The U.S. ditched the Trans-Pacific Partnership, while across the Atlantic, the U.K. is trying to extract itself from the European Union and its single market. But while free trade is under threat in much of the world, African countries are heading in the other direction: the continent is on track to create the largest free trade agreement by population that the world has seen since the 1995 creation of the World Trade Organization. That organization has 164 member countries. On May 30, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will become a reality. All but three of Africa’s 55 countries have signed up, creating a free trade area that covers more than a billion people and a collective GDP of over $2 trillion, and includes most of Africa’s largest economies, including South Africa and Egypt. If hold-outs Benin, Eritrea and Nigeria—Africa’s largest economy—join in, that’s a total of 1.2 billion people and $2.3 trillion in GDP. By way of comparison, NAFTA and the EU-Japan free trade agreement each cover a collective GDP of around $22 trillion. But even when added together, they don’t cover as many people as the AfCFTA will if every African nation joins. Here’s what you need to know about the deal that could transform Africa’s business landscape. WHAT’S THE GOAL? Trade within Africa is in a dire state. A mere 17% of African countries’ exports go to other African countries—compare that with intra-regional trade levels of 59% in Asia and 69% in Europe. That means Africa doesn’t feature much in the way of cross-border value chains. Why? There’s currently a...

THE Congolese Minister for External Trade, Lambert Matuku Memas, on Monday evening toured Northern Province where he was briefed on various economic activities that can benefit citizens of both countries. The minister was in Rwanda for a working visit to witness how rural residents put into practice various policies meant to boost trade activities. As part of his visit to the province, regarded as the country’s food basket, he toured different development activities in Rulindo District, including businesses owned by individuals who promote the Made-in-Rwanda initiative, through agro-processing. The minister observed how juice, wine and biscuits, among other products, are made out of farm produce mainly, passion fruit, at Urwibutso Entreprise owned by Sina Gerard. He also heard from some businesses from the district on how the Government provides them incentives when starting their business through tax holidays and finding them markets abroad. Matuku reiterated his government’s commitment to strengthening ties with Rwanda, particularly through boosting trade between the two countries. He particularly requested that products from Urwibutso Enterprise and other locally made products, including foodstuff, should be regularly exported to Kinshasa. Speaking toThe New Times, the Governor of Northern Province, Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi, who accompanied the visiting minister, said the province was ready to take advantage of the DR Congo market. “We have a new cement plant which will be functional by September that will be supplying high quality cement to Goma and in other parts of Eastern DR Congo. We also have Burera garment factory, which is set...

The Kenyan government has now resorted to vetting of importers and exporters of consolidated cargo in the latest move to curb tax evasion. This comes in the wake of recent piling of cargo at the Nairobi Inland Container Deport (ICD) as authorities opted for 100 per cent verification on containers with consolidated goods. This is on suspicion of under-declaration and misdeclaration by traders in a tax evasion racket that has been denying the government revenues amounting to billions of shillings. Rogue state officials have been accused of colluding with unscrupulous traders to facilitate false declarations, denying the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) requisite taxes, such as import duty, a move said to have led to a loss of over Ksh100 billion(US$987.8million) in the recent past. They are also said to allow in counterfeits into the market and through the transit route into the hinterland in exchange for kickbacks. The verification process has led to delays in cargo clearance at the ICD which has been receiving large consignments of goods in the wake of increased haulage by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). Cargo consolidation The method involves assembling small shipments into a large container for delivery. Commonly seen in international export, it involves packaging, or bundling, multiple small shipments into one large shipment for distribution to the same end location. Instead of individual companies paying substantial shipping costs and dealing with slower shipping speeds, cargo consolidation (sometimes also called freight consolidation) puts items from multiple shippers into one shared shipping container. Speaking during a...

