South Sudanese opinion leaders have voiced their views on the decision by president Salva Kiir to admit their nation into the East African Community. The East African Community (EAC) is a trade bloc initially founded by three east African countries before expanding its membership to include Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. Members of the EAC share certain economic and immigration policies for their citizens to promote free movement of labour, capital, goods and services within the region. If the decision to join the EAC is ratified by South Sudanese parliament, the country would be obliged to change some of its national laws to allow the full implementation of some aspects of the Common Market such as immigration and customs. Civil society leader Edmund Yakani said parliament should not ratify the treaty to join the EAC. “Let them wait for some time. We are not saying it is bad idea to join but the time is not right," Yakani said during a recent radio talk show. 'We are not an island' Charles Majak, a member of parliament from Twic state, said he supported joining the EAC, describing it as a win-win situation for South Sudan and its neighbors in the EAC. “The decision to join is not bad at all. We are not an island. Countries thrives through cooperation, even in Europe, they are working together. That is why they have European Union and the Americans decided to bring different states together to form United States of America," Majak said....

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) says the construction of the road linking Kenya to Ethiopia will be completed soon. The Authority added that the sections form part of the strategic transport corridor linking Mombasa Port to Addis Ababa. For South Sudan, the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor, known for short as LAPSSET, is meant to be a new lifeline to the outside world. The road covers Merille-Marsabit 121 kilometres and Turbi-Moyale 122 kilometres. “Once the road is complete, it will have significant impact in regional integration and boost trade for the benefit of Kenya and Ethiopia. He noted the increase in traffic along the corridor and the new trade opportunities with Ethiopia and champion development in the semi-arid areas,” said Gabriel Negatu, Regional Director for Eastern Africa Resource Centre of the African Development Bank Group. “The 498 kilometres from Isiolo to Moyale funded by the government, Africa Development Bank and the European Union amounts to 44 billion Kenyan shilling. This will play a key role in integrating Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. By providing a critical link in the Trans East Africa Highway connecting landlocked Ethiopia to the Port of Mombasa, the road corridor will also be key in supporting the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) corridor,” He added The new corridor will also improve trade between the two countries, open up Northern Kenya for more trade and business and contribute to an increase in the volume of Ethiopian goods transiting through the Port of Mombasa. Project Eng. Daniel Cherono noted...

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Philip Mpango, gave the directive before the National Assembly here yesterday when debating budget estimates for President’s Office (Regional Administration, Local Government and Good Governance). The minister’s directives came following claims by some businessmen that the decrease in cargo traffic at the port was due to Vat Added Tax (VAT) and Single Customs Territory system. Dr Mpango, however, refused such claims as an afterthought. However, the minister agreed that there was indeed a decrease in cargo volume at the port, citing the period between December, last year and March, this year. Giving a two-year comparison for the same period, the minister said that cargo transport to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) decreased from 5,529 to 4,092 containers for the period under review, which is equivalent to 26 per cent. For cargo heading to Malawi decreased from 337 to 265 containers, while those on transit to Zambia, Dr Mpango noted a decrease of the cargo from 6,859 to 4,448. The minister, however, pointed out that customs collection for the same period has continued to increase. He also said that the decrease of the cargo has also gone down even on countries which do not use single custom territory system. The minister also pointed out that transit cargo does not attract VAT tax, as the VAT Act only deals with small items. The minister concluded, therefore, that there was no direct relationship with the single custom territory system. He cited the example of other countries, like...

