By Jackson Kiraka As the East African Community summit convenes this month, it will be welcoming a new club member -- President John Magufuli, who swept into power, overcoming perhaps the most competitive of Tanzania's elections since the advent of multi-partyism. By winning comfortably, Mr Magufuli, then considered an outsider by CCM standards, proved wrong the prediction by pundits that the ruling party CCM would suffer what its sister party -- Kanu of Kenya -- had suffered back in 2002. Dr Magufuli seems to be winning his countrymen over. This is attributed to his sweeping, no-nonsense handling of issues of national importance. Hospital stores have been replenished and new equipment bought, under-performing administrators sacked, easy government lunches scrapped, and unnecessary travel banned. However, Dr Magufuli has yet to step out of his country as president. BIG BROTHER Dr Magufuli's broom, like that of his Nigerian counterpart, General Muhammadu Buhari, seems to be sweeping swift, furious, and wide. His message seems clear, though: That the government must deliver for Tanzanians. And that is a breath of fresh air, even by regional standards. Tanzania is not just any other country. It is not Burundi. It is as strategic as it is pivotal in the regional integration matrix. In terms of size, Tanzania is Kenya and Uganda combined, its resource base perhaps only comparable to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's. Tanzania can easily become the EAC's big brother -- if it chooses to be. In 1967, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta,...

By Michel Nkurunziza Local transport operators are seeking harmonisation of some new initiatives being launched in the sector at the regional level, arguing that this will help ease service delivery. The transport industry stakeholders, especially those offering trans-border services, say the move could help make them more competitive in the region. While meeting officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure recently, the transporters noted that different laws applied by the East African Community (EAC) member countries affect their businesses. Eulade Bagumya from Matunda Express said the firm wants to start operating on the Kigali-Kahama route in Tanzania, but raised concerns over standards of speed governors. Bagumya said some of the member states do not enforce the law on speed governors, noting that this offers a big challenge to Rwandan transporters. "For us we have speed governors, but when we start operations in Tanzania it will affect our competitiveness and profitability," he said. He added that local firms make few rounds to and from Kahama (Tanzania) because of 'limited' speed. "So, we need to advocate for harmonization of laws to ensure a level playing ground across the region,"he said. Minister for infrastructure James Musoni explained that there are ongoing discussions between Northern Corridor member states to harmonise transport sector laws and policies, including those on speed governors and fees cross-border transporters pay. According to Deo Muvunyi, the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority director for road transport, speed governors are essential to ensure road safety and promote discipline on the roads. Sector review Meanwhile,...

The cost of doing business in the East African region has come down significantly after Tanzania and Kenya started joint border clearance procedures through one-stop border posts at Holili and Taveta border of the two countries. According to TradeMark Africa Director of One Stop Border Posts, Theo Lyimo, the two border posts set up by TradeMark Africa at a cost of approximately 12m US dollars, have cut down to about 30 per cent of time spent in border clearance since they started operations mid last year. “We have so far achieved 30 per cent reduction of time spent in crossing the border by avoiding duplication of activities,” he told reporters last Saturday after a grand ceremony to officially open the two border posts officiated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African Regional and International Cooperation, Ambassador Augustine Mahiga and Kenya’s, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and East African Affairs, Phyllis J. Kandie. TMA has funded a $5.7 million state-of-the-art post on the Tanzania’s side of the border with Kenya at Holili in Rombo District in Kilimanjaro Region and another US$ 6.7 million infrastructure at the Taveta border post on the Kenyan side to simplify customs procedures between Tanzania and Kenya and boost trade in the Eastern African region. The ultra-modern buildings at the Holili and Taveta are furnished with modern furniture and equipment, internet facilities, as well as inspection sheds, warehouses, animal holding facilities, incinerators for burning biological waste and laboratory for testing goods at the border. TMA has...

