AR: How would you describe the civil and infrastructure markets in Africa? There is a clear consensus that infrastructure development currently is a focus area across the entire African continent, including the markets that we serve in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone; this is emphasised by the number of currently ongoing road, rail and port projects in these markets. The medium term macro-economic challenges include pressure on government revenues, elections, currency volatility and slow decision making by foreign investors and donors. In the short-term we have identified excellent prospects in East Africa. In Kenya, the focus has shifted to road projects now that the Standard Gauge Railway project is well underway; the Tanzanian and Ugandan governments are settling down after their recent respective elections and have announced a number of mega projects that will attract great interest and investment. In West Africa we have actually seen a decline and this may continue through 2016. Nigeria, although it has recently announced its budget and intent to pay contractors, will depend upon the timing and ultimate solution surrounding foreign exchange restrictions, which have negatively impacted the economy. Ghana will also be negatively impacted due to continued low oil and commodity prices and output, as well as the upcoming election and adverse impacts of the “missing” Cocoa Board Funds (which fund much of the feeder road development). Panafrican remains bullish about the road infrastructure sector, which is why we sought out the addition of the world class Wirtgen range of...

NAIROBI (HAN) June 13.2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. East African governments are determined to succeed in their global races to create growth and deliver lasting prosperity. They recognise that to build a strong economy necessary for a fairer society, they require infrastructure that competes with the best in the world. One only needs to look at the steady and substantial infrastructure spends over the years. The Kenyan 2016/2017) budget did not disappoint. Allocations of over $3.5 billion, representing over 15 per cent of the budgetary allocations, were channelled towards infrastructure and apportioned as follows, undoubtedly in order of priority; standard gauge railway (SGR) $1.55 billion, roads  $1.48 billion, energy $0.40 billion, Lapsset $100 million and ports $55 million. As expected, the majority of the Kenyan budget has been allocated to projects aimed at enhancing transport and logistics, in order to ease the cost of doing business in the country and bolster its competitive edge compared to its peers. It is projected that total traffic on the Northern corridor will double in 2016 from the 2013 levels of 21.5 million tonnes. The Tanzanian 2016/17 infrastructure budget also has a strong focus on developing its Central corridor; which undoubtedly will create strong competition for the Kenyan Northern corridor. Tanzania allocated $143 million to accelerate developments to renovate the Central railway line that runs from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika; and $9 million to the construction of the Mbegani port in Bagamoyo. The Ugandan government is likely to benefit...

Kampala — African Potash, a company listed on the London Stock Market, has signed an agreement with Uganda that will see the UK firm establish its presence here to supply affordable fertilisers to farmers in the country, East Africa and beyond. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last week was witnessed by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) representatives and the Alliance for Commodity Trade in East and Southern Africa. The two blocs will ensure that quality of fertilisers is up to required standards as agreed in the deal. The group, which included representatives from the office of Operation Wealth Creation, Agriculture, Finance, Energy and the African Potash chairman, Dr Chris Cleverly, also agreed to work together to increase availability of fertilisers in Uganda by 50 per cent (20,000 tonnes) as well as establishing a nationwide distribution network for fertilisers. And for that, an MoU was signed between the parties - government and African Potash. During discussions before the signing, it was revealed that the use of fertilisers continues to be low in Uganda because of high prices and poor quality fertilisers on the market. According to the Economic Policy Research Centre, at least eight in every ten 50-kilogramme inorganic fertiliser bags on the Ugandan market do not meet the required standards.  During the 2016/17 Budget reading in Kampala last week, Finance minister designate Matia Kasaija said for commercial agriculture to take off as well guaranteeing food security, farmers must begin to consider using fertilisers. The group, which...

