EAST African Business Council (EABC) has hailed President John Magufuli and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta for their quest to promote the role of private sector in the East African Community (EAC) integration process. EABC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Mathuki issued the laudatory message to the two leaders who are part of the EAC Heads of State Summit, saying that the duo has demonstrated and reiterated their commitments to the EAC integration during their recent meeting in Chato, Geita. “Their words and action have re-energised optimism and reassured the East Africans of their deep commitments to uphold the spirit of the EAC regional integration process,” said Mr Mathuki yesterday. He further commended the EAC Summit for recognising the role of the private sector as the engine and driver of economic growth, reaffirming commitment to the principles of the EAC Common Market. The principles include nondiscrimination of nationals of other partner states on grounds of nationality, equal treatment of nationals of other partner states and transparency in matters concerning other partner states. “Indeed, political goodwill is critical to accelerate and boost intra-EAC trade and opportunities that lie on our own doorsteps. Together, we remain as one people, one destiny,” said Mr Mathuki who is also a former East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member. Policy predictability and maintaining a liberal stance towards the Freedoms and Rights enshrined in the Common Market Protocol shall increase cross border trade and investments and significantly contribute to employment creation, export growth, revenue collection, wealth creation...

The ink on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)agreement is dry and the players are ready to trade, but a large and complicated hurdle remains - non-tariff barriers (NTBs). NTBs are a wide range of restrictive regulations and procedures, other than tariffs, that make trade difficult and/or costly. They are one of the main roadblocks to trade on the African continent – much more than tariffs and include customs clearance delays, restrictive licensing processes, certification challenges and rules of origin. “The time and costs of moving goods in Africa will be reduced if there is political willingness to fight non-tariff barriers,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said. AfCFTA online NTBs reporting tool by UNCTAD and the African Union UNCTAD and the African Union are taking on these barriers through an online tool that aims to facilitate quicker and more efficient trade. Niger’s president, Issoufou Mahamadou, and Dr. Kituyi presented the new tradebarriers.africa platform to the African Union at the 12thAfrican Union Extraordinary Summit in Niamey, Niger on 7 July. “Looking at the map of Africa, one has a sad feeling of facing a broken mirror. Our generation has the historic responsibility of breaking these borders,” Mr. Mahamadou said. “The AfCFTA will benefit all Africans.” The AfCFTA non-tariff barriers online mechanism is designed to improve intra-African trade by offering a site for reporting and resolving non-tariff barriers experienced by businesses, particularly small ones, and those owned by women and youth. Lowering and managing non-tariff barriers better will also help maximize the anticipated benefits of the free...

Regional importers and exporters have asked the Kenya Revenue Authority to suspend implementation of the new Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) until they address application challenges. The traders say the launch of the system this week was premature and that KRA did not train them in its use. The iCMS was launched in line with the World Trade Organisation’s requirement for simplification and harmonisation of international trade procedures. SINGLE-WINDOW SYSTEM The iCMS involves submitting export or import documents into a single-window system and is expected to reduce clearing time by at least 60 per cent. It replaces the Simba System, which runs on multiple platforms and requires multiple points of authentication for users, thereby taking more time. KRA says the new system has interactive capabilities that will eliminate redundant processes and automate all manual processes in the Simba System. In the iCMS, traders are required to submit sea manifests for both imports and exports 48 hours before a vessel arrives or departs. The manifest must include the Courier/Consolidator PIN to enable the cargo deconsolidation process and cargo handlers are required to ensure their systems are ready to receive system-to-system Customs Release Messages as manual releases will be discontinued. Once successfully implemented, all importers and exporters using it will be able to track their cargo. CHALLENGES But traders, shipping line agents, clearing and forwarding agents claim it was hurriedly implemented, leaving many struggling to learn how it works. Some say they do not have passwords to access the system, and have...

Busia and Malaba are among the border points where officials from the chamber of commerce will be stationed to make cross-border trade easier. Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Richard Ngatia on Monday said establishing stations in such border points will go along way in boosting trade. He spoke during the launch of the Kenya Trade Week and Expo. Ngatia said the chamber has obtained a desk at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, through the Ministry of Trade, for efficient issuance of documents such as certificates of origin. Also targeted are Namanga, Isebania, Moyale, Mombasa and Eldoret to serve exporters. This comes after Deputy President William Ruto said despite a rise in trade volumes in recent years, the balance is not in favour of Kenya because the country imports more than it exports. He said there is a need for the country to seize the opportunity of access to free trade area market to bridge the trade gap. Interventions, such as the proposal by the KNCCI, would make export a less tedious task, shoring up volumes of trade in favour of the country. Building a case for the proposal to make clearance at the border point easy, Ngatia said an efficient and easy issuance of vital trade documents will increase revenue streams for the taxman. For example, Ngatia said, the automation of issuance of ordinary certificates of origin in 2015 increased the revenue collected from Sh1.6 million to Sh4.5 million per month. Further, as part of ensuring a widened access to international...

