Source: UGO news Kenya has launched a $13.8 billion railway project to boost the transportation of goods in the region. This railway line which will be used mainly to transport goods and services across the region will start from the port of Mombasa to Uganda and extend to Rwanda and South Sudan. Speaking at the launch on Thursday in Mombasa, Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta said: “What we are doing here will definitely transform the course of development not just for Kenya but the whole eastern African region.” This railway project which is partly funded by the Chinese will cost $13.8 billion. The Chinese ambassador to Kenya Liu Guangyan said this investment will be a landmark project for Kenya and the East African region. China has funded the project only for the first 450-kilometre (280-mile) section — $5.2 billion (3.8 billion euros) — from Mombasa to Nairobi. Work on that section, by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), is expected to be completed by 2017.

Source: The Citizen The European Union (EU) and East African Community (EAC) talks on the Economic Partnership Agreement (Epa) are on course and soon the two sides will reach consensus, the EU head of delegation in the country, Ambassador Filberto Sebregondi, has said. Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Citizen ahead of the commemoration of the EU Week, which starts today, Ambassador Sebregondi said the talks were approaching the end and that the two sides were expecting positive results. He said the agreement will be signed soon. However, the envoy said the process has taken long due to various reasons including misinformation on the matter. “I agree that the process has taken too long, we started these negotiations in 2007, so it is almost 7 years, but as we speak, we are quite close to signing the deal,” he said. He added that there has been misinformation on the Epa issue and that some people in the region think once it is approved, East Africa would be flooded with European cheap products. “The process will be protected by tariffs, so there will be fair competition between the two sides; what I can say is that Epa will boost both sides,” said the envoy. Earlier last year, the EAC Secretary General Dr Richard Sezibera, told reporters in Arusha that negotiations for Epa were progressing and hailed them as the first in history that EAC partner states were negotiating terms of reciprocal trade arrangement with Europe as a bloc. On media...

Source: http://goo.gl/zcRwPH Electronic tracking of goods imported to Uganda or passing through to other countries will start on Friday, Uganda Revenue Authority has said. In a statement, the revenue body has listed nine products which they will start with. These are cigarettes, wines and spirits, beer and beverages, sugar, rice, textiles, motor vehicles imported by individuals, tyres, and used clothes and shoes. Richard Kamajugo, the commissioner for Customs at URA, said these were the most risky goods, the ones most likely to be dumped in the country when destined for export. URA says the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) devices will be attached on trucks that are in transit, and will be monitored until they reach their point of destination. The ECTS relies on a control centre and automatic devices, which send real-time feedback to the control centre. Customs officials can then decide accordingly just in case the system sends information contrary to what had been declared, or shows that the goods are being dumped somewhere. “[The tracking] is free of charge and upon request by clients,” said a URA statement signed by Kamajugo. “Importers may be granted rights to individually monitor their goods while in transit.” Kamajugo has told The Observer that this is a pilot project; if it’s successful, it will spread to other products. The ECTS is expected to help URA curb dumping of goods into the country when they are cleared as destined for neighbouring countries such as South Sudan and Rwanda. Often, after clearance by...

Source: Standard Digital President Uhuru Kenyatta has called on the member states of the East African Community to speed up the adoption of a common currency for the region. President Kenyatta said a single currency will assure faster economic growth for the region and called on the member countries to lay the necessary foundations for it to be achieved. He said the benefits of the EAC union will be achieved when all commitments under agreed protocols are implemented. “We must work diligently to achieve a sustainable macro-economic convergence in terms of inflation, fiscal policies and exchange rate stability” he said. President Kenyatta, who is the chairperson of the EAC Heads of State Summit, also called on the other leaders to involve citizens in the decisions being made towards a common regional market. “This entails the most intense effort we can muster to make every East African aware of what is going on in their Community” he said. He appreciated the sensitizations already undertaken in the five countries but added that more can be done to “ensure that the people of East Africa are not left behind in the integration process”. The customs union of EAC was established in 2005 and in 2010 the common market was started. “These institutions are central pillars of the integration process of our nations and peoples” he said. The EAC is working towards a political federation whose frameworks are being worked on.

Source: Daily News EAST African heads of state meet for their ordinary summit on Wednesday at the time when worker and employer associations in the region are raising concern over conflicting processes in acquiring work permits. The work permit problem is also being tabled just as workers across East Africa are preparing to join their colleagues worldwide in celebrating the International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, on Thursday. It is also approaching five years after the East African Common Market Protocol sailed through. That was the main topic for discussion during the meeting between trade union officials from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi as well as employers from the region. The trade unionists met during their Second Regional Forum Meeting held here under the auspices of the East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) and the East African Employers Organisation (EAEO). Apparently, the East African Common Market Protocol, which was established in July 2010, and whose components include free movement of people, capital and labour across the five EAC member states, seems to be ignored by almost all countries except Rwanda. “It is still very difficult for people to move from one country and work in another due to constraints related to work permits and the cumbersome processes that people undergo to acquire the documents,” the EATUC Executive Secretary, Ms Caroline Khamati-Mugalla, has stated. “Member states need to agree on the harmonization of working permits within the East African countries, because some countries like Tanzania charge over US...

Source: All Africa The Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers and Cabinet Secretary for East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism in Kenya; Hon. Phyllis Kandie today officially launched the EAC Information Resource Centre. Hon. Phyllis Kandie congratulated the EAC Secretariat for achieving this great milestone and emphasized the critical role the Resource Centre in sensitizing the EAC citizenry, noting that; “utilization of information and research data should be used not only to fuel growth and development within the region, but also to spark interest in the EAC integration agenda especially among the youth. She urged the Centre to organize and package information on EAC integration in a way that is both understandable and user-friendly enough to the people of East Africa to have the intended impact. The Chairperson of the Council applauded the development partners, specifically the European Union for their technical and financial support to the Resource Centre and assured that the Council of Ministers’ support to further develop the Centre. In his welcoming remarks, the Secretary General of the East African Community Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera affirmed that digitization of all EAC information resources would improve accessibility of EAC information, preserve it in a digital format and also improve information sharing with EAC Organs and Institutions, Partner States, consultants, researchers, development partners and the general public. The Secretary General reiterated that Article 71 of the Treaty for the Establishment of EAC mandates the EAC Secretariat to promote and disseminate information on the Community to the stakeholders, general...

Source: Shanghai Daily World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday pledged to support efforts by the East Africa Community (EAC) to accelerate integration process. Speaking in Nairobi during a meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, WTO Director General Robert Azevedo said Kenyatta, also the EAC chairman, has effectively used trade to unite people and advocate peace and stability in the region. Azevedo, on his first Africa trip, commended President Kenyatta’ s efforts in mobilizing East Africa leaders and citizens towards integration. East Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, though trade continues to be hampered by tariff as well as non- tariff barriers, including over-stretched ports and time consuming customs and border operations. Experts have however noted that to ensure sustainable business, there was need to put more concerted efforts towards harmonization and mutual recognition of technical standards so as to allow ease of access to the other regional markets. Azevedo praised Kenyatta for quicker movement of goods and people within the EAC region, noting that his organization is ready to facilitate activities of the region. He said his organization is in the process of setting up programmes to help member countries in capacity building in the integration process. Speaking during the meeting, Kenyatta said his wish as EAC chairman is to make the region a shining example to the rest of Africa. He said the EAC integration process is aimed at making it easier for the movement of people and goods which will in turn increase...