On-going railway construction works in Kenya. East Africa received more Foreign Direct Investment in 2015 compared to the previous year, even as the rest of the continent attracted less foreign investment. PHOTO | FILE  The Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, to East Africa grew last year despite an overall drop across Africa from $87 billion to $66.5 billion. A new report by Analyse Africa, a data service of the Financial Times shows 705 projects were supported by foreign investors across the continent in 2015 with infrastructure taking about 44 per cent of the inflows. The three East African counties were joint tenth in the continent with regard to attracting investments. In the period, Kenya saw one of the biggest increases with projects increasing by a half from 57 to 85. The projects had a value of $ 2.4 billion. Up to 44 per cent of the investors targeted infrastructure related areas including power, construction and ICT. Trends “This clearly demonstrates that foreign investors are thinking long term about Africa’s prospects,” said Ms.Adriene Klasa who edited the report. According to Ms Klasa, FDI decline in value does not mean the continent is in free fall. "While some larger economies are struggling disproportionally dragging down the region average, smaller players are stable and growing a steady clip,” she said Tanzania, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire are cited among economies that are stable. According to The Africa investment report, Coal, oil and natural gas were the top sector by capital investment in 2015, accounting for...

President John Pombe Magufuli with his host President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi, Kenya. PHOTO | DAILY NATION  For his no-holds barred war on inept and corrupt government officials, Tanzanian President John Magufuli earned the moniker “Bulldozer” soon after he was elected into office a year ago. That heavy equipment, like an elephant, takes a while to turn and President Magufuli has kept diplomacy watchers waiting for some signal on the direction he was likely to take, foremost on mending the evident but often denied fractious relations between Dar es Salaam and other East Africa Community capitals with the exception of Bujumbura. Until his first official visit to Rwanda 10 months into his regime, President Magufuli had focused on domestic matters, with reforms meant to rid bureaucracy, inefficiency and corruption top of his mind. Cargo clearance at the port of Dar es Salaam improved, Tanzania Revenue Authority collections increased and verification of invoices from government suppliers became stricter. While at it, the president delegated attendance of key international events including the World Trade Organisation Ministerial and the Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD) both held in Nairobi, adding to the feeling that all was not well between the two neighbours. Not surprisingly, reports that President Magufuli would be on a three-day state visit to Kenya last week proved a big talking point on social media in the two countries. “The visit by President Magufuli has opened a new chapter in strengthening of the bilateral and brotherly relations between our two...

Patience Mutesi, the Country Director for Trademark East Africa. / Timothy . Kisambira Patience Mutesi, the Country Director for Trademark East Africa (TMA), says one of the organisation’s goals is to work with various partners like PROFEMMES Twese Hamwe to help women entrepreneurs get access to credit. The agency which was created to facilitate trade and promote business competitiveness in the region, has funded various projects worth $65 million.  Sunday Times’ Emmanuel Ntirenganya had an interview with Mutesi on a number of issues which include TMA’s priorities and how to empower women entrepreneurs for them to be competitive in the business sector. Below are the excepts.  *** As the new TMA Country Director, what are your priorities? My priority will be to ensure that we have a smooth transition between strategy one and strategy two, to make sure that the projects that we started in strategy one are closed well on time, on budget and on good quality. My second strategy is mobilisation to be able to adequately raise funds for strategy two. Smallholder women traders have been facing challenges of lack of capital to run businesses: how is Trademark East Africa going to help address such issues? In cases where some women lack access to capital, we look at institutions we can work with through PROFEMME Twese Hamwe, to have better access to finances. So, I would say that we work with a number of partners to be able to help these women improve their businesses. For us what we do is...