July 10—Ugandan logistic firms are teaming up with relevant government institutions to organize an expo intended to highlight bottlenecks and find solutions in the industry amidst moves for closer regional integration in the East African Community (EAC). “Right now, the sector is fragmented. There is also no specific regulations, or statistics on the sector. If we are going to participate competitively in the EAC and beyond, we must be organised as a sector in the areas I have mentioned,” Hussein Kiddedde, who chairs the Uganda Freight Forwarders Association (UFFA) said during news conference Tuesday. A notable characteristic of Uganda’s freight business was expressed in a 2017 report published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), ‘Most of the cargo transport between Mombasa and Kampala occurs in an outbound direction, i.e. trucks driving towards Kampala are typically fully loaded while trucks driving in the direction of Mombasa are often empty’. UFFA, in partnership with the National Logistics Platform, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and the Ministry of Transport and Works is to hold the Second Regional Logistics Expo 2019 on August 21 in Kampala. Officials said they want to bring together the public and private sector to discuss developments, challenges and the way forward for the logistics sector. Private Sector Foundation-Uganda (PSFU) executive director, Gideon Badagawa said Uganda is well positioned to be a regional trade distribution hub. However he said there is a need for the logistics sector to reorganize due to its importance in the regional supply chain. “There is a...

Leading East African planning, design, architecture and engineering team FBW Group is playing its part in the drive to transform the region’s logistics sector and boost trade opportunities. FBW is part of a consortium currently carrying out feasibility studies centred on the creation of special ‘trade and logistics clusters’ near borders and points of entry in countries across East Africa. Aid-for-trade organisation TradeMark Africa (TMA), funded by UK AID and other donors, is behind the strategy to create special industrial parks and export processing zones to attract investors and boost trade, stimulate growth and create more jobs and better jobs. It is looking to invest $400m to create a million new jobs by 2022 by reducing trade costs by 10 per cent and increasing exports by 25 per cent. FBW Group has operations in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, and a team of more than 30 professionals delivering high value construction and development projects in the region. It is part of a consortium led by international development consulting company IPE Global that is currently studying possible logistics cluster sites across a number of locations. FBW’s role is to examine the ‘buildability’ of sites and to undertake physical assessments to assess their potential and viability. Moving forward, the group will be involved in master planning schemes that are being taken forward and the preparation of designs for contractor tenders. FBW Group managing director Paul Moores, based in Kampala, said: “We’re delighted to be playing our part in this truly transformation project...

Last week, the UK joined countries from around the world at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) annual Aid for Trade Global Review, calling on our trading partners to help boost developing countries’ participation in the global trading system. Trade is a key driver of economic growth and can trigger positive changes in developing economies; helping to raise incomes, create jobs and lift people out of poverty. Thanks in no small measure to free and open trade, a billion people have been taken out of absolute poverty in one generation, boosting global prosperity and security. All of this is bolstered by developing countries’ membership of the WTO. In joining the world’s largest trade organisation, nations gain improved market access to almost every nation in the world; a cost-effective way to negotiate better trade terms with all 164 members at once; consistent and predictable trade rules that allow businesses to export and invest with confidence; and access to a fair mechanism to resolve disputes with other nations. As one of the world’s largest economies and most vocal advocates of free and fair trade, the UK is committed to ensuring that developing countries can participate fully in the global system. We must also ensure that development and global prosperity are at the heart of our trade policy.  We need a WTO which empowers all WTO members, including developing nations, to help build open and competitive markets that work for all of us. This means ensuring that developing countries have the knowledge, skills and...

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 dialogues. 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. Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Trade Dr Chris Kiptoo, represented by the Assistant Director of External Trade Mrs. Helen Kenani, opened the meeting. In his statement, he said the variation of SPS capacity across COMESA countries and the...

A United Nations agency suggests that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement has the potential both to boost intra-African trade by 52.3 per cent – by 2020 – by eliminating import duties, and to double this trade if non-tariff barriers are also reduced. analysis For the past 18 months, Nigerian Stakeholders were able to reach a common ground on the need to get on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) train, believed to spur growth, boost job creation as well as eliminate barriers against Nigerian products and allow for free movement of “made in Africa” goods. President Muhammadu Buhari has taken the bold step by deciding to sign the framework agreement for establishing AfCFTA today. Adedayo Adejobi writes on the unique essence of the alliance, benefits and implications for Nigeria’s economy as well as the eternal challenge of duly implementing the initiative by the federal government It is no news that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, at the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia January last year, announced Nigeria’s decision to put off AfCFTA free trade deal signing in order to allow more time for input from Nigerian stakeholders. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) last year approved the signing of the deal, which it said would boost the country’s export, “spur growth and boost job creation as well as eliminate barriers against Nigeria’s products and provide a Dispute Settlement Mechanism for stopping the hostile and...

Kigali 2 July 2019 (ECA) - In an effort to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA, Trademark East Africa and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) signed in  June 2019 a Memorandum of Understanding, which provides the two parties with the framework to collaborate, with the aim of paving the way for stronger cooperation in helping countries increase their levels of intra-regional trade and investments. To cement that partnership, the two institutions successfully collaborated in an event organised by TradeMark Africa under the topic:  Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Women and Youth are Crucial to Africa's Economic Transformation. The session was held during the 2019 European Development Days meeting on the 18th-19thJune in Brussels, During the meeting, Andrew Mold, Acting Director of ECA in Eastern Africa explained the ambitious nature of the AfCFTA, saying that AfCFTA is not, as its name denotes, simply a 'free trade area'. "It encompasses ambitions to proceed to a single unified continental market", he said. Mold stressed that the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers and harmonization of standards called for under the AfCFTA represent a unique opportunity to boost intra-regional trade and investment, allowing companies and farmers to tap into rapidly growing markets of Africa. "Sectors that are set to benefit the most are the labour-intensive manufacturing and services industries where women and youth are well represented," he emphasized. The Chief Technical Officer of TradeMark Africa, Allen Asiimwe, told the participants at the meeting that: 'Policymakers should start looking at the collective power...