When Kenya put pen to paper next month to sign a Sh380 billion contract for the second phase of the Standard Gauge Railway(SGR), the total cost for the project will hit Sh800 billion. The Mombasa-Nairobi phase cost Sh327 billion, the extension to Naivasha costs Sh150 billion and the final phase will cost Sh380 billion. According to government's plan, phase 2B of the SGR project will start at the planned Naivasha Industrial Park where Phase 2A ends. It will pass through Narok, Bomet, Kericho counties and terminate in Kisumu where the government will put up a modern inland port. The railway line will have 25 stations including a county station in Kisumu, six intermediate stations, and 18 crossing stations. A statement posted on the FOCAC website on August 1 said that a contractor of the extended Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) had already started laying tracks and rail sleepers as implementation of the mega infrastructure project gathers steam. The contractor, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) said the laying of tracks and rail sleepers is being carried out from Narok towards Nairobi. The 120-km Nairobi-Naivasha line is the first of the three segments that make up the second phase of the SGR project that ends in Malaba town located at the Kenya-Uganda border. The site quoted Steve Zhao, the CCCC Kenya SGR Project spokesman, saying the erection of t-beams and laying of the rail sleepers from Nairobi will be handled by section office number seven while section office number six will oversee...

The Kenya Ports Authority has recorded an overall improvement in its key year on year performance indicators as well as an increase in cargo handled six months into the year. In June the port handled throughput of 2,720,000-deadweight tonnage (DWT) representing a 0.6 per cent increase compared to the same month last year, a report released yesterday showed. The growth is attributable to an increase in dry bulk and containerised cargo, which recorded an increase of 6.8 per cent and 10.6 per cent respectively. January to June saw the port register a 2.4 per cent growth in throughput compared to the same period last year. Imports took a lion’s share of the throughput at 83.6 per cent, while exports registered 12.5 per cent. Transshipment cargo recorded 3.6 percent of the total traffic. The strong freight figures were equally demonstrated by the growth of container traffic. In June, the port registered 106,153 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEU’s) compared to 99,727 TEUs handled last year and posting an increase of 6.9 percent. The cumulative container traffic from January to June saw an increase of 5.3 per cent with the port handling 614,625 TEUs compared to 583,661 TEUs during a similar period last year. Speaking on the performance report, KPA’s acting managing director Daniel Manduku said whereas the increase of throughput and container traffic is an indication of vibrant economic activities in the region, the performance indicators of the port authority had equally improved. “Numbers give a concise picture and our performance indicators...

ACA is expected to use the funds to develop an online platform that will improve the efficiency of tracing and seizing of counterfeit goods. The signing ceremony will be witnessed by the ACA Executive Director, Elema Halake, and TMA Kenya Country Director, Ahmed Farah. This kitty will go a long way in supporting Kenya’s renewed war on counterfeits. According to a study on the vice of counterfeiting in Kenya, which was done in 2012, it is estimated that Kenyan manufacturers are losing at least 40 per cent of their market share to counterfeiters. An approximate Ksh30 billion (US$ 42 million) is lost by Kenyan manufacturers annually, while the government loses Ksh6 billion (US$80million) as potential tax revenue. The move by TMA comes at a time when the government has heightened the war against counterfeits. In May this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned a multi-agency team to lead the fight against counterfeits and illicit trade in the country. It constitutes the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), the National Police Service, Kenya Railways, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Board, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Anti Counterfeit Agency, Public Health services, Immigration services and Weights and Measurements Service Kenya. The team which has heightened surveillance in the country’s points of entry has been conducting raids which have successfully nabbed counterfeit goods worth more than Ksh76.5 billion. During a recent briefing to the President, the multi-agency team said it had identified key areas in which it will focus on as it continues with...

