Kenya’s exports to the region dropped by the largest margin in three years in the third quarter of last year, to $275.7 million from $380.3 million in the first nine months of 2015, new data shows.All countries in the region, with the exception of the Democratic Republic of Congo, cut their uptake of imports from Kenya, according to a report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. While the drop in exports has been attributed to encroachment in key market segments by Chinese products, local factors like taxation, new competing industries in export markets and instability in South Sudan have contributed to the trade down turn. Goods from China, some of dubious quality, have flooded the market, making the Asian giant the biggest exporter to the region. Kenya relies on Africa to absorb more than 40 per cent of its manufactured exports. The data shows a 30 per cent drop in exports to Uganda to $152.1 million in the period under review, from $228.18 million over the same period in 2015. “Africa remained the leading destination of the country’s exports, accounting for 40.6 per cent of the total during the review period. Within Africa, Uganda was the largest market for Kenya’s exports, accounting for 11.3 per cent of total export earnings, followed by Tanzania, which accounted for 5 per cent of total export earnings in the third quarter of 2016,” the report notes. Tanzania’s imports from Kenya dropped to $67.5 million in the third quarter of last year, from $78.2...

Ivory markets are set to shut down following the banning of the trade in the world’s biggest market, China, which is good news for the African elephant. Wildlife activists will be closely watching other Asian markets, led by Vietnam and Hong Kong, that have also provided the market for ivory. Last week, China’s State Council announced a ban on all ivory trade and processing activities in the country by the end of this year. This signals the implementation of President Xi Jinping’s joint commitment with US President Barack Obama, in 2015, to end the legal and illegal trade in ivory.The ban by China — with an estimated 70 per cent of the global consumption — will be done in stages; the processing and sale of ivory will stop by March 31, followed by all registered traders being phased out, bringing an end to the trade in the country by the end of the year. “There will be a stop in the ivory fixed-point processing unit or point-of-sale processing and sales of ivory and products activities by the end of the year,” the statement from the State Council, released last Friday, says. The news comes barely six months after Beijing announced it would push for the total ban on the ivory trade within its territory by the end of the year.Yan Xun, deputy general director of the country’s Department of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Management, had said that by the end of 2016 China would set a timetable to phase...

The New Year pressure from importers seeking to firm up their dollar positions in a bid to meet their requirements has seen all the regional currencies come under pressure, losing to the dollar. The Kenyan shilling recorded the biggest loss, touching a 15-month low of 103.60/80 against the dollar on Thursday, mainly due to a surge in demand by im-porters. The shilling last hit such lows in August 2015, when it traded at 103.90. The Central Bank of Kenya has recently been under pressure, spending $337 million in December alone to prop up the currency. Analysts from Cytonn Invest-ments say that despite the Kenya shilling remaining stable despite the 25 bps hike in the Federal Funds Rate last month, there has been a reduction in the country’s reserves, an indication the CBK has been using the funds to keep the currency stable.“On a year-to-date basis, the shilling is flat against the dol-lar. However, in recent weeks, we have seen the forex reserves reduce to $7 billion in December, from $7.8 in October 2016, which has led to the decline in the months of import cover below the one-year average of 4.9 months, and is currently at 4.60 months. This is worrying as the rate of de-crease in the reserves could be an indication that the CBK is using a lot of reserves to support the shil-ling, and may continue to do so in the near-term given the global strengthening of the dollar,” the Cytonn analysts said.Currently, the reserves stand at...

BURUNDI’S TAX revenues rose 8 per cent last year, exceeding the government’s target, the revenue board said on Wednesday. The semi-autonomous revenue authority (OBR) said it had collected 637.4 billion francs ($382.64 million) in tax, beating the govern-ment’s target of 596.2 billion francs and the 590.6 billion francs collected a year before. It did not give a reason for the increase. Government officials have in the past said tax revenues were boosted during the third and fourth quarters by improved security across the country.Burundi is relying on domestic taxes and revenues from coffee and tea exports after major donors like the European Union and Bel-gium suspended aid over accusations of seri-ous human rights abuses. The rift with donors was sparked by Presi-dent Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term of office and the subsequent vio-lence and protests.The government said in December it would increase 2017 public spending by 5.3 per cent from last year’s budget. The budget, estimated at 1.326 trillion francs ($796.49 million), will be 70.7 per cent funded by domestic resources and 29.9 per cent by external resources.Economic analysts predict 2017 will be very hard for Burundians, whose poor purchas-ing power is already weakened by almost two years of political turmoil since President Nku-runziza’s decision to run again in April 2015. Meanwhile, Burundi will increase public spending by 5.3 per cent this year, according to a budget passed in parliament last week.Last week, the budget passed by parliament showed state spending will increase to 1.326 trillion...

Nairobi is well established as a destination for international conferences and in 2016, it hosted both the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. It is also well placed geographically for businesses serving the region, a long list to which we can now add Volkswagen. Even so, the new year is a good time to evaluate whether more can be done to improve the ease of doing business—and not just in Nairobi, but in the counties where growth is on the upswing. In November, the World Bank released its annual Doing Business guide to the world’s economies. The survey matters because it shows Kenya’s position relative to other economies and indicates areas that would enhance the ease of doing business. In 2015, the government stated its aim to reach the top 50 of the rankings by 2020. Quantitative research released in 2012 by the World Bank suggested that a one per cent increase in the Doing Business score would translate into an increase of foreign direct investment of between $250 million and $500 million. For Kenya, this one per cent increase in score would only require a further rise of five places up the rankings; given that it has risen over 40 places in the past two years, such a rise seems eminently manageable. In a few months’ time, the national government will share its plans for budget allocation for the coming year. These plans will help demonstrate the government’s commitment to spurring...

Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Najib Balala was at the ground breaking ceremony of the first ever cruise ship terminal at the Port of Mombasa port. The project, which will cost Ksh 350 million ($2 million), is jointly funded by UKaid supported TradeMark Africa (TMA) and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) who will provide $1 million each. Witnessing the launch of the construction which will develop ultra-modern cruise ship terminal facilities at berth 1 alongside CS Balala were H.E. Ali Hassan Joho (Mombasa County Governor), David Stanton (TMA Director General), Lisa Karanja (Senior Director, Business Competitiveness), Ahmed Farah (Kenya Country Director) and Catherine Mturi-Wairi (KPA Managing Director). “With the Government’s commitment and investment in developing cruise tourism in the country, the cruise tourism industry can achieve its potential and contribute to the creation of employment opportunities. “We thank TradeMark Africa (TMA) for their generous support” – CS Najib Balala Travel services or tourism is a key services area for the country, and a priority in Vision 2030. Najib Balala speaking at the launch of cruise ship terminal at the Port of Mombasa. Photo: Twitter/tunajibuToday, cruise tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing segment of the leisure industry worldwide, generating $38 billion in 2015 alone. “The upgrading of the cruise ship terminal facilities will not only sell Kenya abroad as the main tourist destination in East and Central Africa, but will also increase the number of tourists in the country. “These and other developments taking place at the Mombasa port will position us as...

The Uganda national bureau of standards is set to start testing all electric meters and sub miters that are on the market currently. This comes at the time when several people are complaining about inefficiency of the newly introduced Yaka Miters and sub-maters Now speaking to media today, John Paul s Musaami , the Manager Legal Metrology Department said that with help from Trade mark east Africa they have been able to acquire machines that can test these meters. He explained that initially they are to start with meters that are already in the market, those in transit and later embark on already installed metros. Source: K FM

TradeMark Africa (TMA) has been awarded a Certificate of Special Recognition by H.E. President Yoweri Museveni at the annual Visionaries of Uganda Awards following the organisation’s work in Uganda. This is a Presidential initiative that recognises investors, private sector and donor institutions whose work has had a transformative social-economic impact on the people of Uganda.  TMA was recognised for best contribution to infrastructure and trade facilitation. Since the TMA programmes began in Uganda – working closely with the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) – waiting times for trucks on border posts have been reduced by up to 70% after one-stop custom mechanisms were introduced, therefore eliminating the need for customs checks on both sides of the border. Furthermore, the Uganda Revenue Authority has seen a 48% increase in tax revenues, after moving to a 24hour web-based processing customs system. The move has also led to processing time being reduced by 30% from 120 hours to 84 hours.  TradeMark Africa (TMA) has been awarded a Certificate of Special Recognition by H.E. President Yoweri Museveni at the annual Visionaries of Uganda Awards following the organisation’s work in Uganda. This is a Presidential initiative that recognises investors, private sector and donor institutions whose work has had a transformative social-economic impact on the people of Uganda.  TMA was recognised for best contribution to infrastructure and trade facilitation. Since the TMA programmes began in Uganda – working closely with the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) – waiting times for trucks on border posts...

Five East African countries have joined forces with the aim of forming a single currency area by 2024. Since the project’s inception in 2000, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda have been laying the groundwork for greater economic integration. Measures such as establishing a Customs Union has helped streamline border clearances, simplify work permit issuance, and ensure the recognition of professional agreements by member countries. As a result, regional trade has increased by over 40 percent in the last five years. Speaking at a conference on regional integration in Arusha, Tanzania, Abebe Aemro Selassie, head of the IMF’s African department, said while GDP growth in the East African Community is well above average for sub-Saharan Africa, the challenge will be how to sustain this strong growth over the medium-term, how to ensure that scaled-up public investment and borrowing translates into durable growth and not unserviceable debt, and how to make the growth felt by a wider segment of the population. “Faster economic integration within the East African Community is a potential game changer, as it holds the promise of improved productivity, competitiveness, and welfare gains,” Selassie said. Monetary unions and common currency areas are not new to Africa. The West African Economic and Monetary Union, for one, was formed in 1994 and shares the CFA franc among eight West African countries, while Namibia, Swaziland, and Lesotho have been linking their currencies to the South African rand under a Common Monetary Area established in 1986. Roger Nord, IMF deputy director of...

The European Union could cut development aid to East African countries that have refused to enter its trade agreement. Refusal by the other countries to sign up to the Economic Partnership Agreement has subjected exports from Kenya to the EU to fresh taxation. Tanzania and the other East African nations could be the target of the threat after declining to ratify the EPA. Patrick Gomes, the Secretary General of the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of states (ACP), said foreign aid to the poor countries must be tied to trade agreements. “Truth is Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, which are sluggish in signing the deal, could end up losing important development aid from the EU,” Gomes said during a regional trade meeting in Nairobi yesterday. Withdrawal of foreign aid could be an attempt to arm-twist the countries into accepting the trade pact. “EPAs comes not only with trade opportunities with Europe, but development aid as well,” he added. Gomes spoke after the EU opened a new avenue for Kenya to walk it alone to the trade pact, which had initially been discussed by the five countries of the East African Community. ACP is composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement, also known as the “ACP-EC Partnership Agreement” which binds them to the European Union. President of the European Parliament, Louis Michel, said Kenya could sign a bilateral trade agreement with the EU, pointing out that a similar deal had been struck with South...