Transporters of goods across the country have welcomed continued intervention by the government to subsidize fuel costs saying that it will go a long way to stabilize the cost of logistics and consequently cost of goods. Last week, the government, through the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Authority announced that diesel prices would remain unchanged at Rwf1054 per litre despite the global increase in prices. Petrol prices rose to Rwf1143 per litre from Rwf1,088. Without government intervention, prices of diesel and petrol would have risen by Rwf 110 and Rwf 80 respectively, to about Rwf1,134 and Rwf1,198. Transporters say that without the intervention, the increase in costs would have seen them revise their prices upwards which would have seen prices of goods consequently rise. Fabrice Mugwiza who operates trucks moving agricultural produce across the country said that an Rwf80 price increase in Diesel would have led them to adjust costs incurred by farmers which could have seen an increase in food prices. “Given that business is yet to fully pick up after disruption by Covid-19, most transport operations are quite price sensitive and any changes in fuel could see the costs transferred to clients,” Mugwiza said. Without the subsidy, the public transport prices would have also increased as the costs would have eaten into public transporters profits which have already been stretched thin by the measures to curb the pandemic. Kigali based public transport bus companies told The New Times that with most of them currently paying loans which they recently restructured, increase...

BUKOBA District Commissioner (DC), Moses Machali has challenged petty traders to focus on capital integration and expansion of their businesses in order to qualify for loans. Equally, he tasked the leaders to convene regular meetings and give feedback to their members in order to reduce complaints among the petty traders. Mr Machali made the remarks while addressing about 300 petty traders during a meeting he convened in Bukoba Municipal Council on Wednesday to get their views and know the challenges facing them. "President Samia Suluhu Hassan is keen to ensure that petty traders conduct their business in conducive environment. You should cooperate and elect trustful leaders who will be giving you feedback," he said. However, he warned the petty traders to avoid causing chaos by resolving challenges facing them amicably. Elaborating, he said the Bukoba Municipal Council would relocate them and tasked them to avoid being used as scapegoats. Chairman of Bukoba Municipal Council Petty Traders' Association (BMTA), Hamidu Abdulnuru, commended the government for enabling Machinga to conduct business and earn a decent living. "On behalf of the petty traders I thank President SamiaSuluhu for her bold steps to promote the economy. The region's economic infrastructure has been tremendously improved and strategic investments are being made for further improvements. Roads are also in good condition and are easily passable in all seasons," he said. Kagera region is strategically located, bordering four countries-Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya across Lake Victoria, which make it potential for cross-border trade, he remarked. Read original...

DAR ES SALAAM Port has yet again hosted a large vessel, Aquamarine ACE, carrying 3492 vehicles, signaling a continued trust in importers on the port after major expansion and improved services. This is second ship of that capacity after the port received another vessel of almost such size, the Tranquil ACE Panama, in last August. The Port Director, Elihuruma Lema, who spoke on behalf of the Director General of the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), Eric Hamissi, said the continued arrival of big ships resulted from improved efficiency, port expansion and marketing. “As we are today celebrating Nyerere Day, we are also celebrating victory of receiving another big ship which means a lot to port’s improved efficiency and expansion,” Mr Lema stated. He said a good number of importers; mainly from neighbouring land-linked countries (Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and DR Congo) have now increasingly started using the port. “The recent visit of President Samia Suluhu Hassan to neighbouring Rwanda and Burundi has hugely contributed to bring importers from those countries,” he said, noting that 71 per cent of the 3492 vehicles in Aquamarine ACE were for transit destined for those countries. He said the port’s record of cargo handling was impressing for the past six months. He said the number of RoRo vessels has increased during the past six months whereby the port handled 85 vessels between April and last September compared to 70 vessels during the corresponding period last year. The Port was more optimistic that the future is bright, with...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Africa has launched a new brief that advocates for seizing the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for the economic empowerment of women in agriculture. The publication is launched today to coincide with the International Day for Rural Women which is celebrated every year on 15 October to honour women and girls living in rural areas. The AfCFTA holds the potential to contribute significantly to eliminating poverty, creating jobs, and improving food security. However, the new publication Seizing the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area for the economic empowerment of women in agriculture warns that the AfCFTA could exacerbate existing gender disparities and discrimination and worsen the condition of women engaged in trade and agriculture if women’s inclusion is not prioritized. The AfCFTA will change existing trading practices and formalize markets which could preclude women’s access and further relegate them to informal and less lucrative value chains. “Women must not be left behind,” said FAO Senior Gender Officer Clara Park. “It is of pivotal importance that we create ecosystems of support that enable women to access opportunities created through the AfCFTA and reinvigorate our efforts to address existing gender inequalities in access to and control over land, services, technology, markets and knowledge. We need to bring women and their organizations to the decision making table,” she said. Women’s key role in Africa’s food production and trade Around 85 percent of economic activity in Africa...