EAST African Community (EAC) partner states have been urged to continuously respond to emerging challenges to cope with aviation and non-aviation demands as well as strive to meet international standards. Speaking at EAC consultative meeting on air transport facilitation here recently, Principal Air Transport Officer with Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), Benjamin Enyenze reminded the forum participants of the key role that air transport plays in promotion of trade, tourism and economic growth in the region. “Air transport facilitation is important aspect of aviation and the EAC airports have to continuously enhance capacity of existing infrastructure to ably cope with future aviation demands, meet international requirements and contend with ever changing threats against civil aviation,” he argued. The aviation expert underscored the importance of EAC Air Transport facilitation forum in ensuring smooth movement of passengers, goods and aircrafts at all EAC international airports. The two-day forum was attended by representatives from ministries, departments and agencies, civil aviation and airport authorities, airlines, customs, immigration and other stakeholders from all the EAC partner states. Among other things, the regional consultative meeting delved on issues that affect air transport in the region to comply with Annex 9 (Air Transport Facilitation) and Annex 17 (Aviation Security) of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. During the forum, the participants also suggested areas of improvements at the airport including, among others, the need to screen imported goods at the cargo terminals for security reasons, to put in place quarantine area for contaminated animals and ensure...

Policymakers and business leaders from across Africa, and representatives of Regional Economic Communities on the continent Monday started a two-day policy dialogue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to map out a strategy for the successful implementation of the of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The dialogue is co-organised by the AU and the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA), a development platform for discussions and reflections. Participants are expected to map out a strategy for implementation of the trade agreement and set the pace for Africa’s aspirations outlined in Agenda 2063. Agenda 2063 is Africa's blueprint for transforming the continent into the global powerhouse. The first session on Monday was opened by the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Chairperson of the CoDA Board of Directors. The session looked into key elements required to establish an efficient and active continental free trade area, beyond tariff liberalisation. Expected outputs include identification and prioritisation of recommendations to remove non-tariff barriers as well as address trade-related infrastructure constraints. The AfCFTA was first signed by African leaders on March 21, 2018 in Kigali and 23 countries have since ratified the deal with up to 52 of the 55 AU member states signatories. Benin, Eritrea and Nigeria are the only countries that have not yet signed the agreement establishing the AfCFTA. Only 22 ratifications were needed for the agreement to go into force. Among other benefits, experts project that the AfCFTA will increase intra-African trade by over 50 per cent and boost the...

Can the threats to the East African Community (EAC) trade bloc, including accusations of “trade wars” and border closures between Rwanda and Uganda, be turned into strengths through mediation by countries such as Kenya? And will the EAC continue taking a lead in Africa’s transformation into a continental economic bloc? The EAC is one of eight regional economic communities recognised by the African Union (AU). One of the ominous questions at its Council of Ministers meeting from 6 to 10 May in Arusha, Tanzania, was whether it would again survive the upheavals that brought it crashing down in 1977, at the height of a customs union success. Will political differences between leaders and feuds between member states halt the momentum achieved since its relaunch in July 2000? Will the new EAC remain possibly Africa’s most successful case for regional integration? Recent headlines highlighting the tensions between Rwanda and Uganda, and Burundi and Rwanda echo the difficulties that precipitated the collapse of the old EAC. These feuds threaten progress within the bloc of six countries with an estimated population of 195-million. The ministerial meetings were set to look at how regional integration could be strengthened. These included reviewing plans for a common currency and a political federation. Discussions of these proposals began at the February summit, where President Paul Kagame of Rwanda took over the presidency from his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni. The success of such plans will confirm the community’s reputation as the most rapidly integrating regional economic bloc over...

Rwanda is looking for $1.3 billion to fund the construction of the proposed Isaka-Kigali standard gauge railway that links Rwanda and Tanzania, a senior Rwandan official said Tuesday. The figure is higher than $1.2 billion revealed during the launch of the 400 km railway line on January 20, 2018 in Dar es Salaam. "The study for Isaka-Kigali SGR is completed," said Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, Minister of State in charge of Transport, while speaking at a local radio station talk show. "Rwanda is looking for a staggering around $1.3 billion to finance its portion with the aim of reducing logistics costs, boosting trade and easing the movement of people between Rwanda and Tanzania." Investing in transport projects is among the Rwandan government's top priorities as a way to attract investment in productive sectors, improve business environment and increase jobs opportunities, he said. Initial studies had shown that the project that will connect landlocked Rwanda to the Dar es Salaam port was estimated to cost $2.5 billion. Source: Rwanda Today

