On May 30, 2019 Africa made history as the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA officially entered into force. With 54 out of the 55 member states of the African Union signing the agreement, Africa brought into being the largest trading block since the formation of the WTO. The entry into force of the AfCFTA is also marked by the speed at which African countries worked together within a year to establish a regional trading block to promote intra-African trade following the adoption of the AfCFTA on March 21, 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. Following the ratification and entry into force of the AfCFTA, 5 supporting Operational Instruments were launched during the AU Summit held in Niamey, Niger in July 2019. These instruments are the key tools that will support the launch of the operational phase of the AfCFTA with start of trading scheduled for July 2020. The occasion also marked the announcement of the Republic of Ghana as the country to host the AfCFTA Secretariat. The operational instruments of the AfCFTA 1.The Rules of Origin: A regime governing the conditions under which a product or service can be traded duty free across the region. 2. The Tariff concessions: It has been agreed that there should be 90 per cent tariff liberalisation and the deadline is 1st July 2020. (Over a 10 year period with a 5 year transition, there will be an additional 7 per cent for “sensitive products” that must be liberalised). This will be supported by the AfCFTA Trade in Goods online portal...

In a couple of weeks, Kenya will open the first phase of its multi–billion dollar Lamu Port, the beachhead to the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor. That will be the second new logistics corridor after the Djibouti-Ethiopia standard gauge rail that went into service a few years ago. Yet to be done, Djibouti is also in the middle of a mega project to expand its port while to the south, Tanzania which has in recent years completed upgrades to the Dar es Salaam port, is now betting on a new port at Bagamoyo. Invariably, all these projects target the Eastern Africa hinterland with all contenders aiming to be the logistics hub of the region. Looking at East Africa’s or even Africa’s logistics map, it is not in dispute that the region and continent suffers a huge infrastructure deficit. But must the projects be this grandiose? There is indeed a case for developing infrastructure but a sense of proportion and degree of co-ordination are needed to make these projects viable. Multiple corridors provide critical redundancy in the event of failure, if they are inter-linked. But their economic efficiency needs to be looked at in more practical than academic terms because the economies are racking up huge debt to build these projects. For instance, the Lapsset Corridor aims to link Lamu, South Sudan and Ethiopia along a logistics umbilical cord comprising rail, an oil pipeline, electric power and roads. At the same time, if at all the Kenya standard...

The government of Zambia has signed a US US $147m deal with Africa Inland Container Depot (AFICD) of Tanzania for the establishment of a dry port in the central town of Kapiri Mposhi. According to the signed agreement, the port will be an integrated logistics and industrial hub that will provide services to clients across eastern, central and southern Africa thereby increasing regional market access for Zambian products. Dry port project The project will be built on a Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT), Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model. The area where the Kapiri Mposhi Dry Port is earmarked for is located on the northern side of New Kapiri Mposhi Railway station, measuring approximately 4.3756 hectares (10.81 acres), with an already installed gantry crane of 36mt lifting capacity. CEO of the IDC Mateyo Kaluba said that construction will be done in two phases. Phase one will involve construction of the dry port while the second phase will see an establishment of a multi-facility economic zone. Share holders The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the investment arm of the Zambian government, will hold 15% of shares in the project while the Tanzanian firm, Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) will hold 85%. The Dar es Salaam Corridor Group (DCG) will take hold of the four-hectare piece of land, construct the Dry Port, operate (lease) it for 25 years and, thereafter, transfer all the immovable assets to TAZARA. Approximately 500 jobs will be created during construction and up to 3,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created when the dry port becomes operational. “This is a...

Kwame Nkrumah famously proclaimed on the night of Ghana’s independence that “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa”.  Africa, a continent rich in natural resources, holding around 30% of the world’s mineral resources is at the same time home to 5 of the 10 poorest countries in the world. In a recent report, the World Bank projects that a staggering 90% of the world’s poor may reside in Africa by 2030. Barriers to free regional trade, political turmoil, inadequate infrastructure and weak financial institutions remain key hurdles to economic advancement. Despite how grey the narrative looks, Africa’s growth outlook remains buoyant and continues to attract high foreign direct investment. Nkrumah’s vision was to restore Africa’s identity, “We are going to see that we create our own African personality and identity. We again rededicate ourselves in the struggle to emancipate other countries in Africa”. His desire was to see a well-functioning continent capable of harnessing its rich resources to become a global economic powerhouse. Kwame Nkrumah saw the need for neighbourhood/regional political independence – for he knew Ghana cannot be the only free country in Sub-Saharan Africa. He accordingly spent a great deal of his time, Ghana’s time and resources supporting the political liberation of fellow African countries. The going together, working together approach that Kwame Nkrumah and our political forefathers adopted in the political sphere is needed in economic development. Though recognized, the focus and zeal with which it was deployed in...

Symposium on Inclusive Participation of Women in Trade, which took place in Nairobi in September, was co-organised by Professor Leïla Choukroune and attended by Nancy, who is a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Business and Law. Nancy says: ‘The Symposium dealt with the broader perspective of emerging global issues in trade and narrowed down to inclusivity of women in trade from a gender perspective. The event attracted high-level dignitaries including Kenya’s Minister for Trade, UNCTAD Secretary General, Ambassadors and CEOs from various organisations across the globe. Various presentations were made by specialists ranging from information technology, data analyses and legal perspectives. My paper was titled:’Legal Framework for Inclusion of Women in Trade: Case of the United Kingdom vis a vis Kenya.’ This was informed by the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, which included 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at ending poverty, hunger and inequality, supporting action on climate change, improving access to health and education, and building strong institutions and partnerships. The inclusion of a standalone goal (Goal 5) on women’s equality, as well as the mainstreaming of gender and inclusion through the other 16 goals, is a key achievement for the international community. Gender inequality in most spheres of development remains a major barrier to human development. The presentation demystified the legal and institutional framework of the rights of women in trade, reasons for the shift from exclusion and marginalisation of women for many decades and an increase in inclusion by creation of relevant legislation...