In line with the mechanism, the government has also introduced stickers for transit buses and trucks to differentiate them from those travelling in the country at weighing bridges. Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam recently, the Permanent Secretary (PS) at the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, Eng Joseph Nyamhanga, said the new system will be adopted beginning today. “This system will subject all transit vehicles to inspection in not more than four inspection stations to reduce trip duration and attract more customers to use the Dar es Salaam port,” said Eng Nyamhanga. He pointed out that there was a process to establish one-stop inspection stations (OSIS) at the Central Corridor at Vigwaza in the Coast Region, Manyoni in Singida and Nyakanazi in Kagera. For Dar es Salaam Corridor the areas include the road from Dar es Salaam to Tunduma (Tanzania and Zambia border) and Uyole – Kasumulu (Tanzania and Malawi border). The established centres will include Vigwaza in the Coast Region, Mikumi in Morogoro, Makambako in Njombe and Mpemba in Songwe. Services that will be obtained at the OSIS include weighing bridges, police stations, Tanzania Revenue Authority branches and rest stations for transit drivers. Eng Nyamhanga noted that the initiative has come a few days after President John Magufuli issued a directive to reduce unnecessary non-tariff barriers when he was launching Rusumo International Bridge situated at the Tanzania and Rwanda border. He further said that for Tanzania to facilitate trade and transportation with the East African Community (EAC), Southern...

“We are now working with Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) to create a working one-stop centre, remove all the non-tariff barriers through working with Trademark East Africa and reducing bureaucracies that tend to scare away potential investors. In the SITA project, Uganda is planning to export sunflower, cotton and coffee to India duty-free,”  Kyambadde said. The Minister was launching the Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa (SITA) project, which is being implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) based in Geneva. She said better quality Uganda exports will have a greater impact on the balance of trade which is currently in a deficit. SITA aims to increase the competitiveness and productive capacities of East African businesses leveraging India’s wealth of expertise and technological know-how in specific sectors. SITA was started in April 2015, to create greater export flows from East Africa to international markets and enhance competitiveness of East African businesses with high quality and capacity to export to India. Kyambadde said: “We want to see increased investments, knowledge and technology transfer from India to East Africa, improved business development services provided by regional and National Trade Investment Support Institutions and improved business environment fostered through Public-Private dialogue and partnerships.” There are five countries in the SITA project Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda nurturing trade with India in the six years project. The project started in March 2014 and is expected to end in March 2020. The project benefits East African business, Indian companies importing from or investing in...

Over last five years, the cost of doing business and the time taken to get goods cleared and transported in the region went down significantly, the Evaluation Report by the multi-donor organisation says. The cost of transporting a standard 40-foot container from Mombasa to Kigali went down by $1,700 from $6,500 in 2011 to $4,800 in 2015. Transporters and businesses have saved $7 million on the Mombasa-Kigali route alone within the timeline, says the report. Time taken to export goods from each country in the region has reduced by 20 per cent to 26 days from the previous average time of 33 days while time taken to import goods from each country in the region also went down by 14 per cent to 31 days. NTBs are trade barriers arising from rules and regulations that are poorly designed or implemented. According to the report, the trade barriers can be intentional or unintentional. It is estimated that in 2010 trade barriers led to a cost of $490 million in the region. Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark Africa (TMA), said that a reduction of these barriers will invariably lead to more trade in the region, which is ultimately TradeMark’s goal, of growing prosperity through trade. Burundi reduced the time taken to import goods from 43 to 60 days, the highest performance in the region. Tanzania experienced a 99 per cent reduced time (from five days to one hour) in application and processing of the Electronic Certificates of Origin. Inland transportation from Dar es...

The minister, who revealed the plan when he visited the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, in Dodoma yesterday, said his country was ready to offer exchange programmes that will see Tanzanians working at the Singapore Port to gain expertise and experience to run Tanzania’s ports efficiently. Dr Koon, who has been accompanied by 40 big businessmen, informed the PM that Singapore’s firm, Hyflux, has started investing in Morogoro Region, where in five years’ time they are expecting to build an enabling infrastructure for light industries, commercial areas and 37,000 residential houses. “Our company, Pavilion Energy, has invested 1.2 billion US dollars in the gas sector and is expecting to invest an additional 3 billion US dollars for an LNG plant, which will be built in Southern regions in partnership with gas companies from Europe and US,” he said. The minister noted that PIL Company from Singapore was expecting to invest 400 million US Dollars for establishment of service stations for gas companies. Mr Majaliwa welcomed Singapore’s companies to invest in various areas, including establishment of industries, hotels, agriculture and energy. The premier promised the visiting minister that Tanzania was ready to conclude talks on Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement to attract more investors from Singapore. He added that Tanzania had opened its investment doors for businessmen from Singapore to come and invest in manufacturing, aviation and Economic Processing Zones (EPZ). Source: Daily News

