Increasing trade between the EU and the ACP (African-Caribbean-Pacific), particularly African countries, lay at the heart of the ambition of the Cotonou Agreement. That was supposed to be embodied by regional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with the EU. But it has not worked out that way. Eight percent of EU exports and less than 7% of EU imports came to and from Africa in 2016. Slow to be negotiated, in large part because many African regional blocs felt the European Commission was pushing them to open up access to their markets to European firms, only one EPA has been successfully ratified, with the six-member Southern African Development Community (SADC). No way, EPA The sense that African countries won’t allow themselves to be pushed around by the EU on trade is held by Carlos Lopes, appointed in July as the African Union’s High Representative on the post-Cotonou talks. “The reality is clear that the EPAs were badly negotiated and apart from the SADC, most of them are not implemented,” he told EURACTIV. He added that the deadlines attached to agreeing and ratifying the EPAs were “artificial to give an impression that they were the only way to get access to the European market.” Many African countries can already trade largely duty-free with the EU as ‘least favoured nations’ and felt that the EPAs offered them little. Tanzanian officials have described the proposed EU EPA with the East African Community as “skewed and exploitative”, and such views are shared by a number of...

Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) has put in place an elaborate programme to improve road infrastructure to enhance traffic flow around the port of Mombasa. Mega infrastructure developments are taking shape in Mombasa that are set to enhance its image as the gateway to East and Central Africa and as a tourism hub. The ongoing construction and upgrade of infrastructural projects worth billions of shillings were aimed at facilitating transportation of goods and passengers and boost the economy of the coastal city. In the past, Mombasa, which is a hub for shipping activities, suffered from serious traffic bottlenecks which hindered the flow of cargo in and out of the port of Mombasa. KeNHA’s coast regional director Eng. Jared Makori says a number of projects to expand the capacity of existing roads and upgrades would significantly ease traffic for all commuters going in and out of Mombasa Island. “The upgrades will significantly ease traffic thereby reducing travel time and improving productivity,” he said. The huge road projects completed include the expansion of the Sh6 billion airport-Port Reitz, Magongo and Mombasa-Miritini roads into dual carriageways, interchanges and overpasses. Eng. Makori said other road projects taking shape included the dual carriageway of the Mombasa-Mariakani Highway, Dongo-Kundu Bypass and Mombasa Northern Bypass which were set to increase Mombasa port efficiency. He noted that the construction of the new roads and upgrading of the existing ones would help reduce travel time, improve connectivity as well as improve socio-economic activities in the coastal counties of Mombasa,...

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May's three-day whirlwind tour of sub-Saharan Africa on a mission to strengthen Britain’s post-Brexit trade and investment may not offer much to the continent after it became apparent that the UK will be planning to roll over "copycat" European Union agreements with African nations. In her first stop in South Africa, the Prime Minister announced plans to carry over the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the five member Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) once the EU’s deal no longer applies to the UK. “I am announcing an additional $5.2 billion of UK investment in African economies, with the hope of further matching investment from the private sector to come. I’m also delighted that we will today confirm plans to carry over EU’s Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union and also bring in Mozambique, once the EU’s deal no longer applies to the UK,” PM May said, adding that she is planning to push UK to be the G7’s number one investor in Africa in the next four years. For the region, this comes as an anti-climax given that it had hoped that the visit would be part of an attempt at a new African trade deal. It had been hoped that her visit to Kenya would push for improved trade relations, given that the share has been declining continuously for both countries. In July, the UK Trade Commissioner for Africa Emma Wade-Smith said that post-Brexit, Britain would push for lowering...

