EAC Secretariat Secretary-General Peter Mathuki has hailed the governments of the Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Uganda for their efforts ahead of the reopening of the Gatuna-Katuna border post He said the reopening would strengthen bilateral ties between the two EAC Partner States, which will revitalise social, economic and political relations Mathuki added that the border would also promote peace and security across the region The EAC Secretariat has lauded Rwanda and Uganda for their efforts to reopen the Gatuna-Katuna border post on 31st January 2022. In a statement seen by The Exchange Africa, EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki hailed the move terming it as a boost to regional integration. The move, he added, would strengthen bilateral ties between the two EAC Partner States, which will revitalise social, economic and political relations. “Reopening this strategic trade route is in line with the EAC Common Market Protocol and will speed up economic and social development of the Partner States by reviving the free movement of goods, persons, capital and labour,” said Mathuki. The Secretary-General also observed that the reopening of the border would also promote peace and security across the region. “The move reflects the deep commitment and existing goodwill among the EAC Heads of State to widen and deepen cooperation in the bloc, particularly as the Community expands with the expected entry of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said. According to Mathuki, the community has been committed to supporting initiatives that promote regional integration within East Africa....

Plans to decongest Kenya-Uganda border gears up – Commissioner THE East African Business Council (EABC) has been assured that the backlog of trucks at Malaba One-Stop-Border Post (OSBP) will be cleared and normalcy has been return by yesterday (Wednesday). Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner of Customs, Abel Kagumire made the assurance when speaking at the EABC-TMA public-private dialogue at Malaba OSBP. He stated that the backlog of 4000 trucks has been reduced to 2500 trucks and the traffic queue has been reduced from 40KM to 25KMs following the implementation of the resolutions for the bilateral meeting between the Ministers of Works and Transport of the Republics of Uganda and Kenya held on Saturday. EABC CEO John Bosco Kalisa said: “In future solution to NTBs should be derived without waiting for Ministerial and Head of State decisions.” He called for the formation of Responsive Border Committee to quickly resolve future trade bottlenecks and NTBs to reduce the cost of doing border-crossing trade. The EABC boss also called for a borderless East Africa for free flow of cargo. He further urged for closer collaboration among transporters, importers, exporters, cross-border traders, customs, immigration and other trade facilitation agencies on both sides of Uganda and Kenya. Matia Etedu from the Ministry of EAC Affairs Uganda appreciated and called more public private dialogue to facilitate cross border trade in region and beyond as the EAC bloc will soon commence trading under African Continental Free Trade Area. Charles Omusana, Principal Economist (Investment & Private Sector Promotion), EAC...

President Lazarus Chakwera says his Administration is facilitating the establishment of several industrial parks across the country — in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu — to achieve massive industrialization, with feasibility studies already done for two of them. He said this today at Parliament during his State of the Nation (SONA) address, saying this was towards the achievement of his Administration’s priorities of wealth creation, job creation and food security. He announced that the total estimated investment is US$956 million, which will result in the creation of at least 240,000 direct jobs and apart from growing the country’s export base, these industrial parks will provide a steady market for smallholder farmers. “Our target is to have all processes done in time for construction to begin in December 2022. Following the review of tax measures for manufacturing in the 2021/22 National Budget, manufacturers in the beverage sector increased their productive capacity through refurbishment of factories which were on the verge of collapse. Industrial park in Uganda “New companies were also set up for the production of milk and yoghurt, water, leather products, and juice. As our efforts to industrialize continue, our desire is to support small scale processing and value addition activities by rural communities. “In the 2021/22 Financial Year, Government supported a number of projects in Mzuzu, Dowa, Mzimba and Lilongwe by connecting them to the electricity grid, paying for construction and installation works, and providing machinery. “These rural factories have increased the wealth of 1,200 families and 1,000 entrepreneurs by...

