Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is due in Nairobi to hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta on the construction of the Kenya-Uganda crude oil pipeline. State House Nairobi said Mr Kenyatta and Mr Museveni will hold bilateral talks on the pipeline, a key factor in the Northern Corridor infrastructure projects. The talks come amid speculation that Uganda has struck an agreement with Tanzania to construct an oil pipeline to transport expected Uganda oil through the neighbouring country. The proposed link will cover 1,120 kilometres and its construction is estimated to create 15,000 jobs. Kenya and Uganda had agreed to construct a joint pipeline to transport crude from the oilfields of Hoima to the Port of Lamu, through Kenya’s oilfields at Lokichar. Huge oil deposits Last week, Tullow Oil announced the discovery of huge oil deposits in Kerio Valley, throwing a lifeline to the prospects of a viable Uganda-Kenya oil pipeline. State House spokesman Manoa Esipisu said Uganda’s oil producers — Irish company Tullow Oil, French company Total and China’s CNOC — have been invited to the Uhuru-Museveni talks at State House. Tanzania is competing with Kenya for the pipeline that will tap Ugandan oil deposits. Kenya wants the northern route developed — as part of the Lamu Port, South Sudan, and Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) project — to move oil resources from Lokichar to the new port at Lamu. Source: Business Daily Africa

If all works out according to nature’s cycle, the skies could open up in a matter of days and usher in the season of the long rains in East Africa. Nature, however, has become quite unpredictable of late. The El Niño rains came and went last year, and people in the region are increasingly getting accustomed to extremes of the weather. That means the heavy rains could actually come, and perhaps devastatingly so. Or they could simply disappear. Either way, East Africa deserves to be prepared. All too often, millions of people are caught unawares even by a phenomenon such as the long rains that has come with certainty over the millennia. It all means our countries are extremely exposed to changes in climatic and weather patterns. And even if the rains were to come and go in just the right measure, causing an abundant harvest, that still presents a problem. Many are the times when farmers decry losses due to lack of proper storage facilities as well as markets for their products. This leads to undesired losses. It also leads to a situation where there is plenty today and nothing tomorrow, or plenty in one place and scarcity elsewhere. Perhaps the tragedy has to do with governance. There is an “eating” mentality that has laid siege to a significant portion of the elite in East Africa. This mentality assures them that every project, every budgetary allocation, and every need that arises must be fully exploited for the purpose of...

KAMPALA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said the bloodbath the Great Lakes region faced over the years, although undesirable, helped galvanize the ideology that Africa must solve its own problems rather than depend on foreigners. Museveni said in a statement early this week that the wars in Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, northern Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda showed that Africa must have the primary interest in solving its conflicts. "Although not planned, (the conflicts) ended up getting rid of the quisling of foreign interests and creating conditions for Afro-centered thinking in these countries," Museveni said, noting that Africa must take advantage of that unity. Museveni said it is that unity that Africa must protect against the continued foreign selfish interests. He argued that where populations are either similar, linked or compatible, there should be political integration, noting that is only a strong unified force that can push for its interest in the global arena. "We believe and know that the East African Federation is possible and it would create a center of gravity for the black race," he said. The East African Community (EAC), a regional body bringing together Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and now South Sudan, plans to have a political federation. South Sudan was early admitted into the EAC, bring the total population of the bloc to 160 million people. The president said apart from the strategic security against potential imperialism, the prosperity of the African people revolves around the production of...

The North Rift Economic Bloc (Noreb) is in the process setting up strategies that are aimed at ensuring counties in the bloc claim a spot in the East African Community (EAC) by exporting cash crops and improving the tourism sector. According to Noreb chairman who is also the Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago, they are finalising frameworks that include stepping up of horticultural farming in a bid to increase exports to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and other regional countries. “We are in the process of finishing up very crucial strategies regarding this. Our counties are on the pathway to the East African Community and Noreb stands to benefit big time from exports of produce like coffee, tea and fruits,” said Mandago, during the Trans Nzoia Investment Conference (Tice) in Kitale on Thursday. Mandago said his county government had already started encouraging farmers to engage in horticultural farming. “Uasin Gishu is picking up very fast in production of passion fruits, mangoes and avocados which we are specially looking at not only delivering it to the regional market but also the European market," he said. "Trans Nzoia has good conditions for coffee and tea and therefore, investors are welcomed to set up a factory," he added. Noreb consists of Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Bungoma, Turkana, Nandi, Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Samburu and West Pokot counties. Source: Uasin-Gishu County News

My ministry is focusing on designing, developing and maintaining a transport and infrastructure architecture that will facilitate sector growth. Vision 2030 envisages a country with integrated and firmly interconnected transport infrastructure, consisting of roads, railways, airports, seaports and waterways. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure is focusing on designing, developing and maintaining a transport and infrastructure architecture that will facilitate sector growth and accelerate national economic development. The mission of the ministry is to pursue world-class transportation systems for improved quality of life for the people of Kenya. The Standard Gauge Railway under construction, financed by Government of Kenya and a loan from the Government of the Peoples Republic of China, is one of the development projects that is critical for accelerating the economic prosperity of the country and the region. SGR is one of the biggest projects ever to be implemented by the government since independence. It aims to simplify transport operations across the borders, reducing the cost of transportation hence the cost of doing business; significantly making the country and the region attractive to investment. SGR is expected to link Mombasa Port, with its hinterland, through Nairobi, Kisumu and Malaba to Kampala, Kigali, and Juba. The Democratic Republic of Congo has expressed their interest in being part of SGR development. SGR will also provide improved passenger services both in terms of speed and comfort with the Mombasa to Nairobi journeys taking a mere four hours compared to 10 hours by the existing modes of land transport. Already, construction...

