Kenya and Uganda have endorsed the establishment of a third point of entry and exit (PoE) at their shared border to enhance trade. Already, the two countries have two major points at the busy Busia and Malaba towns which serve as entry and exit points along the Northern corridor. But on Thursday, delegations from Kenya and Uganda gave the greenlight for establishment of a third PoE at Muluanda area in Samia Sub-County, Busia. The Kenyan government was represented by the border management secretariat secretary Kennedy Nyaiyo while Major Martha Asiimwe led the Ugandan delegation. Busia deputy governor Moses Mulomi represented the county government. The move to have a third PoE in Busia County comes years after former President Mwai Kibaki toured the site in 2009 accompanied by Western Kenya leaders. At the time, Mr Kibaki said the move to open up Muluanda as a border point would help decongest the Busia and Malaba border points. He had also accepted a request to tarmack the five-kilometre Nangina junction to Muluanda road, but this has not been implemented to date. On Thursday, Mr Nyaiyo said Kenya has in excess of 200 acres of land along its border with Uganda, which gives it access to more border points. “The Muluanda PoE requires up to 50 acres of land for establishment. This gives space for other points to be opened,” he said. He noted that the PoE will help Kenya lower the cost of transportation and secure more revenue as it serves other landlocked...

Western province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI) has called for enhancement of trade across boarders for the benefit of Zambians. Western Chamber of Commerce and Industry Coordinator Fred Mulozi has called for traders to take advantage of the fact that cross boarder trading does not require international companies or inter-government arrangements for it to take place. Mr. Mulozi said this in reference to President Hakainde Hichilema’s pronouncements on enhancing cross-border trade between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia during yesterday’s press conference. Mr. Mulozi has encouraged the people of Western Province to also take advantage of the neighbouring Angola and utilize the readily available markets. He said Angolans are buying mealie meal, cement, sugar and maheu among others from Zambia while Zambians are buying fuel, cooking oil, condensed milk and beer from Angola. He has since appealed to government to work on the Kalabo-Sikongo road up to the Angolan border so as enhance trade between the two countries. Read original article

Summary The two countries will form a committee to identify how to address hitches holding back the growth of the key economic sector summary The two countries will form a committee to identify how to address hitches holding back the growth of the key economic sector Arusha. Tanzania and Kenya have agreed to come closer in the tourism sector. The two countries will form a committee to identify how to address hitches holding back the growth of the key economic sector. The committee will, in turn, suggest ways to ensure the two states and the East African region in general, attracted more tourists. This was agreed during a high-level meeting of ministers/cabinet secretaries responsible for Tourism and senior officials from both sides in Arusha on Friday. The committee of technical experts will prepare a report on how to improve cooperation of the two countries which lead in attracting visitors from abroad. The recommendations would be forwarded to the ministers and be followed by drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the same. Speaking at the meeting, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Damas Ndumbaro said Tanzania was determined to work with its northern neighbour in tourism development. “Once recommendations are made we ministers will meet to agree on the way forward,” he told reporters at the Ngorongoro Tourism Tower. Dr Ndumbaro said tourism was a key sector for the economies of both Tanzania and Kenya despite the outbreak of Covid-19. For Tanzania, the sector contributed 21.5 percent of the...

Dr Jemimah Njuki is the director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the custodian for the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Lever at the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, which kicked off on Thursday. She spoke to Isaiah Esipisu on gender equity and agricultural production Read original article

Department of Economics, Faculty of Management Sciences, Mangosuthu University, Umlazi 4031, South Africa Academic Editor: George R.G. Clarke Economies 2021, 9(4), 135; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies9040135 (registering DOI) Received: 7 July 2021 / Revised: 21 August 2021 / Accepted: 25 August 2021 / Published: 24 September 2021 Download PDF   Abstract Maritime transport remains the main gateway to the global marketplace. Ocean ports are a central and necessary component in facilitating trade. Ports are essentially a channel of integration into the global economic system. Resourceful and well-connected container ports empowered by regular and consistent shipping services are key to reducing trade costs, including transport costs, connecting supply chains and supporting global trade. Consequently, port performance is an important factor that can influence countries’ trade competitiveness. However, for Africa, the ports are dilapidated, lack essential infrastructure, are congested and perform poorly. Africa’s shipping and ports do not always match global trends and standards. In light of this, this study seeks to assess Africa’s current port performance and test the relationship between Africa’s port performance and trade performance. Very few studies have attempted to investigate the impact of port performance on trade. Hence, it was worthwhile to study the impact of port performance on Africa’s trade. The study used panel data that covering the period 2005–2018. An ARDL panel technique was used for estimation purposes. Results showed that port performance positively affects trade. This study argues that African ports require expensive infrastructure to be able to compete successfully. Africa needs to pursue an intensive course of infrastructure development...

Rwanda has set her eyes on putting in place instruments that remove barriers to trade and investment through increased collaborations with the private sector. Yves Bernard Ningabire, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, made the remarks on a panel discussing manufacturing and infrastructure development at the ongoing Concordia Summit. Ningabire was joined by Patience Mutesi Gatera, the Country Manager at Trade Mark East Africa, and Clarisse Iribagiza, CEO of HeHe Mart among others. Looking at the growth of Rwanda's manufacturing industry, Ningabire said, the sector's contribution to GDP grew from 14.5 per cent in 2016 to 19 per cent in 2019. “The sector is a key contributor to achieving Rwanda's 2050 targets,” he added. Boosting capacity Five days ago, trademark signed a deal with the AfCFTA, with an aim to collaborate on customs, transit and trade facilitation, harmonisation and mutual recognition of standards, said Mutesi. “We also want to work with the private sector to increase their capacity to trade by developing regional value chains to help firms increase their capacity to add value,” she asserted. Gatera shared similar views with Iribagiza who pointed out that her firm had embarked on a journey of increasing access to e-commerce tools and services for SMEs. “Our vision is to increase access to e-commerce tools and services for SMEs,” she added, “We want to use various infrastructure to enable Africa to aggregate its fragmented resources and make them more affordable and accessible.” After three days of high-ranked dialogues, the...

