Rwandan traders and service providers are optimistic after parliament ratified the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) agreement, which brings together Comesa, SADC and the EAC. Rwanda became the 5th country to ratify the treaty, out of the 26 countries that signed the agreement in June 2015 in Egypt. The others are Uganda, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya. However, some parliamentarians questioned whether the deal was not a duplication with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). But, the business community, especially those who trade in various African countries, welcomed the ratification. The TFTA is a $1.2 trillion free trade area, incorporating 27 African nations, with a population of more than 632 million people. Its aim is to eliminate trade barriers and ease the movement of people between member countries. Minister of Trade and Industry Soraya Hakuziyaremye, who presented the Bill to parliament, said the agreement is important to the country’s export market since it introduces it to a much wider market that includes SADC, of which Rwanda is not a member. The agreement will enable all goods to enjoy a 100 per cent tax exemption on all products moved within the blocs and has a transition phase of five years, giving a wide market reach advantage to the country by promoting its “Made in Rwanda” products. Ms Hakuziyaremye said the TFTA and AfCFTA complement each other and signing the TFTA would help the country benefit faster. Source:  The East African

The AfCFTA will be governed by five operational instruments: the Rules of Origin; the online negotiating forum; the monitoring and elimination of non-tariff barriers; a digital payments system and the African Trade Observatory. Each one was launched by different Heads of State and Government that included President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi of Egypt who is current Chairperson of the AU; Mr. Moussa Faki Makamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission; and President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, who is the Champion of the AfCFTA. The launch ceremony included “a roll call of honour”, at which the 27 countries that have ratified the instruments of the AfCFTA were announced, and those that have signed but not yet ratified were mentioned. A commemorative plaque of the signing was also unveiled. The AfCFTA agreement was adopted and opened for signature on 21 March 2018 in Kigali. The AfCTA entered into force on 30 May 2019, thirty days after having received the twenty-second instrument of ratification on 29 April, 2019 in conformity with legal provisions. “The speedy entry into force of the AfCFTA is a source of pride for all of us”, said AU Commission Chairperson Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat. He described the free trade agreement as one of the instruments for continental integration in line with the objectives of the Abuja Treaty and the aspirations of Agenda 2063. The Chairperson also highlighted the importance of peace building and security on the continent, adding that “it would be...

The organisers of the Second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2020) expect it to surpass the achievements of the inaugural trade fair held in Cairo in 2018 by attracting 10,000 participants and generating intra-African trade and investment deals worth more than $40 billion, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has said. Prof. Oramah was speaking at the formal launch of IATF2020 during the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Business Forum 2019 held on the sidelines of the 12th Extraordinary Summit of African Union (AU) Heads of State in Niamey. He told guests that the trade fair, scheduled for Kigali from 1 to 7 September 2020, would attract more than 1,100 exhibitors from over 55 countries. “Working with our esteemed partners, we will exceed the achievements of 2018,” he said, describing IATF2018 as a resounding success, not in the colorful displays exhibited, but in the showcasing of diversity of tradable goods by about 1,100 exhibitors from 45 countries and in the execution of deals worth about $32 billion. That trade fair resulted in a Nigerian technology company winning a $100-million contract to provide technology-based solutions to the South Sudanese government and an Egyptian company winning contracts in many African countries to supply and install energy generation and distribution equipment worth close to $1 billion. It also created opportunities for other  Egyptian and Tunisian companies signing a $50-million partnership deal to create a joint venture for assembling home appliances and the signing of a $3-billion energy generation project between...