The impact of the pandemic on global supply chains has prompted governments around the world to look at ways to fix the broken links. In Africa, the launch of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has provided the continent with new opportunities to strengthen its regional supply chain. Virusha Subban, Head of Indirect Tax at Baker McKenzie in South Africa, explains that there were massive breakages in key links in global supply chains during and after the pandemic, with issues including, among many other things, route congestion and blockages, manufacturing shutdowns, a deficit of skilled labour, a global shortage of key logistics components including shipping containers, a lack of space in warehouses, a spike in transportation costs and substantially increased demand for goods around the world, post-lockdown. As a result, countries have been looking at ways to relink broken chains. In February 2021, President Biden addressed this issue by signing an Executive Order on America’s supply chains. He ordered federal agencies to review and identify vulnerabilities in key US supply chains and develop policies to ensure those supply chains would be more resilient to future shocks. Similarly, the European Union Policy Department for External Relations issued a report on Post Covid-19 value chains: options for reshoring production back to Europe in a globalised economy. The report noted that, against the background of both supply shortages due to the pandemic, and the shift in global trading patterns, reshoring of production, the process of bringing production activities home, had become a topical...

TANZANIA is committed to use all trade opportunities arising from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement including the acquisition of new markets for agricultural products. Access to markets will stimulate production, strengthen the value chain of agricultural products involving smallholder farmers of sunflower, cotton, cloves, spices, fruits and vegetables. This was stated recently by the Minister for Industry and Trade, Prof Kitila Mkumbo (pictured) when he attended the seventh meeting of the African Council of African Trade Ministers of the AfCFTA held in a traditional and hybrid network. Prof Mkumbo said it would increase employment opportunities for farmers and stakeholders involved in the value chain of agricultural products, access to a large market for goods and services with a population of approximately 1.2 billion people compared to the population of about 522 million people in East Africa Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community(SADC) countries. “Tanzania can access the market of approximately 1.2 billion people compared to the population of about 522 million EAC and SADC,” said Prof Mkumbo. In addition, Prof Mkumbo said the agreement will increase productivity and quality of Tanzanian products and services due to increased competition and thus lead to a decrease in commodity prices. Other benefits he mentioned include strengthening business partnerships while developing industries and entrepreneurs of the Small, Medium Entrepreneurs Group (MSMEs) and access to a variety of products in the country including transfers technology. However, the ministers reviewed the progress made on various issues contained in the first phase...

Minister of Transport and Logistics Frank Tayali says Government intends to implement an intermodal network that links road, rail, air, and marine for transporting cargo and passengers within and through Zambia. Mr. Tayali said there is a need to consider Zambia’s position of being landlocked to being land-linked which creates abundant opportunities for improving and linking transport systems. Speaking when he officiated at the Meet and Greet the Industry Breakfast meeting held yesterday at Taj Pamodzi Hotel, the Minister stated that Zambia is well-placed to facilitate trade in the African Continental Free Trade Area. He stated that Zambia is a Corridor Network in Southern African Development Community and Common Market for Eastern (SADC) and Southern Africa (COMESA). He further stated that Zambia is endowed with incredible investment prospects that drive and support developments in the various sectors of the economy. Mr. Tayali said the sectors of the economy which once harnessed, will see a Zambia that will address issues of job creation and poverty reductions. “I am reliably informed that the upcoming Land-Linked Zambia Conference has already attracted active participation from the Ports of Beira and Nacala in Mozambique, Durban-South Africa, Walvis Bay-Namibia, Dar-es-salaam-Tanzania, all of whom have a Corridor that they serve that passes through Zambia,” he said. Mr. Tayali added that the Corridors bring with them numerous business and investment opportunities for the country. The Minister highlighted that the conference and exhibition scheduled for December 2021 rightly dubbed as Land-Linked Zambia 2021 will underline the vital role Zambia...

