Kenyan farmers on Tuesday petitioned East African Community (EAC) member states to allocate 10 percent of their national budgets to the agriculture sector as outlined in the African Union (AU) Malabo declaration of 2014. Alphayo Kuruna, chairman of Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum (KESSFF), blamed delay in implementing the declaration to rampant poverty that affects small-holder farmers who produce over 80 percent of food in the region. “The 10 percent allocation should be implemented by the governments during the coming 2019/2020 national budgets to help achieve food security and uplift poor people out of poverty,” Kuruna told journalists in Nairobi. He added that the increase will help end hunger and malnutrition among people in the region once it is implemented by the six EAC member states. Kuruna said that adequate financing of agriculture sector will ensure progressive realization of adequate food availability that will increase trade and enhance resilience due to climate variability. “We are suffering due to failure to implement commitments in agricultural development at national, regional and international level,” said Kuruna. He said that once the Malabo declaration, which was signed by African heads of states, is implemented, it will help improve sustainable agriculture by nearly 50 percent, alleviate poverty of half of the regional population, and increase by three fold intra-regional trade. According to a Malabo Biennial Review report released in January, Rwanda has allocated 6.1 percent, while Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania have allocated 4.8, 4.7, 4.4 and 3.1 percent respectively. South Sudan did not submit...

September 26 (today), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation has convened a high level event in New York on the margins of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. The event aims to further foster the implementation of the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III). Below is a message from Mr Li Yong, the Director General of UNIDO. Since the turn of the millennium, Africa has experienced a steady and unprecedented economic growth. However, poverty continues for people across the continent, especially in the sub-Saharan region. Unemployment and inequality have remained high. The rural population and the urban poor, women and youth have not benefited from economic growth. African policymakers realise that, for the benefits of growth to be shared by all, there needs to be a structural transformation of the economy. Specifically, there is an acknowledgement that its composition should change, with increased shares of manufacturing and agro-related industry in national investment, output, and trade. Manufacturing, thanks to its multiplier effect on other sectors of the economy, has always been one of the most important drivers of economic development and structural change, especially in developing countries. Manufacturing is an “engine of growth” that enhances higher levels of productivity and greater technical change, thus creating more jobs with higher wages for both women and men. Recognising this, the United Nations has proclaimed the period 2016-2025 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III) in order to increase global awareness and encourage partnerships to achieve...

Kenya has announced plans to lobby for closer bilateral ties with African countries in the wake of falling total exports to African countries which have been in a steady decline for the past five years. The country’s exports blueprint will be revealed during the Intra-African Trade Fair which will be held in Cairo, Egypt from December 11 to December 17. Speaking during a press conference in Nairobi on September 26, Exports Promotion Council (EPC) CEO Peter Biwott said that Kenya will lay special emphasis on Tanzania and Uganda in an attempt to improve trade with the East African countries which has largely been affected by trade spats. “We will be seeking to see how many markets we can reach so that we can be able to sell our products. We want to focus more on trade within Africa. We invest a lot in finding markets for our products and that was the main reason that as a government we signed the Africa Continental Free Trade Area treaty in March,” said Biwott. Source Business Today

The East African Community (EAC) bloc is developing a regional Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy to boost its competitiveness, officials said on Tuesday. Gertrude Ngabirano, Executive Secretary of the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), told a media briefing in Nairobi that the draft policy will be submitted to the EASTECO Governing Board for adoption before consideration and approval by the EAC Council of Ministers of the six member states. “We expect that the EAC Heads of State will endorse the STI policy in 2019, so as to create an enabling environment for increased investment in science, technology in order to boost competitiveness, support sustainable regional development and socio-economic transformation,” Ngabirano said during a regional workshop to review and validate draft STI policy and draft Intellectual Property Rights Policy. The EAC Intellectual Property Rights is expected to ensure that new products and innovations generated through research are protected from being stolen by third parties. The EAC policy will be aligned to the African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024.  Ngabirano said that once the regional STI policy is in place, it will guide the development of national science policies by the member states. “It will also harmonise national science policies in order to enhance cooperation and avoid duplication in research activities,” she added. She noted that the policy will put the east African region on the road map of being globally competitive in terms of product development. According to EASTECO, the EAC is performing poorly...

The idea of countries working together under regional economic groupings to achieve real economic development, stability and unity, and growth, might be at stake as some countries move to protect their solo interests. This was observed yesterday during a roundtable debate on regional integration at the University of Kigali. Matters are not helped by cases whereby some countries are moving to protect their own interests, participants said. A case in point, the United Kingdom is in the process of leaving European Union, U.S. leaders are promoting the “America First” agenda, and a few others think that regional economic groupings are not working. In Africa, though, more than ever, the momentum to achieve regional integration is slowly taking shape, experts said. Moses Onyango, a Kenyan expert in international relations, observed that while there is improvement in regional integration across the continent, Africa still has a long way to go to get tangible benefits from the process. “If you look at the level of integration in African countries in comparison with other regions, for example, the European Union, you find that the African integration process is still facing major challenges,” he said. According to him, the issue of financing is what is still limiting the progress of integration in Africa. “Most of the challenges come about because of the member countries’ failure to contribute towards the advancement of the things that they agree on. This is the same problem that East African Community is facing,” he noted. Onyango indicated that for integration...

