The government has now turned to the African Union (AU) as it seeks investors and regional support for the Sh2.5 trillion Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (Lapsset) project. Launched in 2012 during former President Mwai Kibaki's regime, the mega project has been marred with cash constraints and lack of political good-will which has slowed down its implementation. Ethiopia is seen to have shifted focus to the port of Djibouti. Road and rail infrastructure between the two countries including the Ethio-Djibouti railway passenger and freight system, which commenced on January 1, 2018, seem to have also shifted interest away from the Lapsset corridor. It has now emerged the AU High Representative on Infrastructure Development Raila Odinga is keen to rally for support of the project. According to the Lapsset Corridor Development Authority,  a strong case has been made to the AU on the Lapsset project’s strategic position to connect not only Ethiopia and South Sudan, but also connecting to Central African Republic (Bangui) and Cameroon, terminating at Port of Douala. “AU’s special envoy plans to convene a high level meeting with the countries that fall along Africa’s equatorial land bridge later in the year with an aim of forming these crucial transport infrastructure linkages within the continent,” the authority said in a statement last week. This was after a meeting with Odinga to discuss ways of strengthening support for Lapsset projects from AU and other international development institutions. The AU special envoy has since noted that Lapsset corridor project has the potential to boost Africa’s regional social-economic integration through...

The Government is banking on increased regional oil trade to change the fortunes of the revamped Kisumu port.Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said on Tuesday that the growing demand for oil products in the region is expected give impetus to efforts at reviving the revamped port ahead of its opening tomorrow.President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, Tanzania’s Pombe Magufuli and Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo are expected to open the port upgraded at a cost of Sh3 billion.Macharia said as a long-term solution, the State is still considering an extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Naivasha or revival of the old metre-gauge railway if the latter plan takes too long. The option of connecting the SGR to old Naivasha-Malaba metre gauge, he said, was just an interim measure."We had to look at the economics, but if the SGR (connection) takes too long, the Nakuru-Kisumu line remains an option we can turn to because Kisumu is part of the Northern Corridor,” said the CS in an interview.He said the move by Uganda to build a similar jetty as the one by the Kenya Pipeline Company in Kisumu was key in reigniting the triangular trade between Kisumu, Jinja and Mwanza."Kenya Pipeline Company has improved its throughput to the Kisumu depot with the recent launch of a nine six-inch pipeline and a lot of this will be going into the region though lake vessels. We are looking at liquid products to keep the port busy...

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon Amelia Kyambadde is expected to make a strong case for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at the second Regional Logistics Expo 2019 (RLE2019), to be held next week on August 21st and 22nd, 2019 at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. The operational phase of the AfCFTA was launched at the Niger Summit of the African Union, last month, with the free trade area expected to tear down borders and ensure full continental integration. AfCFTA is also expected to drive growth and innovation for Africa, and to create opportunities for sustainable development and realizing Agenda 2063. The AfCFTA will be one of the largest free trade areas since the formation of the World Trade Organisation, given Africa’s current population of 1.2 billion people, which is expected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2050. The Trade Ministry has been rallying Ugandan businesses to be ready to exploit the opportunities that will arise with the continental agreement, with Hon Kyambadde at the forefront. “She is very passionate about AfCFTA,” Mr Julius Kasirye, the Senior Commercial Officer at the Trade Ministry, said. “When she begins speaking about AfCFTA, she convinces you that anything is possible,” Mrs Merian Sebunya, the chairperson of the National Logistics Platform, one of the partners of the RLE2019, added. Both were speaking recently during an Expo preparatory meeting held at the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) offices. The Uganda Freight and Forwarders Association (UFFA) is hosting the Expo, in partnership...

