The hopes of China’s president Xi Jinping to play a more assertive role on the world stage were under pressure on Thursday as he headed to the G20 summit amid a trade war with the US and blows to his flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Mr Xi, who has reversed years of foreign policy caution, landed in Osaka amid reports that Tanzania had suspended a port project and Kenya halted construction on a coal power plant, dealing a major blow to Beijing’s ambitions in Africa. The port in the Tanzanian town of Bagamoyo was worth $10bn and would have been the largest in east Africa. But financing terms presented by the Chinese were “exploitative and awkward,” said John Magufuli, Tanzania’s president. “They want us to give them a guarantee of 33 years and a lease of 99 years, and we should not question whoever comes to invest there once the port is operational,” said Mr Magufuli. “They want to take the land as their own but we have to compensate them for drilling construction of that port.” When Mr Xi launched the BRI in 2013, developing nations enthusiastically signed on for loans to fund big projects that would set them on the path to prosperity. But six years on new governments are starting to cancel and renegotiate contracts given the weight of Chinese debt, casting doubt on the $1 trillion initiative set  to inaugurate a new ‘Silk Road’. Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port was a cautionary tale for many. After...

  The standard gauge railway (SGR) train in Kenya. Plans are underway to extend the planned Rwanda-Tanzania SGR to eastern DR Congo. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP A plan by Tanzania and Rwanda to extend the joint standard gauge railway line to link Kigali and Rubavu on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo seems to have gained fresh impetus after President Felix Tshisekedi’s recent visit to Dar es Salaam. Kinshasa has given the green light for a feasibility study to be carried out to pave the way for the stretch to its eastern border. President Tshisekedi said in Dar es Salaam that the extension of the SGR to Rubavu will open up trade opportunities for the country which, according to a TradeMark Africa report, depends entirely on the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa for its imports and exports. The detailed design for an extended line from Isaka in Tanzania to Kigali in Rwanda, covering 575km, was agreed on and both countries are going to finance the project at a cost of $2.5 billion, with Tanzania paying $1.3 billion and Rwanda $1.2 billion. Rwanda will incur another expense to cover the extended line to Rubavu. ASSURANCE President Tshisekedi assured President John Magufuli of Tanzania of increased volumes of his country’s exports and imports through Dar es Salaam, which will be connected with the SGR when is complete.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 26, 2019 (ECA) - All is set for the two-day regional trade forum for the Horn of Africa focusing on the implementation of the historic African Continental Free Trade Agreement that went into force on 30 May. The theme of the forum is: 'AfCFTA Implementation: Breaking Down Geographical, Logistical and Regulatory Barriers to Trade and Investment in the Horn to Boost Industrialisation: A Focus on the Pharmaceutical Industry'. Speaking on the eve of the meeting. Stephen Karingi, Director of the Economic Commission for Africa's (ECA) Regional Integration and Trade Division, said much work now needs to be done now that the AfCFTA is in force. 'These regional trade forums, besides providing platforms for member States, business communities, researchers and others to access cutting-edge evidence-based policy analysis and briefs, methodologies and tools to support shared gains from the AfCFTA, will allow the region to discuss what needs to be put in place in terms of policies to ensure every African benefits,' Mr. Karingi said. He said sessions, which will focus on a number of sub-themes, including boosting competitiveness and job creation in the Horn of Africa with pharmaceuticals as an example; stocktaking - completing the investment, competition and intellectual property protocols of the Phase II agenda; broadening policy space and taking advantage of flexibilities, will encourage participants to expand their thinking and explore fresh opportunities under the new continental market. 'Thanks to the AfCFTA, Africa is now in a position to say market size is no longer...

