free. Textiles and apparel account for about 80 per cent of Kenya’s total exports...