This is a critical and strategic discussion that should continue and I’m glad it was triggered by the Minister of Trade and Industry; it means it is high on the agenda of the Government of Rwanda. For industrialisation to take place, there are many prerequisites: universities must be actively involved in research and development, availability of basic infrastructure (electricity, water, transportation and Internet connectivity), access to finance (and even preferential treatment for local firms...just replicate the EXIM banks in most OECD countries) and reduction of government red tapes. During the conversations, I would also throw this question out there; what is really our competitive advantage? If we think we can manufacture tyres in Rwanda and be competitive then indeed we are missing the point. I also don’t agree with these rules of nationalistic protectionism being promoted at the East African Community level; it creates uncompetitive and non-innovative companies (this sounds like welfare of sorts...Europe has tried it before and failed). For Rwanda, what we should focus on is how to aggregate in environment protection, textile, coffee, food processing and export (products and services) to big markets in Africa, China and USA. Finally, we need to tap into outsourcing opportunities in technology and related services. That should be part and parcel of our industrialisation policy. And, don’t forget to invest in think-tanks (local and regional). Al ************************* And what is “industrialisation”? Is it switching hand work to machine work? Replacing own oriented work with factory wage work? Relinquishing personal, landlord, or...

Christopher Farai Charamba Correspondent Richard Mullin once said: “The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa . . . for he has so much to look forward to.” Over the past few years the global perception of Africa has been changing. The Africa rising narrative coupled with the positive growth rates in many regions on the continent have contributed to changing former negative attitudes the world had towards Africa. A direct consequence of this changing narrative has been an increase in international tourists to Africa. In 2014, African Business Magazine stated that Africa’s tourism industry was the fastest growing in the world. According to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa’s tourism industry is set to spur more economic growth for the continent and directly employ 6,7 million people by 2021. In 2011, tourism in sub-Saharan Africa accounted directly or indirectly for one in every 20 jobs. While there has been a marked increase in international tourists to the continent, it has always been a cumbersome process for Africans travelling within Africa to other countries. With flying too expensive and considered a luxury, a lack of proper road and rail networks between African countries has limited Africans in terms of exploring their continent. Another hindrance has been the need to obtain a visa to visit other African countries and a lack of a common passport akin to the one in the European Union that would allow African nationals easier access to other African states. This,...

The 17th East African Community Heads of State Summit admitted South Sudan as a new member of the East African Community partner states. This historical endorsement was made on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 in Arusha- Tanzania. Negotiations to South Sudan’s accession to the EAC began in November 2014 and truly there has been relatively an accelerated timeline to their conclusion. This clearly shows the willingness of all stakeholders to have the World’s newest nation join the East African community. The whole idea of the EAC integration is largely about creation of a wider market base, infrastructure development and guaranteed security within the region. The inclusion of south Sudan as an EAC partner state certainly provides a much needed push for both a wider market base from 150 million people to 162 millions and ultimately a beam of light in our regional security angle. A key feature of South Sudan’s membership is undoubtedly the thrust on strengthening the already existing market especially for agricultural produce. Here, Uganda and Kenya have significantly enjoyed trading with South Sudan and this has resulted into traders bringing in millions of dollars that have boosted our foreign exchange base. As for infrastructure development, we are likely to witness a tremendous improvement of the road network from partner states towards South Sudan. The standard gauge Railway project that was commissioned on October 8, 2014 will also take a shorter period to accomplish than otherwise expected. It’s also important to note that our region has largely experienced security...

