CARGO at the port of Mombasa grew 11.2 per cent in the first six months of this year, according to latest data from Kenya Ports Authority. The half-year performance saw the port handle a total throughput of 13.21 million tonnes compared to 11.88 million tonnes handled over the same period last year. KPA managing director Gichiri Ndua yesterday attributed the growth to increased business at the port due to improved efficiency, which has made the Mombasa preferred entry point for the region. Speaking at a stakeholder’s luncheon in Nairobi, Ndua said investment on infrastructure including construction of the Standard Gauge Railway have further pushed up imports. “The increased economic activities and performance in the region has seen us import more cargo,” said Ndua. Container traffic posted a 14.2 per cent rise from 464,000TEUs last year to 529,000 TEUs this year. Transshipment traffic increased from 160,000 tonnes last year to 284,000 tonnes. Transit traffic to neighboring countries also increased to 3.9 million tonnes up from 3.5 million tonnes last year. Ship turn-around however fell from from 3.5 days in 2014 to 3.7 days in 2015. “This was attributed to an increase in the number of days for bulk and barge vessels. However, container vessels maintained an improved average turnaround time per ship at 3.4 days in 2015 against 3.5 days in 2014. General cargo vessels improved to 3.6 days in 2015 against 4.6 days registered in 2014,” said Ndua. Container dwell time also increased to 5.3 days from 3.7 days in...

THE Kenya-Uganda sugar talks focussed on setting up a regional board to curb perennial shortage of the commodity in East Africa, Foreign Affairs Cabinet secretary Amina Mohammed said yesterday. She maintained Kenya did not sign any deal on importation of sugar and promised the government will today publish full details of the trade talks in Uganda. “The proposed East Africa Sugar Board will ensure that all sugar that is produced in the region can be sold within the region,” she said on the sidelines of the Japan investment forum in Nairobi. Contradictions abound over the Kenya-Uganda trade talks during President Uhuru Kenyatta's official visit to the country sparking a war of words political between the government and the opposition leaders who are against the 'sugar deal'. According to the CS, the existing sugar safeguards expire in February 2016 opening trade for sugar exports among member states. However the sugar industry will enjoy protection from the enactment of the Finance Bill 2015 that will increase import duty from $200 per tonne to $460 per tonne, specific tax and a 100 per cent ad valorem tax. The Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and Industry chairman Kiprono Kittony said the political heat is bad for the sugar industry adding the prolonged sugar protectionism has caused inefficiencies and a sluggish improvement of the sector. “We need to depoliticise the sugar industry because politics will not improve the sector. While protection during the budget 2015/2016 safeguards since 2002 seem not to yield faster results towards...

Kenya’s exports to Tanzania dropped by 30 per cent in the first half of the year. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the country sold goods worth Sh12.2 billion to Tanzania in the six months to June, down from Sh17.7 billion in a similar period last year. The loss is partly linked to industrialisation in Tanzania and the Dar and Kampala currencies making worse losses against the dollar compared to the Kenya shilling. “Tanzania has been investing in industries and it was obvious that our goods would not be going there in perpetuity,” said Joseph Kosure, a consultant in the external trade section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kenyan companies have also been setting up plants in the neighbouring nation thereby reducing the flow of goods across the border. Some of the companies which have set up shop in Tanzania include listed cement maker ARM. Data from the Export Promotion Council shows that the balance of trade between the two countries has been deteriorating due to an increase of Kenya’s imports from Tanzania. Last year Kenya imported goods worth Sh18.3 billion from Tanzania, an increase from the previous year’s Sh11.6 billion, thereby narrowing the positive balance of trade to Sh24.3 billion from Sh28.8 billion. Some of the goods that Kenya sells to Tanzania include medicines, soap, polish, sweets and snacks (sugar confectionery) and construction materials. Mr Kosure said that Nakumatt’s opening of operations in Tanzania could also have affected the volume of goods imported...

