That will be decided during the forthcoming African Union meeting slated to take place in the next three months, according to the officials who gathered in Arusha this week. The proposed African Continental Free Trade Area isn't simply a 'Free Trade Agreement' it's about establishing a unified continental market with 1.2 billion potential customers and where the private sector is the major engine to make it happen. This was the tone from the discussions of the meeting held in Arusha about how the East African Private sector including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) could benefit from the African Continental Free Trading Area (AfCFTA). The one-day meeting, organised jointly by the East African Business Council (EABC) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), convened close to 40 key players from the region’s private sector. The office for Eastern Africa of ECA estimates large potential gains from the AfCFTA, including an increase in intra-African exports of Eastern Africa by nearly US$ 1 billion and job creation of 0.5 to 1.9 million. "Together African economies have a collective GDP of 2.5 trillion USD, making it the 8th largest economy in the world. That makes the continent much more attractive to investment, both from within and from outside the continent", said Andrew Mold, acting Director of ECA in Eastern Africa. "This should encourage business people to take advantage of AfCFTA and make the investments necessary to sustain economic growth and create employment". Nick Nesbitt, chairman of EABC, emphasised the importance of the continent...

At their meeting in Arusha this week, members of East Africa Business Council (EABC) who teamed up with UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said they foresee large potential gains from the AfCFTA, including an increase in intra-African exports of Eastern Africa by nearly US$ 1 billion and job creation of 0.5 to 1.9 million. "Together African economies have a collective gross domestic product of U$2.5 trillion, making it the 8th largest economy in the world. That makes the continent much more attractive to investment, both from within and from outside the continent," said Andrew Mold, acting Director of ECA in Eastern Africa. "This should encourage business people to take advantage of AfCFTA and make the investments necessary to sustain economic growth and create employment," Mold added. EABC Chairman, Nick Nesbitt emphasized the importance of the continent having a clear vision to put an end to the fragmentation of the internal market. "I really applaud everybody who has been involved in creating the AfCFTA because their vision is the one of pan-Africanism.,” Nesbitt said. “It is something our founding founders aspired to. Our thanks to ECA for being at forefront of this conversation and pushing the agenda forward so that the continent becomes a single economic trading bloc," he added. Speaking at the same gathering, Director General of Customs and Trade at East African Community Secretariat, Kenneth Bagamuhunda cited the experience of regional economic communities as the building blocks for the AfCFTA. "The AfCFTA should build on what has already...

Arusha. Comesa and the South African Development Community (Sadc) blocs remain the leading trading partners for the East African Community (EAC). Statistics indicate so even as the envisaged African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is set for launch in July. EAC partner states' exports to the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), made up of Sadc, Comesa and the Community itself, were worth $ 2.5billion between 2010 and 2016. During the same period, EAC exports to the rest of Africa on average amounted to $ 312.4million, a report has indicated. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is leading the pack with a 29.7 per cent share of exports from the EAC. It is closely followed by the continent's economic power house, South Africa, with a 29.5 per cent of the shares, according to the East African Business Council (EABC). Other leading trading partners for the Community were Egypt and Zambia (9.5 per cent each), Sudan (7.2 per cent) and the Comoros 3.8 per cent. DR Congo also leads in imports to the EAC with a 39 per cent share followed by Somalia (28 per cent, Nigeria (11 per cent) and Morocco and Algeria 5 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. The brief was released during last week's meeting here to deliberate on the road map by EAC on the continental free trade pact. TFTA is made up of EAC, Sadc and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and was initiated to become the continent's single economic bloc....

> Arusha. The East African Community (EAC) admitted yesterday that tariff liberalisation was a challenge to the proposed continental free trade area. It says a mechanism has to be worked out on how tariffs would be liberalised without affecting the economies of various trading blocs. “Tariff liberation has not been easy and there has to be a mechanism to negotiate it,” said Mr Kenneth Bagamuhunda, the EAC director general of Customs and Trade. He was speaking during a meeting on the role the private sector on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) expected to come into force in July this year. The trade pact was unveiled by the African Union in Kigali, Rwanda, a year ago and is aimed at boosting intra-African trade currently estimated to be a half of its potential. He said EAC would negotiate on tariff liberalisation within the continental FTA framework “in a holistic way and as a bloc”. He added that the East African Business Council has been given a platform to spearhead the negotiations on behalf of the bloc. Source: The Citizen

THE East African Community (EAC) is now eyeing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in capitalizing trading opportunities with other regional blocs. EAC’s Director General in charge of Customs and Trade, Mr Kenneth Bagamuhunda said here yesterday that the regional intergovernmental organization is hinging on the free trade agreement as a way of removing trade barriers on the continent. Mr Bagamuhunda who was speaking at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the East African Business Council (EABC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) sensitization workshop on the envisaged AfCFTA, disclosed that the regional economic bloc was ready to embrace and implement the agreement in enhancing trade with other continental blocs. According to Mr Bagamuhinda, the EAC has prerequisite provisions that could cushion the implementation of the initiative come July 1, this year. “The EAC is the only economic bloc with provisions on non-tariff barriers and laws on standard of products, the community has taken the lead in putting in place a sound policy environment ahead of the agreement,” said the EAC official who was representing the EAC Secretary General, Ambassador Libérat Mfumukeko at the workshop. The EAC’s Director General in charge of Customs and Trade further said that EAC had registered significant step in matters of integration, urging other Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to follow suit. “We, at the EAC have realized a deeper integration, it suffices to say that we are AfCFTA’s mini lab,” he explained. Despite registering major strides in integration, Mr Bagamuhunda...