Operations at the Kenya’s Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) will soon be digitalised thanks to a move by the agency, to sign a financing agreement worth $1.5 million with the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The move is expected to ease the information flow from detection, reporting and destruction of illicit goods in the country. The funding which according to TradeMark Africa (TMA) statement will be channeled through TMA’s and  will see the regional agency provide technical and project financing support to the agency with the aim to better and efficiently serve their stakeholders nationally, regionally and globally. This financing agreement comes at a time when there is increased outcry from manufacturers and consumers due to the increased trade in counterfeits in the country.  Counterfeiting adversely affects IPR owners’ investments, government revenue and safety of the public.  With the government’s drive on the big four agenda, ensuring that manufacturers intellectual property rights are respected is a critical success factor for the Manufacturing Agenda. The digitalisation once implemented will ensure that, ACA inspectors, other law enforcement agencies, IPR owners and the members of the public have at their disposal instruments and tools that will deter counterfeiting, enhance the process of detecting, reporting and impounding counterfeit goods, and ensure a transparent process on how counterfeit goods are destroyed. In Kenya, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers estimates that 40% of their market share is lost due to counterfeiting with other emerging costs going to policing their intellectual property. Other estimates from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers...

Kenya on Monday received $1.5 million support from Trade Mark East Africa towards supporting the digitalization of its operations and services to fight counterfeit goods.The proposed digitalization project will involve development of ICT-enabled solutions for ease in the detection of counterfeits by consumers and research and awareness programs to establish the national public awareness on counterfeit goods. The financing agreement comes at a time of increased outcry from manufacturers and consumers due to the growing trade in counterfeits in Kenya. Counterfeit products are estimated to cost Kenya about $2 billion annually in unpaid taxes. The signing was witnessed by the Anti-Counterfeit Agency chairperson, Mrs Flora Mutai, TradeMark Africa (TMA) Kenya Country Programme Director, Ahmed Farah and UKAID Head of Sustainable Economic Development, Ian Mills. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Nairobi, the Anti-Counterfeit Agency chairperson Mrs Flora Mutai appreciated the support from TradeMark Africa towards digitising its operations and noted the increased challenge posed by counterfeiters who are using modern technology to copy trademarks and industrial designs up to undetectable levels. “Technology has now moved to the wrong hands. We are witnessing illicit trade crime sophistication due to IT in wrong hands” she said. “The overall aim of this project and intervention is to take the necessary steps to mitigate and eliminate counterfeiting and to subsequently create an attractive and conducive trade environment for businesses to flourish. This automation is in line with the East Africa governments’ trade facilitation initiatives that reduce barriers to trade,” said TMA Kenya Country Programme...

Whoever coined the popular saying that big boys don’t cry may have had Kenya in mind in the context of regional trade. East Africa Community’s big boy Kenya has remained mum even when blatantly backstabbed by its neighbours. Instead, the country has feigned valiance or ignorance even when its peers invite it to a duel. Perhaps this is out of fear that it could lose some of the key trading partners and markets for its products. And after months of  a trade spat with Tanzania in which Kenya’s products have been denied entry into the country, Kenya now has to grapple with an alarming rise in illegal imports from Uganda. Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan make up the EAC. Manufactured products from Kampala have flooded the Kenyan market, most of them having been imported cheaply from outside the regional market. Instead of coming through the port of Mombasa as has been the tradition, a good chunk of these products is flown directly to the landlocked country from Guangzhou,China. Most of these imports from China and India are also made in Kenya. Consequently, has been struggling to stem their flow into the local market to protect local industries. Under the EAC’s Common Market Protocol, such goods would ordinarily be slapped with heavy tariffs by Kenyan tax authorities if they find their way into the country. “When such a product is brought into the Kenyan market, it attracts duty at the EAC common external tariff rate,” said Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)...

The Anti-Counterfeit Agency has received Sh150 million to develop an online platform that will help local consumers check and report on fake products. The platform will allow consumers to detect fake goods after keying in unique products identification numbers such as barcodes, serial and batch numbers with zero results indicating counterfeits. This comes as the government steps a campaign against illicit goods to protect local manufacturers and boost consumers safety. “We are now witnessing illicit trade crime sophistication due to IT in wrong hands. 3D technologies can now copy anything including trademarks and barcodes. We will now nab those using quick response systems among others,” said ACA chairperson Flora Mutahi Monday. The State agency also said the platform would shorten the period taken to verify and clear goods at the entry points. The move will boost the country’s fight against illicit trade after the government intensified a crackdown on fakes worth at least Sh7.5 billion since May. The goods involved range from sugar, cigarettes, electric cables to galvanised iron sheets. More than 180 foreigners have also been arrested and charged in court since the crackdown by a multi-agency committee began. The team comprises officials from Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards, National Police Service and the anti-counterfeit body. Source Business Daily