Infrastructure imports and mineral exports have boosted activity at the Port of Mombasa in the first half of the year. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has posted 11.2 per cent increase in performance. The port handled a total of 13.21 million tonnes compared with 11.88 million tonnes handled in a similar period in 2014. Container traffic increased by 14.2 per cent to 529,000 this half of the year from 464,000 in the same period in 2014. Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Gichiri Ndua said imports for the regional integration, improved economic performances, project cargoes and infrastructural developments, especially the standard gauge railway, helped KPA's performance record an uptick. TIOMIN EXPORT “We have seen increases in exports of about 8.5 per cent occasioned by exportation of Tiomin as a mineral which explains to a great extent the increase in entire volume,” he said. Mr Ndua said KPA projects that traffic at the port will hit 26.5 million tonnes by the end of the year with the port handling over 1.25 million containers. Due to an expanded cargo handling capacity, the port continued to gain prominence, serving as a bay for offloading cargo from bigger ships to smaller vessels destined for Pemba, Tanga and Dar es Salaam. CARGO OFFLOADED Total cargo offloaded increased to 284,000 tonnes compared to 160,000 tonnes handled in the corresponding period in 2014. Mr Ndua said improvements in the Port of Dar es Salaam and Djibouti does not really worry KPA as they operate on different corridors. He...

Two recent bilateral trade deals, one unveiled early this week between Uganda and Kenya and the other, negotiated late last month between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been lauded by experts as a step in the right direction towards deepening intra-regional trade. Kenya will once again start accepting sugar exports from Uganda, a deal signed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, during the former’s three-day state visit to Kampala. Source: Eatradehub.org

Arusha — The 2nd EAC Conference on the Role of Women in Socio-Economic Development and in Business is set for 20th - 21st August, 2015 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The overall goal of the Conference is for women in business in the East African region to come together to network and explore the opportunities offered by the EAC Single Customs Territory and the Common Market as well as exchange ideas on ways and means of increasing affordable financing for women owned businesses. The two-day Conference which is being held under the theme Advancing and Expanding the Participation of Business Women in Intra-EAC Trade, targets about 350 women entrepreneurs and exhibitors from diverse sectors in the entire region. Participants at the conference will consist of Women Entrepreneurs/Exhibitors, East African Women in Business Platform and East African Business Council representatives, Civil Society Organizations, MPs from the East African Legislative Assembly, and representatives from line ministries in the Partner States. The main activities at the conference will include keynote speeches from inspiring business women within EAC, panel discussions, breakaway parallel workshops, exhibitions and networking opportunities. Among other outputs, the 2nd EAC Conference on the Role of Women in Socio-Economic Development and Women in Business is expected to identify sources of affordable financing for women in business and recommend a way forward, strengthen and expand the Network of the East African Women in Business Platform and draft a Conference Report with an Action Plan to implement existing EAC Policy...

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been challanged to step up their potentials and tap into the East African Community (EAC) where majority of products are imported from overseas. The East African Community market has an assured boasts of 159 million people and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over 100bn/-, Felix Mosha, former East African Business Council Chairman said over the weekend in Dar es Salaam. He was speaking during an award winning ceremony of the 2015/16 Top 100 mid-sized companies sponsored by Bank M Tanzania. The event saw Softnet Technologies Ltd announced victorious in this year’s statewide survey. According to Mosha, the country has small and medium industries but they mostly focus on the domestic market. “SMEs need to develop strategies on how to target where there is hot demand for the products,” he urged. Ketan Shah, KPMG Tanzania Partner announced this year’s top five companies as Softnet Technologies Ltd, Morogoro Plastics Ltd, Kays Logistics Ltd, Abacus Pharma Ltd and Techno Brain Tanzania Ltd. “The annual survey covers a broad range of factors including high level of growth in term of business turnover, profitability, operating costs, return on assets, creation of employment and compliance to business regulations including payment of government taxes." “These awards have created vast opportunities for the participants, and majority of the companies have gradually succeeded in growing their market share through public awareness of their products and services,” he concluded. Bank M, Deputy CEO Jacqueline Woiso expressed the Bank’s satisfaction in the partnership with...