NAIROBI (HAN) March 21. 2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. Local industries have received a major boost after the East African Community relaxed the rules on goods made in partner states. According to the revised rules of origin, goods made in partner states will now be sold duty-free. The more accommodating rules of origin have been under discussion for a year, and are expected to promote locally manufactured goods to increase intra-regional trade. The biggest beneficiaries of the revised rules of origin are steel companies, East African Breweries Ltd, General Motors, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers, Kensalt Ltd and Mikoani Traders, whose products will now benefit the preferential tariff treatment. The products will be required to have a certificate of origin issued by the originating country, showing that they have a local content input of at least 30 per cent, unlike previously when the threshold was set at 35 per cent. Under the old rules, 25 per cent duty was imposed because certain parts or ingredients used in their assembly or production were imported from outside the economic bloc. Key products, on which duty has been scrapped are East African Breweries Ltd’s Smirnoff Vodka (Red and Blue), Smirnoff Ice (Black and Red), and Gilbeys. Motor vehicles manufactured from completely knocked down kits (CKDs) by General Motors; vehicles manufactured by Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers; wheat flour made by Mikoani Traders in Tanzania, salt manufactured by Kensalt Ltd and steel products (nails, chain links, welded wire mesh) will be exempted from the duty. According...

The 17th Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit, early this month, endorsed and launched the EAC Vision 2050, a blueprint articulating the bloc’s desired future of a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically-united Community. According to a communiqué, the EAC leaders committed to implementing the vision and ensure that by 2050, the bloc will have transformed into an upper-middle income region within a secure and politically united east Africa based on the principles of inclusiveness and accountability. The Vision was initially approved during a Council of Ministers’ meeting in Arusha, in 2014, after which a steering committee was established, to provide quality assurance of the process. Consultations were reportedly undertaken among a multidisciplinary team of experts from the Partner States and the EAC Secretariat with technical inputs from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Consultations focused on identifying priority areas that would underpin the Vision for the next 34 years. Rwanda’s EALA member Dr Odette Nyiramilimo is one of the people who participated in the process. Though she had not yet had a chance to read the final document, Dr Nyiramilimo told The New Times, last week, that the most important aspect that was included, “is that EAC will be developed, at least to the level of middle income countries.” “For that to happen, the political federation would have been achieved,” she said. Dr Nyiramilimo noted that she is optimistic that the process of implementation will go forward, “because we have visionary leaders,” and it...

If all works out according to nature’s cycle, the skies could open up in a matter of days and usher in the season of the long rains in East Africa. Nature, however, has become quite unpredictable of late. The El Niño rains came and went last year, and people in the region are increasingly getting accustomed to extremes of the weather. That means the heavy rains could actually come, and perhaps devastatingly so. Or they could simply disappear. Either way, East Africa deserves to be prepared. All too often, millions of people are caught unawares even by a phenomenon such as the long rains that has come with certainty over the millennia. It all means our countries are extremely exposed to changes in climatic and weather patterns. And even if the rains were to come and go in just the right measure, causing an abundant harvest, that still presents a problem. Many are the times when farmers decry losses due to lack of proper storage facilities as well as markets for their products. This leads to undesired losses. It also leads to a situation where there is plenty today and nothing tomorrow, or plenty in one place and scarcity elsewhere. Perhaps the tragedy has to do with governance. There is an “eating” mentality that has laid siege to a significant portion of the elite in East Africa. This mentality assures them that every project, every budgetary allocation, and every need that arises must be fully exploited for the purpose of...

The announcement last week that construction of the Tanzania-Uganda crude oil pipleline would begin in August was received warmly by those who have the East African Community’s (EAC) best interests at heart. As a factor of increasing greater regional integration, the pipeline, (like the proposed Standard Gauge railways), will also improve the EAC’s profile as an attractive investment destination. The 1,403-kilometre pipeline will link oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert, Hoima region to Tanga port in Tanzania. According to senior Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation officials, the construction of the crude oil pipeline will be carried out by three oil firms, namely: UK’s Tullow Oil PLC, France’s Total E&P and China’s Cnooc. Once completed, the oil pipeline will be able to ferry up to 200,000 barrels per day. The project works will also lead to installations of 200km of permanent new roads and corresponding bridges, and upgrades to 150km of existing roads. Some 15,000 jobs are expected to be created. These kind of projects inspire optimism among both local and foreign investors. This is because infrastructure projects are the foundations of modern economies. They have a huge multiplier effect. For instance regional governments are currently on an aggressive move to build more power plants. Much of rural EAC lacks grid electiricity. When you put up a power plant, you not only generate employment directly through construction and operations at the power plant, but also create an industrial base around the plant who would want to tap the power. This is a...