Kenya’s war on counterfeits and illegal trade has received a major boost with the signing of a $1.5 million financing agreement between UK Department for International Development (DFID) and The Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) channeled through TradeMark Africa, TMA. The funding will support digitalization of the agency’s operations and services. TradeMark Africa will provide technical and project financing support to the agency with the aim to better and efficiently serve their stakeholders nationally, regionally and globally. The proposed digitalization project will involve development of ICT-enabled solutions for ease in detection of counterfeits by consumers; ease the process of reporting on counterfeiting by intellectual property rights (IPR) owners. It will also involve support to research and awareness programs to establish the national public awareness level on counterfeiting and the implementation of a “Training of Trainers (TOT) program on matters of counterfeits. The signing was witnessed by the Anti-Counterfeit Agency chairperson Mrs Flora Mutai, TMA Kenya Country Programme Director, Ahmed Farah and UKAID Head of Sustainable Economic Development, Ian Mills. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Anti-Counterfeit Agency chairperson Mrs Flora Mutai appreciated the support from TMA towards digitising its operations. She noted the increased challenge posed by counterfeiters who are using modern technology to copy trademarks and industrial designs up to undetectable levels. She said: “Technology has now moved to the wrong hands. We are witnessing illicit trade crime sophistication due to “IT in wrong hands”. 3D Technology and access to online markets and sources are a click away; 3D Technologies -...

Efforts to stem out counterfeit products by the Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) got a financial support worth US Dollars 1.5M towards supporting digitalization of its operations and services. In an agreement signed Monday in Nairobi, the aid from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will be channeled through Trade Mark East Africa (TMA), who will provide technical and project financing support to the agency with the aim to better and efficiently serve their stakeholders nationally, regionally and globally. Anti-Counterfeit Agency chairperson Mrs Flora Mutai observed that technology has now moved to the wrong hands. “We are witnessing illicit trade crime sophistication due to “IT in wrong hands. We will now nab them using Quick Response System among other measures,” she said. The ACA operations will be digitised to deal with the increased challenge posed by counterfeiters who are using modern technology to copy trademarks and industrial designs up to undetectable levels. She noted that 3D Technology and access to online markets and sources are a click away. And, opined that 3D Technologies can copy anything including trademarks, holograms, and bar-codes. Copying and passing-off a lot easier and distinct. The proposed digitalization project is twofold: First, it will involve development of ICT-enabled solutions for ease in detection of counterfeits by consumers; ease the process of reporting on counterfeiting by intellectual property rights (IPR) owners. Secondly, it will involve support to research and awareness programs to establish the national public awareness level on counterfeiting and the implementation of a “Training of Trainers...

Maize moving from Uganda to Kenya has dipped in August to as low as 4.5 tonnes per day, down from highs of 500 tonnes per day in June-July. An analysis by The EastAfrican of raw data from Ratin, a daily tracker of trade across the borders, shows that this month, 1,324 tonnes of maize came into Kenya from Uganda compared with 11,828 tonnes in July and 8,545 tonnes in June. From June to mid-August, a total of 21,697 tonnes of maize moved from Uganda to Kenya and another 6,562 tonnes moved from Uganda to Rwanda. Uganda has the lowest retail price for a tonne of maize in the region at $102 in upcountry towns and $122 in Kampala. Burundi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, in that order, have the highest prices for the grain which retails at $397, $380 and $307 per tonne respectively in the country capitals. The largest bulk of maize from Uganda to Kenya came through the Busia border and a few tonnes came in through Malaba and Lwakhakha towns. Tanzania also exports maize to Kenya but no Kenyan maize has been sold to Tanzania. A total of 3,900 tonnes of maize came from Tanzania to Kenya through the Isebania border in June and July. Tanzania last year lifted a ban on maize exports in an effort to curb practices that jeopardised food security such as pre-harvest sale of produce and to encourage value addition and promote the export of flour instead. Data also shows that from March to...