Kenya’s manufacturing sector is betting big on the proposed Africa-wide trade pact that will provide access to what has been described as the biggest market in the world. Nigeria became the latest member to sign the landmark agreement, which aims to increase trade among African countries. With Eritrea as the only African country not to be part of the trading bloc, the potential for the regional initiative to transform the economies of the member states looks pretty real. According to the Oxford Business Group, Kenya’s exports are projected to increase by over Sh10.2 billion ($100 million) following full implementation of the free trade pact. The group notes that with 41.2 per cent of Kenya’s exports destined for free trade pact member states in 2011, compared with the 13.4 per cent share of imports from the same zone, Kenya enters the bloc from a position of relative strength. Only 12 per cent of Africa’s trade is between countries, signifying the huge promise for participating countries. Kenyan manufacturers are banking on the agreement to take the lead in producing competitive products in terms of quality and prices. “The Continental Free Trade Area agreement provides an opportunity for Kenya to become a manufacturing hub for Africa,” said Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) chief executive Phyllis Wakiaga. President Uhuru Kenyatta has been at the forefront in pushing for deeper trade ties among African countries, driven by the realisation that Kenya will reap massive benefits, particularly in efforts to achieve industrialisation. When he joined other...

Five months after the East African Community deferred signing the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union, it has emerged that Tanzania’s unyielding stance could force a stay of the status quo as the EU is hesitant to push the region to sign a trade deal that threatens its cohesion as a bloc. Well-placed sources at the European Commission told The EastAfrican that the EAC negotiated and concluded a bilateral trade agreement with the EU as a bloc, and it must remain as such. “All EAC members need to sign and ratify the agreement,” said the EC sources. The EPA gives EAC products total access to the EU market, with 82.6 per cent of imports from the EU allowed into the EAC market. The remaining 17.4 per cent of imports from the bloc — labelled “sensitive,” and largely consisting of farm and dairy products — would be progressively liberalised within 15 years from when the agreement comes into force. Kenya and Rwanda have signed the deal. However, Tanzania is unhappy about the trade pact, arguing that the agreement will have serious consequences for its revenues and the growth of its industries. Burundi refused to sign given its deteriorating relations with Europe. Uganda argued that signing the pact as individual countries would compromise the unity of the region, hence its decision to wait it out. Kenya has been lobbying its EAC partners to enforce the EPA on an individual basis rather than as a bloc to allow those that have not signed...

Efficiency in tax collection, improvement in service delivery and voluntary compliance are some of key factors Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) says contributed to the tax body surpassing revenue targets for the fiscal year 2018/2019. This was said by the RRA Commissioner General Pascal Ruganintwari Bizimana on Friday while announcing Revenue Performance Results for Fiscal Year 2018/2019. RRA collected Rwf1421.7 billion compared to the targeted Rwf1392.1 billion. The increment represents an achievement of 102.1 per cent translating to Rwf29.6 billion in excess of what the tax body had set as the target. Of the collected amount, tax revenue collections for 2018/19 amounted to Rwf1398.8 billion compared to the targeted Rwf1373.1 billion, equivalent to an increase of 101.9 percent. RRA collected Rwf25.7 billion above the target. According to the figures released by the tax body, there was a significant increase in the tax collections compared to Rwf1234.1 billion generated in the fiscal year 2016/17. The Rwf164.7 billion in excess this financial year compared to the previous one, reflects a 13.3 percent growth. “Though we have experienced some political setbacks in the East African Community, trade was not affected because the borders have been open. We also noticed an increase in import trade where members of the business community increasingly bought goods from other countries like China,” Ruganintwari said. He said the situation between Rwanda and Uganda has not affected tax collections since most goods from the region are exempted from tax. “We can attribute the increase in tax collection to improved service...

The Chairman of the Private Sector Federation (PSF), Robert Bapfakurera has revealed that the new good relationship between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has presented ample trade opportunities among Rwanda’s private investors. During an exclusive interview with IGIHE, Bapfakurera highlighted that food commodities are most likely to get the biggest market in DRC because the later imports more. Trade opportunities between Rwanda, DRC have been recently boosted by the launch of RwandAir flights from Kigali to Kinshasa, the capital city of DRC while cargo flights are also expected to follow. Bapfakurera has said that Rwandan traders welcomed both countries’ efforts to improve relations and demonstrated willingness to expand businesses in DRC. “They have started visiting DRC to analyze the market and identify partners so that they can run businesses next time. They were extremely delighted,” he said. Rwanda has the largest export market of foods and other commodities in DRC particularly in Eastern part of the country namely Goma and Bukavu which Bapfakurera said is set to get a boost. Bapfakurera explained that the launch of cargo flights will be a great trade opportunity with DRC because investors would often use passengers’ aircrafts to carry luggage which would run short of space. Rwanda, DRC relations started getting a boost when President Félix Tshisekedi was elected at the beginning of 2019. President Paul Kagame has recently revealed that RwandAir was denied route to Kinshasa to DRC at the reign of former President Joseph Kabila. Source: Igihe