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - Last week, leaders of the East African Community (EAC) met in Arusha, Tanzania. There were two main items on the agenda. First, the induction of South Sudan as a full member state; and second, the launch of the shiny new EAC passport. Of the two, the latter is arguably more significant. According to a press statement, he gave a score-card of the deliverables during his tenure at the helm citing five key areas in the EAC broad vision and remarked that under his five year tour of duty, the bloc had witnessed significant achievements. His successor is Burundi national, Dr. Libérat Mfumukeko. On the Customs Union, Amb. Dr Sezibera remarked that sustained campaigns to ensure realization of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) had duly paid off. “Today, should one visit the Port of Dar es Salaam right here, you will witness revenue officials from the rest of the Partner States clearing goods,” he said. “The time within which it takes to clear goods has reduced tremendously. At the central corridor, it now takes 3 days, down from the 18 days while in the northern corridor, there is a significant reduction from 21 days to 5 days,” Amb. Dr Sezibera said. On the second item, he said that there was sustained pressure to rid the region of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and such, were paying off while the port clearance times were also reduced from three weeks to under 10 days. On the Common Market, a third item on...

IN SUMMARY Traders are saving up to $300 (Sh30,600) per transaction through more efficient joint clearance of cargo by EAC partner states at Mombasa port. An audit of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) system that was recently adopted by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania also showed that cargo clearance time at the port has dropped to an average of four to six days, from 18 to 22 in 2013. Under the SCT deal that began in 2014, clearing agents within EAC have been granted the rights to relocate and carry out their duties in any of the partner states as part of a strategy to improve flow of goods and curb dumping. Traders are saving up to $300 (Sh30,600) per transaction through more efficient joint clearance of cargo by EAC partner states at Mombasa port. An audit of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) system that was recently adopted by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania also showed that cargo clearance time at the port has dropped to an average of four to six days, from 18 to 22 in 2013. “Customs documentation requirements have been reduced by over 50 per cent and one customs agent is required to clear goods right from the Port of Mombasa or Dar-es-Salam to the Ugandan destination,” the Uganda Revenue Authority revealed in a performance update. The SCT system allows joint collection of Customs taxes by the East African Community partners. Under the SCT deal that began in 2014, clearing agents within EAC have...

Outgoing East African Community (EAC) Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, has decried the use of money by politicians seeking public office in the regional bloc, saying this was fuelling corruption and stalling development. At 4th Annual East African Community Secretary General's Forum held in Dar es Salaam on Friday, Dr Sezibera said corruption would remain a curse in the region as long as leaders used their financial muscles to buy votes. "Voters in the region tend to elect people on the influence of money. Corrupt candidates will always be corrupt leaders," he said. The function ran under the theme 'Good Governance and Constitutionalism'. Dr Sezibera noted that corruption was still rife in the EAC member states, and a stumbling block to good governance. He commended President John Magufuli for his relentless efforts to fight the vice for the betterment of wananchi. The outgoing EAC boss urged other leaders in the region to emulate President Magufuli's stance on graft. He also echoed the President's statement at the just ended 17th Ordinary EAC Heads of State Summit that it was high time leaders focused on ensuring residents benefitted from integration. He said: "Integration is not just about words, but putting things into action to improve people's lives in the region." Meanwhile, the Head of TradeMark Africa-East African Community (TMA-EAC), Mr Jason Kap-Kirwok, said his organisation will organise more seminars on good governance to member states for citizens to enjoy fruits of the integration. Source: allAfrica