Traders face anxiety ahead of Friday next week when an amnesty to clear overstayed cargo at the Mombasa port expires, leaving many facing higher cost of clearance and possible auction of goods. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said a special waiver granted on warehouse rent on overstayed cargo at the gateway facility will lapse on August 28. “Importers are therefore advised to take advantage of the amnesty and clear their goods before the expiry date,” Julius Musyoki, KRA acting commissioner of customs and border control said in a notice. Authorities at the port in February waived storage charges accrued on all cargo discharged at the facility by November 30, 2014 provided that the cargo was cleared and removed within 60 days. The warehouse rent waiver was further extended by 60 days following a summit by regional Heads of State in Kampala on June 6. A 20-foot container attracts a storage fee of $25 (Sh2,525) a day and $40 (Sh4,040) for double the size, which the Kenya Ports Authority currently forgoes thanks to the waiver. The overdue cargo also attracts demurrage charges on containers used to store the merchandise. When the waiver lapses, owners of the overstayed cargo would have to meet the full charges and risk having the cargo auctioned should they fail to remove them from the port. According to customs regulations, goods have to be cleared within 21 days after which it starts to attract customs warehouse rent. The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) said that as at July...

Construction of northern corridor that has cost $440 million (Sh.44billion) will be completed in December giving a boost to trade between Kenya and landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. According to Kenya National Highways Authority the multi-billion World Bank funded roads improvement under the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project (NTCIP) is geared towards facilitating movements of goods and services in the region. The second component of the project is upgrade of airports and building capacity of Kenya Civil Aviation Authority which will take up $60million (Sh6billion) making the total project amount $500 million (Sh50 billion). EASE CONGESTION The Northern Corridor starts from the Port of Mombasa to Malaba border post, with Uganda and is expected to ease congestion of major roads along the corridor increasing efficiency of road transport facilitating trade and regional integration. “So far rehabilitation works of Maji ya Chumvi – Miritini road, Sultan Hamud – Machakos Turnoff, Lanet – Njoro, Njoro Turnoff – Timboroa, Mau Summit – Kericho, Kericho – Nyamasaria, Nyamasaria – Kisumu Airport including the Kisumu Bypass and the ongoing rehabilitation of Kisumu Airport – Kisian Road have been done,” said acting general manager incharge of special projects at Kenha, Mr David Muchilwa. Other facilities that have been improved are truck parking bay in Nyamasaria and Chepson. FEASIBILITY STUDIES Connecting feeder roads that include Kibwezi – Kitui – Mwingi – Maua - Isiolo road and Lakeside Tanzania – Narok road are also in line of construction with financing of consultancy services for the design...

NAIROBI, Aug 17 (BERNAMA-NNN-KBC) -- Tourism industry players from around the East Africa sub-region and key stakeholders in Kenya will converge in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa this week to explore ways of unlocking East Africa's tourism potential through the creation of a joint marketing platform. The East Africa Tourism Development Forum will be held under the auspices of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) at the Sarova Whitesands resort from Thursday to Saturday. The forum, which will be chaired by the UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai, will feature discussions concerning intra-Africa opportunities in tourism and the strengthening of regional co-operation. About 250 participants from 10 countries, including Cabinet Ministers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Seychelles, and the Secretary-General of the East African Community (EAC), are expected to attend the forum whose theme is "Connecting Opportunity". The forum will seek ways of enhancing the visibility of the East African market within a highly competitive global tourism environment. Kenya's Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for East Africa Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Phyllis Kandie, said here over the weekend that the forum would provide a valuable opportunity to position the region as a single destination. "The idea is to showcase East Africa to a wider global audience. One of the key issues on the table is how to build the image of the region as a tourism destination," said Kandie. "This is one of a series of major events we hope to capitalise on to build the Kenyan tourism brand." The...