China will this week host a forum where development projects for the next three years will be discussed. African leaders are going to Beijing for the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) Summit, hoping to get financing for their mega infrastructure projects. The summit themed "China and Africa: Towards an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation," is meant to link the Belt and Road Initiative with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the AU’s Agenda 2063 and individual countries' development plans. But it comes at a time when some African countries are grappling with an external debt burden and a trade balance favouring Beijing. Credit rating firms and global financial institutions have been advising against taking out further loans, instead recommending fiscal consolidation to arrest the ballooning debt. Kenya, for instance, had taken over $5 billion from China as at the end of March 2018 while Uganda owed China $1.6 billion. Kenya’s National Treasury has recently been under pressure to slow down the growth of public debt, with the International Monetary Fund raising its concerns. Even then, East African Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda — who is also the African Union chairman — Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya are expected to attend the summit and seek financing for their joint infrastructure projects, particularly the standard gauge railway. Kenya is looking to complete the second last phase of the line and Uganda will be inking a deal for its first phase from Malaba...

Kenya has secured a deal to export agricultural products to Britain after it leaves the European Union. Visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday on a visit to Nairobi that her government looks forward to increased trade with non-EU nations as a Brexit selling point. Ms May was speaking on the third stop of a trip to Africa during which, she said, she wants Britain to become the biggest investor on the continent out of the world’s richest nations. “As Britain prepares to leave the European Union we are committed to a smooth transition that ensures continuity in our trading relationship with Kenya, ensuring Kenya retains its duty free quota access to the UK market,” Ms May said. This will benefit the agriculture sector, which is Kenya’s biggest foreign exchange earner and a big source of jobs. The duty free exports will benefit flower, tea, vegetable, and coffee farmers as well as agriculture sector dealers. President Uhuru Kenyatta, speaking alongside Ms May at a news conference, said he welcomed her assurance that Kenyan duty free exports would continue after Brexit, adding that Kenya will be pressing for an increase in exports. British companies are also keen on promoting trade opportunities outside the EU after Brexit. “Kenya is looking forward to doing business with UK businesses that will enhance economic benefits for the two countries,” said President Uhuru. Kenya imported goods worth Sh30 billion from the UK and exported products worth Sh38.5 billion to the country. Margaret Thatcher was...

The East African Community (EAC) is, probably, the most integrated regional bloc in Africa. Earlier this month, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda traveled to Tanzania to meet his counterpart, Dr. John Pombe Magufuli. As reported by the media, the two leaders, among other things, discussed “issues affecting trade relations” between their two countries and in the region. Uganda and Tanzania are two among the six EAC Partner States. The Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community (“EAC Treaty”) was signed on 30 November 1999 and entered into force on 7 July 2000. The EAC integration is still forming. Key pillars such as the common market and the monetary union are yet to take their shapes. So, it’s not very surprising that there are “issues”. Despite marked successes in the customs union, there are several other areas that are not in harmony with each other among the Partner States. One such area is the tax systems. For example, some Partner States levy the excise tax on ad valorem basis (monetary value) while others levy on a specific basis (quantity). Also, Partner States offer tax incentives (say 10 years tax holiday) and others don’t. Capital gains are taxable in some Partner States and exempt in others. What is the implication of all these differences on the free movement of capital, goods, and services? Lack of a certain level of harmonization of the national tax systems and tax policies is among the issues that may be impeding implementation of the common...

THE East African Community (EAC) looks forward to having success stories of the youth, who engage in agriculture for economic prosperity. EAC Deputy Secretary General Christophe Bazivamo said having the successful youths would enable others to learn. He was speaking in Dar es Salaam during a two-day regional validation workshop on best youth agribusiness models in EAC partner states, which started in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. "If properly utilised, the youth have the potential to boost productivity and strengthen inclusive economic growth," he stated. He said in this new initiative, the EAC would be collaborating with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to address youth unemployment through agriculture. "Engaging the youth in an agri-food chain is increasingly seen as a viable solution to youth unemployment, food insecurity, rural poverty and distress migration for EAC," he remarked. According to EAC and FAO, the youth represent 48 million of the total population of the EAC partner states in the next 20 years. The number is expected to grow to 82 million. The EAC senior official urged the youth in the EAC bloc to change the mind-sets and appreciate what they had. For his part, Mr Mohamed Aw- Dahir, senior officer (programme and partnership) in the sub-regional office for Eastern Africa (SFE) said as part of FAO commitment to supporting member states to achieve sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they had also decided to support the youth in agriculture to ensure no one was left behind. Mr Aw-Dahir added that they would enable the...