East Africa received a combined sum of $2.96b in foreign direct investment (FDI) from China between 2011 and 2017, according to data from the China-Africa Research Initiative. The findings contained in data compiled by China-Africa Research Initiative, under the John Hopkins University, which tracks the country’s activities in Africa signals China’s increased interest in the East African region that continues to be a key recipient of the Asian country’s investments. The data, which was sourced from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), indicates that Kenya, which received $1.3b had the largest share of FDI from China followed by Tanzania, which received $890m between 2011 and 2017. Uganda, which has in the last five years become a key Chinese partner, received $536m, mainly in the energy, transport and communication sectors. However, Chinese companies with construction projects in Uganda have in the last 20 years seen rising earnings grossing about $8.7b (Shs32.6 trillion) in the last 20 years. Burundi received a total of $9.91m while South Sudan and Rwanda received $39m and 18m, respectively in the period under review. The $2.96b, according to the data, is a huge growth from the $307.76m, which the region received between 2004 and 2010. During the period, Kenya received $166.38m in FDI followed by Tanzania, which grossed $76.82m in the period. Rwanda received $38.22m, while Uganda and Burundi received $25.65m and $0.69m, respectively. South Sudan, which was then still part of Sudan, did not receive any FDI from China. East Africa has in the...

Continuing the discussions from the Addis Conference, the Geneva Forum addressed the trade-related aspects and challenges of food safety. The food safety priorities set by this Conference facilitated global collaboration and help ensure that no one is left behind. Its provided an opportunity for participants to explore the challenges and opportunities arising from rapid technological change and digitalization, namely: the use of new technologies in the realm of food safety and trade; how trade in safe food can be facilitated at the borders; multi-stakeholder coordination and the role of partnerships; harmonizing food safety regulation in a period of change and innovation. The conference will result in a document summarizing key issues and recommendations from both, the Addis Conference and the Geneva Forum, to better align and coordinate efforts to strengthen food safety systems across sectors and borders. Extracts of the programme: Addressing the economic burden of foodborne disease Delia Grace, Co-Leader, Animal and Human Health, International Livestock Research Institute Aligning national food safety policies to promote food security Angela Parry Hanson Kunadu, Lecturer, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana Overview of the Addis Ababa Conference Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko (see picture), African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Synergies between food safety and trade facilitation Elizabeth Murugi Nderitu, Acting DirectorStandards and SPS, TradeMark Africa Source: PAEPARD

24 April 2019, DJIBOUTI (Djibouti): The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) welcomes the recent decision by the Government of Belgium to recognise diplomatic and service passports issued by the Federal Government of Somalia. The following statement was issued today by the IGAD Executive Secretary. IGAD Executive Secretary Ambassador Mahboub Maalim notes that the move will significantly boost bilateral relations between Somalia and Belgium and facilitate Somalia government officials to engage with European Union institutions based in Brussels. Ambassador Maalim further noted that this is a positive step and is a demonstration of a growing confidence by the international community in the Government of Somalia and its institutions. In this regard, Ambassador Maalim hopes that Belgium will extend this recognition to the ordinary passport of Somalia. He also encourages other remaining countries to recognise passport issued by the Federal Government of Somalia and facilitate favourable visa processing for Somali nationals. Source: Horn Diplomat

AGRICULTURE On the second day of May, Uganda will host a regional ministers' summit on agriculture and trade in Kampala. The three-day conference will take place at Speke Resort Munyonyo and is expected to feature delegations from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique. It has been organised by the agriculture ministry in conjunction with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA). Other critical delegates invited for the summit include heads of regional economic communities; East African Community (EAC), Common Markets for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), Inter Government Authority for Development (IGAD) and representatives from the African Union (AU). Also invited are director generals of national agriculture research institutes from all ASARECA countries, development partners, private sector actors, farmers' organisations among many others. Agriculture minister Vincent Sempijja told reporters at the ministry headquarters on Tuesday that the summit is aimed at co-ordinating the generation of research solutions to challenges affecting agricultural sector such as the management of trans-boundary diseases such as cassava brown streak disease and maize lethal necrosis virus. "We shall also discuss how to co-ordinate and harmonise rationalisation of policies for cross-border trade in agricultural commodities and for exchange of agricultural commodities," he added. The summit has been organised under a theme 'Repositioning ASARECA for accelerated African agricultural transformation, and a sub-theme; Enhancing productivity, Resilience and Prosperity in Africa'. It is aimed at pulling a team of scientists in the region to work on...

EAST African Business Council (EABC) has gone a notch higher in resolving challenges facing the regional economies, with the launch of the regional programme on Public-Private Sector Dialogue (PPD) for Trade and Investment. Jointly launched by the EABC and TradeMark Africa (TMA), the project that spans from 2019 to 2023 aims at enhancing advocacy and dialogue on transport and logistics, trade facilitation, customs and tax, standards and Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) at regional and country levels. The five-year programme is said to extend beyond the EAC and incorporates the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and Africa Continental Free Trade Area (Af- CFTA). “The Council is keen to enhance dialogue and partnership between the private and public sector, hence EABC will spearhead the programme in close collaboration with all national and regional sectoral private sector associations in EAC,” EABC Chief Executive Officer Peter Mathuki said. He noted that for businesses in the region to grow and expand within and beyond the EAC, there is need for technical and financial support to EABC to advocate and input substantive issues affecting the business community in regard to policy formulation and implementation. The Public-Private Dialogue can facilitate trade and investment climate reforms by promoting better diagnosis of investment climate problems, transparency and inclusive design of policy reforms, making policies easier to implement,” he disclosed. According to Mathuki, barriers to trading across borders like multiple product standard inspections and bureaucratic trade procedures, delay business transactions and increase...