THE East African region is gearing to tap into opportunities emerging from the upcoming German Hannover trade fair (Hannover Messe), slated for the 12th -16th April this year. Hannover Messe is the world’s largest and impactful trade fair for promoting industrial technologies, usually held annually in Hannover City, Germany. This year, the fair will sustain its innovative knack as a hybrid knowledge and networking platform, allowing East Africans to participate virtually. The East African Business Council (EABC) in partnership with GIZ- Business Scouts for Development Programme, funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation, BMZ today held a webinar to explore challenges and risks inhibiting industrial transformation in the region and shared insights on opportunities that the bloc can benefit from participating in the fair and its huge conference programme. Additionally, the webinar acted as a kick-off for an upcoming virtual fair training for business organisations fair organisers slated beginning May, 2021; courtesy of Business Scouts for Development. Speaking during the event, EABC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Peter Mathuki called for digitalisation in the region and exploration of partnerships to diversify the manufacturing base. “Industries in East Africa have been able to repurpose and transform amid the pandemic. Strategic partnerships between Europe and East Africa should build the capacity of industries to tap into the opportunities of the EAC Common Market and African Continental Free Trade Area of 1.3 billion consumers,” Dr Mathuki said. Foreseen opportunities of the Hannover Fair include: exploration of latest developments and know-how within the...

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is set to redefine the Tanzania-Kenya relations. Bilateral ties between Kenya and Tanzania have been blowing hot and cold for decades now, with the row playing out publicly during the era of the late President John Pombe Magufuli. Disputes seem to be always never far from the surface and only a slight spark is enough to ignite a diplomatic tiff such as the one that was playing out during Magufuli’s era. However, President Samia is seeking to bring a solution, and maintain a good relationship between the two neighbouring countries. President Samia on Saturday, April 10, 2021, said that her administration is determined to solve some of the issues existing between Tanzania and Kenya. The Tanzanian head of state said this in a statement to the media after meeting a special envoy from President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya. She said that she will pick from where her predecessor the late Magufuli left. At the same time, Suluhu directed the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) between the two countries to meet and come up with plans that can strengthen the Tanzania-Kenya relations. The commission met for the last time in 2016. President Kenyatta’s message Uhuru’s message to his counterpart was delivered by the Sports CS Amb. Amina Muhamed. In his message, Uhuru assured Suluhu that Kenya is ready for a bilateral talk that will strengthen the bond between them. Uhuru has also invited Suluhu to make her first visit to Kenya as the president. Also Read: How...

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has agreed to revive formal interactions with Kenya, which would be done through a joint organ with representatives from the two countries. On Saturday, President Hassan received a message of goodwill and an invitation to visit Kenya from President Uhuru Kenyatta. But the matter at hand was to bring to life the Joint Co-operation Commission, seen as a better way of handling frequent trade spats between the two countries. Saturday’s event at State House Dar es Salaam came as the Tanzanian leader prepared for her maiden trip as Head of State to Uganda, where she is expected to sign a deal for the1,443km oil pipeline from Uganda’s Albertine Basin to Dar es Salaam; a transaction that is expected to boost relations between Dar and Kampala. The $3.5 billion (Sh374 billion) project that involves oil giants Total and China’s CNOOC could be a launchpad to more joint projects. The pipeline will need lots of electricity, attendant roads and railway and could provide jobs for the engineers and other related specialists. In Kenya, the pipeline project agreed in principle in 2016, is seen as a diplomatic coup by Tanzania, after Nairobi spent years courting Kampala for the project to pass through Kenya. Tanzanians pitched free land, enhanced security and a project that could cost $1 billion (Sh107 billion) less than what Kenya had proposed. First delegation On Saturday, President Kenyatta, who is the current chairman of the East African Community, sent veteran diplomat Amina Mohamed, the Sports...

