NAIROBI, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday established a framework for the management, coordination and integration of public port, railway and pipeline services under the Kenya Transport and Logistics Network (KTLN). In an Executive Order issued in Nairobi, Kenyatta said the network brings together Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (KPC) under the coordination of the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC). "KTLN will leverage on the efficiencies and synergies of the four State agencies so as to achieve Kenya's strategic agenda of becoming a regional logistics hub," he said. Kenyatta said the new framework also allows for the centralization and coordination of operations without amending the existing laws or causing undue disruption to the legal structuring of the State entities. He said the new structure is expected to lead to the lowering of the cost of doing business in the country through the provision of port, rail and pipeline infrastructure in a cost-effective and efficient manner, and within acceptable shared benchmark standards. The president said the four State agencies have been transferred to the National Treasury in line with the recommendations of the presidential task force on parastatal reforms. In the new arrangement, Kenyatta said, the ICDC will act as a holding company to the three agencies, and be responsible for the management of the State's investments in ports, rail and pipeline services. He said the State agencies will be required to enter into a joint operations agreement...

Port, railway and pipeline operations will now be managed by under a single entity in a move aimed at turning Kenya into a commercial regional logistics hub. The development was announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta in an Executive Order on Friday establishing the Kenya Transport and Logistics Network (KTLN) to oversee the flow of cargo from Mombasa port to the hinterlands and East Africa export markets. In effect, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) will now fall under the State-owned Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC), which will be headed by newly appointed John Ngumi for a three-year term that ends on May 2022. “Going forward, the State agencies have 30 days to enter into a joint operations agreement where each entity will re-organise their structures, resources, operations and services towards establishment of a seamless and coordinated national transport and logistics network,” said President Kenyatta. The agencies have also been transferred to the National Treasury, which is expected to provide personnel to boost oversight in investment portfolio management while ensuring each is professionally run thereby enabling them meet their individual targets. The setting up of KTLN comes amid rising concerns over conflicting directives that cause operational delays as agencies operate independently. This has seen importers, manufacturers, among other port users protest over numerous levies paid to the separate entities where delays in evacuation of cargo cost them a tidy sum due to storage and demurrage costs. President Kenyatta said the new structure creates...

The Kenya Railways has come up with freight rate charges as it prepares to begin operations in Nanyuki town. According to the corporation, cargo transporters will pay Sh4,720 per tonne for transport from Mombasa to Nanyuki. While cargo from Athi River to Sagana will incur a fee of Sh846 per tonne. The agency also announced that cargo from Nanyuki to Nairobi will be charged Sh730 per tonne and those from Sagana to Nairobi will be charged Sh400 per tonne. For petroleum products, transporters will be expected to pay Sh1,640 per tonne to ferry petrol from Nairobi to Nanyuki. While from Mombasa to Nanyuki, they will incur a cost of Sh4,940 per tonne. To transport diesel from Nairobi to Nanyuki one will pay Sh1,560 per tonne and Sh4,720 per tonne from Mombasa to Nanyuki. Kenya Railways said livestock being transported will be charged according to the distance covered. For short distances up to 200 kilometres, transporters moving big animals will pay Sh930 per head and Sh465 per head for small animals. For longer distances up to 250 kilometres, Sh1,400 will be paid for big animals per head and Sh700 for small animal per head. Mount Kenya Focus for Trade Executives Diana Kendi said the railway services will cut logistic costs for businessmen in the region. Ms Kendi said the region is banking on its agricultural products, which will be transported at a lower prices. "If farmers transport food at a cheaper price, traders and consumers will get them at cheaper prices,"...

ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Vera Songwe, on Thursday emphasized the need to boost intra-Africa trade in order to augment Africa's share in the global trading platform. The ECA chief made the urgent call during a virtual meeting on African perspectives on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and prospects for regional trade cooperation on Thursday, as she emphasized the need to strengthen trade among African countries. "Africa's trade in the global community was 2 percent two decades ago. We are still at 2 percent despite having joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and having more countries that trade outside the continent more," Songwe told the virtual event. "Let's develop our productive capacity to transform our goods from raw commodities," the ECA Executive Secretary added. According to Songwe, when Africa trades with itself, it creates more value, and whenever it creates more value, it creates more wealth and reduces poverty. "The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement offers countries opportunities to develop regional value chains and increase competitiveness in the global markets," she said. Songwe also noted that African countries are "driving a solidified trade voice and a resoluteness to implement the AfCFTA." "This renewed and reinvigorated approach to trade is necessary for economic growth and job creation on the continent," she stressed. The AfCFTA offers a new hope and continental exhilaration in terms of boosting intra-African trade, facilitating Africa's development and industrialization. According to the ECA, once...

Summary Disapproval has since manifested itself in the recent lawsuit presented to the East African Court of Justice. Kenya’s unilateral move to pursue a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US triggered criticism from its fellow East African Community and the African Union members. Disapproval has since manifested itself in the recent lawsuit presented to the East African Court of Justice. The announcement of the bilateral negotiations in February led to many prominent figures, including the former deputy chairperson of the AU Commission, Erastus Mwencha, to caution against the deal, saying “bilateral free trade negotiations with third parties because they jeopardise the AfCFTA”. Mr Mwencha’s position is premised on the idea that Kenya would have struck a better deal had it coordinated with its fellow AU members. The legal frustrations surrounding the deal are two-fold. The first predicament emanates from Article 37 4(b) of the EAC’s Customs Union Protocol that addresses “Trade Arrangements with Countries and Organisations Outside the Customs Union”. Member states are required to send the EAC secretary-general the terms of third party deal for review. But Kenya’s pursuit of an FTA cannot amount to a substantive deviation of EAC rules; the Customs Union Protocol does not proscribe bilateral trade deals with non-EAC parties. What is debateable is the impact of the “comments” — whether such reservations have the power to override a deal. The Article is ambiguous and highlights loopholes in Africa’s regional trade rules. The second hurdle is tethered to Article 37 of the Common Market...

In a conversation with IMF Country Focus, Rwanda’s Minister of State in Charge of National Treasury Richard Tusabe explains how his government is leveraging technology and grass-roots networks to fight the spread of COVID-19 and ensure financial support for households and businesses. What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the country and what sectors suffered most? Most of the impact has been on Rwanda’s services sector, which has been adversely affected by limitations on international travel and social distancing measures. The services sector is projected to grow by only 1 percent in 2020 due to lower trade (imports are expected to fall by 7 percent) and travel. Travel to Rwanda has fallen by 70 percent, which has caused a major impact on the tourism industry. The agricultural sector, which is a major economic driver, was also impacted, further to the already expected decline because of adverse weather. A reduction in demand due to COVID-19 as well as a drop in international prices of export crops has made the situation worse. The industrial sector will also slow because of a drop in demand and delays in foreign direct investment in the construction sector. Economic growth is projected to slow down to 2 percent in 2020 from 9.4 percent in 2019. In the medium term, the economy is expected to recover with growth reaching 6.3 percent in 2021, and back to its average growth of 8 percent in 2022. Rwanda’s use of grassroots networks and local governments has been cited as an...

NAIROBI, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's exports to African countries, particularly in the East African Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) markets, are resurging as more nations reopen amid the battle against COVID-19, the country's apex bank said in a report released on Thursday. New economic data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that while the exports slowed down in March when the pandemic broke out in many countries in Africa, they rose from April. The African countries covered in the data from the CBK include Tanzania, Somalia, Zambia, Egypt, Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, with Uganda leading as the top export destination for goods from Kenya. Kenya in March exported to Uganda goods worth 684 million shillings (6.4 million U.S. dollars), and in April, the exports fell by more than half to 2.5 million dollars before resurging in May to 4.4 million dollars, according to the apex bank. To Egypt, Kenya in March exported goods worth 1.4 million dollars, falling to 1.2 million dollars in April and then resurging to 1.3 million in May. Exports to Rwanda fell to 831,775 dollars in April from 1.3 million in March before resurging to 1.34 million in May. A similar trend was witnessed across the other export destinations with total shipments standing at 15 million dollars in May, up from 12.6 million dollars in April and 23 million dollars in March. Kenya's exports to various African countries include coffee, tea, sugar, confectionery, pharmaceutical products, cement,...