Rwanda’s tea is selling at premium rates at the Mombasa Tea Auction, overshadowing price offers on Kenyan produce as international buyers focus on quality. Weekly price offers for Rwandan teas have been on the rise in the last three months, outshining produce from Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) outlets. This week, broken pekoe-1 (BP1) tea from Gisovu factory — Rwanda’s top outlet — attracted a highest bid of Sh550 per kilo compared to Sh428 per kilo offer that the same grade from Meru-based Githongo factory (Kenya’s best) attracted. Traditionally, Kenya tea has attracted top prices. “Since the grade of tea is the same across the region, that implies quality is what is creating the price difference,” said Mr William Tindi, an executive at the African Tea Brokers. “Buyers may bid high or low depending on quality.” The regional teas are offered for sale at the Mombasa auction by the East African Tea Traders Association before they are shipped out of the country. Kenya, a leading tea exporter in the world, accounts for three quarter of the produce traded at the Mombasa auction. While prices have generally remained low at the auction in the recent months on the back of high volumes, Kenya’s tea is apparently shedding its attractiveness even as factories in Rwanda work to improve the quality for export market. While the produce from the two states, which were almost at par through the April auctions, only one of the KTDA’s 65 processing factories was able to cross the...

Despite having the fastest growing population in the world, more than 95 per cent of world trade takes place outside Africa. Doing business here is very costly and African exports to global markets face challenges that are yet to be addressed. Just recently, the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab went to Thailand to meet with the ten nations of the ASEAN trading bloc in an effort to establish good trading relationships outside of Europe, ahead of Brexit.We need to be thinking in the same way - not to avoid trade with Europe, of course, but to really consider how trade relations will make or break Kenya’s prosperity.The main challenges facing smooth and mutually beneficial trade transactions in Africa are globalisation, supply chains, block chains, and the flow of data. These are new concepts to the entire world, but in Africa, we must jump through an extra level to overcome them. We are still dealing with a lot of corruption and lack of coordination between African states, as well as poverty and unskilled labour markets.However, these shortcomings of the market can be addressed through economic diplomacy. The idea is that economic diplomacy - linking trade with foreign relations - can be used by developing nations as a means to push fast economic development. Foreign policy is bolstered by financial relations. This brings to mind the recent conference on ‘the Future of Economic Diplomacy held in Victoria Falls in Zambia. Notably, President Uhuru Kenyatta, at the invitation of the President Edgar Chagwa...

The Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) Sea cargo regime has gone live at the Port of Mombasa with the clearing of the first consignment of 43,400.835 metric tonnes of clinker. The Vessel transporting the consignment, MV Ptolomeos, docked at the Port of Mombasa at 6.25 a.m. on Saturday, 3rd August 2019 and was offloaded to its destination. The consignment was cleared automatically in the Integrated Customs Management System, after the importer’s clearing agent, Express Shipping and Logistics (ESL), lodged entries in the system and paid duty of Ksh65 million before the arrival of the cargo. The next bulk consignments to be cleared through iCMS are 42,000 metric tonnes of clinker and 25,540 metric tonnes of coal. The former arrived at the Port of Mombasa on 7th August onboard MV Boreas Venture and the latter is expected to arrive on 21st August by MV African Hoeg respectively. The clinker consignment which is still in high seas was cleared pre-arrival following the lodging of entry and payment of duty of Ksh. 62,657,000. The coal importer, Riftcot Limited, has initiated the cargo clearance process by registering an import declaration form (IDF) to have the cargo released through the system. KRA expects to collect revenue of more than Ksh. 40 million from the consignment. The clearance of cargo through the Integrated Customs Management System is a major milestone for efforts by KRA to expedite customs clearance of cargo and enhance trade facilitation. iCMS will reduce the cargo dwell time for compliant imports at the Port of Mombasa since the system does not require...

