Thinking of traversing Africa in search of trade and investment opportunities? You may need to consider what parts of the continent to focus on in terms of flexibility in travel and how visa-open the destination country is. According to the Africa Visa Openness Report 2016 published  by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the most visa-open countries are found in West Africa and East Africa. A massive 75 percent of countries in the top 20 most visa-open countries are in West Africa or East Africa. Surprisingly, only one in North Africa and none in Central Africa are in the top 20 most visa-open countries—underlining the challenges the continent faces in boosting its trade and investment profile. East Africa has the bulk (45 percent) of the top most visa-open countries including Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. West Africa has the second largest cluster (30 percent) of the top most visa open countries including Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Togo, according to the index. The Southern African bloc is ranked third in terms of visa openness in four countries that include Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique and Zambia. Seamless borders are no doubt a boon to trade and investment world over because of free movement labor, goods and capital. The fruits of an open visa policy have been supported by the formal adoption of the European Union (EU) Schengen Agreement in 1995 that abolished the EU’s internal borders, enabling passport-free movement across most of the bloc. The deal helped the...

The East African region is likely to face stiff competition from Southern Africa countries after members of three trade blocs that merged last year agreed to disregard sensitive products in order to ensure fair competition. The 26-member states forming the Tripartite Free Trade Area have agreed that 80 per cent of tariff lines will be liberalised upon implementation of the agreement in June and the remaining 20 per cent will be negotiated over five to eight years. TFTA brings together members of the East African Community, the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa and the South Africa Development Community. This is a reversal of the earlier agreement of having restrictions on the entry of the sensitive goods until 2017 to allow industries to adjust to the competition expected from cheaper products. This effectively opens the door for stiff competition for EAC goods from South Africa and Egyptian exports. Among the products earlier listed for protection were sugar, maize, cement, wheat, rice, textiles, milk and cream, meslin grain and flour, cane and beet sugar, khangas, kikois, kitenges, second-hand clothes, beverages, spirits, plastics, electronic equipment and paper materials. All these will be subject to duty and quota restrictions. “With an agreement to liberalise up to 80 per cent of the goods to other countries, each country or trading bloc like EAC will agree on what goods to liberalise and which ones not to,” said Mark Ogot, senior assistant director at Kenya’s Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism and a tripartite expert, adding that...

Most of the tea produced in region sold at the Mombasa auction, the world’s largest market for the leaves EAST African tea exports to Iran are expected to jump more than fivefold by 2019 as trade ties with the Persian Gulf nation normalise after western sanctions were lifted, a regional tea traders’ association said. Shipments from nations including Kenya, the world’s biggest exporter of black tea, may climb to 20,000 metric tons within the next four years from a record low of 3,200 tons last year, said Edward Mudibo, managing director of the East African Trade Association. “The potential for the Iran market could be five-fold the current status without the restrictions there had been over the past five years,” Mudibo said in a phone interview Wednesday from the port city of Mombasa. Iran is among the world’s 10 biggest tea-consuming nations, with consumption estimated at 83,400 tons in 2013, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation statistics. Financial and trade sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European countries because of its nuclear program curbed access to foreign currency and limited Iranian buyers’ ability to transact. That posed “payment challenges” to East African tea exporters from Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, Mudibo said. Most of the tea produced in East Africa is sold at the Mombasa auction, the world’s largest market for the leaves. The weekly sale handled 358.6 million kilograms (791 million pounds) in 2015, compared with 390.2 million kilogrammes a year earlier, according to data compiled by Tea Brokers East...

KIGALI, Rwanda - The East Africa Tourism Platform (EATP), the regional tourism body, wants all the five East African member states to embrace inter and intra-regional tourism as something good for the East African Community (EAC).  “EATP is represented by each single stakeholder who is in the room; each one of you is an investor in EAC hence I urge you to collaborate, build bridges and strengthen the vision of EATP of a vibrant and diverse single tourism destination by providing exceptional experiences and products,” Manzi Kayihura, the  Chairman of EATP said recently. This was during an open discussion forum hosted by EATP to discuss on the vision of East Africa as a single tourism destination and the feasibility and viability of it. Participants in the two day forum were CEOs and Executive Directors of Private Sector Tourism Associations in the five East African countries, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Tourism Boards in the East African Community member states were also invited as EATP fosters private/public sector collaboration in matters of tourism in the region.  These stakeholders were brought in as policy makers and influencers, and were gathered in the same room to discuss challenges and opportunities of developing tourism in EAC and promote it as a single destination. EATP challenged the participants to look beyond their differences and challenges at their national levels and rally their strength behind finding solutions to common problems. “Solutions will have to come from all of the five partner states, with a unified...

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - The East African Gender Equality and Development Bill, 2016 sailed through the First Reading in the East African Legislative Assembly last week writes ELISHA MAYALLAH. The object of the Bill is to make provision for gender equality, protection and development in the Community. According to the mover of the Bill, Hon Nancy Abisai, the Partner States undertake in Article 6(d) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC not to discriminate against any person on grounds of gender as one of the cornerstones of good governance. The Bill in addition spells out the principles of democracy, rule of law, accountability, social justice, equal opportunities as well as in the protection of human and people’s rights. The Bill accepts that women and men’s contribution in the integration process is fundamental as are the obligations of Partner States to their commitments under the various instruments and Protocols.  However, emerging threats resulting from HIV and AIDS, globalization and human trafficking of women, men and children  as well as the feminization of poverty and gender based violence could impact negatively on their citizens. The Bill contends that whereas the Partner States have over the years recognized the importance of gender equality and have developed programmes and enacted legislation in this pursuit, these efforts are at different levels and certain differences particular to each Partner State.   As a result, gender initiatives affect women, men and children differently across the EAC. The Bill has been forwarded to the relevant Committee by the...

