As the Partner States in the East African Community (EAC) region ease measures that were established to prevent and respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the EAC Secretariat has commenced a training of trainers’ course for staff at 12 One Stop Border Posts between the Partner States. The training that aims at strengthening the prevention of and response to COVID-19 and other communicable diseases, involves staff from various sectors in line with the One Health approach. The training programme kicked off this week at the Isebania/Sirari border post between Kenya and Tanzania. The training is conducted by AMREF Flying Doctors in close cooperation with the EAC Secretariat. Depending on the size of the border posts, between 16 and 32 staff members are trained as trainers in 2-day courses. They come from customs, immigration, port health and animal health, bureau of standards, security, cargo and baggage handlers from both sides of the border as well as from the Joint Border Management Committees. This contributes at the same time to regional integration. Clearing agents are also included in the training. The training of trainers’ approach allows for upscaling of the measure and takes the high staff turn-over rates at border posts into account. “The participants in this training will in turn train their colleagues on the skills they have acquired to further cascade the message and ensure that the busy border posts can effectively prevent the spread of COVID 19 and detect and respond to infected passengers”, explains Anthony Kihara of AMREF...

The scope of the training focuses on operations at the OSBP with close contact to travelers and their luggage. s the Partner States in the East African Community (EAC) region ease measures that were established to prevent and respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the EAC Secretariat has commenced a training of trainers’ course for staff at 12 One Stop Border Posts between the Partner States. This training aims at strengthening the prevention of and response to COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. The training programme kicked off last week at the Isebania-Sirari border post between Kenya and Tanzania and is being conducted by AMREF Flying Doctors in close cooperation with the EAC Secretariat. Between 16 and 32 staff members are trained as trainers in a 2-days course. They come from customs, immigration, port health and animal health, bureau of standards, security, cargo and baggage handlers. Clearing agents are also included targeted in the training. “The participants in this training will in turn train their colleagues on the skills they have acquired to further cascade the message and ensure that the busy border posts can effectively prevent the spread of COVID 19 and detect and respond to infected passengers”, explains Anthony Kihara of AMREF Flying Doctors. “The scope of the training focuses on operations at the OSBP with close contact to travelers and their luggage.” The Principal Customs Officer for Capacity Building at the EAC Secretariat, Stephen Analo, who is coordinating the training is convinced that “all the EAC Partner States...

1. Introduction Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) is a limited liability membership organisation registered in 2003 as the apex body of private sector in Kenya. KEPSA brings together the entire business community from all sectors of the economy under one umbrella, to engage and influence public policy in a single voice to ensure year on year improvement in the overall business environment. With current over 500,000 direct and indirect members organised through Business Associations, corporates, multinationals, SMEs and start-ups, KEPSA is a key player in championing the interests of the Kenyan business community in trade, investment and industrial relations. 2. Public Private Partnership (PPD) during the COVID-19 pandemic Before the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Kenya in March 2020, businesses had begun suffering supply chain disruptions due to linkages with major global markets in Europe, China, and other Asian countries that had imposed travel restrictions to contain spread of the virus. KEPSA swung into action and initiated a survey to determine the impact of the pandemic. The survey inspired the constitution of a Covid-19 Business Response Team, comprising key sector leaders, to craft an economic management framework. The framework’s overriding focus was to protect small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to safeguard livelihoods, prioritising health and safety of employees, communities, and healthcare workers, while ensuring supply chain continuity. The framework also sought to mobilise private sector resources, maintain high ethical standards and avoid moral hazards such as price spikes, and production or distribution of low-quality products. It also involved...

