Ms Lilianne Ploumen, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation. PHOTO | FILE  IN SUMMARY Lilianne Ploumen will attend the second high level meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC), which is set to be held in Nairobi between November 28 and December 1. GPEDC is an inclusive global forum that helps governments, businesses and civil society to work better together to end poverty. The forum comes three months after the Dutch government said Kenya will not receive financial assistance from the European nation beginning 2020. A European minister opposed to giving aid to Kenya is set to attend a global conference in Nairobi later this month-- where government officials are expected to pitch the case for more aid and development assistance. Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation Lilianne Ploumen will attend the second high level meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC), which is set to be held in Nairobi between November 28 and December 1. The high profile conference comes three months after the Dutch government said Kenya will not receive financial assistance from the European nation beginning 2020. GPEDC is an inclusive global forum that helps governments, businesses and civil society to work better together to end poverty. During the conference, Ms Ploumen, who has advocated against giving Kenya aid in favour of trade, is expected to make the case for countries moving away from financial assistance to trade relations with developing countries like Kenya. Neighbouring countries Tanzania,...

Trade PS Chris Kiptoo during a past media briefing in Nairobi on September 24 last year /ENOS TECHE Kenya might propose a change of rules in negotiating for the long-standing free trade deal between the East African Community and the European Union as a last option. This is if Tanzania opts out of the pact again in January during the EAC heads of state summit in Nairobi. Trade PS Chris Kiptoo has, however, downplayed growing anxiety that the south-neighbouring nation may not sign the Economic Partnership Agreement that guarantees quota and duty-free market access to the EU. Reports have indicated that Tanzanian Parliament voted against trade deal a fortnight ago, while a Tanzanian lawyer has filed a case before the East African Court of Justice in a bid to block the EPA. The EU trade arrangement for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries has been on the table since 2007. The five East African Community countries decided to negotiate the deal as a bloc in spirit of the Common Market protocol which came into force in July 2010. “The journey will continue because EPA as designed is to be signed by all for it to be implemented,” Trade PS Chris Kiptoo told the Star. “If Tanzanians have changed their minds then it will be an issue for further discussions. In January, we will have a decision taken, and if it will be a delay, if it is going to be variable geometry, we may … change the rule instead of all...

Minister for Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs, Francois Kanimba, addressing a press conference in Kigali last week. / Nadege imbabazi The government is set to embark on public awareness campaigns on doing business reforms recently implemented in a bid to register improvement in the World Bank Doing Business Report. The latest World Bank Doing Business Report was presented this month by Dr Rita Ramalho, the publication’s manager, placing Rwanda second in Africa after Mauritius and first in the East Africa region. According to the Minister for Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs, Francois Kanimba, the government has noted that some of the reforms are not taken into account because of low impact to members of the private sector. In an interview with The New Times last week, the minister said in the process of assessing the business environment, the report’s authors consult the government as well as members of the privates sector, who at times do not understand reforms that have been introduced. “This is important because when the World Bank team comes into the country to make their assessment, they hear from the government and from the private sector. At times they may hear something that is not matching what is on the ground, and yet they trust the beneficiaries of the reforms more,” he said. By reaching out to raise awareness on reforms carried out in their interest, Kanimba said, Rwanda could register improvement in the index as the comments by the private sector are...

