NAIROBI: President Paul Kagame paused and then rested his chin on his left hand when asked what appeared to be a simple question. “Resources are scarce,” he said to the question on which way Rwanda would go in the development of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). The line was originally planned to run from Mombasa in Kenya, through Uganda’s Kampala before terminating in his capital city, Kigali. “We will take the shorter route,” he said, confirming that Rwanda would tap into the alternate railway project planned by Tanzania. He was speaking at the World Economic Forum on Africa earlier this month. For years, whenever Kenya has coughed, its neighbours have caught a cold. But it now appears that these neighbours have hatched a plan to simply turn their backs to avoid the cold. From Dar es Salaam in Tanzania through Kigali in Rwanda, to Kampala in Uganda, and finally to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, something new is brewing, and Kenya is losing. Even South Sudan, the newest entrant into the East African Community (EAC), seems to be on the fence. Burundi is indifferent, but the nation is limping, making any major investments at this time unlikely. Source: Standard Digital

It is now official. Kenya will no longer be the gateway to Africa’s Great Lakes Region. Rwanda announced last week that it would join Uganda to develop a new gateway to Tanzanian ports. This announcement follows hot on the heels of an earlier announcement by Uganda that its oil pipeline to the sea would go through Tanzania, contrary to the expectation that it would pass through Kenya. Some pundits may see this turn of events as a strategy to isolate Kenya in the region, but it may herald a new competitive environment that would benefit the entire region. For more than half a century, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo relied on the port of Mombasa, the East African Railways, and the relatively better road network in Kenya to import and export goods to and from these countries. Kenya took this opportunity for granted.  Unofficial, non-tariff barriers frustrated desperate landlocked countries. Due to the huge delays, perishable goods often got damaged on the way. Corruption added injury to an already-increasing pain on Kenyan roads. Tanzania, which has massive resources on the Indian Ocean, slept on the goldmine of the Dar and Tanga ports. Then came Magufuli, and he is turning out to be Tanzania’s knight in shining armour. The man is seen as a believable, reassuring, no-nonsense fixer. In one fell swoop, he has demolished the “coalition of the willing,” which threatened to isolate Tanzania as the unwilling partner in East African integration. Consequently, Tanzania may be on...

Uganda targets to focus on east Africa markets to drive its exports over the next five years, a State agency said. Executive director of the Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB), Elly Twineyo Kamugisha, said the country’s exports to the EAC were their single highest compared to other markets overseas. “Regional markets are getting bigger by the day,” Mr Kamugisha told a media briefing in Kampala. He continued: “Before, European markets used to be the biggest but we are seeing a shift in that. There is now over $1 billion export market in the region and it is easy to promote our products within the region because we have similar lifestyles.” According to UEPB data, Uganda’s total merchandise exports in 2014 was $2.6 billion and by close of last year, it had hit $2.7 billion. Statistics further indicated that last year, the regional market is Uganda’s top export destination, with $1 billion worth of exports shipped from Uganda to the neighbouring countries. This means that 54 per cent of Uganda’s exports are consumed regionally. The European Union comes second, consuming $502 million worth of the country’s exports. Explaining the disparity, Mr Kamugisha said: “Market familiarity, proximity, growing demand, less stringent standard requirements and adding value to our products explains why the regional markets consume more of our products than elsewhere.” Last year, products such as fish, maize, beans, sugar, bananas, sorghum and industrial products exported informally to neighbouring countries such as Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania were worth...

Uganda, which was recently named one of the top ten international tourist destinations at the inaugural Global Tourist Destination Carnival, is turning her tourism sector around, using various attractions and faith to grow the sector. Tourism in Uganda is predominately focused on the landscape and wildlife but has found much success in the growing popularity of Uganda Martyrs. "2015 was a very watershed year for us, we saw quite a number of projects taking off, specifically we had record numbers in one of our niche products, the Uganda Martyrs, which is a faith based tourism project,” said Stephen Asiimwe, CEO of Uganda Tourism Board. Uganda has many attractions that maintain traffic into the country; some of the ones mentioned by Asiimwe are; having 50 per cent of the continent’s bird species, the world's largest concentration of primates and some of the best waterfalls in the world. “Uganda Martyrs is a story of a group of young people at the close of the 19th century, who died for their faith.” He adds: “There was a kingdom called Buganda, as a result of the Christian and Muslim faith's engagement with the local people, [who] refused to denounce their faith, so the king had them executed and over a century later this has become an attraction for Uganda bring in thousands of people.” Uganda Martyrs' Day celebrations are held every year on June, 3rd, a public holiday, where millions make the pilgrimage to gather at the now Namugongo basilica. “Last year Uganda had...

Africa's economy is likely to grow 3.7 percent this year as resilient private consumption and investment offsets the effect of a slump in commodity prices and global headwinds, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Monday. Launching its latest regional economic outlook in the Zambian capital, the AfDB also said growth could accelerate to 4.5 percent next year if commodity prices recovered and the global economy strengthened. Source: CNBC Africa

Worldwide the future of manufacturing is uncertain. Thanks to emerging technologies such as mobile connectivity, artificial intelligence, next-generation robotics, and 3D printing, supply chains and factory floors face transformations as significant as any since the last industrial revolution. This “Fourth Industrial Revolution” will feature new forms of collaboration that drive innovative value chains and business models that could leave traditional industrial patterns in the dust. Influenced by these global manufacturing trends, Africa has its own challenges. In order to develop its economic infrastructure and to improve its balance of payments, local beneficiation of the continent’s natural resources and agricultural products is essential.  The United Nations expects that Africa’s population will double to 2.5 billion people by 2050. The middle class is rising, indicating an increase in consumption. Moreover, the population growth indicates a dramatic need for employment. Africa has no alternative to developing a strong value-added manufacturing base. The continent, however, has a way to go: in 2014, 30 per cent of China’s GDP came from manufacturing, according to the World Bank. By comparison, Nigeria’s share stood at just 9 per cent, Kenya 12 per cent, Zambia 8 per cent. Africa has ample opportunities to grow its manufacturing base in a broad range of industries. Local beneficiation of resources in for example oil and gas is one example. Moreover, the growth of the population will spur growth in direct consumer industries such as food/agriculture and beverage, home and personal care, apparel, and even automotive. Other likely target sectors include secondary industries...

