Cargo vessels berthed at the Port of Mombasa, February 5 2016. FILE PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP.  The government will allocate a further Sh10 billion for construction of the first three berths at Lamu port in the next financial year, Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera has said. When the project started in the 2016/1017 financial year, it was also allocated Sh10 billion. Mr Nyakera said the works were progressing well slightly ahead of schedule at 12.5 per cent against a projected 12 per cent since construction kicked off with offices for the headquarters already complete. “Construction of the three berths will be completed in late 2018 ready to receive the first vessel in 2019. Our objective in building the berths is to open the project to private investors. "Initially, some people raised concerns over the viability of this project but as you can see it is progressing well,” he said. Cargo evacuation Mr Nyakera said to ensure proper evacuation of cargo from the port, the government was fast-tracking construction of the 115-kilometre Lamu-Witu-Garsen and Lamu-Garisa-Isiolo roads whose contracts had been awarded. He spoke on Friday at the Lamu port headquarters after a joint meeting between the Lapsset Authority and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) boards held their first joint parley and took a tour of the project to assess its progress. Currently, a contractor is dredging the harbour to a depth of 18 metres and reclaiming part of the ocean where the container stacking yard will be located....

By Mary Sanyiwa Mtwara — Regional authorities are upbeat over the prospects of increased business and revenue after 1,115 trucks imported by Nigerian business mogul Aliko Dangote docked at the Mtwara Port at the weekend. "This is a good beginning as we open up economic opportunities for the region," said Acting Regional Commissioner Khatibu Kazungu who witnessed the docking of the ships carrying the trucks. The trucks are destined for the Dangote Cement factory. They add to the Nigerian businessman's current fleet of trucks transporting cement from Mtwara to various parts of the country. Mtwara Port general manager Stella Katondo said later this month another vessel carrying 500 vehicles for the same cement plant is expected at the facility.  The acting RC, who doubles as the Mtwara District Commissioner, said the docking of the ship had proven to the world that the Port has the capacity to handle large volumes of cargo. According to him, the Port could now be used by the neighbouring countries of Malawi, Mozambique, DRC Congo and Zambia. He appealed to stakeholders to take advantage of the Port and not to rely solely on the Dar es Salaam Port. Diamond Shipping agency manager John Lemomo said one of the vessels that carried the trucks, Morning Composer, is 200-metre long ship with capacity to carry 60,000 metric tonnes of cargo and ferry 6,500 vehicles. "We would like to express our warm thanks to both the Dar es Salaam Port and Dangote company as we witness this huge...

East African Community experts have concluded consultative missions in Vietnam and Japan, a benchmarking exercise aimed at borrowing a leaf on how the Asian nations developed their automotive industries. According to Jean-Baptiste Havugimana, the East African Community (EAC) director for productive sectors, experts from partner states and the Secretariat travelled to Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda “to compile baseline information on the status of automotive industry,” and to Vietnam and Japan for a benchmarking exercise. “These missions took place from September 20 to October 7. Thereafter, the team will visit other countries in East Africa (Burundi, Rwanda) for in-depth analysis, and to others in Africa such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa for benchmarking,” Havugimana told The New Times at the weekend. In October, a three-day meeting of a broad spectrum of stakeholders and experts from the automotive industry, finance, customs and trade sectors as well as vehicle manufacturers from EAC was held in Nairobi, Kenya. It was aimed at reviewing and validating progress report on the comprehensive study on automotive industry. The stakeholders would then provide inputs toward its finalisation and inform the EAC and potential investors on policy options and modalities to promote and develop the motor vehicle industry. The initial benchmarking study missions revealed that usage of local content was one of the drivers for the growth of the automotive sector. “This is an area that EAC needs to explore further and adopt appropriate measures that will consequently spur the development of the sector,” reads part of an...

