IN SUMMARY The business lobby had petitioned the EAC heads of state not to assent to the Bill until the clause on dispute resolution was amended. 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...

IN SUMMARY The Mutukula one-stop-border-post links Uganda and Tanzania. The $15 million project funded by TradeMark Africa (TMA) commenced in 2008 as one of the components of the East African Trade and Transport Facilitation project. The Mutukula one-stop-border-post linking Uganda and Tanzania was this month officially handed over to the Uganda government, paving the way for faster cross-border movement of goods and people. The $15 million project funded by TradeMark Africa (TMA) commenced in 2008 as one of the components of the East African Trade and Transport Facilitation project. However, the Mutukula one-stop border controls will only become operational end of next month due to some pending construction works on the Uganda side of the border. “I would like to urge all users and managers of this facility not to lose sight of the main objectives of its establishments; in particular the need to allow for the hosting of border control officers in each other’s territory,” said Doris Akol, Commissioner General of the Uganda Revenue Authority. “For road transporters, instead of the several days’ wait to complete formalities at the Mutukula OSBP, if all paperwork is correct; inspection, it will be jointly done by the border agencies of both Uganda and Tanzania to avoid unloading and reloading cargo,” she added. Experts said the facility, which has Customs and immigration check points, an inspection hall, clearing agents block and staff residential houses, should lead to reduction in border crossing time at Mutukula from an average of eight to less than five...

NAIROBI: Japan has confirmed it has completed the first phase of the Mombasa Port Development Project (MPDP). The Sh22 billion project was started back in March 2012, with the aim of decongesting the Mombasa Port by creating three more berths (berth 20, 21 and another small berth). It was scheduled to be completed by today, February 29. Deputy Project Manager Masati Kaneko said phase one of the expansion project was ready to be handed over to the Government. “We are within the schedule as planned on completion of phase one of the project. There might be some little work to be touched up, but overall, the new terminal is ready for handover,” he said over the weekend when a Japanese delegation toured the new Kipevu terminal. The second and third phases of the MPDP are scheduled for completion in 2017 and 2020, respectively. “This terminal has the capacity to handle 550,000 containers, which is expected to increase the capacity of the Mombasa port by over 50 per cent. On completion of the whole project, the port will become the largest in the region,” said Mr Kaneko. See also: Phase one port expansion 100 per cent complete, says Japan PROJECTED TARGET Currently, Mombasa handles an average of one million containers a year, but it has a projected target of 1.32 million with the new terminal. Access roads, trunk roads and connection roads are fully operational, which is expected to ease cargo traffic and reduce turnaround times. President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected...

NAIROBI: Kenya and Tanzania have opened the ultra-modern Holili/Taveta border post to facilitate regional trade. The Sh1 billion investment was launched on Saturday and is the first one to be operated among the 13 one-stop border posts in East Africa and South Sudan, with funding from Trademark East Africa. Labour Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie and Tanzania's Foreign Affairs Minister Augustine Mahiga said the unveiling of the facility marked a milestone in facilitating regional cross-border trade. Speaking at Holili in Tanzania, the two officials said the facility will reduce the cost of doing business by 40 per cent and accelerate regional integration and economic growth among the East African member states. "The facility will have an immediate impact on the citizens of the two countries and it will create signage of purpose," said Ms Kandie. "We are realising the deepening and widening of the EA integration process." Noting that non-tariff barriers remained a major challenge across the borders, Kandie said the facility will enhance integrated border management to increase the free flow of movement and goods. See also: Train college leavers to create own jobs "The facility will reduce time taken in business transactions," she said. Ms Mahiga said the move will improve the co-operation between Tanzania and Kenya. "The facility will eradicate barriers in trade to facilitate economic growth," said Mahiga. "The investment will impact positively on the socio-economic relations in EA as it will reduce transit costs." Theo Lymo, a director at Trademark East Africa, said border officials had...

By Joe Ombuor The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is right on course. This is attested to by the intensity of the work going on along the 472km corridor between Mombasa and Nairobi. Heavy machinery characterise the scenes along the route where major works, including building bridges, elevating the gradient with earth and concrete to desired levels and drilling rocky surfaces, are ongoing. Concrete patterns that can be easily confused for decorations are done to prevent erosion on the raised embankments. Blasts from explosives are common occurrences to build a uniform platform devoid of curves and slopes that are not ideal for speeds of up 120km per hour for passenger trains and 80km per hour for the freight ones, the experts explained. Civil works, said to be 60 per cent complete, include the replacement of unsuitable black cotton soil in the path of the railway with red soil, which is preferred for its compactness. The soil is fortified with murram, as we found in the stretch between Sultan Hamud and Emali, where earth movers are being used to remove black cotton soil as lorries bring in the red soil and murram. A foreman on the ground, Mr Ibrahim Malike, explained that clay soil stretches while the red one is compact. See also: Uhuru’s meeting with other heads of state paying off Low pay There are approximately 32,000 casual workers who earn between Sh57 and Sh96 per hour for a minimum of eight hours. It is estimated the Nairobi-Mombasa stretch will have...