By Zephania Ubwani Arusha — Volumes of traffic and revenue collection at the Holili border post will pick up tremendously after rehabilitating the Arusha-Voi road. A report presented to Finance and Planning minister Philip Mpango ahead of yesterday's official inauguration of the first integrated border post in East Africa showed that the flow of goods would be eased. The Tanzanian officials at the shared facility said the anticipated increase of the volume of goods and people through the introduction of One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) would partly depend on the condition of the roads connecting them with the adjacent countries. They said although revenue collection had increased reasonably well since the integrated border post at Holili on the Tanzania-Kenya border was operationalised, the traffic volumes per day had not changed much compared with the same before the introduction of the facility. "It is our hope that the number will rise when the construction of the Taveta-Voi road is completed," the report said. The Arusha-Moshi-Holili road extends from the Taveta border post in Kenya to Voi (a total of 157km) and its upgrading through a loan from the African Development Bank) is aimed at improving movement of people and goods within the region. It will also link the Mombasa Port with northern Tanzania and the land-locked EAC member countries. The stretch on the Kenyan side is part of the the Arusha-Moshi-Holili-Taveta-Voi road which will be massively upgraded under the East African Road Project and now nearing completion. A similar work has started...

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 27th February, 2016: The East African Community officially launched the first One Stop Border Post (OSBP) in Holili/Taveta towns on the Kenya/Tanzania border. The facility was built at a cost of approximately US$12 million donated through TradeMark Africa (TMA) by United Kingdom’s DFID, Canada and USAID. [caption id="attachment_12157" align="alignleft" width="640"] From left: TMA OSBP Director, Theo Lyimo;EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera; Amb. Dr. Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation; Kenya’s Labour and East African Affairs Minister, Ms. Phyllis Kandie[/caption] Amb. Dr. Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, and Kenya’s Labour and East African Affairs Minister, Ms. Phyllis Kandie jointly launched the One Stop Border Post (OSBP). Dr. Mahiga said the OSBP will ease the movement of people and goods from and to the two Partner States. “It’s a demonstration of the trust between the two countries and that the One People One Destiny dream is slowly being realized through various East Africa Community initiatives,” said Dr. Mahiga. The Minister reaffirmed Tanzania’s commitment to the integration process by assenting to the OSBP Bill and concluding agreements for management of OSBPs with all Partner States. Dr. Mahiga said the OSBP will increase efficiency by reducing time and transport costs incurred by businesses, farmers and transporters while crossing from one Partner State to the other. The Minister further said that the Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi road which was currently under construction would boost...

The government has conceded that the existence of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) is costing the country dearly on the economic front. According to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional East African and International Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga (pictured), NTBs have also not helped Tanzania’s image if frequent complaints from neighbouring countries on the cost of doing business in the country are anything to go by. Speaking at the launch of the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Holili and Taveta on the Tanzania-Kenya border, Dr Mahiga said the multiplicity of checkpoints and other obstacles were serious issues that ought to have been resolved long ago. “I must admit that Tanzania had become an obstacle in getting certain goods and services to other neighbouring countries. For instance, the port of Dar es Salaam was one of the biggest NTBs,” Mahiga said. Flanked by East African Community secretary general Richard Sezibera, the minister described the Dar es Salaam port - which serves as an entry and exit point for imports and exports from countries like Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Zimbabwe - as being overstretched. This, he said, had compelled the current (Tanzanian) government to address issues of corruption and inefficiency that had become the order of the day at the port. “Our aim is to reform and revamp the Dar es Salaam port so that it regains its lost glory,” said Mahiga. He assured Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for EAC Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Phyllis Kandie, that the government of Dr John Magufuli...

