Addis Ababa, 27 November 2020 (ECA) – Africa’s customs experts have given their support to the adoption of continental guidelines to facilitate free and timely flow of cross-border trade amid the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of the start of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 1 January 2021. They made the pledge at a virtual meeting of Directors General of Customs on the continent organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) today, saying that the solutions must be maintained and upgraded following the crisis. The meeting observed that by magnifying Africa’s cross-border inefficiencies, the corona virus pandemic presented an opportunity to reinvigorate efforts at overcoming long-standing trade facilitation challenges. Presenting the guidelines, Mr. Stephen Karingi, ECA’s Director of Regional Integration and Trade, said they were designed to support cross-REC harmonization of Covid-19 guidelines and advance coordination and implementation of common guidelines. He said they would be presented to all relevant AU sub-committees covering customs, transport and infrastructure, among others, for consideration towards their eventual adoption. “The aim is to have the continental guidelines in place early next year to reinforce start of trading under the AfCFTA,” he said. The guidelines cover a number of new sub-sections to respond to specific gaps in existing rules, including the regulation of small-scale cross-border trade and cross-border trade by fishermen, gender considerations, and treatment of essential workers, including transport and humanitarian workers. In his own remarks, AUC’s Acting Director for Trade and Industry Mr. Hussein Hassan said the Commission partnered with...

Ugandans can now travel to Kenya using the 44.5 Kilometre-long Bumbobi-Lwakhakha road, into Bungoma County, western Kenya. The road, which was commissioned on Tuesday by President Yoweri Museveni, has been upgraded to tarmac from all-weather courtesy of a Ush140 billion ($37.6 million loan from the African Development Bank in 2016. The road is expected to deepen regional integration and cross border trade with Kenya, and offers an alternative to the Busia and Malaba border crossings. It also connects to a mineral rich area with gold, uranium, iron ore and lake sand and is projected to open doors to tourism. Traders from both countries have for long used this shorter route to Kenya. Uganda is also constructing the Kapchorwa-Suam road. Uganda Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde told The EastAfrican that the road will also benefit South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda all of which use the route as a transit point for most of their inbound and outbound cargo. “Kenya is our main connection to the outside world by sea and having such roads built will greatly improve trade not just between the two countries but within the entire region. Doing business will be cheaper and transportation of goods will be faster,” she said. Kenya is Uganda’ biggest trade partner with Uganda importing goods worth $600 million from Kenya while Kenya imports goods worth about $500 million from Uganda. According to government projections, the road will also improve access to the “socio-economic facilities and the quality of transport service levels”...

Trade and environmental policies working in concert are vital for unlocking a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and ensuring future resilience to climate change and other environmental disruptions, speakers said at the 16 November online high-level event organized by the WTO and the UN Environment Programme as part of Trade and Environment Week 2020. Policy makers must use the current window of opportunity to build back a greener and more inclusive global economy, they said. “The pandemic has become a stark reminder that nature, human health and the economy are not separate. Rather, they are intimately connected,” WTO Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff said. “The right trade policies would help us not only to get back on track and recover some of the time lost to the crisis from an economic perspective, but also to shift toward a more sustainable and inclusive future,” he said. DDG Wolff highlighted areas where the WTO has acted in support of sustainable trade and where members could redouble efforts to make further progress, highlighting trade opening in environmental goods and services, new initiatives to intensify trade and environment discussions and help combat plastic pollution, Aid for Trade, and further collaboration with the environmental community. His full remarks are available here. UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Anderson affirmed the importance of collaboration. “We are very committed to our partnership with WTO, all the more so when we see the shock the pandemic has caused. Having ministers of environment and trade engage together becomes absolutely...