It may be time to stop reminding your American friends that Africa is not a country – tell them it’s a series of regions.  According to a new report by the World Bank, The Unexplored Potential of Trade in Services in Africa, the key to boosting tourism on the continent could be to actively brand travel to regions within sub-Saharan Africa – encouraging visitors to east, west, southern Africa – rather than just individual countries. The report uses the examples of the Caribbean and Southeast Asia, regions that are almost synonymous with some of the countries within them: Jamaica is the Caribbean as much as it is the birthplace of Bob Marley; backpackers the world over slip into flip-flops and head to Southeast Asia, not just Thailand. Southeast Asia has been doing this since the ’90s, through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In the Caribbean, “The notion is that by pooling resources, the [Caribbean Trade Organisation] could increase the competitiveness of the world’s premier sea, sand, and sun destination,” the report explains. The concept isn’t of course new to Africa, with prominent – if not tourism-focussed – regional blocs such as SADC (the Southern African Development Community) and EAC (East African Community). Both have policies in place that do allow the people in their respective member countries to travel more freely between them. The EAC is now consciously trying to brand the region, or “market and promote East Africa as a single tourist destination,” says the report, as well as focussing on standardising...

The construction of the first three berths at the proposed Lamu port is running ahead of schedule, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has said. The ministry projects that the first berth will be operational by June 2018. Transport PS Irungu Nyakera said works on the project have been facilitated by the Sh10 billion allocated to the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport project this financial year, ending next June, by the National Treasury. “The project has received very good support from the exchequer. People don’t believe that Lapsset is moving, but I can tell you we are ahead of schedule at 12.5 per cent against 12.1 per cent which is what we had anticipated by now since the works begun early this year,” Nyakera said. The construction involves reclamation of the sea which will place the berths more than 700 metres into the Indian Ocean, with the first three berths stretching 1.2 kilometres wide with a width of 750 metres. “You need at least 24 months to deliver a berth especially when reclaiming. We are on time,” Nyakera said. He was speaking on Friday when the Lapsset and Kenya Ports Authority boards met at the Lamu port headquarters to discuss the project’s progress. The contractor, China Roads and Bridge Corporation, is also dredging the quayside, deepening the docking area for ships by 17.5 metres. The dredging begun on October 15. The ministry has proposed a further Sh10 billion for the project in the 2017/18 budget policy statement. “Lapsset is a...

KN4 Avenue in Kigali city centre. Rwanda was feted for its business transparency. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA Rwanda remains the country with the best business environment in East Africa, according to the Ashish J. Thakkar Global Entrepreneurship Index. The country was rated a lucrative place for business in the region due to its labour market flexibility, public sector performance and business transparency, placing it 27th out of all 85 countries. It came second to Namibia in Africa but ahead of Botswana, South Africa and Zambia. Rwanda was singled out for its large scale decentralisation especially in civil service. “By sending the message that no one is above the law, the economy and entrepreneurship in Rwanda has grown as demonstrated by their ranking in the index,” says the report prepared by Mara Foundation. Kenya came eighth as most entrepreneur-friendly country in Africa boosted by a favourable financial policy. Its strongest pillars were finance which includes taxation, ease of raising capital as well as venture capitalist attractiveness. The Ashish J. Thakkar Global Partnership Index measures entrepreneurial environment around the world, assessing each country on its financial policies, administrative, infrastructural, educational, and cultural factors. According to the report, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia’s monopolistic rules led to higher prices for essential good like rice, flour and milk. “If the price of the staple food was reduced by just 10 per cent, it could save consumers $700 million a year and lift 500 million people out of poverty,” says the report. Tanzania, Liberia and...

As Uganda strives to boost its trade mark in the world market, Ministry Of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives is eying at constructing a joint boarder market in between Uganda and South Sudan. The novel development was revealed by the State Minister for Co-operatives, Hon Gume Ngobi Frederick while meeting the Business community in Lango sub-region. He noted that the joint (boarder) market will be installed in the district of Arua and the district officials have okayed the land for the construction of the said boarder market. Hon Ngobi explained that the joint boarder market will help in managing the Sudanese and other foreigners entering Uganda and moving into villages cheating farmers in name of buying their produces. He advised farmers in Northern Uganda to form up cooperatives so that the selling of their produce can easily be managed and to avoid price fluctuation that always affects selling of produce in the region. Ngobi further noted that the co-operatives will help in the reintegration of cooperative bank in the region. Patrick Ogwang, the freshly elected Lango Business community spokesperson, applauded the Ministry for the good initiative they have brought to construct the Uganda-Sudan joint boarder market in Arua. Ogwang submited that the Ministry should as well scrutinize the licence that the foreign investors are using so as to regulate their movement and to manage the new-fangled boarder market that will be constructed.   Source: Uganda Today

