The meeting which took place on Thursday and Friday last week convened over 30 participants, including donors providing financial support to the NEPAD-IPPF Special Fund, representatives of the African Development Bank, African Union Commission, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Regional Economic Communities, Regional Power Pools, Corridors Authorities and Transboundary River basin organisations. Members agreed to implement recommendations of NEPAD-IPPF's independent evaluation held in 2019, and also approved operational reforms and the 2020 work programme. EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Steven Mlote, thanked the bank for its generous support over the past 20 years which he said had resulted in numerous achievements in various sectors including transport, energy, one stop border posts, ICT and Trans-Boundary Water Projects. He said the recently completed Arusha-Tengeru dual carriageway and the Arusha by-pass had substantially improved traffic flow in the Arusha region while the counterpart section in Kenya – the Taveta-Mwatate road, has opened up a new and shorter trade and transport route for Rwanda and Burundi from the port of Mombasa. "Along the Coast of East Africa, the transport corridor from Malindi in Kenya to Bagamoyo in Tanzania is due for upgrading with funds from the Bank. It is gratifying to note that its preparation was funded by the NEPAD-IPPF. This road will close the missing surface transport link between the EAC and SADC regions which traverses Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique," he added. The successes of initial bank-funded multinational projects between Kenya and Tanzania provided the impetus to widen...

Businesses are rooting for capping of the common external tariff at 32.5 percent by East African Community member states. East African Business Council’s CEO Peter Mathuki says the new tariff would be presented during the forthcoming EAC member states summit slated for later this month for ratification. The meeting is also expected to deliberate on admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, who have expressed interest to join the trading bloc. However, businesses from EAC member states say they have brokered a deal to cap common external tariff at 32.5% with the proposal expected to be presented during the forthcoming EAC summit in Arusha slated for later this month in efforts to harmonize the tax regime in the trading bloc. The council has called on the member states to expedite in establishing a single regional air space and one network area to further lower the cost of doing business in the region. The proposal by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia to join the East African Community trading bloc is at an advanced stage. The forthcoming summit is also expected to handle trade issues between member states. Source: KBC Channel

Negotiators have agreed to raise the East Africa Community’s (EAC) upper tariff band to 32 percent, breaking a deadlock that has delayed review of the customs taxes for close to 10 years. At the moment, the region’s three-band common external tariff (CET) structure has an upper rate of 25 percent, which is blamed by the private sector for letting in cheaper goods from outside the bloc. The region currently charges zero percent on raw materials and capital goods, 10 percent on inputs and 25 percent on finished goods imports. In addition, there are a number of products such as maize, rice and textile which the EAC has put under the sensitive list to attract CET at rates between 35 and 100 percent because they can be produced within. The agreement implies that tariffs will be reviewed to charge import duty of 32 percent on all finished goods from non-EAC states. “We mediated and arrived at an upper band of 32 percent, a figure we thought would be favourable to everyone,” said Mr Peter Mathuki, CEO of the East African Business Council (EABC). Through the years of negotiation, Kenya and Uganda have been pushing for a higher upper CET band of 35 percent “to protect the local industries from influx of cheap goods” while Rwanda has been keen on an upper limit of 30 percent. The new band will have to be ratified by the council of ministers before being presented to the Heads of States Summit later this month. Throughout...