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - The government has made good progress in issuing simplified Certificates of Origin (CoO) to improve trade with other East African Community (EAC) Partner States. 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. He was addressing the East African Legislative Assembly in Arusha where it ishaving its current sitting. A CoO is a document used in international trade in printed form or as an electronic document. It is completed by an exporter and certified by a recognized issuing body, attesting that a ship consignment has been produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. The origin of a product does not refer to the country, where the goods were shipped from, but to the country, where they were made. If it happens that the products were manufactured in two or more countries, the origin is obtained in the country, where the last substantial economically justified working or processing is carried out. A common practice is that if more than 50% of the cost of producing the goods originates from one country, the local content is more than 50%, then that country is regarded as the country of origin. In case of trading blocs, such as the EAC, CoO may be allowed to state the trading bloc rather than a specific country. Determining the origin of a product is extremely important because origin is key information for applying tariffs, embargo and...

The announcement last week that construction of the Tanzania-Uganda crude oil pipleline would begin in August was received warmly by those who have the East African Community’s (EAC) best interests at heart. As a factor of increasing greater regional integration, the pipeline, (like the proposed Standard Gauge railways), will also improve the EAC’s profile as an attractive investment destination. The 1,403-kilometre pipeline will link oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert, Hoima region to Tanga port in Tanzania. According to senior Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation officials, the construction of the crude oil pipeline will be carried out by three oil firms, namely: UK’s Tullow Oil PLC, France’s Total E&P and China’s Cnooc. Once completed, the oil pipeline will be able to ferry up to 200,000 barrels per day. The project works will also lead to installations of 200km of permanent new roads and corresponding bridges, and upgrades to 150km of existing roads. Some 15,000 jobs are expected to be created. These kind of projects inspire optimism among both local and foreign investors. This is because infrastructure projects are the foundations of modern economies. They have a huge multiplier effect. For instance regional governments are currently on an aggressive move to build more power plants. Much of rural EAC lacks grid electiricity. When you put up a power plant, you not only generate employment directly through construction and operations at the power plant, but also create an industrial base around the plant who would want to tap the power. This is a...

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - Last week, leaders of the East African Community (EAC) met in Arusha, Tanzania. There were two main items on the agenda. First, the induction of South Sudan as a full member state; and second, the launch of the shiny new EAC passport. Of the two, the latter is arguably more significant. According to a press statement, he gave a score-card of the deliverables during his tenure at the helm citing five key areas in the EAC broad vision and remarked that under his five year tour of duty, the bloc had witnessed significant achievements. His successor is Burundi national, Dr. Libérat Mfumukeko. On the Customs Union, Amb. Dr Sezibera remarked that sustained campaigns to ensure realization of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) had duly paid off. “Today, should one visit the Port of Dar es Salaam right here, you will witness revenue officials from the rest of the Partner States clearing goods,” he said. “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,” Amb. Dr Sezibera said. On the second item, he said that there was sustained pressure to rid the region of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and such, were paying off while the port clearance times were also reduced from three weeks to under 10 days. On the Common Market, a third item on...

KAMPALA, UGANDA - Africa is the most commodity-dependent continent on earth, but in the East African Community, Kenya is the least dependent. Africa’s economies increasingly need to create a hospitable environment for companies in the manufacturing and services sectors, Michael Armstrong, the Regional Director, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) for Middle East, Africa and South Asia said last week. He said this will drive growth, as the old models of growth driven by exports of raw materials are out-dated. Within the East Africa Region, Kenya’s economy should expand by around 6% during the 2017 to 2020 period thanks to its relatively diversified economy and comparatively low commodity dependence bonding well with the country’s economic growth outlook. “The East African region is embracing the use of renewable energy to leapfrog older power generation technologies, while also reducing the need to extend the national energy grid to remote villages,” Armstrong said. The remarks were made following publication of an ICAEW study on growth in Africa. It reveals that growth is expected to average over 4% for the next five years. ICAEW was set up by Royal Charter in 1880. It has over 144,000 members. Over 15,000 of these members live and work outside the UK alone. The Institute also has some 9,000 students. In its report dubbed ‘Economic Insight: Africa Q1 2016’, ICAEW reveals that Africa is still heavily commodity–dependent. However the accountancy and finance body reports some good news for the African economies. Then warns that manufacturing...

The international community needs to step up its presence in Burundi, which has been embroiled in political violence since last year, says Swiss ambassador Jürg Lauber. “The resolution of the current crisis in Burundi will require maximum coherence between international and regional organizations, in particular between the UN, the African Union (AU) and the East African Community (EAC),” Lauber told the UN Security Council in a briefing on Friday. “An increased international presence in Burundi can considerably help to improve the security and human rights situation and to reduce violence.” Lauber travelled to Burundi last month as Chair of the Burundi Configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) amid ongoing peace efforts by the UN, the AU and EAC. More than 400 people have been killed and 250,000 displaced in Burundi's current unrest, which started in April 2015 when it was announced that President Pierre Nkurunziza would seek a third term, which he won. A new rebel movement has vowed to oust Nkurunziza from power by force. Lauber said he was pleased that the AU and Burundi government had agreed to increase the number of human rights and military observers and welcomed the recent visit to Burundi by three independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council to carry out impartial monitoring, clarify allegations and ease tensions. The Swiss ambassador said the political crisis in Burundi and insecurity persists, but the “patterns of violent acts committed by elements of the security forces and armed opposition” appear to have changed. He...