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)-Uganda Business Forum is set to happen later this month, according to organisers. The forum will run for three days (March 22-25) in Kinshasa, under the theme; “Deepening Bilateral Trade, Partnerships, Knowledge Transfer for Mutual Peace and Prosperity.” The forum is being organised and coordinated by the DRC-Uganda Business Association (DUBA) on behalf of Uganda and DRC's public and private sector entities. This high-level engagement, according to a press statement released by DUBA, will be graced by both Uganda and the DRC ambassadors, the ministers of agriculture, energy, ICT, trade, works and transportation from both countries as well as public and private sector players and entities. "While aspects of trade and markets to the DRC is what many aspire, optimisms on bilateral capacitation and knowledge transfer is another aspect that Uganda is going to harness in the existing relations, beyond security and infrastructure development," the statement reads in part. The joint forum was launched in November 2019 and was harnessed on the theme of promoting bilateral trade, investment and connectivity for mutual peace and prosperity. The forum is a platform to enhance opportunities and partnerships for inclusive and sustainable development between the DRC. "It is on that, that we look to further the existing structures of formal bilateral trade, markets, partnerships, knowledge transfer for mutual peace and prosperity between the Government and peoples of DRC and Uganda as we stimulate bilateral, regional Intra Africa trade and social-economic development," the statement reads adding that, “the two...

The first series of the East African Community Capacity Building Sessions for Plant Health Inspectors on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to operationalize Pest Risk Analysis in the region concluded at Mutukula One Stop Border Post (OSBP) located on the Uganda/Tanzania border. The five capacity building workshops conducted at the OSBPs of Namanga (Kenya/Tanzania), Malaba (Kenya/Uganda), Kabanga-Kobero (Tanzania/Burundi), Rusumo (Tanzania/Rwanda), and Mutukula (Tanzania/Uganda) were aimed at creating awareness amongst plant health inspectors on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for inspecting maize, beans, and rice for pests of phytosanitary importance in the EAC. The workshops were also meant to facilitate the implementation of the SOPs at all the EAC border posts and identify any challenges that might be associated with the implementation of the SOPs. Speaking during the closing session of the of the workshop at Mutukula, the EAC Director of Productive Sectors, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana, on behalf of the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, thanked USAID Kenya/East Africa (USAID/KEA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA-FAS) for their generous financial and technical support towards supporting food safety in the region. Mr. Havugimana reaffirmed EAC’s commitment to work closely with the Partner States and key Development Partners to mobilize additional resources to scale up the training to other OSBPs and address the identified gaps and actions towards the elimination of trade related Phytosanitary barriers for the three commodities (maize, rice and beans) in the EAC. Mr. Havugimana assured Partner States that the Secretariat would mobilize...

Summary First, Africa expects its leaders to take urgent action to speed-up access to Covid-19 vaccines, while also ensuring that health remains a permanent priority after the pandemic. Recent outbreaks of new Covid-19 variants reinforce just how interconnected the world is and why it is crucial to ensure everybody is vaccinated: a fresh breakout anywhere is a threat everywhere and no-one is safe until everyone is safe. The second priority for the AU Summit is to chart a roadmap for a resilient economic recovery post-Covid-19. The IMF estimates that Africa needs additional financing of $285 billion through 2025 just to respond to the pandemic, and at least $500 billion to get back on track to pre-Covid-19 levels of economic performance. As the African Union marks its 20th anniversary this year, there are three priorities that must top the agenda of leaders meeting at the Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa in early February. First, Africa expects its leaders to take urgent action to speed-up access to Covid-19 vaccines, while also ensuring that health remains a permanent priority after the pandemic. The latest data shows that less than 11 percent of Africa’s 1.2 billion people have been fully vaccinated. In contrast, nearly 72 percent of high-income countries have been fully vaccinated and wealthier nations are now doling out booster shots and stockpiling vaccines for future use while Africa struggles to provide first and second doses to a fraction of the population. Recent outbreaks of new Covid-19 variants reinforce just how...