The EAC Regional Meeting on Trade Facilitation is the first meeting of the EAC Sub-Committee on Trade Facilitation under the UNCTAD Phase II project on Trade Facilitation, funded by TradeMark EA. The project is aimed at providing technical assistance to the EAC Secretariat and the EAC Partner States in trade facilitation reforms and simplification of trade procedures built upon the Trade Information Portals, all implemented by UNCTAD. The meeting will ensure a coordinated and harmonized implementation process of the trade facilitation policies in the EAC region. The EAC Regional Meeting will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 22-25 October 2019 under the leadership of the EAC Secretariat with the participation of the Chairs of the NTFCs, Representatives of the Customs Authority and the East African Business Council. At the end of the EAC Regional Meeting, the EAC Secretariat will prepare recommendations to be presented and adopted by the EAC Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment in November 2019. Source: United Nations Trade and Development

The African continent cannot continue to rely on foreign aid to finance its transformation, President Paul Kagame has said. Kagame was speaking in Abidjan at the 8th CGECI (Confédération Générale des Entreprises de Côte d'Ivoire) Academy, the largest annual gathering of Private Sector in the West African country. The summit brings together the private sector of the West African countries and covers topics such as avenues to grow competitiveness, relevance and growth among other topics. "We have to reach a point where our countries have the capacity to finance our own transformation. Development aid has been useful and it continues to be useful, especially when we work to get the most impact out of every cent that we receive. But the point has never been to remain dependent forever when we have always had the potential to be wealthy ourselves," Kagame said during the keynote address. Rather than continuously look to other countries for aid, Kagame said that there are more productive ways for Africa to partner with various countries and regions for mutual benefit. This year's conference is themed around creating a conducive business climate. To create a more conducive business climate, Kagame said deliberation among public and private sector from various countries are crucial to share connections and experiences. "One way to advance this cause, is through forums like this one. Coming together here, we make useful connections, share experiences, and learn from each other. The starting point is ensuring that relevant actors in both the public and...

Duplicate standards and regulations across different state agencies are stifling businesses and investments in the country, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has warned. The UN specialized agency that promotes industrial development yesterday called for harmonization of standards and regulations, both in the private sector and government, to ensure the cost of doing business remains low. According to UNIDO, the private sector has for long suffered from regulations and standards that are similar across the ’numerous’ state agencies, where costs such as licensing and inspection fees are payable. This has continued to ‘punish’ business and the private sector at large, the agency notes. “Government needs to have regulations and standards that address the real problem not just over regulating, it needs to address only the problem, we don’t want laws to become roadblocks we want laws that are facilitative,” said Andrew Edewa, UNIDO standards expert. He spoke during the World Standards Day(2019) celebrations in Nairobi, an event snubbed by the Industry, Trade and Cooperatives CS Peter Munya and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) managing director Bernard Njiraini. According to the UN, there are laws in the health department, trade, industry among other state organs that are duplicated, adding pressure to the private sector. These add to business to business standards which all put together, they are stifling businesses. “The government is speaking tough on their end , private sector has its own business to business standards, the marrying of these two seems to be a problem and it is affecting...

The value of Kenya’s exports to key East African Community’s markets hit a three-year high in first eight months of 2019, official data shows, partly helped by Nairobi’s efforts to ease trade tensions with Tanzania. Earnings from goods sold to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda stood at Sh77.32 billion in the January-August period, fresh data from the Central Bank of Kenya indicates, a 5.98 percent growth over Sh72.99 billion in similar period in 2018. Kenyan factories have in recent years struggled to grow exports in regional markets largely due to tariff and non-tariff barriers fuelled by mistrust and unresolved trade disputes, particularly with Tanzania and, in some isolated cases, Uganda. Manufacturers have also blamed multiple fees and levies, relatively high power charges and inefficiencies at factories for piling up the cost of production, making locally-made goods expensive in regional markets. Ministries of Trade and EAC Affairs have been reaching out to their counterparts in Tanzania and Uganda with a view to finding a long-lasting solution to on-and-off disputes that usually hit Kenyan products such as confectionery and cement. “The Kenyan team has done a very commendable job in working with the EAC secretariat in bringing both tariff and non-tariff barriers down, and we are also seeing very concerted efforts also on the part of Tanzania to bring these barriers down,” said Sachen Gudka, the chairman of Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). Source: Daily News

The intra-Global Climate Alliance Plus (GCCA+) Programme on supporting Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Actions in the East African Community has been launched at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The European Union (EU) is providing funding to the tune of 1.6 million Euros for the four-year project which commenced in July 2019 and runs up to June 2023. The project which was launched by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the EU will, among other things: support EAC Partner States in addressing different climate change challenges; reviewing and updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the effective implementation, and; developing community based climate change initiatives that will have tangible impacts on local communities. In his opening remarks, the Chairperson of the Meeting, Eng. John B. Kizito, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rwanda thanked the EU for its support in enhancing the capacity of the EAC region on climate change, strengthening the implementation of climate change actions, the Paris Agreement and regional capacity to access climate change funding. Eng. Kizito cited some of the challenges posed by climate change in the region and echoed the need to take concerted measures in strengthening resilience while adopting low carbon and sustainable development pathways. The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, who represented the Secretary General, reiterated the EAC’s commitment to mitigate the impacts of climate change, adding that the Community had developed EAC Climate Change Master Plan (2011-2031),...