LONDON – Add Africa to the locations Theresa May is hoping will help shore up Britain’s post-Brexit future. The prime minister on Tuesday promised to tweak her government’s generous aid budget to open doors for UK companies on the continent of a billion people. The longer-term shift to “trade not aid” will have to be dramatic if it is to compensate for the setback of severing close ties with the European Union. There are strong reasons for Britain to promote African development. As May noted in a speech in Cape Town, a more prosperous continent is less likely to breed international jihadists or economic migrants eager to sneak into Europe. The economic rationale, however, looks more suspect. Total trade with Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya – the stops on May’s three-country trip – amounted to £13.1 billion in 2016, according to UK government figures. That’s less than 2.5% of the £554 billion in goods and services that Britain exchanged with the European Union in the same year. In other words, if UK trade with the bloc drops by 2% after it departs, commerce with the three countries – which include Africa’s two largest economies – would have to almost double to make up the difference. At the moment any pickup looks a stretch. Over the last decade, the value of UK-Africa trade has grown at around 1% a year – a trend that is likely to continue given the subdued economic trajectories in South Africa and Nigeria. Besides, the EU...

With the United Kingdom’s (UK) departure from the European Union (EU) imminent, it is no surprise that the UK is currently on a charm offensive, with a view to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships. Going by the UK Prime Minister’s currently ongoing tour of Africa, where she intends to meet and hold trade talks with three African Heads of State, Africa is top on the UK’s global agenda. Evidently, with 16 per cent of the world’s population, but only three per cent of global goods trade, Africa is heralded as the containing untapped trade potential. In support of its new focus on trade partnerships with the African continent, Mrs Teresa May announced an additional GBP 4 billion in British trade and investment support earmarked for Africa, with an expectation that a similar amount will be matched by the private sector. In her pledge, the UK PM signalled a shift in UK’s trade relationships with the African continent. Traditionally, critics have noted with concern that the UK tends to prioritize financial aid targeted at eradicating poverty in the African continent – financial aid that in the long run has not concretely benefit the African continent. Now, with a potential hard Brexit looming in the horizon, the United Kingdom hopes to focus on long-term economic growth and development of the African continent, with the hope that a rapidly industrializing Africa will stand to plug any potential trade deficit resultant of a hard or no-deal Brexit. Indeed, a rapidly industrialising Africa is...

Dar es Salaam. The government is creating a viable space for encouraging agricultural innovative activities in a bid to attract more youth into the sector, which employs about 80 per cent of Tanzanians. The remark was made by the policy advisor for the ministry of Agriculture (Food Security and Co-operatives), Mr Revelian Ngaiza said on Tuesday August 29 when presenting a report in a meeting organised by the East African Community (EAC) in Dar es Salaam. Mr Ngaiza, who represented the ministry’s permanent secretary, said the government had identified the innovative approach as a powerful tool of encouraging the youth to take up agriculture as their main economic activity. “In our two-year pilot project for identifying the challenges making the youth shun agriculture, they have discovered that innovations in agriculture were crucial in attracting the youth to engage in agriculture,” he said. In his opening remarks to such meeting on Best Youth Agri-business Models in East Africa, the EAC deputy secretary general, Mr Christophe Bazivamo, said that since many young people do not regard agriculture in a positive way, there is a need to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to attract them. “ICT can be improved let us say to integrate music and sports in agricultural activities for attracting more youths in this sector,” said Mr Bazivamo. He cited the case of the use of ICT in agri-businesses such as marketing of agricultural produce, which is attracting more youths in Kenya. The EAC senior officer for the UN Food...