The Government has allowed private businesses to extend the Standard Gauge Railway line from the Mombasa port’s conventional cargo berths to their premises. This is to facilitate the easy movement of cargo. Grain Bulk Handlers Ltd (GBHL) has already received approval to construct an extension of the SGR line to its facility at Shimanzi in Mombasa. The Government has also approved the construction of a second grain bulk handling terminal at the port, which may also construct its own railway siding, according to Mr Arika. “The Government has allowed private investors an opportunity to extend the SGR line from the conventional cargo berths in a partnership after they expressed interest to handle bulk cargo,” he explained. The two port relief lines are designed to load and evacuate containerised and bulk cargo. Port relief line covers 2.1km while line two, complete with a 700-metre bridge at Kipevu, measures 2.8km. “The relief line to the conventional cargo berth is now ready for use after undergoing test runs. We can deploy two trains moving cargo to the Nairobi South station,” said Arika. The Government is also likely to build a railway line from Miritini to Mombasa’s town centre to bring the passenger services closer to the public. Security area Currently, passengers board the SGR trains at Miritini, about 15km from Mombasa’s central business district. Arika explained that it was impossible for passengers to board the SGR trains at the port, which is closer to the town centre, since the facility was a security...

Lack of information among Kenyan traders on trade opportunities in East Africa, poor infrastructure, unfair competition from Chinese and Indian traders and the country’s unfavourable taxation regime could be hurting the country’s exports in the region. Low value addition of most of the country’s products, unfavourable taxation measures such as value added tax, and industrial development fees among others, make Kenyan manufactured goods five per cent more expensive compared to those of her neighbours. The Export Promotion Council (EPC) said yesterday there are ready opportunities in the manufacturing sub-sectors that have been made even more visible in the Big Four agenda policy. The Council has listed about 25 products that have a ready market in Uganda but that require value addition. “Kenya’s export potential to Uganda is immense. The country has the highest supply capacity in chewing gum. Portland cement, equally is the product that faces the strongest demand potential in Uganda as well as undernatured ethyl alcohol, and beer made from malt,” EPC Chief Executive Officer, Peter Biwott said yesterday. He said that Kenyan traders must take deliberate steps to succeed in the export potential the country presents but they also must rally behind the Big Four agenda policies and implement it by investing in value addition. Biwott said last year’s drought in the country took a huge toll on agricultural production resulting in Kenya turning to Uganda for maize and milk imports. This combined with entry of other cheap imports from Uganda and a depreciated value of the...

Imported cars will soon be transporting on the standard gauge railway (SGR) after the completion of the railway line to cover 10 berths at the port of Mombasa is complete. According to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), this will boost efficiency as it will enable car-go discharged from a ship to be loaded directly onto the SGR freight trains. This means more than 200,000 imported cars can be now transported via SGR trains annually. The SGR will also be able to handle non-containerised (conventional) cargo such as clinker, fertiliser, grains, and steels. The development is another blow to road transporters who have been ferrying cars as the SGR freight trains will take most of the truck jobs. Car Importers Association of Kenya chairman Peter Otieno asked KPA not to force importers to use the SGR trains when the services start. SEEK AGREEMENT “So long as they are doing it under the agreement with the importer, then we don’t have a problem with it. We will have a problem if we are forced to use the wagons when we are not ready for it,” said Mr Otieno. He said it should be left to importers to decide if they want to ferry their vehicles through SGR. “It is the importer who can decide whether his or her cargo should be taken by either the SGR or trucks. They should not be forced to use the trains against their wish,” Mr Otieno added. The main SGR line between Mombasa and Nairobi is linked...

The contest between China and the West over Africa has made us forget our home, East Africa. There was a time when East Africa trended more than the rest of the world. It was the golden age when going to study in Uganda from Kenya or the other way was cool. We had the University of East Africa that ended in 1970, with each country getting its own university. That is not different from what’s happening in Kenya today, with each county yearning for its own university. History has no manners. It has a bad habit of repeating itself. We all know what happened to academia when the University of East Africa was devolved. Will the same happen as each hamlet gets its own university? I will say it for the umpteenth time that each East African country should have started other universities and left the University of East Africa intact. The few years this tri-country university existed was the golden age of academia in the region. Those who schooled there still call the shots in their countries and beyond. They straddle every profession from medicine to academia and politics. Shaken from their comfort zones, they dared dream. Find out who they are… And why not! Leaving your country endured single purposefulness and risk-taking. Today, we no longer want to leave our village from kindergarten to university. We love the comfort of familiarity but not the dent in our entrepreneurial spirit. Paradoxically, East Africans are more likely to study abroad...

Imagine a world where women and men, boys and girls are guaranteed equal rights and opportunities. This is the sole goal the newly launched East Africa Community (EAC) Gender Policy seeks to achieve. The journey which begun in 2006 culminated in a victory for both men and women as the policy roots for gender equality and equity, two pillars upon which the first steps to this journey were founded. During the launch at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania last Monday, Christophe Bazivamo the community’s deputy secretary general productive and social sectors, said the policy was developed out of the recognition that there still are disparities among men and women in various spheres of life. “For example, despite various accomplishments by Partner States in educating the girl child, and despite the various skills possessed by women and girls, there is poor representation of women in the employment sector and more so in political representation,” he said. The Treaty establishing the East African Community in Article 121 provides for women’s participation in governance including appropriate affirmative action at all levels. Rwanda leads in women representation with 64 per cent in the national Parliament, 38 per cent in Cabinet and 45 per cent in Public Service.  Kenya is among other partner states lagging behind in meeting the one third gender representation at all levels in government. Women representation in parliament stands at 28 per cent, 29 in Cabinet and 37 per cent in public service. Notably, gender inequalities have been blamed for...