By Eronie Kamukama and Jonathan Adengo Kampala — The East African Community (EAC) is hatching a plan to harmonise laws that will regulate cross border insolvency. Insolvency occurs when an organisation or individual is unable to pay debts on time. An insolvent company can either wind up or be restructured. Speaking to journalists an the launch of the insolvency week in Kampala, Mr Bemanya Twebaze, the registrar general Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB),said resolving insolvency is one of the areas that the World Bank bases in preparing its easing of business report. The World Bank Doing Business Report 2017 which is its 14 edition and themed 'Equal Opportunity for All' released in Washington DC on October 25, shows that Uganda moved from 122 in 2015 to 115 in 2016 out of 190 economies. Mr Twebaze, said the move is timely as countries shift towards borderless trade. "Trade across borders is a daily occurrence so what happens in a situation where a company which is trading across the region goes into liquidation," he said at the Regional Official Receivers' Forum on Wednesday. He said a common insolvency law is very vital for countries in the bloc as they attract more investments.  "Investment decisions will be taken when investors are clear about the legal regime especially on insolvency," he said. According to Mr Mustapher Ntale, the manager liquidation URSB, the current practice makes it difficult for a thriving company in one country to transfer its assets and save an insolvent company in...

Only a few hundred kilometres separate Lagos, Nigeria, from Accra in Ghana. For the thousands of traders who ply this route, the journey through Togo and Benin can take a full day, punctuated by arduous border checks, harassment and solicitations from officials for kickbacks. "Customs officials and police at roadblocks will make you unload and unpack every little package in order to delay you for hours," says Ms. Lucia Quachey, secretary-general of the African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs, an organization of more than 4 million women across the continent, producing and trading everything from textiles to pharmaceuticals and vehicle parts. "Everyone knows the intention is to force travellers to pay." Some of this activity is illegal, she says -- deliberate efforts by officials to violate the principle of free movement of people and goods within the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It is also due to the slow implementation of regional integration agreements aimed at eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers in the region. Despite pronouncements of support by politicians for regional economic ties, the reality on the ground for traders such as Ms. Quachey remains difficult. African countries are grappling to undo a legacy dominated by trade with their former colonial rulers rather than with each other. Senegal's biggest trading partner is France, while Gambia trades extensively with the UK. Although Senegal surrounds Gambia, trade between the two neighbours is minimal. The continent's railways and roads often lead towards the ports rather than link countries across regions....

  IN SUMMARY The EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 moved by Rwanda’s Patricia Hajabakiga tops the agenda of EALA’s two-week special session which begins in Nairobi on Monday. The light non-biodegradable plastic bags have been cited as top environmental nuisance across East Africa. Kenya had petitioned the EAC Parliament to introduce a levy instead of imposing a blanket ban on polythene bags as Rwanda had proposed. The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) members are headed for a major showdown as Rwanda pushes on with its bid for a total ban on use of polythene bags in the region. The EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 moved by Rwanda’s Patricia Hajabakiga tops the agenda of EALA’s two-week special session which begins in Nairobi on Monday. Use of polythene bags is illegal in Rwanda. “The Bill, 2016 aims at providing a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment through the prohibition of manufacturing, sale, importation and use of polythene materials,” EALA said in a statement last week. The light non-biodegradable plastic bags – primarily used for packaging at retail stores– have been cited as top environmental nuisance across East Africa. The civil society campaigners across the region have been united in their call for total ban on use of polythene bags which are also seen as posing health risks to citizens. This is the second time that Ms Hajabakiga will be trying lobby the regional parliamentarians to adopt the law banning use of plastic within the trading...

South Sudan refugees at a camp in Adjumani in northern Uganda. The $649 million requested by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the South Sudan crisis is only 25 per of the needed humanitarian assistance. PHOTO | AFP IN SUMMARY EU also noted that the number of asylum seekers pouring into the region is “expected to grow,” adding that the new funding was crucial in host countries but particularly in South Sudan. The $649 million requested by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the South Sudan crisis is only 25 per of the needed humanitarian assistance. Since fighting erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, the EU has been one of the biggest donors of the world’s youngest nation, providing close to a billion dollars to date. The European Union’s announcement of a $83.8 million package for the South Sudan refugee crisis has provided a timely boost, but a huge funding gap has been reported. The EU announced the package on November 11 after a visit by EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides to Uganda’s Bidibidi refugee camp. The EU also noted that the number of asylum seekers pouring into the region is “expected to grow,” with Mr Stylianides adding that the new funding was crucial in host countries but particularly in South Sudan. The $649 million requested by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the South Sudan crisis is only 25 per of the needed humanitarian...