The East African region’s competitiveness can only be boosted if more investments are made in infrastructure, healthcare and education, a competitiveness report has shown. The 2015/2016 Africa Competitiveness Report shows that East Africa is the continent’s most competitive region with Rwanda being the most competitive economy in the region followed by Kenya. Overall, Rwanda is in third position in Africa after Mauritius and South Africa and 58th globally. The report findings indicate that East Africa’s favourable ranking largely owes to the diversity of its economies and business efficiency. However, the report findings indicate that a lot is desired in basic aspects such as infrastructure within and connecting the region outwards as well as healthcare and education. Improvements in education and healthcare will serve to improve human capital and market size, the report notes. “Although currently Africa’s fastest growing region, the EAC faces competitiveness challenges including infrastructure, human capital, technological readiness and market size. Life expectancy remains low and infant mortality high. Despite recent progress, secondary and tertiary enrolment rates remain low at 38 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively which is lower than Ecowas and SADC,” the report reads in part. The report also takes into consideration the disparities within EAC member states, which cause some countries to bring down the overall performance of the region. “The greatest disparities in the EAC region are in the areas of institutions and financial markets development. Rwanda leads in institutions, infrastructure, health and primary education and market efficiencies. Kenya leads in business...

DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania (Xinhua) -- The Tanzania Dairy Board (TDB) is holding talks with its counterparts in other East African Community (EAC) member states aimed at convincing them to scrap tariff barriers on exports of milk from Tanzania, officials said on Thursday. TDB acting registrar Nelson Kilongozi, said removal of the tariff barriers would expand Tanzania’s dairy products market in the other EAC members of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Speaking at a seminar for building capacity to small holder dairy farmers in the east African nation’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Kilongozi admitted that Tanzania’s dairy sector has been grappling with limited market since it could not sell beyond the country’s borders. “In fact we feel that these tariff barriers are unnecessary, we want our colleagues in the EAC member states to remove them,” he said. Currently, Tanzania produces 2.4 billion litres of milk annually out of which 30 per cent is produced by dairy cows and the remaining 70 per cent comes from traditional free range cattle. Philip Emmanuel, a senior official with the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives encouraged dairy farmers to form cooperatives to improve their economic status. . Tanzania sets 94 per cent of energy budget for development projects DAR ES SALAAM (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities said on Thursday they were planning to spend 94 percent of the energy and minerals’ budget for implementation of development projects in the coming financial year that starts on July 1. Sospeter Muhongo, the Minister...

IN THE past two weeks Rwanda has made two big announcements, which will have far-reaching implications for cement companies and consumers in the country, as well as for the building and construction sector in a region that has some of the highest cement prices in Africa. Rwanda has embarked on two big infrastructure projects – first is (the recently launched) methane-fired power plant on Lake Kivu to generate clean energy. The KivuWatt gas-water extraction project is the only one operating in the world, according to ContourGlobal LP, the U.S. company that built the facility. It is expected to produce 100 megawatts within three years as it extracts gas found in the lake’s deep waters to generate low-carbon emission power, also reducing the risk of a catastrophic release of methane. In a country that has a current generation capacity of 186 megawatts, and peak demand of 105 megawatts, KivuWatt represents an effective doubling of power available in the country. Rwanda also plans to develop rail links to Indian Ocean ports through Tanzania. The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati (DIKKM) standard gauge railway project is expected to be completed by March 2018 and is estimated to cost $5.2 billion. The implications of this infrastructure expansion will undoubtedly touch many businesses and industries, but at the forefront will be cement. Energy and transport are the first, and second-highest, cost components for cement manufacturers, according to Busi Legodi, CEO of PPC Rwanda. PPC Rwanda, which also retails under its former name CIMERWA, is 51% owned by South African cement...

Tanga. The Tanga Port is expected to new equipment to increase in the volume of cargo handling. The equipment will be acquired before the end of next month, according to port master Henry Alika. Tanga City has leapt to prominence with the recent announcement of the $4 billion (about Sh8.8 trillion on the prevailing exchange rate) Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline project and the proposed Rwanda-Tanzania railway. The two projects have generated a lot of interest in the business community. The equipment to be acquired include one patrol boat, a one 90-tonne Terrain mobile crane, four navigational buoys and one towing tug. It will also acquire two wheel loaders, two 35-tonne mobile cranes and one pilot boat. Mr Alika said the port handled 805,056 tonnes of cargo in the 2014/2015 financial year. “The port expects to handle 1,096,000 tonnes of cargo, which would be an increase of 290,944 tonnes compared with last financial year’s. This is 156 per cent of its handling capacity of 700,000 tonnes per year,” he said. However, he said the closure of factories in Tanga and a decline in export of sisal have had a negative impact on the port’s performance. The local economy was based mainly on the production of sisal. The crop was introduced in the late 19th century by Germans. Tanga residents are, however, optimistic that the reopening of the railway line could increase cargo transport, leading to an improvement of the port’s performance. They hope the situation will stimulate economic activities and subsequently increase...