Uganda has viable and abundant opportunities for bilateral trade, Singapore minister of state for trade and industry has said. Dr Koh Poh Koon said he was impressed by many trade opportunities that Uganda has and looks forward on how his country can share bilateral trade experience. Koh also discussed with Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde on how to avoid double taxation agreement and exemption of tax on certain types of income He said trade opportunities in overseas markets remain important to Singapore adding that the purpose of his visit to Uganda is to discuss the different trade opportunities available. He was accompanied by a Singapore delegation comprising officials from, International Enterprise Singapore and Cooperation Enterprise, as well as representatives from 11 Singapore companies. In an  interview with New Vision  at  Serena  Hotel, Dr Koh  Poh Koon   noted  that  Singapore  is contemplating  investing  in agriculture in Uganda  because  the  country is endowed  with  good  potential resources. He said that East Africa has had impressive growth over the past decade and Uganda is at the centre of this region. Minister Koh Poh Koon is visiting Uganda and Tanzania this   from April 25 to 29) to explore new business opportunities in the East Africa region. "Singapore companies expanding overseas can consider markets further afield where there are new business opportunities to be seized. East Africa has recorded impressive growth over the past decade and Uganda is at the heart of this region,”Koh said. Source: New Vision

Following the admission of South Sudan as a 6th member into the East African Community (EAC) Rwanda is eager to start exporting professional services there. Some of the services Rwanda will be exporting to South Sudan according to the ministry of East African Community (MINEAC) include; ICT, legal, engineering, architectural, accounting and so many others. "The admission of South Sudan to the EAC is historical and important to the region. South Sudan presents a wider market for EAC and Rwanda in particular, which has interest in exporting agricultural and horticultural products to Juba," Valentine Rugwabiza, the Minister of EAC said. According to the statement from East African Community Secretariat, President Salva Kiir Mayardit, of South Sudan, President Dr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, of Tanzania and the Chairperson of the EAC Heads of State Summit, last week in Dar es Salaam, signed the Treaty of Accession of South Sudan into the EAC. At their 17th Ordinary Summit held on March, 2nd, 2016 in Arusha, the EAC Heads of State received the report of the Council of Ministers on the negotiations for the admission of the of South Sudan into the Community and decided to admit it as a new member. The Summit then designated the Chairperson, President Magufuli, to sign the Treaty of Accession with South Sudan. According to Minister Rugwabiza, South Sudan with a population of 11 million has widened the regional EAC market to 162 million people, GDP for the EAC bloc is $160.7 billion from $147.5 billion. "Joining...

Arusha — Newly-appointed East African Community (EAC) secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko hit the ground running on assuming office Monday evening, warning of impending measures to salvage the regional organisation from its current financial crisis. He said his administration will propose 'stringent measures' geared at cost-cutting, value for money, accountability and transparency and that it will not be business as usual as the regional organisation has to cope with unprecedented deficits in its budget. "Although we have experienced situations of financial instability on regular basis, we never sunk into a deep crisis because our leaders in partner states have always reacted in time," he said during a welcoming party by the staff members of the Community. He said the EAC was currently going through challenging financial times and that forecasts for the month of June this year show a deficit of more than $11 million. The situation has been aggravated by failure by development partners, who account for close to 70 per cent of the annual budget, to disburse about 30 per cent of the expected funds two months before the end of the 2015/2016 fiscal year on June 30th. Mr Mfumukeko, a Burundi national, assumed the highest office at EAC and succeeded Dr Richard Sezibera from Rwanda whose five year, non-renewable term ended on Monday. Both countries were admitted into the bloc in July 2007 after enjoying a status of observers to the Community from the late 1990s. He was appointed the fifth secretary general of the Community during the...