Proving Africa will reap from trading with itself, vacationers from Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Ethiopia have shored up Kenya's tourism LAST year, to much fanfare, 26 African nations signed off on a free-trade ‘super bloc’ that seeks to improve the absurdly low levels of intra-regional trade on the continent, at the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. In the same city at the Africa 2016 Forum last weekend, African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina painted a picture of just how insufficient trade with other African countries is. African trade represents just 2% of the global total, and intra-African trade makes up 12% of the continent’s activity, compared to 60% in Europe and 35% in Asia. “This is not acceptable,” Adesina said.  He added that AfDB will continue to invest heavily in regional infrastructure, especially rail, transnational highways, power interconnections, ICT, air and maritime transport, reducing the bottlenecks that cost the region billions in inefficiencies and lost opportunities. While tariffs on the continent are high—according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) an African company making sales on the continent would pay more than three times the 2.5% average tariff rate elsewhere - non-tariff barriers tend to wreak more damage than levies. Despite an abundance of trade blocs on the continent—17 at the moment—their poor internal workings has led potential benefits such as comparative advantage trading to be erased by red-tape heavy protectionist approaches. African countries have also kept the same export-geared infrastructure, leaving the continent vulnerable to global market shifts. Trade in...

Africa’s internal trade deals look good on paper. A pity that they are rarely followed TWO of the largest regional trade accords in history were agreed on last year. The Trans-Pacific Partnership involves 12 countries in Asia and the Americas, and was the subject of headlines and heated debate. But most people have never heard of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), which covers 26 African countries. It will create the biggest free-trade area on the continent, “from Cairo to the Cape”, as its supporters boast. Many in the developing world see global trade as rigged in favour of rich countries. But African regional integration is all the rage. The continent features 17 trade blocs. The TFTA aims to join up three of them: the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). At a conference on African business on February 20th-21st in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, several leaders called for a united African market. An abundance of borders has long divided the continent’s 54 countries, limiting economies of scale. Fixing common problems such as a shortage of roads takes teamwork—and in turn should lead to more integration. Average transport costs in Africa are twice the world average and are thought to harm trade on the continent more than tariffs and other barriers. A shame, then, that regional economic deals are often poorly implemented. An African firm selling goods on the continent still faces an average...

President Uhuru Kenyatta has made five proposals aimed at improving trade between Kenya and Israel. Addressing an Israel-Kenya business forum in Tel Aviv on Thursday, President Kenyatta said the proposals will go a long way in developing an economic cooperation that will boost trade between the two countries. The President said the two countries have not exploited their enormous trade potential because of the absence of a framework to facilitate mutual engagement. In his proposals, the Head of State stated that there is need for the two countries to establish a framework of cooperation between their private sectors and a joint trade committee to look into ways of expediting the growth of trade and investment. He also pointed out that a pending bilateral trade agreement between Kenya and Israel should be reviewed and effected, and a Kenyan trade mission to Israel organised to follow up on the 2014 Israeli trade mission to Kenya. President Kenyatta also called for a market survey to identify potential export products for both countries urging respective private sectors in Kenya and Israel to formalise their engagement through Memorandum of Understanding that will enable the monitoring and evaluation of their activities. The forum was also attended by representatives of major Israeli companies, Kenyan business leaders and government officials. President Kenyatta said Kenya is one of the easiest countries to do business as a result of deliberate reforms by the government to make the country investor-friendly. “Your nation will also profit from investing in Kenya, a country which...

“The Government of Japan firmly believes that in order to foster socio-economic development, the involvement of the private sector is key," Counselor Hiroyuki Kubota said. Japan has said it will support the East African Community (EAC) integration agenda as well as areas of cooperation between herself and the East African bloc. This was said at a consultative meeting between of the Government of Japan and the EAC Secretariat held at the EAC Headquarters, in Arusha. The Deputy Ambassador of Japan to the United Republic of Tanzania, Counselor Hiroyuki Kubota underscored Japan’s commitment to support and engage the EAC in various development projects and programs between the two regions. He added that engaging private sector will support development in the regions. “The Government of Japan firmly believes that in order to foster socio-economic development, the involvement of the private sector is key, and with this, the Government of Japan is committed to facilitating the involvement of the private sector in both regions to play its critical role in the EAC integration agenda,” he remarked. Appreciating Japan’s role in supporting the EAC both at the regional as well as bilateral levels, the EAC Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera said: “the collaboration with Japan ranks highly in terms of its contributions toward deeper EAC integration.” Among some of the projects that Japan has supported the EAC to achieve include the development of the One Stop Border Posts (both hard and soft infrastructure); development of the Vehicle Load Control and the One Stop Border...

The old East African passports will be replaced with new ones which will be recognized internationally. The phasing out will be done by Uganda’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. The current East African Passport cannot be used as a travel document outside East Africa because it does not meet the required international standards, says Jacob Siminyu, the spokesperson of the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration. The new East African passport would be embedded with a microchip containing all the bio-data of the owner to enable the user to travel outside East Africa. The new passport will be launched on next Monday in Tanzania and all member countries of the East African Community will have to start phasing out the old East African passports. Source: Travel and Tour World