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (IDN) — The long-awaited African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—set to be the world’s biggest free trade zone by size—which entered into force on January 1, 2021, promises a new era for African trade. An Africa-wide free-trade pact could bolster the region’s income by $450 billion and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035, if accompanied by significant policy reforms and trade-facilitation measures, according to the World Bank. When fully operational, the Free Trade area will create a market of 1.2 billion and drive a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion. Dr Wim Naudé, Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics with the Cork University Business School in Ireland, explains: Trade is one of the great engines of economic growth and prosperity as it allows countries to specialize in production and diversify in consumption. Specialization in production allows for learning, innovation and higher productivity. Exchanging this for goods from elsewhere leads to higher consumption and welfare than what a country would be able to achieve in economic independence. “The free trade area will strengthen all of these effects as there will be fewer barriers to access markets, larger markets, more choice for consumers, more competition to pressurize firms to be more productive,” Naudé tells IDN in an interview. Here important excerpts: Question: Given the differences in economies across Africa, not to mention different trade policies, and in many cases barriers that exist in Africa, how do you see this free trade area harmonizing trade in...

NAIROBI, March 31 – Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to post economic growth of 2.3%-3.4% this year, the World Bank said in a new report on Wednesday, bouncing back from a pandemic-induced 2.0% contraction last year. Like other economies around the world, the region was forced to adopt strict lockdown measures in the first quarter of last year to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, hitting key economic activities like tourism and trade. “For most countries in the region, activity will remain well below the pre-COVID-19 projections at the end of 2021, increasing the risk of long-lasting damage from the pandemic on people’s living standards,” the bank said. The recovery, which will also be aided by ongoing efforts to vaccinate people against the disease, is expected to vary among individual nations, the World Bank said. Diversified economies like Kenya and Ivory Coast, as well as mining-dependent ones like Botswana and Guinea, will grow robustly as rising confidence attracts investments, it said. Significant risks, however, still remain, the bank warned. “The resurgence of the pandemic in late 2020 and limited additional fiscal support will pose an uphill battle for policy makers,” the bank said. During the second and third waves of the pandemic, some nations have seen their daily COVID-19 infections surge by 40% compared with the first wave of the pandemic, the World Bank said, weighing on recovery prospects. Last week, Kenya imposed new, partial restrictions on the capital Nairobi and four adjacent counties to curb the spread of...

THE Council of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has urged member states that have not yet signed and ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa-East African Community-Sadc (Comesa-EAC-Sadc) Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) to do so to allow for the implementation of the agreements. The call follows a recent virtual SADC Council meeting, which was chaired by Mozambican Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister, Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, in her capacity as the chairperson of the council. While noting progress on the signature of the Comesa-EAC-Sadc TFTA, the regional leaders stressed that its signing and ratification was critical as it will pave the way for the successful implementation of the AfCFTA. AfCFTA entered into force on 1 January this year with the aim of eliminating over 90 percent of tariffs on goods and also to progressively liberalise trade in services in order to promote production of all goods. However, the volume of trade covered by the agreement’s rules of origin reported so far is lower than expected. Regional ministers have since called for urgent action by member states towards finalisation of negotiations on rules of origin on some sensitive tariff lines and agreement on some customs documentations, and accession to AfCFTA by Sadc member states, including those participating in the customs unions. Services sectors that have been prioritised under phase one of negotiations are communication services, tourism services, professional services, computer services, financial services and transport services. The...

Summary The East Africa region quest to improve efficiency in cargo clearance has gone a notch higher after the industry stakeholders validated updated curriculum for clearing agents and freight forwarders. The new training curriculum was necessitated by the gaps identified in the already mandatory East Africa Customs and Freight Forwarding Practicing Certificate (EACFFPC) that the clearing agents are supposed to undertake since 2007. The East Africa region quest to improve efficiency in cargo clearance has gone a notch higher after the industry stakeholders validated updated curriculum for clearing agents and freight forwarders. The new training curriculum was necessitated by the gaps identified in the already mandatory East Africa Customs and Freight Forwarding Practicing Certificate (EACFFPC) that the clearing agents are supposed to undertake since 2007. The Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA), the umbrella body of regional clearing agents, together with revenue authorities in regional countries, also developed a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) policy framework. "FEAFFA has already developed the CPD policy framework with the implementation guidelines and tools. The tools will guide the National Curriculum Implementation Committees (NCIC) of national associations of customs agents and freight forwarders in the region in piloting and rolling out the programme in their respective countries," said FEAFFA President Fred Seka. He added, "Uganda and Rwanda are earmarked for the piloting of the CPD program to find out its success before rolling it out fully in the other countries." The exercise took place in a meeting held virtually by Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda,...

