Once hailed as one of the modern age’s most groundbreaking railway development, the TAZARA railway linking the Tanzanian port city of Dar es Salaam with Zambia, has poor management, poor maintenance, corruption, and other inefficiencies over the past decades, impacting heavily on the company. Built by the Chinese government as a gift to both Tanzania and of course to support the Southern African liberation struggle, which saw Zambia at the time cut off from their regular import and export route via South African ports, hopes were initially high that the railway line could spur complimentary developments along the route. After a brief transition period, when the Chinese managed operations, the company was then handed over to both Zambia and Tanzania to be run by a locally-appointed team. Small trading posts which existed 40 years ago have since then grown into towns and municipalities, but the big breakthrough of economic prosperity along the rail line never happened. Struggling with funding from the two governments, and saddled with managers often seen as not up to their task, an agreement has apparently been reached in tripartite discussions that China assume the management of the railway while ensuring that line maintenance and maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock are vigorously pursued. A senior delegation from China reportedly was in both countries for talks and to identify an immediate action plan to turn the fortunes of TAZARA around, also, however, ensuring that before a Chinese state company steps in to manage TAZARA, both governments meet...

This is according to an independent evaluation of the Non Tarrif Barrier (NTB) to trade programs in East Africa that was conducted last year on the impact of NTBs program. "NTBs reduction has contributed to the reduction in cost of transporting a 40 foot container from Mombasa to Kigali, from US$6,500 in 2011 to US$4, 800, in 2016," said the report. Evaluators estimate that this generated a saving on constant volumes of approximately US$7 million on the Mombasa-Kigali route alone. The independent evaluators based the report on NTBs programs valued at US$ 7.89 million across East African Community Partner States, supported by Trademark East Africa. Burundi tops the list of the East African countries that have witnessed the highest import reduction time – at 28 per cent, from 43 days to 30 days. Moses Sabiti a senior programs manager at TMA explained that in Uganda, they have supported the formation of an automated system where traders can report any tariff barriers encountered during trade, supported policy issues around the NTBs between Uganda and other East African countries among others. "Such interventions have contributed to the reduction of clearing time from the 35 days to less than 30 which is making life easier for traders not only in Uganda but for region as well," said Sabiti. Other areas that have witnessed great progress according to the report include Tanzania which has witnessed a 99 per cent reduction in application time from 5 days to one hour for getting an electronic certificate...

Construction of an ultra-modern cruise ship terminal at Mombasa port is expected to kick off at Kilindini’s Shed Number One by October this year, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala says. Balala said the project, which will be carried out in a tripartite partnership between the Ministry of Tourism, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Trademark East Africa, is estimated to be ready by the year end. “Teams are on the ground to give us timelines… we estimate that by October, we will break ground here at the port,” said the CS during a press briefing after a closed-door meeting with KPA and Trademark East Africa officials. The terminal will handle droves of visitors arriving aboard cruise ships and will be designed with a touch that meets and befits the needs of the modern day traveller. “The terminal will have cafeterias for passengers’ refreshments and entertainment spots, among other key amenities required for modern passenger stopovers,” Balala said. He said KPA and Trademark East Africa have pledged to support the project with Sh200 million on a fifty-fifty basis. The private sector will operate some of its phases as one measure to sustain the campaign of cruise ships. Between 2010 and 2011, a record of close 40,000 tourists arrived through Mombasa, the CS noted, adding that arrival of cruise ships will boost the local economy. “The tourists will go for safaris, excursions, shopping and also spend in our local hotels and restaurants,” he said. Source: Media Max

Uganda is pre-occupied with the oppression business, but still few would have missed the announcement by Rwanda a few days ago that it has decided to develop a rail link to the Indian Ocean through Tanzania. Kigali said it is because that option was cheaper and shorter than the route through Kenya. Why is this important? Because in 2013, when Presidents Yoweri Museveni, Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta, and Rwanda's Paul Kagame were meeting virtually every two weeks in what the media came to call "the coalition of the willing" to turbo charge regional infrastructure projects, the three agreed to link up to the Kenyan port of Mombasa along a standard-gauge railway estimated to cost $13 billion. The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati standard gauge railway project is expected to be completed by March 2018 and is estimated to cost $5.2 billion. This will be yet another boost to Tanzania, and a feather in the cap for its disruptive president John Magufuli. In March, Tanzania and Uganda agreed to build a $4 billion pipeline to transport crude oil from Kabale to Tanga Port in Tanzania. Uganda chose the Tanzania route, saying it was cheaper than the Kenyan one, had more access infrastructure, and presented fewer complications in securing land for it. It is not a loss to Kenya, as Rwanda says it will continue using Mombasa too, so it is more a two-port strategy, than an exclusive shift to Dar es Salaam. This column on April 20, 2016 (See "If you think the Uganda...

Dar es Salaam — Preparations towards the first Tanzania-Rwanda Business Forum have been completed, organisers have said. A forum manager from Tanzania, Mr Hurbert Kissasi, told The Citizen via email from Kigali yesterday that everything was well on track for the event that is slated for Friday this week. "So far, over 100 companies from both Tanzania and Rwanda have confirmed to take part in the event... .everything is going as earlier planned," he said. He said so far, over 50 companies from Tanzania and over 70 from Rwanda have confirmed their participation in the forum that goes with the theme of: "Strengthening Bilateral Trade & Investment Opportunities". The First Tanzania-Rwanda Trade Forum is organised jointly with the Rwanda Private Sector Federation, the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the Tanzania Trade Development Authority and the Tanzania Truck owners Association. Participants will get a chance to engage in top quality business-to-business (B2B) discussions, a vital step towards improving trade ties between the countries. "This offers the most cost effective means of sourcing products, services and information about companies from the two countries," said Mr Kissasi. The event offers participants with access to a highly targeted audience of fellow industry professionals and thus helps members of the business community in Tanzania a direct personal access to stakeholders from Rwanda. New products, to be launched at the forum will be linked with conferences, exhibition and networking events. The presence of senior government officials from both countries also offers members of the...