President Paul Kagame says the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should ease free movement of people as it will for goods because goods cannot move on their own if people cannot move freely. President Kagame made the observation on Friday at the inaugural Private Sector Federation (PSF) Golden Business Forum which brought together over 600 members of the business community from Rwanda and 22 other countries under the theme “Unlocking Intra-Africa Trade”. The Head of State said the pace of regional and continental integration has accelerated significantly in recent years, citing the AfCFTA under which African countries will begin trading in July 2020 as one of the key milestones of integration on the continent, adding that they should ease free movement. “The Protocol on the Free Movement of People has been signed, and the ratification process is underway. Once in effect, Africans will no longer require visas to travel within Africa, among other valuable rights,” “How are we going to allow free movement of goods but you don’t allow free movement of people?” President Kagame wondered. He noted that African countries have to understand that even with most restrictions on movement of people and visas, people have been moving. “They move across borders whether you give them visas or not. Some of these people are brothers and sisters, only that they live on opposite side of what is known as the border,” “It is up to us the leaders to really make it easy for all of us because...

East Africa's intra-regional trade has fallen to 0.2 per cent of global trade due to persistent trade disputes and barriers. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has now launched a study on the impact of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on trade. The study was announced after a meeting between Kenya and Tanzania called to resolve outstanding NTBs in July failed to take off. The EastAfrican has learnt that Unctad is looking for national consultancies from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to come up with a report on NTBs for each country. The national reports will then be compiled into a regional document. Unctad Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi confirmed that the study is underway, but it was too early to discuss it. "I will comment when we have the results of the survey," he said. Despite EAC partner states committing themselves to remove NTBs, they remain prevalent. Attempts by regional states to deal with NTBs through various initiatives like the EAC Time-Bound Programme for Elimination of Identified NTBs (EACS, 2009) seem to have achieved little. Under the EACS, member states were supposed to come up with a list of NTBs reported by partner states, and update them during quarterly review meetings. During the meetings, new NTBs would be reported and those that had been resolved would be moved to the end of the list. Intra-EAC trade is just 20 per cent compared with other regional economic blocs like the South African Development Community (SADC) which stands at 58 per...

The African Development Bank Group has signed a $4.8 million institutional support grant to the African Union (AU) for implementation   of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The grant, approved by the Group’s Board of Directors on 01 April 2019, forms part of a series of interventions by the Bank in its lead role to accelerate implementation of the Free Trade Agreement, seen as a major force for integrating the 55-nation continent and transforming its economy. Albert Muchanga, AU’s Commissioner for Trade and Industry, for the continental body, while Obed Andoh Mensah, representing the Bank’s Director of the Industrial and Trade Development Department (PITD), signed on behalf of the Bank, signaling the startup of implementation. African leaders meeting in Niamey, Niger in early July launched the implementation phase of the free trade area agreement established in March 2018 after it became operational at the end of May this year. Currently, 54 states have signed the deal and are set to begin formal trading next July. “The AfCFTA is going to work and we are confident that by the 1st of July next year, all the 55 countries would have been state parties – meaning, they would have signed and ratified the agreement and intra-African will start,” Muchanga said in a statement and urged countries to use this period to complete the parliamentary processes. In the statement, Muchanga commended the Bank’s strong and consistent support to ensure smooth implementation of the Agreement, saying the grant would be used judiciously for the...

EAC and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed speaking during the East African Business Council 20th annual general meeting said that the Monetary Union envisages a situation where there are common monetary and fiscal policies that enable people to trade in a common currency. He noted that the future role of the East African Business Council should usher in a more dynamic and strengthened self regulation mechanism for the private sector, that focuses on critical issues that will be game changers for the region. The CS said this will enable the citizens in the member states to trade seamlessly with one another more than is currently happening. According to Mohammed, the regional economic groupings are anchored on market-based policies, mainly liberalization, wide public, civil society and private stakeholder involvement and convergence of macro-economic policies. The CS said that the EAC is a strong regional bloc that is the most integrated on the continent, that has seen a lot of growth over the years adding that the private sector in the region continues to play a critical role in economic development. He noted that as an economic block the EAC must make themselves attractive on our Ease of Doing Business agenda. “We must make ourselves attractive on our Ease of Doing Business agenda, infrastructure development and other enablers that support business growth,” said CS Mohammed. He emphasized to the member states the need to stick together as EAC in order to compete at the global stage noting that EAC’s combined market size is...