As Uganda prepares to fully take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA), the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has declared another 195 standards compulsory. The declaration was made by trade minister, Francis Mwebesa in accordance with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Act and the recommendation of the National Standards Council (NSC). “78 of these standards are in the Chemicals and Consumer products sector, 41 are in the engineering sector, 42 are in the Food and Agricultural Sector and 34 are in the Management and Services sector,” Mwebesa said while making the declaration over the weekend. He said among the new compulsory standards are the foam mattress standards, essential oils standards, Apiculture and Apiculture products standards, Mascara (cosmetics) standards, and requirements for transportation of dangerous products and many others. AfCFTA is part of the African Union Agenda 2063 flagship initiative established to create an integrated continental market for goods and services and to support the movement of capital and natural persons. Full implementation of the agreement is expected to reshape markets and economies across the region and boost output in the services, manufacturing and natural resources sectors. Mwebesa said 20 national standards covering the disposable sanitary towels standards, knitted Polyester fabrics have also been amended to meet the current trade demands. A standard is a document that contains rules, guidelines or characteristics of a given product. Standards are important because they guide the user on the required and appropriate designs of products, services and systems,...

The East African Business Council urges the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development of South Sudan to uplift the notice No. MFA/COM/32 requiring all vehicles entering the country to pay USD100 annual fee and further USD.30 for every entry and exit per vehicle effective from 1st March, 2022 This notice termed “new vehicle entry digital border security control tag”, will increase the cost of doing cross border business especially transportation and logistics costs as well hinder the efforts being made by the region to recover from devastating effects of COVID-19. In 2021, South Sudan goods export to other EAC partner states reached USD. 6.8 million while imports hit USD. 225.9. These charges contravenes the spirit of EAC customs union and impede the ease of doing business in South Sudan and make products manufactured in the EAC bloc for export to South Sudan uncompetitive and more expensive. Eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers and other charges of equivalent effects underpins the faster growth and resilience of intra-EAC trade amid the pandemic. Read original article

Finland Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Pirkka Tapiola says his country is committed to doubling trade with Africa over the next decade. The ambassador spoke while touring the Port of Mombasa on Friday. The envoy commended the Government of Kenya and Development Partners for supporting Port Reforms and Modernisation Programme over the last decade that has dramatically improved evacuation of cargo at the facility. It for instance used to take 11 days to process imports through Mombasa in 2010, the time had fallen to only 5.5 days by 2017. The time to transport a container from Mombasa to Bujumbura also fell by 16.5% over the period. The Government of Finland, through TradeMark Africa has over the last decade invested more than US$13.1 million to support various projects in and around the Port of Mombasa. Finland also contributed US$445,000 to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) through the Safe Trade Emergency facility by TradeMark Africa, a project that sought to keep ports, borders, and critical supply chains in the region safe for trade at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ambassador was received by General Manager Human Resources and Administration Mr. Daniel Ogutu and TradeMark Africa Deputy CEO, Allen Asiimwe.  The KPA General Manager noted that the support provided at the outset of COVID-19 was critical in keeping the port running. He further noted that port output slowed down due to COVID-19-related interruptions, calling on all stakeholders to work together to address such challenges. TradeMark Africa Deputy CEO and Chief of Programmes...

ARUSHA Regional Commissioner, John Mongella has reaffirmed his commitment to partner with the private sector to drive economic growth. Hosting the East African Business Council (EABC) Chief Executive Officer John Kalisa midweek, Mr Mongella said his office was ever ready to join efforts with the private sector in pushing for the regional growth. “We are ever mindful of the importance of the private sector in the economic growth, with Arusha being a tourism hub, we are therefore ready to partner with EABC in driving such an important agenda,” the regional commissioner assured. Mr Mongella further commended the regional business council for luring investments into the EAC region, calling upon EABC to showcase investment opportunities in Arusha to East African investors. In his quick rejoinder, the EABC boss acknowledged Tanzania’s efforts under the stewardship of President Samia Suluhu Hassan for unlocking trade barriers. Mr Kalisa was categorical that it was during President Samia’s tenure that has seen cross-border trade between Tanzania and neighboring countries rising. According to the EABC boss, Tanzania’s exports to Kenya doubled to $182.6 million in the first half of 2021 while between January and October of last year, Kenya imports from Tanzania reached $399.2 million while exports clocked $320.5 million. He equally appreciated the regional commissioner’s office for its support towards a number of EABC events which were held last year. They include the East African YouLead Summit, Arusha CEO Round Table, East African Tourism Expo and the Parliamentary Forum on EAC Affairs. During his courtesy call...