Poor infrastructure, logistical hurdles and high prices are some of the challenges that have affected Africa's food supply. With border closures and night curfews, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these problems. In the busy market of Baba Dogo — a town located northeast of Nairobi, Kenya — Irene Kwira sells clothing she imports from China, Uganda and Tanzania. Kwira's supply chain broke when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world and forced many manufacturing industries to shut down businesses and countries to close borders. Kenya took similar measures to limit the spread of the virus. "This meant that we could not get our goods easily because they could not reach us," Kwira told DW. "So the returns were low and we would buy goods at a higher price because the demand could not match the supply." Kenya closed its borders and allowed only essential goods to be imported and transported throughout the country. The government's decision on what counts as essential services also made Kwira's job of selling her stock exponentially harder. "It's difficult to send goods timely to my customers within the country due to the curfew," Kwira said. Cross border trade in East Africa hampered by the coronavirus Kwira is not the only merchant affected by the pandemic. Shoe seller Nico Manyasia has battled to stay afloat and keep clients happy. "Goods cannot reach the customers in good time," Manyasia said, adding that merchants must wait weeks to get their deliveries. Medical supplies affected in Ghana In Tamale, Ghana's northern region, the road leading to the Janjori...

COMESA, SADC, and the EAC have adopted common transport and trade guidelines to use during the pandemic. The tripartite guidelines will facilitate the safe movement of goods and services and contain the pandemic within the three trading blocs. It is also an opportunity towards the achievement of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) signed in 2015. According to the trade guidelines, member countries will now treat truck drivers who test positive for COVID-19 in the partner country as opposed to repatriating the crew to the country of origin. Speaking during the harmonization of the trade protocols, COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force Chairperson Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax noted that mobility restrictions during the pandemic have resulted in shortages of goods, thus higher cost of doing business. Similarly, cross border restrictions have led to the stigmatization of truck drivers which threatens efforts to contain the virus. Dr tax, therefore, called for harmonized guidelines for the movement of goods and people, to tackle these challenges, and others to stimulate traffic in the region. Drivers are to use gazetted transit routes along the transport corridor and interconnecting roads. Governments in the region will also designate specific points in the route to allow drivers to recuperate, without risking contact with local communities. The tripartite trade guidelines urge member states to introduce and enhance the pre-clearance of goods and adapt common surveillance systems for both drivers and trucks. Leaders in the regional blocs have also called shipping lines to waive charges on container delays and costs for handling essential goods during...

The launch of the digital Covid-19 certificates by East African Community (EAC) is set for Friday in a move that will curb the use of fake certificates and help in easing of congestion at the crossing points. EAC says the system will be launched at border points of Malaba, Rusumo, and Kobero today (Friday), while at Mutukula crossing point and Namanga it will be effected on August 14 and 21 respectively. Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking system will ease the movement of goods at the border points as it will allow sharing of Covid-19 test results of truck drivers electronically, eliminating the need for physical checks, which has been blamed for causing delays in clearance. The reliance of hard-to-verify manual certificates has been blamed for costly long delays at border points, that sometimes last for weeks. “Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracing System will be launched at border points of Malaba, Rusumo, Kobero, Mutukula and Namanga… this August,” said EAC. The Ministry of Health had in June said the roll-out of the electronic certificate will be implemented once the member states put in place a technology that will link all the laboratories and ensure a seamless operation. The precautionary measures laid down by the ministry are meant to stop the spread of Covid-19 along transport corridors after Busia County emerged as the virus hotspot. The move follows claims that truck drivers useg fake certificates to cross to neighbouring countries and into Kenya. It is also designed to ensure that truck...