Small cross border trade between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is set to flourish after the two countries begun the process towards implementation of the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime (STR). This will be done under the soon to be launched Great Lakes Trade Facilitation and Regional Integration Project, (GLTFIP) which covers the two States and COMESA Secretariat. The project is aimed at facilitating trade and increasing the competitiveness of certain value chains for traders, especially small-scale traders and women traders, in targeted locations in the border areas of the Great Lakes Region, focusing on Burundi and DR Congo. Among the planned activities include improving connectivity to markets across the borders through policy and procedural reforms, commercial infrastructure improvements and capacity building of both border agencies and traders. Under the GLTFIP, COMESA Secretariat will implement specific activities related to trade facilitation, policy harmonization and collaboration between Burundi and DR Congo and use its convening power to support the participating countries to fully implement the STR. As part of preparations for the STR rollout, COMESA Secretariat through the current Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GLTFP), convened a bilateral meeting between the two States in Bujumbura, Burundi. The GLTFP is the forerunner to the GLTFIP and is lapsing at the end of this year paving way for the launch and implementation of the latter. At the meeting, experts drawn from ministries of trade, trade facilitation institutions, customs and standard, and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) agencies, private sector and project...

ECA simulations stress that AfCFTA is set to boost Eastern Africa manufactured exports, in particular, textiles & clothing exports will increase by 100 per cent KIGALI, Rwanda, September 24, 2021/APO Group/ -- The business community is a key part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and could benefit immensely in terms of access to raw materials, technology and also increasing economies of scale for participation in regional and global value chains, said Ms Mama Keita, Director of UN Economic Commission for Africa, Office for Eastern Africa. Ms Keita was speaking during a webinar organized by ECA in collaboration with the East African Business Council (EABC) to discuss with the private sector of East Africa about the AfCFTA implementation in East Africa. The e-meeting participants exchanged views on how to harness the potential of the African markets and on how businesses can seize the moment to implement and benefit from the AfCFTA agreement. ECA simulations stress that AfCFTA is set to boost Eastern Africa manufactured exports, in particular, textiles & clothing exports will increase by 100 per cent, heavy manufacturing by 63 per cent, light manufacturing by 61percent, Processed food by 54 per cent while livestock & meat products by 39 per cent. In his presentation, Mr Rodgers Mukwaya, an Economic Affairs Officer at ECA said that the implementation of AfCFTA would increase intra-African Trade by over 50 per cent. The agreement would also boost the continent’s GDP by more than $40 billion, and its exports by more than...

Summary ‘Serengeti Bytes’ focuses on communications, technology and innovation, marketing, advertising, public relations, and digital services Dar es Salaam. Fear of stiff competition from big players established in the market was one of the things that made Michael Mallya, 30, and Kennedy Mmari, 29, at first hesitate to start own business company. But as technology advanced, they gathered the courage and took full advantage of digital technologies to grab their share of the fast-growing market. The two young men embraced digital technologies and are urging the government and sectoral stakeholders to invest more in this industry as it is increasingly becoming a basic need in the world – creating jobs for millions of youth across the world. Mr Mallya and Mr Mmari tell the SMEs Digest of The Citizen that they currently own ‘Serengeti Bytes,’ a public relations, marketing and technology company that was established two years ago – and, as it is, fellow youth have begun to benefit from its services. “To build a more inclusive digital society and the future of youth overall, we urge leaders in government, the private sector, academia, and other key stakeholders to ensure that young people are equipped with the necessary digital skills to succeed in the job market,” says Mr Mallya who is the company’s chief operations officer (COO). According to them, tens of millions of future jobs are projected to demand significantly better digital skills such as software and app development, and although young people frequently see themselves as ‘digital natives’,...

The equipment raises National Export Development Board’s capacity to sort high grade coffee to 64-80 Metric Tonnes (Four 40-foot containers) which is 48 times previous capacity. Currently there are 400,000 small holder coffee farmers exporting 21,000 metric tonnes of coffee in 2020, earning the country US$ 50.2 million Kigali 21st Sept: The capacity to sort and grade high quality coffee for lucrative export markets through the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) has been raised many times-fold following acquisition of modern Coffee Sorting and Grading Machines and accessories. The equipment includes machines worth US$ 1.159 million funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through regional trade agency TradeMark Africa. The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands provided coffee sorting tables worth US$217,000 also through TradeMark Africa. The project was implemented in partnership with the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) with the new equipment located at its warehouses in Kigali. Speaking during the equipment launch today, NAEB Chief Executive Officer Claude Bizimana said the equipment raises current capacity by to 48 times. “With the modern equipment we will be able to sort and grade 64-80 Metric Tonnes per day which will fill up to four 40-foot containers, which is 48 times our current capacity. The huge capacity will greatly benefit the 32 coffee producer co-operatives that we serve. Previously it took a team of 35 workers, 12 days to sort and grade one container of coffee” noted Bizimana. This he explained would reduce the time-lag between client...