Uganda has reopened its international borders for the first time since March when they were closed as a control measure against the coronavirus pandemic. The East African country closed its borders to passenger travel even before it registered its first case of CCOVID-19, but continued to allow both land and air cargo. The national carrier, Uganda Airlines, on Thursday morning ran its regional flights to Nairobi, Kenya, and Mogadishu, Somalia, as scheduled. Other international airlines have also been landing and taking off. The civil aviation authority has advised out-bound travellers to be at the airport at least four hours before scheduled departure. Immigration officials at the airport are encouraging passengers to use self-service booths where available to minimise contact. Passengers coming into Uganda will be required to present a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of their departure. Those who present a negative test will not be required to go into isolation. But if someone arrives without a test certificate, a sample will be taken and they will be made to quarantine at their own cost as they await results. The country experienced a rise in coronavirus cases in September, averaging about 1,000 new cases per week. Total cases are at over 8,000. Although the government has been working to increase the number of beds and the capacity of isolation centres across the country, health workers who have spoken to the BBC worry that resources might be stretched if cases continue to rise. Read the original article

Mutukula, 30 September 2020: Regional trade facilitating agency TradeMark Africa has this morning handed over Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the government of Uganda to sustain momentum in the war against the novel Corona virus that has ravaged the world and protect lives in Uganda while facilitating safe trade. The PPEs presented were funded by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) through TradeMark Africa. On hand to receive the PPE at the Mutukula One Stop Border Post (OSBP) on behalf of the government of Uganda was State Minister for Cooperatives, Hon. Frederick Ngobi Gume who represented the Cabinet Minister for Trade, Industries and Cooperatives, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde. The equipment provided include hand sanitizers, hand washing stations, liquid hand washing soap, infrared thermometer, re-usable safety boots, full protective PPE, filtering face piece respirator, reusable masks, plastic face shield, disposable gloves, hand sanitizer dispensers and disinfectant spray bottles. Speaking during the handover event, Hon Frederick Ngobi lauded the citizens and businesses in Uganda for their strong compliance with the health protocols issued by the government. The minister said this is paying a huge dividend with comparatively lower infection and mortality rates in Uganda as compared to many African nations. He noted that the government of Uganda is committed to ensuring that safe trade prospers across the country. “For continuity of trade, in the wake of the pandemic, my ministry in conjunction with TradeMark Africa, designed the Safe Trade Program in April 2020 to among other things support the COVID-19 national task force to...

Look around your room. Chances are that everything inside has been in a container, on a plane, or inside a truck at some point. The miracle of international trade is a complex beast, a series of arteries feeding goods to each corner of the globe. And for the average consumer, we know almost nothing about it. It’s our lack of knowledge that’s given rise to an exploding market for counterfeit goods. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the EU Intellectual Property Office, counterfeit and pirated goods make up 3.3% of all global trade — over half a trillion dollars annually. It’s here, in dealing with inauthentic goods, that we run into a bit of a blindspot. We know that we bought a jacket. We know where we purchased it (Amazon), how it got to us (DHL), and its country of origin (China). But it’s what we don’t know that’s far more interesting. Have you ever given thought to where the buttons originated? What about the dyes? The thread? Consider the number of miles, collectively, each material traveled, the number of borders crossed before a manufacturing facility turned it into a jacket, and shipped it to your door. The global supply chain is an impossible tangle of logistical hurdles somehow made possible. With complexity comes opportunity, and unscrupulous actors are taking these opportunities to sneak illicit goods into a legitimate supply. What Can We Do About It? In such a complex network, you’d assume paper would...

Over 25,000 truck drivers have so far registered in the RECDTS system since the exercise was launched two weeks ago. lans are underway to embed the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in tackling Covid19 pandemic campaigns to the East Africa Community Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver’s Tracking System (RECDTS) app as the implementing team seek to reach a regional audience. RWANDAIR The Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) recently started a publicity campaign to promote the use of the SOPs, which will guide the industry in coping with Covid19 as the logistics industry seeks to spring back in a ‘ new normal’ environment. Last week, FEAFFA conducted a training for the South Sudan stakeholders mainly from Nimule-Elegu border. The meeting was also attended by the representatives from Trademark East Africa (TMA), which is supporting the implementation of the project in the region. “We plan to embed COVID19 SOP materials on the RECDTS app. The SOP messages will be tailored to create awareness among the drivers through the app,” FEAFFA president Mr. Fred Seka said, adding that there are plans to work with health officials and other relevant officers at all other border entry-exit points to sensitize the industry on the new SOPs. Another engagement meeting especially with system developers is scheduled in a week’s time before the materials are finally embedded on the app, added Seka. Over 25,000 truck drivers have so far registered in the RECDTS system since the exercise was launched two weeks ago. An average of...