With President Barack Obama’s administration launching a $7-billion “Power Africa” plan to support clean energy production in Kenya and Sub-Saharan African nations the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is set to expand its investments in sustainable energy projects across sub-Saharan Africa Brandon Megorden , the Country Manager for East and Central Africa at the U.S Trade and Development Agency emphasized that the US will continue to support the governmental projects. This is clear as the 2016 American congress approved the five-year funding plan. The USTDA is collaborating with Kenya on additional 6 new energy projects including Nyakwere Hills Solar Photovoltaic, Olkaria Geothermal Power Plant, Lamu Gas-to-Power Project and Isiolo Solar PV Power Plant. The 6 projects will add a total of 361 megawatts Kenya energy production. Speaking at a luncheon organized by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), he said “USTDA funding is open to private, public and PPP types of beneficiaries. While there is no prescribed minimum or maximum, funding generally ranges between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and is on a 100% grant basis.” Additionally, he said that support for six projects that will identify U.S. solutions that can help increase access to affordable, reliable electricity across Kenya and help diversify the country’s energy mix.These projects will enhancing ports and airports and improve generating new power, and USTAD will help projects reach implementation and financing . USTDA supports important joint initiatives such as Power Africa, Trade Africa and other priority infrastructure efforts in Kenya. USTDA’s program helps to create...

Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed has faulted county governments for charging multiple taxes in their jurisdictions. He said yesterday the trend had led to slowed business activities in the devolved units. Whereas counties charge cess taxes to complement allocations from the National Treasury, said the CS, care has to be taken to ensure that their actions do not make Kenyan goods non-competitive. “We have no business charging tax to a business person when their vehicle steps into another county. Otherwise, these counties may as well declare independence,” said Mr Mohamed. He spoke in Nairobi during the launch of a report dubbed “The burden of produce cess and other market charges in Kenya” by Kenya Markets Trust (KMT). The CS further noted that multiple cess collection points in counties had led to high cost of living. According to the report findings presented by Policy and Research Manager at KMT Chris Shimba, produce cess, is not being used by counties to improve production and distribution of the taxed commodities. “Cess charged across counties was not necessarily ploughed back to the sector. Instead, it ended up making cost of food prohibitive and out of reach for most households,” said Mr Shimba. The study also found that many counties do not accept permits issued by other counties for moving agricultural produce such as maize, milk, livestock, vegetables and fish. Instead, traders are taxed for entering each county. Speakers at the launch said as much as cess was a noble ideas for...

The Federal Republic of Germany and the East African Community (EAC) have signed an agreement of 7 million euros, which support will go towards disaster preparedness and ICT projects in the region. The agreement was signed on Tuesday (December 6) by EAC Secretary-General, Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko on behalf of the Community and the Germany Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania who is also accredited to EAC, Egon Kochanke on behalf of his country. A statement issued by the EAC Secretariat today said 3 million euros in technical assistance will be invested in strengthening the pandemic preparedness of the region. The project will support the operationalization of the EAC Regional Contingency Plan and a regional risk and crisis communication strategy, it said. Four million euros in technical assistance will be invested in an Academic Center for Digital Innovation, the statement said. The project will support the set-up of a State of the Art Master programme focusing on embedded and mobile systems at an East African University, supporting the development of a skilled labor force in East Africa. The projects will be implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency, GIZ. Speaking during the signing ceremony, the EAC Secretary General, Mfumukeko thanked the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for its support to the EAC. ‘’We have truly benefited from the German support which has catalysed other development Partners to support our projects and programmes,” he said. Kochanke said: “Our support underlines that Germany wishes to further strengthen the long-standing and...