n November 15, 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific signed the Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), creating the world’s largest trading bloc. This signing arguably marks one of the most remarkable responses of global leaders to the global protectionist trends witnessed since 2016. RCEP negotiations started in 2012 with 16 countries including the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Even with India’s eventual withdrawal in 2019, the agreement is still the world’s largest, encompassing 30 percent of global GDP and 27 percent of global merchandise trade (Figure 1). RCEP also comprises over 18 percent of services trade and 19 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows. Driven by China, the RCEP trade bloc has gained prominence in global trade and investment, and has outstripped the growth of large high-income trade blocs over the past decades. The remarkable growth of China and Southeast Asian economies is reflected in the rising share of the RCEP bloc in global GDP, trade, and FDI over the past two decades (Figure 1). This has also propelled the RCEP to overtake trading blocs, which were much larger at the beginning of the century, including the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union (Figure 2). GOOD NEWS FOR MEMBER COUNTRIES, PARTICULARLY NON-ASEAN RCEP deepens trade and investment relations between member countries mainly through reductions in non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on goods and services trade. The agreement focuses on NTBs as import tariffs were...

Manufacturers have launched standards aimed at enhancing efficiency and accountability at the ports and border points in the country. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) developed by Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) seek to ensure better and more efficient entry operations to facilitate trade and enhance the fight against illicit trade. Speaking at the Launch event on Tuesday, Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina highlighted the government’s commitment to sustain the fight against illicit trade in the country, adding that the vice poses a great threat to the realization of the Government’s Big 4 Agenda. ‘Our ports and other points of entry play a fundamental role in facilitating global trade. The development of these SOPs is therefore an integral part of a successful quality system. They will provide information to perform a job properly and consistently to achieve pre-determined specification and a quality end-result,’ said CS Maina. ‘I assure the private sector of government’s commitment to continue enhancing efficiencies and accountability during the inspection, verification, and clearance of imported goods at our ports of entry. Sustaining the fight against various forms of illicit trade shall enhance the realization of the Government’s Big 4 Agenda,’ she added. Speaking on behalf of the Deputy Head of Public Service and the National Coordinator for enforcement Multi-Agency Team against Illicit Trade Wanyama Musiambo, Ms. Fridah Kaberia, Ag. Executive Director, Anti-Counterfeit Authority noted that, ‘The fight against illicit trade must be enhanced and intensified. We applaud KAM for developing the SOPS. This is an attempt to bring...

In this opinion piece, Prof. Agnes Binagwaho, M.D., MPEd, Ph.D. — vice-chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity in Kigali, Rwanda — and her research associate Kedest Mathewos explain why African countries fared much better than their Western counterparts in the fight against COVID-19. In 2019, the Global Health Security Index ranked countries according to their preparedness for pandemics. The United States was identified as the most prepared country, while most African countries were deemed to be least capable of dealing with any new health threat. Further entrenching this perspective of Africa’s lack of preparedness, Africa as a continent was predicted to have 10 million COVID-19-related deaths. However, this prediction could not have been more wrong, with African countries contributing to only 3.6% of cases and 3.6% of COVID-19 deaths worldwide as of November 13. In the past few months, scientists, global health professionals, and journalists have attempted to explain Africa’s unexpected response to the pandemic. However, these explanations often fail to recognize the reasons behind the prompt response of African countries to the pandemic. Swift response at the continental level Throughout the past 11 months, we have seen that borders do not prevent the spread of this crisis, be it in health or economic sectors. The pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has now spread to more than 217 countries and territories to date. The economic crisis has not spared any country, with the global economy expected to shrink by 5.3% this year. In order to provide a concerted response to this global pandemic, African countries leveraged...

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) has validated a roadmap to implement the protocol on free movement of persons, which is expected to take 10 years. This was arrived at a high-level legal and policy experts meeting of the regional body held in Entebbe, Kampala on November 16-17 and was also endorsed by the Igad committee of ambassadors and ministers in charge of migration and labour. Upon adoption by the region's summit, the roadmap will ease cross-border mobility for its 270 million people, improve regional economic integration and development. The roadmap is awaiting adoption by the Igad Council of Ministers and Assembly. The report also said the roadmap needed to be validated by the experts of member states and then submitted to the Igad Council of Ministers and the Assembly as annex to the Protocol. Currently, nationals of the eight Igad member states require visas to travel around the region, but experts say after the 10-year implementation of the roadmap will do away with this. "We are embarking on a historic journey for our region. This process of implementation will be long but very significant," said Fathia Alwan, the Igad director of social development. Facilitating adoption For Kenya and Uganda, the adjustment will be easy as they already apply visa-free travel under different trading blocs such as the EAC and the Comesa that they are members of. Ms Alwan said implementation of the protocol that paves the way for free movement of the largely youthful population seeking social services but...