Summary Kigali caught up in a row between Kampala and Dar es Salaam over road user fees charged on truckers transversing through Tanzania. Kampala threatens to retaliate against “unfair” charges imposed on its transporters that are higher than those applicable to Rwandan shippers. Escalation of the dispute could hit over $171 million worth of trade between the two neighbours, and inflict damage on the regional integration process. Uganda and Tanzania are locked in a dispute over road user fees for trucks headed to the Dar es Salaam port, with Kampala threatening to retaliate against “unfair” charges imposed on its transporters that are higher than those applicable to Rwandan shippers. Kampala has filed a complaint with the EAC Council of Ministers, accusing Tanzania of breaching the Common Market Protocol by imposing different road user charges to partner states in the same trading bloc. Escalation of the dispute could hit over $171 million worth of trade between the two East African neighbours, and inflict more damage on the fragile regional integration process. At the centre of the dispute is a $500 fee that the Tanzanian government charges Ugandan trucks traversing its territory, compared with $152 charged on Rwandan trucks. The fee is collected to repair and maintain Tanzania's road infrastructure, which keeps the landlocked neighbours connected to the Indian Ocean sea ports. Uganda argues that this fee is unfairly high, creates an uneven playing field, and goes against the efforts of promoting EAC as a single investment destination. "It doesn't create a...

The African Union has amplified action to tackle non-tariff barriers and increase small businesses’ use of the tradebarriers.africa tool through its new online platform The African continent is about to become the world’s largest free trade area. If not addressed, non-tariff barriers (NTBs) may slow down this effort. Although the negative impact of NTBs on intra-regional trade is recognized, so far there has been limited success in addressing them. “The success of the AfCFTA depends in part on how well governments can track and remove non-tariff barriers,” said Ambassador Albert Muchanga the African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry. A new campaign to spotlight and remove non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in intra-continental trade launches this week. The #TradeEasier campaign aims to promote the uptake and use of the African Union’s tradebarriers.africa, a non-tariff barriers reporting mechanism tool. The tool, developed by the African Union in partnership with UNCTAD, supports efforts to make continental trade easier and less costly by helping African businesses report such barriers and supporting their elimination with the help of governments. NTBs slow down the movement of goods and costs importers and exporters billions of dollars annually. They also stand in the way of the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). “If we want the AfCFTA to thrive, we have to ensure operational barriers are dropped and businesses and traders, especially small ones; don’t suffer from undue limitations placed on them as they try do the basic thing that makes economies work – trade.” Trade...

By Andrew Mold and Anthony Mveyange from Brookings institute  At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, such was the scale of the economic disruption caused by lockdown measures that there was much talk of the collapse of global trade. In the midst of the lockdowns, in April, the World Trade Organization estimated that the decline would amount from anywhere between 13 and 32 percent. In a similar vein, UNCTAD was forecasting a 20 percent decline in global trade for 2020. However, recently released trade statistics across the world reveal that those forecasts may have been overly pessimistic and underestimated the relative resilience of the global trading system. In fact, in June, after several months of sharp declines, trade volumes recorded their biggest monthly rise on record, with a 7.6 percent increase. East Africa may be shadowing these global trends. Kenya, the largest regional trader, is a good barometer of broader East African trends. The country was initially hit quite hard in terms of the decline in trade volumes, with a 19 percent drop in total trade volumes in April. As warned in our earlier Brookings policy brief, re-exports to the rest of the region were hit extremely hard, with a 83 percent decline in April. Since June, though, total trade volumes have begun to recover rapidly, with a 9 percent increase in June and a 12 percent increase in July (Table 1). Moreover, the story is a similar if the analysis is undertaken using year-on-year percent changes. Table 1. Kenyan trade, percent monthly change, January-July 2020 Total exports Re-exports...