Recycling at work GIKOMBA market, just north of Nairobi’s downtown, is a place to buy just about anything. At its entrance, where ragged minibuses splash their way through rutted red mud, stalls sell piles of pillows, plastic toys, cutlery and soap. Source: The Economist

Government and civil society officials have agreed to organise regular platforms where the Ministry of East African Community Affairs and civil society groups can meet to enhance a people-centered regional integration approach. This was recommended, yesterday, during the first such gathering in Kigali. The consultative forum, themed: ‘‘Engagement of the Rwandan civil society in the East African Community integration”, intended to, among others, introduce the local civil society fraternity to the EAC integration agenda and identify areas that require further awareness. During the meeting, the Minister for East African Community Affairs Amb. Valentine Rugwabiza, asked for the initiative to be formalised with meetings scheduled once in a year. Rugwabiza said: “But it should not simply be about meeting to talk only as it should also be a forum for accountability, so that we look at the progress of things we had agreed on earlier.” The purpose of the forum was to set appropriate mechanisms for continuous active involvement of the Rwanda Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in EAC integration efforts and thus be able to tap available opportunities. The forum explored ways to ensure people’s participation in the bloc’s integration agenda as directed by the 16th EAC Council of Ministers’ meeting. Dr Venuste Karambizi, an International Relations lecturer at Kigali Independent University, suggested that civil society should have a proper accountability system. “Regarding the integration agenda, we in the civil society are ready and are skilled. What the government can help us with in terms of regional integration is to communicate...

The government will not issue a blanket ban on the importation of second-hand clothes popularly known as mitumba. Industry and Enterprise Development Principal secretary Julius Koris said the government and the East African Community do not plan to ban the sale of mitumba without providing alternatives for consumers and traders. Korir told a national stakeholders' workshop on Thursday that the matter is sensitive and needs to be addressed seriously. The government plans to ban the importation of mitumba clothes in phases over the next three years. The plan is also being considered at the EAC level, with Uganda already crafting laws to stop mitumba imports. The PS said the industry needs interventions such as removing barriers and creating incentives for investors to make the trade more competitive, for competition with evolving markets. EAC states, Korir added, should develop an effective and sustainable implementation environment for policies formulated to address the issue. Tabled proposals, other than the ban, include raising the duty rates for finished clothes to above 50 per cent or a minimum specific duty of $10 (Sh1,013). Another option is setting up regional fall-back processing parks to produce clothes at cheaper rates for the domestic market. Source: The Star

The French global energy company Total has reaffirmed its commitment to invest in a crude oil pipeline from Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, saying it remains more cost-effective than pursuing a Kenyan route instead. According to Total E & P Uganda general manager Adewale Fayemi, all available options have been evaluated carefully and the conclusion - as far as Total is concerned - is that the Tanga route would still be cheaper and more convenient in the long run. "As a company, our position remains that we are going through Tanga…I understand there are issues being discussed but our position remains the same," Fayemi told an East African oil and gas sector conference taking place in Dar es Salaam yesterday. He said Total, the biggest financier of the 1,400-kilometre pipeline project worth over $4 billion, has done enough studies to compare the various possible routes and come to a definite conclusion about which was best. The main possible routes considered were from Uganda’s Lake Albert, through northern Kenya to the port of Lamu, or south through Tanzania to Tanga. The Lamu route would cost $4.2bn and the Tanga route $4.7bn, according to estimates. But the studies done so far have also noted that the Lamu route would expose the pipeline as an obvious target for sabotage by the Somali-based Al-Shabaab terrorist organization, thereby lowering its safety and security rating considerably. Total is partnering with the UK-based Tullow Oil and China National Offshore Oil companies to extract an estimated...

Kenya and its neighbors Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have fully embraced the Electronic Single Window System and are now effectively coordinating in cargo clearance and tracking. The system facilitates exchange of data among the East African Community (EAC) countries. It is supported by the tracking system that monitors cargo from their check-off point to destination point, avoiding dumping and theft. Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta, Paul Kagame of Rwanda,Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir ushered in the system in Nairobi two years ago. Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda South Sudan and Tanzania are all expected to adopt to the system that harmonizes border control. The countries have to align their custom clearance systems to the new electronic platform, enabling seamless operations. The result is now faster and efficient trade, improved business environment and the introduction of paperless cargo clearance. “The time within which it takes to clear goods has reduced tremendously. At the central corridor, it now takes 3 days, down from the 18 days while in the northern corridor, there is a significant reduction from 21 days to 5 days,” Ambassador Dr. Richard Sezibera former EAC Secretary – General said at the 17th heads of states meeting in Arusha. He remarked that campaigns to ensure realization of cargo clearance system had duly paid off. He affirmed that for instance, “Those visiting the Port of Mombasa will witness revenue officials from the rest of the Partner States clearing goods.” According to TradeMark Africa, a charter signed by President Uhuru...