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - The East African Gender Equality and Development Bill, 2016 sailed through the First Reading in the East African Legislative Assembly last week writes ELISHA MAYALLAH. The object of the Bill is to make provision for gender equality, protection and development in the Community.  According to the mover of the Bill, Hon Nancy Abisai, the Partner States undertake in Article 6(d) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC not to discriminate against any person on grounds of gender as one of the cornerstones of good governance. The Bill in addition spells out the principles of democracy, rule of law, accountability, social justice, equal opportunities as well as in the protection of human and people’s rights. The Bill accepts that women and men’s contribution in the integration process is fundamental as are the obligations of Partner States to their commitments under the various instruments and Protocols. However, emerging threats resulting from HIV and AIDS, globalization and human trafficking of women, men and children  as well as the feminization of poverty and gender based violence could impact negatively on their citizens. The Bill contends that whereas the Partner States have over the years recognized the importance of gender equality and have developed programmes and enacted legislation in this pursuit, these efforts are at different levels and certain differences particular to each Partner State.   As a result, gender initiatives affect women, men and children differently across the EAC. The Bill has been forwarded to the relevant Committee by...

In line with its mission and vision, the EATP, the East Africa Tourism Platform, hosted a forum for open discussions on the vision of East Africa as one tourism destination, and the feasibility and viability of this objective. The meeting took place at Elevate Suites in Kigali last week. Invited to the meeting were CEOs and executive directors of private sector tourism associations in the five East African countries, namely from Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Tourism boards in the East African Community member states were also invited to the meeting as EATP fosters private/public-sector collaboration in matters of tourism in the entire region. These stakeholders were invited in their respective capacities as policymakers and influencers to discuss challenges and opportunities of developing tourism in EAC and promoting it as a single destination. For two days, EATP challenged the participants to look beyond their differences and challenges at their national levels and rally their strengths behind finding solutions to common problems. Ms. Carmen Nibigira, the EATP Regional Coordinator, emphasized that solutions will have to come from all of the 5 partner states, with a unified vision and collaboration towards developing regional tourism. Ms. Nibigira hoped the forum gave each tourism stakeholder an opportunity to borrow a leaf from each other in their efforts to develop tourism in East Africa. The priorities which emerged from the 2-day forum that are common to the 5 countries were described as policy regulations, product development and marketing, skills development, and research. EATP called...

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s flower industrialists on Wednesday expressed concern about the uncertainty of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) deal that signed between the EU and the East African Community (EAC) states. Kenya Flower Council (KFC) CEO Jane Ngige told a media briefing in Nairobi that all member states’ parliament are required to endorse the deal by end of June, yet there are concerns about the dynamics of different countries in the EAC, some of which are currently undergoing elections and could delay endorsing the agreement. The EPA, which was initiated by all players in October 2014, should come into force in October. Kenya’s exports account for 40 percent of all EU flower imports. The East African nation exports only seven percent of its local production. The EPA deal provides Kenyan flowers a duty free and quota free access to the EU market which absorbs a majority of its flower exports. "We must work hard to safeguard the market share due to the significance of the flower industry," Ngige said. "We have a lot of potential to increase export earnings if we can access more international markets." As part of market diversification, Kenya wants to reduce its reliance on the flower auction in Netherlands and sell more flowers directly to individual country. Source: Coastweek

The Red Sea has played a pivotal role in global trade for millennia. In the time of the pharaohs, it was at the heart of the global spice trade. Today, it is an essential global artery, feeding Western demand for hydrocarbons and facilitating the flow of goods between Europe and booming Asian markets. More than 10 percent of world trade moves through the Red Sea basin every year, a figure that is set to increase as Egypt doubles the capacity of the Suez Canal. And yet, with a few exceptions, most of the modern wealth generated by that trade sails rapidly onward, leaving little to show for its passage. There is no reason that should continue to be the case. A regional effort to facilitate trade and build infrastructure has the potential to reposition the countries surrounding the Red Sea as destinations for global investment and international trade. The Red Sea region, comprising the 20 countries that use the route as their primary trading corridor, is the largest, fastest-growing, and least exploited emerging market in the world. Over the next 35 years, the United Nations expects the region’s population to rise more than twofold, from 620 million today to 1.3 billion. This population growth will be accompanied by one of the world’s highest urbanization rates, creating a burgeoning middle class, which the Brookings Institution estimates will grow from 136 million today to 343 million by 2050. Over the same period, according to current projections, the region’s GDP will triple, from...

Khartoum — Sudan participated, with a delegation headed by the Minister of Commerce, Ambassador Salah Mohamed Al-Hassan, in the meetings of the Framework Agreement for trade and investment between COMESA countries and the United States of America in Zambia (Lusaka). The Minister of Trade, in a statement to SUNA after returning home Wednesday, that his participation in the two-day meetings during February 7-8 touched on investment opportunities in COMESA region for the US companies and institutions. Ambassador Al-Hassan explained that the meetings touched on access of the COMESA's states' exports to the United States, referring to Sudan receiving of an invitation to participate in the ministerial-level meetings by the COMESA secretariat. The minister said that his speech to the meeting touched on the financial embargo resulting from the US administration's economic sanctions imposed on Sudan, which has had a negative impact on the health and development aspects as well as the commercial exchange with COMESA countries. The Minister of Commerce urged the US delegation participated in the meetings to lift economic sanctions, particularly that Sudan responded to the request of the US administration to allow exporting gum Arabic. The minister pointed out that the head of the US delegation explained that once Sudan responds to a number of human rights-related requirements and stops the war, then it will be ineligible for US aid as well as the freedom of commercial exchange and the return of US investments. The Ambassador Al-Hassan said he would inform the Minister of International Cooperation and...