“…the whole relationship can change very quickly, just as quickly as it has just done overnight for SPL-IO in Kenya. South Sudan itself can even face suspension from EAC until it has sorted out her internal chaos.” The expulsion (if confirmed by Juba) of James Gadet, spokesman for SPLM/A-IO from his base in Nairobi, must signal a game change, if not yet from East African Community member countries as a whole, certainly from Kenya. Any opposition to Juba from Nairobi will, from now on, remain less vocal and less vitriolic than we have known it in the recent past. And while opposition residents of far away democracies may continue their vitriolic opposition to Juba through social media in particular, member countries of the East African Communities will find it difficult to host those openly hostile and planning an overthrow of the government of a member and neighbouring country such as South Sudan. The laws of the community are likely to prohibit such hostile activities from their territories. Countries like Ethiopia and Sudan, who have their own internal rebels and may use South Sudan as a base, may not find it beneficial to host anyone openly opposed to Juba. However, should war continue to destabilise South Sudan, displacing huge populations, as it is now doing, internally and externally, without a viable peace initiative on the table; and a collapsing economy; while Juba remains on the war path with uncompromising attitude, the whole relationship can change very quickly, just as quickly as...

The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is East Africa’s biggest transport project and the region's leaders have great expectations for the benefits it will bring once it is complete. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is East Africa’s biggest transport project and the region's leaders have great expectations for the benefits it will bring once it is complete. As Kenya progresses with its section of the railway and Uganda gets ready to begin construction of its part, the ministers responsible for the project in both countries have signed a memorandum of understanding to manage its smooth  and efficient operations upon completion. The MoU will allow one operator to run the train from the coast in Mombasa to Kampala The railway line, which will connect the four East African countries of Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and Rwanda is expected to be ready in three years and it is projected to ease the transportation of goods and passengers all over the region. When its complete, the railway will traverse the breadth of Kenya from Mombasa port where  close to 5.5 million tonnes of Ugandan cargo are held. With its estimates, a trader who currently spends Shs680  to transport a tonne of goods over a kilometre will now spend Shs272. At 1,249 kilometres from Mombasa, a Ugandan trader spends 850,000 shillings to transport one tonne of goods, with the rail, they will save Shs510,000 and export a tonne for Shs340,000, an estimated 60% of the sum. Different stakeholders from Uganda, which is yet to lay its rail,...

The second East African Community Common Market Scorecard 2016, released last week, suggests a region that is still a long way off if the goal to economic integration is to be realised. According to the scorecard, member states continue to trade as separate and distinct markets keeping their economies small and disconnected, despite a standing treaty giving the countries freedom of movement of goods, labour, services, and capital across the six-nation bloc. Only two of the 20 operations that facilitate deeper financial integration were found to be free of restrictions in all of the member states. At least 63 non-conforming measures are slowing down trade in the service sector, while regional trade in goods continues to be constrained by not less than 51 non-tariff barriers (NTBs). Widely disparate recognition of certificates of origin by the member states is a case in point, though there was a slightly better resolution of new NTBs for the 2016 period, at about 54 per cent, compared to the 38 per cent reported in the 2014 Scorecard. But it is evident all is not well. Another analysis carried out early this year, The Political Economy of Regional Integration in Africa: The East African Community Report, pointed to policy implementation that is affected by weak or absent formal institutions, as well as strong emerging informal institutions. The report observed that a large number of formal rules to provide checks and balances on policy implementation have not been institutionalised. This includes the power provided to the Heads...

As the wheels of Brexit begin slowly to churn into motion, a clearer image is starting to emerge as to what it means for the UK’s trade relations with the rest of the world. While much has been made of Britain’s need to strike deals with major emerging economies like India, China, and Brazil, the appointment of Priti Patel as International Development Secretary – a vocal critic of the department’s focus on aid in the past – signals a shift in emphasis towards a pro-development trade policy for Africa. If handled intelligently this could present a significant opportunity for Britain to hitch its chariot to a region which is set to be the world’s fastest growing over the next century. The secretary is already keeping to her word. On a recent visit to several African countries, Ms. Patel unveiled a series of ambitious projects that go beyond the traditional British tradition of spending billions in aid every year through international organizations and individual commitments. Kenya will receive £95 million over four years for new infrastructure projects while a separate £30 million “Invest Africa” programme will seek to create 90,000 jobs across the region in sectors that would attract British investors. Whilst vowing to maintain the UK’s commitment to ring-fencing 0.7% of its budget for international aid, Ms. Patel has also promised to stop development money from being “stolen” and “wasted on inappropriate projects”. If she gets her way, more money will be allocated for projects that drive investment and foster...