Rwanda's export sector now has the means to financially support exporters with small businesses struggling to move goods out of the country; this was said at a discussion between exporters and the ministry. The East African country has had to contend with a decline in trade merchandise exports compared to the previous years which were marked by a moderate exports growth. Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry wants to bring awareness to the export growth fund which will give small businesses the advantage they need to trade out the country and further boost the industry. "The export growth fund is a scheme set up by the government to support young exporters, particularly those who are entering the new markets or who are trying to sell a new product from Rwanda,” said Francois Kanimba, Rwanda’s Minister of Trade and Industry. The gathering between exporters and ministry was hosted to discuss various interventions required to boost exports in the country, one of those was the export growth fund which Minister Kanimba elaborated on. Due to the high cost of borrowing money from Rwandan banks, one of the commitments made by government is to subsidise the interest rate in a catalyst fund to facilitate investing in export related activities - government will take on the difference. Government has also decided to share 50 per cent of the cost that market entry is going to cost for exporters who are looking to diversify Rwandan exports, especially for the new small and medium enterprises who...

MOMBASA, KENYA: Importers using the port of Mombasa have expressed fear that Kenya and its neighbours might miss a global deadline requiring them to weigh all cargo at the port of loading before it is shipped. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) imposed the regulation three years ago to improve maritime safety and integrity of cargo by tracking its weight on transit and set July 1 this year as the deadline for shippers to comply. Cargo owners in the region have indicated it would take urgent preparations and further sensitisation for the country to meet the July 1 deadline. East African Shippers Council (EASC) chief executive officer Gilbert Langat said although the global rule was agreed upon three years ago, Kenya might be forced to negotiate for extension of time because it was not yet ready less than a month when the new rule enters into force. Mr Langat said it was not yet clear what percentage cost would be factored as weighing charge and exactly where the exercise will take place; at the port of Mombasa or container depots. "There is need to identify third parties with well calibrated weighing equipment to avoid any hitches. It is also important for the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) as the industry regulator to determine the percentage cost of weighing the containers and ensure there is no exploitation in the process," Langat said. KMA has said it would be mandatory in Kenya to determine the weight of packed shipping containers before they are loaded...

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is set to auction unclaimed containers and vehicles at the Port of Mombasa. Regional Manager Nicholas Kinoti noted that KRA had put in place logistics to ensure the exercise runs smoothly. According to the Nation, Kinoti said adequate time was given to potential buyers to view an assortment of cargo for sale on Friday and Monday last week. “We are going to auction all overstayed goods and will hold these auctions regularly to discourage importers from keeping cargo at the port,” said Mr Kinoti. This comes after a 60-day waiver for cargo that was imported before November 2014 expired on Thursday May 12, with only 16 containers and 98 vehicles being cleared. However, 1,046 vehicles and 1,159 containers still remain unclaimed according to statistics released by KRA. “Despite the publicity given to the amnesty, the response was still worse than the previous amnesties in 2015,” added Mr Kinoti. The move by the tax collector is set to ease congestion at the Mombasa port. Source: hivisasa

The European Union and six countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) finally signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on Friday (10 June) after more than a decade of talks – in a move that gives Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland duty-free access to the EU. For South Africa, the sixth country in the SADC, its products will see improved preferential treatment over and above what is already covered by the existing bilateral EU-South Africa Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement into the EU market. In particular, the agreement increases the flexibility of Southern African producers to put together products from components from various countries, without the risk of losing their free access to the EU market. The EPA is a development-oriented free trade agreement that takes into account the different levels of development of each partner nation. It is the  the first of its kind between the EU and an African region pursuing economic integration. The agreement was signed by EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström, who said: "We want to base our trade relations with our partners in the Southern African region on commonly agreed, stable rules. Trade has helped lift millions of people from poverty throughout the years. Thanks to agreements like this one, we are preparing the ground for that process to continue." By signing the EPA, all participants commit themselves to act towards sustainable development and to uphold social and environmental standards. The agreement also establishes a consultation procedure for environmental or labour issues and defines a comprehensive list of areas...