Kenya's quest to go paperless and cashless in dispensation of public and private services come January, could unlock an additional Sh7.4 trillion into the economy in 10 years. A newly released report by strategy consulting firm AlphaBeta, which mostly concentrates on macroeconomic analysis and commissioned by IT firm Google found that sanctioning a trusted digital identity platform for all Kenyans will quadruple online commercial activities riding on a faceless and contactless platform. The financial sector will be the biggest beneficiary at Sh2.1 trillion, agriculture (Sh1.7 trillion), infrastructure (Sh1.5 trillion), resources (Sh400 billion) while other sectors will witness a Sh900 billion rise. Government's Sh800 billion revenue could largely be drawn from digital service tax as private sector players trading their goods and services online deduct a 1.5 percent tax form onward remission to the government. "Given the need to rebuild economies following the impact of Covid-19, the importance of capturing this potential digital dividend becomes ever more crucial. Kenya must expand use of the internet to do traditional business on a digital platform," it says. Dgital identity system The study says a government-backed digital identity system would also open never before seen business opportunities where companies could advertise and lease idle fixed assets from manufacturing lines, warehouses, vehicles and even personnel. The sharing economy has largely thrived on the services sector where rental and leasing businesses grow among them the controversial theatre and laboratory equipment leasing by public hospitals. Private entities have also been leasing out retail shelves, computers as well...

An official pact that could prevent trade tensions under the soon to be implemented Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is almost ready. This strategic initiative is under the auspices of the African Union and the International Trade Centre that seeks to make key recommendations on the various products and services that could be productive to respective African countries. This is expected to provide solutions to countries in an effort to avoid overlapping of export sector priorities as countries could potentially prioritize similar produce ahead of AfCFTA implementation next year January. Indeed, AfCFTA represents a major opportunity for countries to boost growth, reduce poverty, and broaden economic inclusion, this according to a World Bank report released this year. It added that if the agreement is fully implemented, the trade pact could boost regional income by 7 percent or US$450 billion, speed up wage growth for women, and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035. Instructively, industry analysts have indicated that the products and services that would be provided by countries under the agreement will be key to boost the expected regional income of US$450 billion. They have suggested that achieving these gains will be particularly important given the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to cause up to US$79 billion in output losses in Africa by the end of 2020. Already, The pandemic has caused major disruptions to trade across the continent. Early this year, the Acting Executive Director of the ITC, Madam...

Summary The Busia market is set to reduce post-harvest losses that often occur due to lack of storage facilities for fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish. Small cross-border traders, long the mainstay of communities straddling the border of Kenya and Uganda and once considered illegal by revenue agencies, will benefit from the construction of an open air market in Busia. The project is part a Ksh1.31 billion ($13.1 million) agreement signed between the government of Kenya and Trade Mark East Africa on November 3. The construction of the Busia Jumuia Cross-Border integrated market will be done jointly with Kenya’s Ministry of East African Community, on 40-acres of land that will hold a retail and wholesale section and a business hub. The retail section is expected to be ready by 2022, and will host at least 2,000 traders. It will also include all-weather stores, stalls, and cold rooms. The market will provide a channel through which the government and other partners can provide trade and market information to traders. “The construction of the Busia market will enhance cross border trade between Kenya and EAC partner states, improve livelihoods, structure trade, formalise informal trade$ and enhance revenue collection by improving the cross-border trading environment,” said Dr Kevit Desai, Kenya’s Principal Secretary, Ministry of EAC and Regional Development during the signing of the grant on November 3, 2020. “The retail section will have a capacity of 2,000 SMEs traders drawn from the Lake Region Economic Trading Bloc effectively linking their trade value chains destined...