Bilateral agreement between Kenya and Uganda on a seamless Standard Gauge Railway system signed Wednesday in the capital Nairobi. Hon Minister of Works, Eng Monica Azuba Ntege signed on behalf of Government of Uganda while her counterpart, Cabinet secretary James Macharia signed on behalf of Kenya. In June 2013, the first infrastructure Summit of the Presidents of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda  held in Uganda put in place mechanisms for fast tracking the development of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) system linking Rwanda and Uganda to the port of Mombasa to enable faster socio-economic transformation of the East and Central Africa Economies. These led to the signing of the Tripartite Agreement for the development and operation of a Standard Gauge Railway between Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali with a branch lines to Kisumu (Kenya) and Pakwach/Gul-Nimule (Uganda) between the Republics of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda in August 2013. The Republic of South Sudan acceded to the agreement in May 2014 extending the line to Juba. To enable development and operationalisation of a Seamless Railway network from Mombasa to Kigali and Juba, the  Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects vide the 3rd Joint Communiqué directed the Partner States to develop a Standard Gauge Railway Protocol for the development and operations of the Standard Gauge Railways. The Protocol was signed by Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda in May 2014. The overall objective is to jointly develop and operate a modern, fast, reliable, efficient and high capacity railway transport system as a seamless single railway operation...

President John Pombe Magufuli's maiden visit to Kenya should end the grandstanding between the two countries, writes Sekou Toure Otondi. Tanzania's President John Magufuli greets Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta during his official visit to Kenya in October 2016. (Thomas Mukoya, Reuters) Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has finally made his maiden visit to Kenya, only his third official state visit to a foreign country since he took office a year ago. All his previous visits were short trips to neighbouring countries Rwanda, twice, and Uganda. That all his engagements have been within the East African Community seems to underline a foreign policy shift re-positioning Tanzania as a leading regional actor. His predecessor, President Jakaya Kikwete, was less enthusiastic about regional integration. Tanzania’s apparent aloofness under Kikwete gave rise to the formation of a so-called “coalition of the willing”. This saw Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda acting together to fast track regional development projects. Magufuli’s visit to Kenya is therefore being seen as an attempt to reaffirm Tanzania’s place within the East African Community. Just as importantly, it is also being seen as an attempt to reset bilateral relations with Kenya which, at best, have been lukewarm under his watch. The talks between Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Magufuli appear designed to put to one side their perceived personal and ideological differences. This will not only have an impact on the two countries but also regional integration efforts. Tetchy times Relations got off to a rocky start early in Magufuli’s term when...

By Christopher Majaliwa Dodoma — Decline of cargo volume at Dar es Salaam Port, slow pace of executing projects and sickening life yesterday rocked the National Assembly, with legislators calling for prompt remedial strategies. Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the ruling party and opposition camp raised a red flag on the likely disconsolate life ahead should the government fail to engage the business community and other stakeholders in the deliberation of some critical economic issues. Debating the Development Plan Proposal and Budget Framework for 2017/2018, the lawmakers appreciated the government's move to intensify tax collection system in the country as praiseworthy but said, "some areas needed revisiting. " Mr Ahmed Ali Salum (Solwa-CCM) decried the dwindling cargo volume at the Dar es Salaam port due to introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on transit cargo, among others. He advised the government to engage the business community and other stakeholders in devising the best ways to manage the country's major see gateway, which was previously handling substantial amount of cargo. Mr Salum noted that the cargo decline at the port has led to many people losing jobs while the government revenues also dropped drastically. "We must look at this issue with the seriousness it deserves ... people are not happy out there, life is hard. No money, no business...," he claimed, appealing to the cabinet members to tell President John Magufuli about the real situation on the ground. He asked the government to fully engage the private sector for the...