Kenya signed a multi-billion dollar agreement with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) to extend the country's rail network, adding to a swathe of infrastructure deals in Africa won by Chinese firms. The first phase of a cross-country rail project in East Africa's largest economy, and thence to other countries in the region, is expected to link the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa to Nairobi from mid-2017. In December the government, seeking to reduce transport costs and boost trade, secured a $1.5 billion loan -- also from China -- to extend the track from the capital to the Rift Valley town of Naivasha. Wednesday's deal with CCCC, worth 549 billion shillings ($5.42 billion), is to extend the line from Naivasha to the town of Malaba on the Ugandan border, said Wilson Nyakera, principal secretary in Kenya's transport ministry. China has replaced the U.S. and Europe as the main trading partner for many African countries and has bankrolled projects from infrastructure to energy as part of its growing commercial and diplomatic clout on a continent with some of the fastest-growing economies. The government expected to conclude a financing agreement for the Naivasha-Malaba leg in the next six months, Nyakera said. "Even as we sign the commercial contract for the second phase we are confident that we will be able to deliver the project," Transport Minister James Macharia was quoted as saying in a Kenya Railways statement. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan have ratified a plan for a railway connecting Mombasa to...

GIKOMBA market, just north of Nairobi’s downtown, is a place to buy just about anything. At its entrance, where ragged minibuses push their way through rutted red mud, stalls sell piles of pillows, plastic toys, cutlery and soap. But the most common wares are second-hand clothing. Piles of old T-shirts and jeans; winter jackets, incongruous in the equatorial heat; dresses and leather shoes; all are watched carefully by stallholders. This market is the biggest wholesale centre of the mitumba, or used-clothing, trade in east Africa. The clothes worn by the bulk of Nairobi’s population are sourced here. Yet if the governments of the East African Community, the regional trade bloc which comprises Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, get their way, all will change. By 2019 the EAC wants to outlaw imports of second-hand clothes. The idea is that ending the trade in old clothes—mostly donated by their former owners in rich countries—will help boost local manufacturing. On March 10th Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s president, met market traders upset by the idea, and defended the need for “Kenyan manufactured apparel”. Yet the ban seems sure to fail. itumba trading is a big employer for Kenyans, most of whom work in the informal labour market. By one estimate, there are 65,000 traders in Gikomba alone. Imports have increased massively over the past two decades. In 2015, according to UN data, Kenya imported about 18,000 tonnes of clothing from Britain alone. Whole-salers buy bundles for anything up to 10,000 shillings (about $100), and...

OPINION By Adam Ihucha Arusha — Kenya and Uganda are scrambling for hosting the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), renewing political supremacy wars in the regional body. Kenya is the latest partner state to apply while Uganda had started its spirited lobbying blitz some years back, seeking to enhance its position in the region. Sources say Kenya demanded the EAC heads of state to consider the location of the seat of the EACJ to be in Nairobi, but the 33rd EAC Council of Ministers deferred with the proposal. The EAC Council of Minister's report shows Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania's delegations were of the view that the Kenya's proposal should await a comprehensive analysis of the equitable distribution of benefits and costs among partner states. Nairobi's delegation led by Cabinet secretary responsible for labour and EAC, Ms Phyllis Kandie countered the argument, saying the study had taken too long to be completed. It argued that there were some other institutions such as Kigali-based EAC Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), EAC Kiswahili Commission (EAKC) in Zanzibar, the East African Health Research Commission (EAHRC) in Bujumbura, Burundi, that were established and distributed without the completion of the study. Nairobi was therefore of the view that since it hosts only one of the institutions, it should be considered in hosting the EACJ. According to the outgoing EAC Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, the determination of the seat of the EACJ is a prerogative of the Summit under Article 47 of the Treaty....

BUJUMBURU, (CAJ News) – THERE appears to be no end in sight to the deadly political upheavals characterising Burundi as the tiny East African country takes more steps backwards than forward to rediscover peace. This has dashed hopes brought about by the intervention of fellow African countries and President Pierre Nkurunziza, elected controversially in a one-candidate election in 2015, agreed to dialogue with his political rivals. Months later, little if anything has changed. The African Union (AU) heads of state mission visit to Burundi this month month had little to show for it. There was no mention of the deployment of a larger and more robust AU force in the troubled country despite this being a key agenda item for the visit. However, the Nkurunziza’s government finally accepted the deployment of a full complement of human rights and military observers, which it had agreed to in mid-2015. Former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa was also appointed to assist the East African Community-led talks between Burundian parties but there is still no date for resuming the talks, nor is there clarity on who will attend. Nkurunziza still maintains that he will not speak to the “armed opposition.” This is tag he applies freely to most of his political opponents. United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, noted the killings have continued unabated. “The number of people killed in Burundi continues to steadily grow, as does the number of people forced to flee their homes,” said Al Hussein....

The Tanzania government recently said it has began to issue simplified Certificates of Origin (COs). This is the paperwork attesting that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. COs also constitute a declaration of accountability by the exporter and one cannot do without them in the international market. According to the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC), around 15 million COs are certified by Chambers globally each year. However, the origin is not the country from which the goods are shipped, but the country where the goods were made. Failure to have a correctly completed and certified Certificate of Origin can result in goods being held up by Customs authorities, and can delay payment for your shipment if you are supplying under a Letter of Credit. Having the proper paperwork and getting it processed and approved is often the most frustrating factor in trade. Missing or inaccurate documents can increase risks, lead to delays and extra costs, or even prevent a deal from being completed. However, it is a credit to the East African Community (EAC) members states that they are adopting a common documentation and the One Stop Border Posts (OSBP) that are easing procedures and saving business people considerable time and money. During a recent speech to the East African Legislative Assembly, Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa, the Tanzania’s Prime Minister said, the government has issued 3,222 simplified certificates as of June last year compared to 2,355 issued in 2014. This...