President Uhuru Kenyatta with his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli at State House, Nairobi, when he toured the country earlier this month. The Tanzanian President gave the topic of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) a wide berth during his two-day visit. [PHOTO:BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]In July this year, a deal-signing ceremony between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union was put off indefinitely. This was after Tanzania and Uganda declined to sign the European Partnership Agreement (EPA). One of the reasons the two countries cited in their stand was Brexit - Britain’s landmark referendum vote on June 24 to leave the European Union - casting a cloud of uncertainty over the future of the preferential trade deal. At the time, Tanzania and Uganda argued that after Brexit, it was necessary to wait and see if Britain, operating outside the EU, was a more strategic partner to East Africa or not. But the other more pertinent reason why Tanzania in particular declined to sign on and which it once again raised last week, was that scholars from the University of Dar es Salaam reportedly cautioned that signing and ratifying the deal would jeopardise Tanzania’s industrial sector. President John Magufuli’s main concern for pushing the ratification of the deal to January has always been the future of the country’s fledgling industrial sector. He has all along argued that ratifying the EPA as it is would flood Tanzania with cheap agricultural and manufactured imports. In addition, the country is weary of being a station for...

East African Community Secretary-General Liberat Mfumekeko (right) exchanges signed copies of the five-year EAC-USAid Regional Development Objective Grant Agreement with USAid East Africa head Karen Freeman (left) and Virginia Blaser, chargé d'affaires of the US embassy in Tanzania. PHOTO | COURTESY  In Summary Access to integrated health services in border areas like Mt Elgon in Kenya and Uganda will also be improved. EAC secretariat said about $30 million (Sh3 billion) of the amount will be used to strengthen its operations. The United States government will give the East African Community (EAC) $194 million (Sh19.4 billion) to finance trade, agriculture, health, climate change and other development projects to improve the economy of the region. This follows the signing of a regional development objectives grant agreement at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, on Wednesday. The five-year agreement was signed by US representative to the EAC Virginia Blaser, United States Agency for International Development (USAid) mission director for Kenya and East Africa Karen Freeman, and EAC Secretary-General Liberaìt Mfumukeko. In a statement to newsrooms, the EAC secretariat said about $30 million (Sh3 billion) of the amount will be used to strengthen its operations while the remainder will support EAC regional integration projects. “The new grant will deepen integration, improve cross-border risk management and support sectors like climate change, gender, livelihood, and population and health threats,” Mr Liberaìt said. The partners will work together on challenges that prevent integration in the five countries. HEALTH IN BORDER AREAS They are also set to increase...

Adan Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Industry, trade and Cooperatives speaks during the 6th TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) TICAD round table on the role of private sector in Africa's economic transformation taken on 26th August 2016. PHOTO:WILBERFORCE OKWIRIKenya has vowed to keep on pushing for dialogue with Tanzania to join other East African countries in concluding the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) deal. Industry, Trade and Co-operatives Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said the Government will only give up winning over Tanzanian authorities in January, when East African Community (EAC) heads of State meet in Nairobi for a special summit. "We will not give up on convincing Tanzania to join us in EPA. We will keep up dialogue with them until January when they will give us a final answer," said the CS during the opening of a manufacturing summit in Nairobi yesterday. EPA is a deal that guarantees EAC member States quota and duty free access to the European market. EAC presidents last met in September and decided to give all member countries time to study the deal in depth and give feedback by January. Only Tanzania is stalling in ratifying the agreement, which if it falls thorough will see Kenyan exports to the European market attract duties, which would make them less competitive. The European Parliament extended the deadline to withdraw Kenya's preferential market access to the EU market to February 2, next year after the lapse of the initial October 1 deadline. The Tanzanian Parliament, led...