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) held its 30th Oversight Committee meeting for the Special Fund at the headquarters of the East African Community, in Arusha, Tanzania. The meeting which took place on the 13th and 14th of February 2020, convened over 30 participants, including donors providing financial support to the NEPAD-IPPF Special Fund, representatives of the African Development Bank, African Union Commission, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Regional Economic Communities, Regional Power Pools, Corridors Authorities and Transboundary River basin organizations. Members agreed to implement recommendations of NEPAD-IPPF’s independent evaluation held in 2019, and also approved operational reforms and the 2020 work program. EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Steven Mlote, thanked the Bank for its generous support over the past 20 years which he said had resulted in numerous achievements in various sectors including transport, energy, one stop border posts, ICT and Trans-Boundary Water Projects. He said the recently completed Arusha-Tengeru dual carriageway and the Arusha by-pass had substantially improved traffic flow in the Arusha region while the counterpart section in Kenya – the Taveta-Mwatate road, has opened up a new and shorter trade and transport route for Rwanda and Burundi from the port of Mombasa. “Along the Coast of East Africa, the transport corridor from Malindi in Kenya to Bagamoyo in Tanzania is due for upgrading with funds from the Bank. It is gratifying to note that its preparation was funded by the NEPAD-IPPF. This road will close the missing surface transport link between the EAC and SADC regions which...

Content provided by APO Group. CNBC Africa provides content from APO Group as a service to its readers, but does not edit the articles it publishes. CNBC Africa is not responsible for the content provided by APO Group. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) held its 30th Oversight Committee meeting for the Special Fund at the headquarters of the East African Community, in Arusha, Tanzania. The meeting which took place on the 13th and 14th of February 2020, convened over 30 participants, including donors providing financial support to the NEPAD-IPPF Special Fund, representatives of the African Development Bank, African Union Commission, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Regional Economic Communities, Regional Power Pools, Corridors Authorities and Transboundary River basin organizations. Members agreed to implement recommendations of NEPAD-IPPF’s independent evaluation held in 2019, and also approved operational reforms and the 2020 work program. EAC Deputy Secretary-General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Steven Mlote, thanked the Bank for its generous support over the past 20 years which he said had resulted in numerous achievements in various sectors including transport, energy, one-stop border posts, ICT and Trans-Boundary Water Projects. He said the recently completed Arusha-Tengeru dual carriageway and the Arusha by-pass had substantially improved traffic flow in the Arusha region while the counterpart section in Kenya – the Taveta-Mwatate road, has opened up a new and shorter trade and transport route for Rwanda and Burundi from the port of Mombasa. “Along the Coast of East Africa, the transport...

Importers in East Africa will from July operate under a common Customs bond, which guarantees uniform import duties and taxes across all partner states. Currently, the value of Customs bonds varies from country to country because of the application of different duty rates, valuation and sensitivity of goods. Kenya requires importers of transit goods to secure a Customs bond issued by an insurance company, while delicate or sensitive cargo requires a bank or cash guarantee. In Uganda and Rwanda, the Customs bond is issued by an insurance company with rates based on the taxes charged by the destination country. According to the East Africa Community Single Custom Territory Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, the common Customs bond will reduce the cost of doing business and goods turnaround time. This common Customs bond is expected to be adopted during the Council of Ministers in July as part of the pillar to create a Customs Union. It is meant to create a level playing field for the region's producers by imposing uniform competition laws, Customs procedures and external tariffs on goods imported from countries outside the EAC. The Monitoring and Evaluation Committee met in Mombasa, Kenya to discuss how to tackle the remaining trade barriers. They agreed that enhancing integration of Customs and port functions will ease the seamless exchange of information among partner states. Source: The East African

Importers in East Africa will from July operate under a common Customs bond, which guarantees uniform import duties and taxes across all partner states. Currently, the value of Customs bonds varies from country to country because of the application of different duty rates, valuation and sensitivity of goods. Kenya requires importers of transit goods to secure a Customs bond issued by an insurance company, while delicate or sensitive cargo requires a bank or cash guarantee. In Uganda and Rwanda, the Customs bond is issued by an insurance company with rates based on the taxes charged by the destination country. According to the East Africa Community Single Custom Territory Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, the common Customs bond will reduce the cost of doing business and goods turnaround time. This common Customs bond is expected to be adopted during the Council of Ministers in July as part of the pillar to create a Customs Union. It is meant to create a level playing field for the region's producers by imposing uniform competition laws, Customs procedures and external tariffs on goods imported from countries outside the EAC. The Monitoring and Evaluation Committee met in Mombasa, Kenya to discuss how to tackle the remaining trade barriers. They agreed that enhancing integration of Customs and port functions will ease the seamless exchange of information among partner states. To secure cargo movement in the region, the revenue commissioners from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda, who were in attendance, said they were already implementing cargo tracking...