Kenya and Tanzania officially opened the Holili-Taveta One Stop Border Post (OSBP) on Saturday in efforts to enhance trade facilitation; by speeding up movement of people and goods across the border. A survey by the East African Community (EAC) and Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) reveals that time of clearing goods has drastically gone down by 30 per cent, from two to three weeks to about three days—while clearance of pedestrians has been cut from two hours to about five minutes. The OSBP, a concept that reduces the number of stops incurred in a cross-border trade transaction combines activities of both countries’ border organisations at a single location, with simplified exit and entry procedures and joint processing, where possible, with each border post controlling only the traffic entering the country. Strenuous customs clearance procedures in which goods are separately inspected by officers on either side of the border—leading to massive delays—is now expected to end. East African Affairs and Labour Cabinet secretary Phyllis Kandie and Tanzanian minister for Foreign Affairs, East Africa Regional and International CooperationAugustine Mahiga presided over the joint opening of the OSBP at Holili on the Tanzanian side of the OSBP. The facility was funded by TMA at a cost of $12 million (Sh1.2 billion). Kandie said non-tariff barriers (NTBs) remain a big challenge, inhibiting trade and regional integration and leading to prolonged clearance procedures. She lauded the opening of the OSBP as one way of reducing the NTBs. “The official launch of the OSBP demonstrates the...

TORORO, Uganda (Xinhua) -- Construction continues apace on the U.S. $46 million dollar dual carriage bridge linking Uganda to Kenya at the Malaba border post and eventually ease the follow of exports and imports between the Kenyan seaport of Mombasa and hinterland eastern Africa. The new road will stretch one kilometer from Kenya customs offices to Uganda. Malaba bridge will ease freighter traffic through to Mombasa Port | Coastweek MALABA Uganda (Xinhua) -- A cargo truck from Kenya destined for Uganda rolls over the single carriage bridge at Malaba border point in eastern Uganda. The European union is funding the construction of a new dual carriage bridge that will link Kenya to Uganda at a tune of 46 million US dollars.The bridge is expected to ease flow of cargo trucks in and out of Uganda. XINHUA PHOTO - DANIEL EDYEGU The dual carriage bridge will replace the current single carriage bridge linking the two East African countries. The existing bridge was built by the British in 1961. Source: Coast Week

THE tourist town of Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt is battling to keep the doors of its hotels and restaurants open. The millions of tourists who normally patronise this picturesque town, which sits between the Red Sea and the Sinai Desert, have dwindled to a trickle after the crash of a Russian airliner with 224 people on board shortly after take-off from this popular holiday resort in October. Not only are jobs and businesses at stake, the plunge in tourist dollars has exacerbated a serious foreign currency crisis. Tourism contributes about 13% to Egypt’s gross domestic product, and at its peak in 2010, the industry hosted nearly 15-million visitors. The ailing town was given a boost earlier this month by the arrival of up to a thousand visitors for the Africa 2016 conference, an Egyptian government event designed to revitalise ties with the rest of Africa. Its secondary role was presumably to show the world, or Africans at least, that it is safe to travel there, with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi hosting four African presidents (from Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sudan) and Ethiopia’s prime minister. The event was incident free but security was tight. Sisi, battling with the economic legacy of political upheaval, wants to increase trade and investment with African countries. This month’s event follows the launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Area, linking three major regional economic trade blocs, at the same venue last year, signalling a real determination to exploit the African market. While Sisi...

The new digitalised and machine- readable East African Passport replaces the old EAC travel document, which was restricted to just the five member states. Apparently, the proposed new one is going to be as international as the current Tanzanian booklet passport, which means it will be accepted all over the globe. Arusha will be hosting five Presidents from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania who are set to converge here for their Heads of State Summit on Wednesday the 2nd of March 2016. According to the Head of Communications at the East African Community Secretariat, Mr Richard Owora Othieno, the five East African presidents are converging here for their 17th Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit. The five presidents, including for the first time at the summit, Dr John Magufuli, will have several items on the agenda, including the launching of the new electronic East African Passport and discussion of the possibilities of adding new members, including South-Sudan into the Arusha-based, community. The Summit will also address the consideration of reports by the preceding EAC Council of Ministers on: the negotiations on the admission of the Republic of South Sudan into the Community. The Head of State will also be addressing Sustainable Financing Mechanisms for the EAC; and the EAC Institutional Review. Tanzania will be handing over the Summit Chair to the next country, possibly Burundi despite conflicts in the country. The meeting will also consider the council’s reports on the Model, Structure and Action Plan of...