The  Eas  African Business Council (EABC) has urged the private sector and policy makers to embrace intra-trade as a means of boosting Africa’s economy. This  is  a  move that will see the success of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) project that will create a single economic market in Africa as  a means of reducing cost of doing business, reducing trading levies and increasing efficiency and standards of doing business in Africa. Speaking  on Monday during the official opening of the EABC Regional Consultative workshop on AfCFTA, the EABC Chairman, Nick  Nesbitt  said that improving  intra-trade will enhance competitiveness in the continent which will extend the value addition chain in the member states. “If  we embrace intra-trade, there will be regional value addition by improving the manufacturing sector which will open up markets across the region advancing Africa’s economy and living standards,” he said. Nesbitt  also  said that improving intra-trade will integrate different countries, different businesses and political agenda making it easier for business people  to trade within the continent. The  Chairman  added that less trade is done in the continent compared to other continents because of the difficulty in doing business and urged the key players  in trade to deal with the issues so as to ensure the success of trade in Africa. “Doing business in Africa is difficult due to physical, travel, telecommunication, political and non-tariff barriers. We need to deal with these issues together as the private sector and the policy makers to boost trade in Africa,”...

Addis Ababa, 24 June 2019 (ECA) -The operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its implications for the Horn of Africa, particularly in terms of industrialization, economic diversification and job creation, will be the focus of a Regional Trade Forum on 27-28 June in Addis Ababa. The Forum aims to provide a unique platform for all stakeholders, from policy makers to private sector actors, academics and civil society organisations, to explore the extent to which the AfCFTA can be a game changer in the Horn and help address its specific trade and competitiveness challenges. Participants are expected to come up with recommendations on how to use the AfCFTA as a policy tool to create positive change and impact in the sub-region as well as advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. specific and concrete transboundary issues, such as interconnected power grids, shipping, transport related logistics corridors, and mining and development projects. The Regional Trade Forum is co-organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with the African Union Commission and the Government of Ethiopia, in partnership with the IGAD Secretariat, Afreximbank, TradeMark Africa and the Ethiopian Airlines Group. Under the general theme of “AfCFTA Ratification and Implementation: Breaking Down Geographical, Logistical and Regulatory Barriers to Trade and Investment in the Horn to Boost Industrialisation – A Focus on the Pharmaceutical Industry”, the forum will include plenaries and roundtables organized around nine topics: The AfCFTA: Boosting Competitiveness and Job Creation in the Horn of Africa – pharmaceuticals as...

Regional countries are set to increase market access for their agricultural products following the commencement of a new capacity building project to mainstream sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) priorities into national policies. The project is titled: ‘Mainstreaming SPS capacity building into the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and other National Policy Frameworks to Enhance Market Access’. The project has a budget of US$ 464,075 out of which US$ 390,075 is provided by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) a World Trade Organization (WTO) agency. The project covers five countries that are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Malawi. It is being implemented under the ‘Prioritizing SPS Investments for Market Access (P-IMA) framework, an initiative of the STDF. Kenya is the second country after Uganda, to start implementing the project with the inception meeting and high-level stakeholder dialogue taking place yesterday followed by training on P-IMA from today to Thursday this week in Nairobi. The events bring together experts from the private sector, relevant public sector departments and institutions of government to build consensus on the most critical SPS priorities and investments. The P-IMA framework is an evidence-based approach to inform and improve SPS planning and decision-making processes. It helps to link SPS investments to public policy goals including export growth, agricultural productivity, and poverty reduction. Currently, intra COMESA trade remains low relative to other regions, at around 11% of total COMESA exports with the majority of traded products...

THE East African Business Council and his development partners convened a two-day meeting in Nairobi, Kenya this weekend to deliberate on liberalisation of goods and services in a bid to repositioning the EAC region in light of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Over 40 industry and business experts from the region attended the meeting organised also by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), International Trade Centre (ITC) and TradeMark Africa. We find the Nairobi forum has come at the most opportune time as without strategies the region will not be able to benefit fully from the agreement covering a market of 1.2bn people with a combined GDP of 2.5 trillion US dollars. The AfCFTA aims to establish a single continental market for goods and services, and ease the free movement of businesspeople and investment across the continent. Ultimately, the deal seeks to boost intra-regional trade levels, promote investment and job creation, and help transform the economic landscape of the continent in favour of higher value added and wealth generation. Signatory countries will need to drop 90 per cent of their tariffs for imports from other African states. According to the United Nations, this could boost intra-African trade by 52.3 per cent. And once countries drop their remaining tariffs, which they will be allowed to maintain for a decade in order to protect key industries, the U.N. says intra-African trade will double. However all these will not drop like manna from heaven. There will be challenges to navigate before...

Successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement could be dependent on aspects such as provisions where countries grant each other trade preferences for goods produced in Africa rather than imports from outside the continent. With the agreement already in force since May after meeting the minimum required ratifications. Trade experts say that by scrapping import and tariffs and quotas among themselves on most traded goods, African countries would be well placed to make the most competitive advantage of firms within the Free Trade Area. The provision, known as ‘Rules of Origin,’ is currently under negotiations with experts saying it is likely to be a huge determinant for the success of AfCFTA. If well effected, the provision will see African products feature across the continent and becoming more competitive. The provision will go beyond allowing goods from the continent access to markets to ensuring competitiveness. But a recent study by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed that many of the AfCFTA gains could be undermined if rules of origin are not appropriately designed and enforced to support preferential trade liberalisation. For instance, if the provision of rules of origin are favourable and ideal, East Africa’s tea exports to the rest of the continent, especially Northern Africa would likely become more competitive. Between 2015 and 2017, about 43 per cent of the imports to Africa were shipped from China while 17 per cent was from India and Sri Lanka. Well-designed preferential trade liberalisation could see East African...

As ratification of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) moves forward slowly, a landmark free trade agreement has been signed several thousand miles away on the continent of Africa. While 52 African nations signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), to date 24 have ratified the agreement (22 were needed to actually bring the agreement into force). The AfCFTA breaks new ground and ushers the continent towards being a more seamless and frictionless trade region. Though it could be argued that these African nations are largely underdeveloped, the collective GDP of all the 55 states in Africa accounts for a staggering $3 trillion, making it the fifth-largest trade front in the world. This is excellent news for the U.S., as the African nations coalescing into a single trade region will greatly help in expediting unified trade deals, rather than developing tailor-made trade agreements with individual countries across the continent. The timing of this development also suits U.S. interests, coming at a time when there is an escalation of trade tariff exchanges between the U.S. and China. Over the last decade, Africa has become the hotspot for investment, with superpowers like Russia and China channeling billions of dollars to gain a strategic foothold on the continent. Beijing has been especially aggressive, investing heavily in Africa to widen its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that aims at reviving the ancient Silk Route and also extend much further to account for all major trading partners of China. The U.S. has accused China of using...

Lest we forget, it was on November 30, 1999 at Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha, Tanzania that three heads of state (of the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania) put pen to paper and signed the treaty that revived the EAC. Again, to jog our memory, the EAC had earlier been established from 1967 and it collapsed 10 years later in 1977. The current EAC 20-year journey has been remarkable, the inevitable challenges notwithstanding. The framers of the treaty that established the EAC envisaged a community that would be anchored on four pillars. This is aptly captured in Article 5 where the partner states undertook “to establish among themselves, a Customs Union, a Common Market, subsequently a Monetary Union and ultimately a Political Federation.” The partner states have signed and ratified three protocols in line with these pillars. Implementation of these protocols is at various stages with a commendable degree of success. The pillars are very crucial forerunners to the ultimate goal of political federation. Thus, in 2017, the EAC heads of state agreed on political confederation as a transitional model to full East African Political Federation. All the partner states have, accordingly, nominated experts and set up a team that is currently working on the confederation constitution. Uganda’s former Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki and Makerere University’s Prof Murindwa Rutanga are part of this team. When asked to highlight the salient achievements of the 20-year EAC integration, one is spoilt for choice....