TANZANIA and Kenya opened one-stop border posts at Holili and Taveta border to facilitate trade across the border of the two countries marking another key milestone in the integration process in the East African region. 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, opened two state-of-the-art border posts at Holili and Taveta set up by TradeMark Africa to ease customs procedures between Tanzania and Kenya and boost trade in the Eastern African region. The East African Community Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, also graced the occasion which was also attended by top government officers from Tanzania and Kenya including the Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Amos Makala and Taveta County Commissioner, Oningoi Ole Sosio. Speaking at the event, Ambassador Mahiga said the opening of the Holili and Taveta border post reflected the determination of Tanzania and Kenya to boost regional integration through trade facilitation. “It’s a demonstration of trust between the two countries and that the One People, One Destiny dream is slowly being realized through various East Africa Community initiatives,” he said. Dr Mahiga said the OSBP is set to increase efficiency by reducing time and transport costs incurred by businesses, farmers and transporters in crossing the border. The Minister further said that the Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi road which was currently under construction would boost cross border trade and foster good neighbourliness between Kenya and Tanzania. He added that the two countries had...

Mogadishu (HAN) February 27, 2016 – Public Diplomacy and Regional Stability Initiatives News. Tanzania has disregarded calls by the East African Business Council and assented to the EAC Non-Tariff Barriers Bill. The business lobby had petitioned the EAC heads of state not to assent to the Bill until the clause on dispute resolution was amended. The business community in the region is concerned that the Bill gives powers to the governments to identify NTBs and at the same time resolve them. “This clause has to be changed; the private sector should be given the mandate of identifying NTBs and pushing governments to resolve them,” said an EABC official. “NTBs are usually imposed by government bodies and thus it makes no sense for the same governments to resolve them,” the official told The EastAfrican. The East African Community Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Act 2015, passed recently by the East African Legislative Assembly is to be enacted into law in March after being assented to by the presidents ahead of the EAC heads of state summit scheduled for March 2. Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has already assented to the law and it has been taken to Kenya for assent before being passed on to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Once enacted, the NTB law is expected to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade among the EAC partner states by compelling them to eliminate the numerous NTBs that hinder smooth movement of goods and services within the economic bloc. NTBs are partly to blame for...

By Aggrey Mutambo The East African Community could soon admit South Sudan into its fold despite reports of war crimes and violence in the world's youngest country. The five heads of state and government of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda will on Wednesday next week deliberate on formally admitting South Sudan into the regional bloc. A statement from EAC headquarters in Arusha said the leaders would decide "on the negotiations on the admission of South Sudan into the community" among other issues. Juba's step towards joining the EAC now depends on whether the leaders would endorse a report by the council of ministers, which has recommended the country's admission though citing certain areas that member states may have to assist. If it happens, it would be a sweet end to a five-year wait for Juba and a potentially expanded market for traders in the region. CONTRADICTION But it could also contradict one of the tenets under which EAC was established. According to the treaty establishing the EAC, new members are admitted if they respect the principles of democracy, rule of law, accountability, transparency and social justice. The treaty also says the countries must, besides being geographically near any of the existing members, practise "equal opportunities, gender equality as well as the recognise, promote and protect rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights." South Sudan applied to join the EAC soon after it gained independence in July 2011. That year, the community...

The new Tanzanian government has suspended the ambitious $10 billion port at Mbegani in Bagamoyo and, instead, announced plans to focus more intensely on the approved but delayed expansion of the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mtwara. Source: Fair Play

By Jonathan Adengo Kampala — Rift Valley Railways (RVR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian Export Council to attract exports through Mombasa port, Kenya and Uganda. The MoU recently signed in Cairo, Egypt by Qalaa Holdings, the parent company of RVR, will make RVR the official inland transportation carrier for Egyptian exporters of chemicals and fertilisers and also promote its services at local and international trade exhibitions. Commenting on the agreement, RVR chairman Titus Naikuni said becoming the Egyptian export council official inland transportation carrier is a significant step that will help lead the way to broadening and deepening trade and investment between Egypt and East Africa. "We are also pleased to be entering into a cooperation with a company like Expo One to develop larger volumes of trade and highlight the benefits of rail transport," he said. In a statement, Qalaa Holdingsmanaging director transportation and logistics Karim Sadek said: "RVR's move into a contract-based revenue model, with incentives to clients based on higher volumes, will set a precedent that can be applied to other countries that trade with Kenya and Uganda." At the moment, RVR is a cost-effective friendly mode of transporting goods in East Africa. The railway offers a door-to-door transportation and customs-clearance service through its subsidiary East Africa Rail and Handling that can help exporters tap into new markets and grow the volume of intra-regional trade. RVR and qaala RVR is Qalaa Holdings' primary investment in the African transportation sector, with a 25-year...