Two Rwandan entrepreneurs scooped awards and a total of Rwf4 million in seed capital at the Young Innovators in Agribusiness 2016 competition in Nairobi last week. Edmond Murindahabi, the chief executive officer, PEBEC Rwanda won in the SME category and bagged $3,000 or about Rwf2.4 million in seed capital. Another local innovator, Lillian Uwintwali, the managing director of M-AHWII, was the second runner up in the start-ups category, and pocketed $2000 (about Rwf1.6 million) seed capital. Uwintwali’s company offers mobile phone and online-based solutions that seek to improve access to extension services, market information and financing opportunities in the agriculture sector. The two entrepreneurs were part of the five Rwandans who qualified for the 2016 East African Young Innovators in Agribusiness Competition Trade Fair in Nairobi early this year. They beat 13 other competitors from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. Noah Ssempijja from Uganda was the overall winner. Other winners are Mercy Kitomari from Tanzania, Ethiopia’s Abrhame Endrias of Green Agro Mechanisation, and Anzazi Kiti (Taste Afrique) from Kenya. Uwintwali said the competition offered an opportunity to share entrepreneurship knowledge and expertise. “The key objective of the Agribusiness Innovation and Trade Fair was to create an ecosystem of trade, financing and capability support for start-ups and SMEs,” she told The New Times. Meanwhile, James Shikwati, the director, Inter Regional Economic Network, and Young Innovators in Agribusiness competition, said the contest presents young innovators an opportunity to scale up agribusiness activities through training initiatives. This, he said, stimulates development of entrepreneurship...

The World Bank Board has approved a mega project meant to strengthen selected higher institutions of learning in Eastern and Southern Africa to deliver quality postgraduate education and build collaborative research capacity in priority areas. The Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence Project (ACE II), expected to close in 2021, will see each of the 24 Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) funded to a tune of $6 million over five years. The project is good news for the regional higher learning institutions which are grappling with poor quality education due to limited research funding. Since the project will focus on supporting collaborative research, it is a step forward in fixing quality challenges in higher institutions of learning. If well implemented, the project will significantly enhance the quality of education in the region and this will reduce on the number of people who travel out of the region in search for better education. The Uganda-based IUCEA, an East African Community (EAC) institution responsible for coordinating the development of higher education and research, is the regional facilitation unit for the ACE II project. The EAC member countries should collaborate to ensure that IUCEA benefits all the member countries within the framework of fast tracking the integration process. Education is a key component in the integration process and having quality education in all member countries will go along away in fulfilling the goals of the integration. By the time the project concludes in 2021, the centre should have developed sufficient...

In the recent past, many newspapers in the region, including this one, have published stories about how Rwanda is planning to abandon the standard gauge railway that will connect Mombasa to Kigali through Uganda. The EastAfrican  of April 30 ran a story titled “Rwanda looks to Tanzania for rail transport as Uganda falters on SGR.” The reporter referred to meetings that happened between senior Rwandan and Tanzanian government officials to devise ways of opting for the Central Corridor railway over the Northern Corridor one. Let me first reiterate that the Rwanda government has opted for the standard gauge railway, as it is faster and more efficient and will therefore lower transportation costs, helping to accelerate economic growth. The EAC railways master plan incorporates the standard gauge railway’s Northern and Central Corridors, which are both commercially viable for Rwanda as they give the country strategic access to the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. The Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) championed by Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda spearheaded the establishment of a railway link from Mombasa to Kigali. In June 2013, a Northern Corridor Integration Projects Heads of State Summit held in Kampala put in place mechanisms for fast-tracking the development of the SGR. A tripartite agreement for the development and operation of the SGR from Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali with branch lines to Kisumu and Pakwach/Gulu-Nimule was signed in August 2013. During the 3rd NCIP Summit held in Kigali on October 28, 2013, South Sudan agreed to join the SGR initiative and a protocol for the development of the SGR was later signed in May 2014. The protocol, which sets the basis for harmonisation of the project implementation, was ratified by the four partner states in 2015. On December 10, 2015,...