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 20: (Top L-R) South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmend, Angola's President Joao Lourenco, Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, World Bank President David Malpass, UN executive secretary of Economic Commission for Africa Vera Songwe and IMF Africa Director Abebe Aemro Selassie, (Middle L-R) Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Malawi's President Peter Mutharika, Britain's Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, Guinea's President Alpha Conde, Britain's International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo, Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and Tunisia's President Kais Saied, (Bottom L-R) Britain's International Development Secretary Alok Sharma, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio, Senegal's President Macky Sall, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi, Morocco's Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani and Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara pose during the family photo at the start of the UK-Africa Investment Summit on January 20, 2020 in London, England. The British PM is hosting African leaders and senior government representatives along with British and African businesses during the UK-Africa Investment Summit, aimed at strengthening the UK’s economic partnership with African nations. By CNN For Citizen Digital British companies have made bigger profits investing in Africa than in any other region of the world, according to a new report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), which urges firms to...

In Summary The committee noted that there was a significant improvement of cargo transit time along the Northern Corridor following infrastructure initiatives undertaken in Kenya between 2013 and 2019. On infrastructure, the committee agreed to seek funds to improve roads especially in South Sudan, where less than one per cent of roads are in a good state according to the Northern Corridor Transit Transport Co-ordination Authority 2019 report. By ANTHONY KITIMO The 10-year-old Northern Corridor trade agreement will be updated by March to address emerging trade opportunities, meet current needs and boost regional trade. This was the main resolution of the 48th executive meeting of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Co-ordination Authority member states — meeting in Mombasa, Kenya recently. The member states are Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. “The revised draft of Agreement and protocols has been received and is awaiting a validation workshop in March this year before its submission to the Council of Ministers,” said executive secretary Omae Nyarandi. The revised trade agreement will include the use of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway, which was not there in 2007 when the agreements were being drawn up; joint funding of infrastructure such as roads, one-stop-border posts, motion weighbridges; and speed up implementation of the Customs Union Protocol by adopting a single window system for regional custom data transfer to end cross-border delays. Trade Mark East Africa has committed budgetary support of $393,000 for the recruitment of system developers to enhance the current...

By CORRESPONDENT, ARUSHA, Tanzania, Feb 3 – The East African Business Council (EABC) in partnership with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) has convened trade and policy experts from the EAC Partner States in Arusha, Tanzania; to chart out a joint regional policy advocacy agenda so as to spur business across EAC borders.  Enhancing collaboration and creating synergies among the East African Business Council, National Apex Business Associations and Chambers of Commerce in the regional is important towards informing and harmonizing policy advocacy initiatives that reflect business challenges experienced at national level.   “Voicing barriers and proposing solutions on boosting trade, in one voice as the East African business community reinforces our advocacy efforts towards improving the business environment in the EAC,” said Dr. Peter Mathuki, EABC CEO in his opening remarks.  Dr. Mathuki urged the experts to analyze the implications of new dynamics such as the BREXIT and AfCFTA towards East African businesses and craft solutions on boosting intra-EAC trade to 30 percent. He said concerted advocacy efforts are needed to fast track the finalization of the comprehensive review of the EAC Common External Tariff to boost industrialization and regional value chains.  The regional policy advocacy agenda aims to harness the economic potential of the EAC by analyzing trade and investment barriers blocking businesses to take full advantage of the EAC Customs Union and Common Market.  The experts mention operationalization of the EAC Trade Remedies Committees; harmonization of customs & domestic taxes; elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers; harmonization of Standards & SPS Measures; Open Skies...