MPs on Thursday told Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente that the government needs to increase efforts to boost both internal and external trade for the country. As the Premier addressed a joint session of senators and deputies about the government’s activities in the trade sector, they urged him to push for more assistance to industrialists and farmers’ cooperative in order to produce more and better goods for markets. With Rwanda’s trade deficit slowly decreasing, especially since the government initiated a Made-in-Rwanda Campaign in 2018, the legislators said that the country needs to keep efforts at developing agro-processing industries. Thanks to a vibrant agriculture sector, Rwanda reported a $105-million trade surplus in the area of informal cross border trade in 2018 as it traded mostly agricultural goods, mainly with neighbouring countries. “Most of the exports were agricultural produce,” the premier said on the recorded cross-border trade surplus. The report on cross-border trade and other opportunities in agribusiness had many MPs pitching ideas that a bigger attention should be put on agriculture. MP Jean-Pierre Hindura said that more investments need to be made in the agriculture sector, at one point suggesting that a special ministry is needed to take care of animal resources development. “We need to invest more in agriculture. Why can’t we have a special ministry in charge of animal resources or just a State Minister in charge of livestock?” he wondered. He added: “Agriculture is a key sector that is even essential for fuelling industry”. Hindura said that “cross-border trade...

With 54 out of 55 African Union member states having signed the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the continent is on the verge of becoming the world’s largest free trade area which will merge the massive area into a single market of 1.2 billion people with a combined GDP of US$2.5 trillion (over N$35 trillion), according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa. However, local analysts have cautioned that the ambitious initiative is being hampered by issues such as non-tariff barriers, lack of financing and infrastructure problems. It has been estimated that that the Africa needs at least US$300 billion (approximately N$4,2 trillion) by 2020 to build quality infrastructure to facilitate the free trade agreement. “For continental trade to increase, substantial investment in infrastructure is required, not only in transport infrastructure, but in border infrastructure, in communication technologies so that business people can communicate easily across the continent, in financial infrastructure so that money can flow easily, in electricity infrastructure so that border posts can operate effectively 24 hours a day, etc. In addition, customs and other documentation should be unified to ease cross-border trade, as well as transport regulations such as axle loads, working hours of truck drivers etc,” commented Klaus Schade, a local economic analyst. Responding to questions from New Era, Schade added that trade across borders requires movement of people across borders, such as business persons, traders, truck drivers and so forth. “Namibia has taken the first step and embarked on visa on arrival, although the...

The success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will be measured largely by its ability to change lives, reduce poverty and contribute to economic development in Africa. This is according to the ninth edition of the flagship Assessing Regional Integration in Africa report (ARIA IX) launched during the African Business Forum. Expounding on the report, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi said that competition, investment and intellectual property rights are crucial requirements in the next phase of the agreement. He also urged the African business community to take ownership of the integration effort on the continent. The report highlights challenges facing regional integration which include limited energy and infrastructure development, insecurity and conflicts and limited financial resources among others. Going forward, the report says e-commerce is likely to be a significant driver and outcome of intra-African trade. “The public and private sectors are increasingly adopting e-commerce platforms. Governments deliver services through them, electronic marketplaces aggregate consumer and producer demand as well as trade-related services, traditional businesses have incorporated e-commerce into their business models and operations and individual entrepreneurs and small businesses use social media platforms to engage with market opportunities,” reads the report. Source: Capital Business