This proposal is among resolutions of the roundtable meeting for chief executive officers of apex national private sector associations convened by the East African Business Council (EABC) on Tuesday in Nairobi. EABC CEO John-Bosco Kalisa said that an EAC COVID-19 vaccination certificate would enable mutual recognition and elimination of current transaction costs of COVID-19 testing and boost intra-EAC trade, travel and tourism. He commended high-level bilateral engagements reached by EAC Heads of State for resolving non-tariff barriers (NTBs), as the Kenya-Tanzania bilateral engagement has resolved 72 NTBs. Amending NTBs legislation to include sanctions and clear timelines to resolve existing NTBs was equally necessary, he stated.. Carole Kariuki, CEO of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) said that KEPSA rolled out a COVID-19 vaccination drive for companies and EABC has now agreed to undertake similar drives across the EAC partner states. Closer private sector collaboration in marketing and boosting the competitiveness of ‘Made in East Africa’ products to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market was also discussed, she stated. EABC chairman Nick Nesbitt said the EAC bloc is the most integrated regional economic community in Africa, and would be consolidated by the vaccine roll-out strategy for the region. Francis Kisirinya, acting CEO for the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) called for deeper public-private dialogue within countries and at the regional level to ensure that policies are increasingly business-centered. Nshimirimana Denis, secretary general of the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burundi (CFCIB) urged support for ‘Buy East...

Summary A meeting held at the AfCFTA headquarters in Accra found that without these provisions no trade can take place. East Africa’s private sector was represented in Accra by the East African Business Council’s (EABC) Chief Executive John Bosco Kalisa. Rules of Origin determine which products can be subject to tariffs and duties. The implementation phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which went live on January 1, is still bogged down by technicalities as key provisions of the agreement are yet to be concluded. The technical provisions that are proving to be a hurdle to trade are the rules of origin, the tariff offer and Customs Union. A meeting held at the AfCFTA headquarters in Accra, Ghana on September 18-19, to review the agreement nine months after its inception, found that without these provisions no trade can take place, at least not as easily as envisaged. East Africa’s private sector was represented in Accra by the East African Business Council’s (EABC) Chief Executive John Bosco Kalisa who emphasised the importance of establishing the Rules of Origin in the continent’s FTA. “So far no trading has taken place because we are still ironing out issues. Before anyone starts trading, there are a number of key components such as tariffs and Rules of Origin — the criteria needed to determine the national source of a product — which have to be agreed on. The rules of origin are basically the ‘passport for goods’ and if these rules are not...

In Summary Kenya hosted the event in Eldoret in 2018 and Rwanda in 2019. There was no event last year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The regional trade fair has been used to promote cross border trade, the EAC simplified trade regime and dealing with Non-Tariff Barriers. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) from Kenya have been urged to take advantage of the coming EAC trade fair in Mwanza, Tanzania. Speaking during the East African Community (EAC) regional Steering Committee meeting in preparation for the 21st EAC MSMEs trade fair, the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA) director general Henry Rithaa called on Kenyans to capitalise on the event to showcase their products. Kenya is chairing the meeting through the MSEA. The trade fair rub between December 9 and 19. Rithaa was flanked by EAC acting director general in charge of customs and trade,Rashid Kibowa. On Friday, they held a preparatory committee meeting. The event is annual and rotates between member states. Kenya hosted the event in Eldoret in 2018 and Rwanda in 2019. There was no event last year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. South Sudan is expected to host the next event after Tanzania. MSEA is a state corporation established under the Micro and Small Enterprise Act No. 55 of 2012. It is tasked with formulating and coordinating policies that will facilitate the integration and harmonisation of various public and private sector initiatives, for the promotion, development and regulation of the Micro and...