Summary The new US administration wants to make sure that the negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement and talks objectives are consistent with Biden’s $4 trillion revamp of the American economy. This means that the start of the trade talks could be delayed and the objectives of the bilateral pact recast to recognise Biden’s agenda. The Biden administration will review bilateral trade negotiations and targets that ex-President Donald Trump regime made with Kenya last year over a potential free trading deal. The new US administration wants to make sure that the negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement and talks objectives are consistent with Biden’s $4 trillion revamp of the American economy that focuses on a muscular industrial policy with an eye on fighting climate change. This means that the start of the trade talks could be delayed and the objectives of the bilateral pact recast to recognise Biden’s agenda with some of the aims of the negotiations set by the Trump administration likely to be dropped. Newly appointed US trade Chief, Katherine Tai, said on Friday that the negotiations over a bilateral trade pact with Kenya must reflect the priorities of the new administration — which is pushing for procurement of America-made goods both in the US and outside. “Ambassador Tai highlighted her ongoing review of the negotiations to ensure that any agreement aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s Build Back Better agenda,” said a statement from the US government after a virtual meeting between Ms Tai and Kenya’s trade Cabinet...

The new Sh40 billion Kipevu Oil Terminal at the Port of Mombasa is now at 84 percent complete, Kenya Ports Authority management has said. The construction work, which began in February 2019, was slightly slowed down when Covid-19 struck the country in March last year. The project, which is being undertaken by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), had a timeline of 30 months. It was scheduled to be completed by August 1 this year, but it will fully be ready by the end of the year. On April 1, KPA said in a statement that the relocation of the Kipevi Oil Terminal to a new site was buoyed by the growth of the oil and gas industry in the country. “The construction of the new upgraded modern oil terminal is expected to have a capacity to accommodate four vessels of up to 200,000 DWT (Deadweight tonnage),” said KPA. The new oil terminal will have four berths and sub-sea (submerged) pipelines for five different petroleum products; crude oil, heavy fuel oil and three types of white oil products (DPK-aviation fuel, AGO-Diesel and PMS-Petrol). It is being constructed directly opposite the second container terminal at the port of Mombasa near Dongo Kundu. It will replace the current 50-year-old terminal that currently stands there. It is being funded by KPA at a cost of $385m and built by the China Communications Construction Company. It will have both subsea and land-based pipelines connecting it to the storage facilities in Kipevu, and the capacity to handle five different fuel...

On 1 January 2021, trade began within the African Continental Free Trade Area (‘AfCFTA’). After years of preparation, and being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AfCFTA becomes the largest free trade area in the world based on the number of participating countries since the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) was formed and connects some 1.3 billion people across the African continent. Among many other key developments under the AfCFTA, member states have agreed to remove 90 per cent of tariff lines on non–sensitive products within five years for developing countries and within ten years for least developed countries. The AfCFTA seeks to provide member states a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement that aims to boost intra-African trade. As noted by the World Bank, “[a]s the global economy is in turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic, creation of the vast AfCFTA regional market serves as a major opportunity to help African countries diversify their exports, accelerate growth, and attract foreign direct investment.” However, the AfCFTA is also expected to stimulate trade and investment with parties outside the continent as well. Mr Wamkele Mene, the AfCFTA secretary-general, has described the AfCFTA as sending “a strong signal to the international investor community that Africa is open for business, based on a single rule-book for trade and investment.” Foreign investors thus will be able to do business on a single set of trade and investment rules across Africa, and the AfCFTA will help create larger, more integrated markets on the continent, which should...