Egypt has announced that it plans to launch a regular maritime line from the port of Ain Sokhna, east of Cairo, to East African countries in October with the aim of ensuring the arrival of Egyptian goods as well as boosting exports to East African countries and landlocked countries, including Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. In a press statement May 19, Public Enterprise Sector Minister Hesham Tawfik said the new maritime line will help boost trade to Africa, transport goods and provide logistical services to exporters and importers, with the aim of promoting trade between Egyptian and African countries and reaching new markets to support the national economy. The minister also said the new maritime line will help Egypt enhance its role as a northern gateway to African trade with European countries. He added that the line will provide elements of logistical support from transport, warehousing and insurance services. Construction for the line started this month; the line is to start in October. The government did not announce the cost of the project and said it will be paid for by the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport announced May 19 that a committee was set up to study the available transport capacities and the development of maritime transport services, in light of the government directives in this regard, in cooperation with the relevant ministries. Economists and transport experts have praised the establishment of the new shipping line, arguing that it will give a push to Egypt’s exports...

Some panelists at the Stakeholders Dialogue on Continental Trade and Strengthening Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) have listed steps necessary for smooth takeoff of the Agreement. Speaking during the opening session of the dialogue on Monday in Ethiopia, the panelists were in agreement that it was not yet Uhuru for AfCFTA, despite successes already achieved. The stakeholders meeting was jointly organised by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA). The News Agency of Nigeria reports that 22 countries have ratified the AfCFTA agreement, meeting the requirements needed for implementation. NAN also reports that Zimbabwe is ready to ratify the Agreement on Tuesday, to bring the number to 23. While Nigeria, Benin and Eritrea are yet to sign up to the AfCFTA agreement, 51 other countries have signed up. One of the panelists, the ECOWAS Permanent Representative to the African Union, Dr Nelson Magbagbeola, called attention to free movement of persons. He said there was need to borrow a leaf from the ECOWAS Trade Equalisation Scheme, adding that this was very critical to the efficiency of AfCFTA. Magbagbeola also pointed out that one of the fears of Nigeria, in withholding signing up to the agreement, is that most African countries do produce goods they lay claim to. “We know for a fact that some countries do not even have factories producing goods they claim are coming from them. “In most cases, what they merely do is to repackage finished goods. There...

Three  Heads of State from the East  Africa Community (EAC) region are set to visit Kenya in August this year to expand their corporation and investment initiatives. The  Ugandan High Commissioner to Kenya, Phibby Otaala  disclosed that the leaders of; Tanzania, Uganda and Democratic  Republic of Congo (DRC) are keen to ensure regional integration is domesticated to benefit citizens at the grassroots. Otaala  said  the  Kenya and Uganda have built a great partnership in trade, investment and tourism which they hope to build  on further. Speaking during the investment Conference and Economic Diplomacy for delegates from both countries in Kisumu on Friday, the  Ambassador  disclosed that  Uganda has 22 industrial parks initiated by the Chinese who are their valuable partners keen to facilitate the economic block. She revealed that so far four counties; Trans Nzoia, Bungoma, Busia and Bomet have already toured Uganda for bench marking on the successful industrial parks and the Kisumu forum was a follow up aimed at enabling the 14 counties raise their  revenue collection. Asked  about the 24 Kenyan fishermen arrested by Ugandan authorities’ Amb. Otaala argued that the move was aimed at  safeguarding the rules and regulations which protected the fishermen from capturing the fingerlings prematurely. However, she promised to follow up the matter to facilitate their release to avoid unnecessary conflicts between the two  neighbouring countries. The  Lake Region Economic Block (LREB) CEO, Abala  Wanga  said Kenya government has so far allocated Kshs. 2.5billion to help support the expansion of maritime transport on...