Kenya is mulling terminating the standard gauge railway (SGR) in Naivasha or Kisumu after Rwanda pulled out of the flagship infrastructure project on the Northern Corridor. Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia played down the impact of Rwanda's exit even as he acknowledged that extension of the line to Malaba may no longer be necessary if landlocked states opt out. "The decision has not been reached but we have a number of options at our disposal. We can decide to end the SGR at Naivasha or Kisumu but it will still be a viable venture due to the presence of Lake Victoria," said Mr Macharia. Rwanda last week announced plans to build a railway through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean noting that the route is cheaper and would take shorter time to complete. The country's last-minute pullout from the SGR came as a surprise to Kenya which has build almost 80 per cent of the first phase running from Mombasa to Nairobi. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan have been keen on connecting their economies via the fast-speed SGR running along the northern corridor. Speculation has been rife that China -- which is financing the Mombasa-Nairobi section of the railway - is keen on taking up the whole project. Uganda, which is the top transit destination of Mombasa port cargo, has not build even as single inch of its section of SGR, putting pressure on Rwanda instead. The Kenya Ports Authority sees an efficient railway link from Mombasa as a sure...

Proper investments will also be used as a key driver of structural transformation through creating backward and forward linkages between agriculture production, industrialization and growth in services trade. The call was made by Ambassador Nathan Irumba from SEATIN Uganda, ahead of the regional investment climate meeting that takes place this Thursday and Friday at Lake Victoria hotel in Entebbe. The meeting is organized by SEATINI Uganda in partnership with Diakonia under the theme "Making investment work for the people of East African Community (EAC)". It's aimed at kick starting efforts towards "Promoting Investment policies and Agreements that support sustainable development and improved livelihoods within the region". The multi-stakeholder meeting will involve adoption of a multi-disciplinary approach to enhance stakeholders' awareness and capacity to understand and appreciate the imperative for investment policies and practices that are gender sensitive, protect human rights, promote environment sustainability and address the development needs of the EAC region. At the meeting, stakeholders will be able to appreciate the need for investment policies and practices that are gender sensitive; protect human rights; promote environment sustainability among others. Irumba added that investment can facilitate rural economic transformation through increased production and productivity as well as value addition. The East African Community region is characterized by mostly Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) due to the fact that deliberate effort has been made by governments to attract FDIs into their countries. Currently, the region has registered world FDI flows of up to US$ 7 billion in 2014. Besides this, the EAC...

South Sudanese citizens will not have to pay entry fees to East African nations, according to a top diplomat. “The protocol that deals with visa and travel will begin in January next year. South Sudanese will pay the entry fee until January and after that they can be exempted” said Jimmy Deng, charge d’affaires of South Sudan Embassy in Kenya. South Sudan was the sixth country to join the East African Community on March 2nd. Deng said South Sudanese are suffering from paying entry visa fees to East Africa countries. “Our people in Kenya are suffering from visa issue. They are being arrested by police because their visa has expired and not renewed" Deng said. Source: Radio Tamazuj

Innovators and entrepreneurs in the logistics and transport sector across the East African Community have a chance to acquire part of $16 million grant-based fund under the second phase of the logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) Challenge Fund. The TradeMark Africa initiative will provide grants ranging from $150,000 to $1 million to winning proposals from innovators across the world, whose project ideas will be implemented in East Africa. The organisation has already called for entries from qualifying sector player. The LIFT initiative is managed by Nathan Associates through a fund management team based in Nairobi, and is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It seeks to trigger and introduce innovative approaches to tackling freight and transport costs in the East African Community (EAC). TradeMark Africa chief executive Officer Frank Matsaert urged innovators to apply for funding, saying the challenge had enabled stakeholders to test new ideas that should reduce the cost and transport time in the EAC. “It is our hope that the entrepreneurs and innovators of the East African Community in partnership with their counterparts internationally will drive forward development through the adoption or introduction of ‘best practice’ technologies in the transport and logistics sector, enabling local businesses to compete favourably in the increasingly global economy,” said Matsaert. Businesses in the transport and logistics sector, or those that provide services to actors within it, are now being invited to submit their innovative concepts to LIFT for possible funding. The LIFT Challenge Fund is open to businesses...

Kenya is losing its economic spark in the East African region, a new report has said. This is because of poor government policies that are not in line with those of the rest of the countries under the six-member East African Community. The Parliamentary Budget Office — the economists and fiscal analysts who advise MPs on the budget and the economy — said the country’s poor economic policies, plus some of the Government decisions had eroded confidence of the other East African countries in joint projects. “Kenya is slowly losing its comparative advantage of being a hub of the region. This is a result of policies that are not in tandem with its East African counterparts. As seen recently, Uganda has decided to build its crude-export pipeline through Tanzania,” said a PBO report on the 2016-17 budget. The verdict of the House economists is that the Jubilee administration has to shoulder the blame for the collapse of the multi-billion shilling oil pipeline partnership with Uganda. Uganda said the pipeline through Kenya was expensive. Rwanda too plans a diversion of the standard-gauge railway route to Tanzania citing cost challenges. Kenya was banking on a joint multi-trillion shilling pipeline and port project with Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia for the port of Lamu. Uganda has ten times the amount of crude oil found in Kenya and Kenya had hoped to entice Uganda to build a pipeline to the Lamu Port and use it to export its oil. The construction of the first three berths...