Kampala was ranked 169th, ahead of Nairobi (184th), Kigali (191st) and Dar es Salaam (198th), making it East Africa's most comfortable city. Uganda's capital Kampala is the best East African city to live in, according to the latest quality of living survey of the world's top 230 cities by Mercer, a global development consulting agency based in New York, US. Kampala was ranked 169th, ahead of Nairobi (184th), Kigali (191st) and Dar es Salaam (198th), making it East Africa's most comfortable city. Burundi's Bujumbura did not get any close. South Africa's Cape Town (92nd) and Johannesburg (95th) were the only African countries that made it to the top 100, which were mainly dominated by cities in Europe, North America and East Asia. Vienna in Austria was named as the world's best city to live, and Baghdad (Iraq) the worst. This year's study was the 18th annual quality of living ranking done by the New York based consultation firm, which is also the world's largest. The data published on the firm's website www.mercer.com was analysed between September and November last year. The study is used by big companies to assess where they should locate and how much they should pay staff. It also helps cities improve their standards of living, since the best and worst are named and shamed. Benchmarks for ranking Kampala may remain at the bottom of the table for someone who has been to Nairobi and Kigali, since the latter are better planned cities than it is. However,...

TEL AVIV, Kenya, Feb 26 – Kenya and Israel have to develop a better framework for economic cooperation to boost trade between the two countries, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said. He said the two countries have not exploited their enormous trade potential because of the absence of a framework to facilitate mutual engagement. President Kenyatta spoke Thursday when he addressed an Israeli-Kenya business forum in the commercial city of Tel Aviv that was attended by representatives of major Israeli companies, Kenyan business leaders and government officials. He made five proposals for improving trade and investment to strengthen existing relations and to open up new areas of cooperation. The first is that a framework of cooperation between Kenya and Israeli private sectors be established, and a Joint Trade Committee be convened, to look into ways of expediting the growth of our trade and investment. The second is that a pending bilateral trade agreement between our nations be reviewed and effected. The third is that a Kenyan trade mission to Israel be organised as a follow-up to the 2014 Israeli trade mission to Kenya, so that Kenyan businesses can talk directly to their Israeli counterparts. The fourth is that a market survey be carried out to identify potential export products for both countries. The fifth is that respective private sectors in Kenya and Israel formalise their engagements through a Memorandum of Understanding that will enable the monitoring and evaluation of their activities. President Kenyatta said Kenya is one of the easiest countries...

Windhoek –Kenya has been experiencing imbalance trade with Namibia for over 10 years resulting in the eastern African country recording a trade deficit of 50 million Kenyan Shillings (KSH) (U$49 000) to date, The Southern Times can reveal. Latest statistics dated December 2, 2015 from the Centre for Business Information in Kenya shows that Kenya has been importing more goods, 50 percent more of what it exports to the southern African nation. The statistics shows that the only time Kenya did not record a trade deficit when it comes to trading with Namibia was only in 2007, 2008 and 2014 since the year 2004. The largest deficit was recorded in 2009 when it imported goods worth KSH328 million (U$320 000) while exporting goods worth only KSH76 million (U$751 159). The imbalance trade has been severely unfair to Kenya since 2008 that lasted until 2014 when Kenya recorded a balance trade of KSH 61 million (U$597 059). According to the statistics Kenya’s largest exports to Namibia in 2014 that generated more revenue was medicaments (including veterinary medicaments) which raked in over KSH61 million (U$60 000). Other exports include petroleum products and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (other than crude); preparations, (not elsewhere specified) containing by weight 70 percent or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous which was worth over KSH37 million (U$36 552). Other exports include rice, electric power machinery, motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than public-transport type...

A RECENT report, the first of its kind, by the African Development Bank titled Africa Visa Openness Report 2016, confirmed that Africa largely remains closed, with Africans still needing visas to travel to over half of the continent. According to the report, Africans need visas to travel to 55% of other African countries, while Africans can get visas on arrival in 25% of other African countries and do not need a visa to travel to 20% of other African countries. These headlines go against the continent’s goal of truly becoming “one Africa”. Tourism minister Walter Mzembi has long argued for the removal of entry visa requirements in Zimbabwe. Having an open visa policy does not require large resources or complex systems. Countries such as Seychelles, Mauritius and Rwanda have seen a big impact on tourism, investment and financial services as a result of opening up their economies. If Zimbabwe is to achieve its goal of generating US$5 billion from tourism, then it almost certainly needs to review its visa regime. According to the report, African countries are on average more closed off to each other than open, making travel within the continent difficult. Global comparisons show that North Americans have easier travel access to the continent than Africans themselves. North Americans require a visa to travel to 45% of African countries, can get visas on arrival in 35% of African countries and do not need a visa in 20% of African countries. Some key findings of the report: Only 13...

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 25 February 2016 / PRN Africa / — The East African Community (EAC) is officially launching the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Holili and Taveta border between Kenya and Tanzania tomorrow 27th February 2016, in order to enhance trade facilitation and quicken clearance of people in a conducive and secure environment. The launch will be conducted by Phyllis J. Kandie, EGH, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and East African Affairs, the Republic of Kenya and Hon. Amb. Dr. Augustine P.Mahiga (MP), Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African Regional and International Cooperation; the United Republic of Tanzania, in the presence of other Ministers/Cabinet Secretaries from the other Partner States. The occasion will also be graced by Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, the EAC Secretary General and the representatives of the financiers Trademark East Africa (TMA) and the Business Community, led by the East African Business Council. The OSBP is a concept that reduces the number of stops incurred in a cross border trade transaction by combining the activities of both countries' border organizations at a single location with simplified exit and entry procedures and joint processing, where possible. Motor vehicles and pedestrians only stop in the country of entry and perform exit and entry border formalities. One-stop is achieved by placing the border officials of two adjoining countries at each other's adjoining border post so that each border post controls only the traffic entering the country. The exit formalities of the exit country and the entry formalities of the...