President Museveni spoke East Africa to a lot of common sense in his written speech circulated ahead of the opening in Kampala on Thursday of the ‘EAC Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure and Health Financing and Development’. Very early on in the speech, the President puts things in perspective by declaring that “we owe it to ourselves and the future generations to ensure that this region has efficient, interlinked and interoperable infrastructure to enable our people to increase their prosperity through the exchange of goods and services”. Good stuff. But, as things tend to unfold, implementation gets in the way. I have never worked in the public sector and therefore have no close-up experience of how ideas get turned into actual projects that affect our lives. From the outside, I am always confused when the government announces a project only for basic issues (e.g. clean tendering, compensation/resettlement) to crop up to delay or fail the project altogether. I would expect that by the time the President, for example, announces that a road will be built in place X, all the groundwork has been done. In other words, the announcement would be more about when the project will actually start, how long it will take, how much it will cost, why it is needed, and possibly who the contractor is. When the government says it is expanding the Northern Bypass in Kampala over the next two years, one assumes that at that point all the funding has been got, compensation...

For a long time, there has been a desire to build a strong, integrated community in eastern Africa. Yet to fully integrate, political goodwill is essential, but has been lacking. Fear and mistrust of each other’s intentions have informed foreign policy in the region, thus hindering efforts that could lead to a strong regional bloc with the capacity to compete with other economic blocs like the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Fear revolves around the risk of local populations in east African countries losing their jobs to foreigners, either because they would provide cheaper labour or they would be better qualified. In South Africa, for instance, a paucity of jobs, and the few available being taken up by expatriate workers, has led to xenophobic attacks. The idea of an regional community is not a new concept, having been embraced by the founding fathers of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 1967. They believed more could be achieved by pulling together as a united people, but although the community took off to a good start, it broke up in 1977 because of mistrust. Kenya has demonstrated willingness to get the East African Community revived. On his inauguration day on November 28, 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta lay our borders open to citizens of the east African region. Sadly, diplomatic relations with Tanzania have not been at their best in the last few months. At some point, Tanzania banned Kenyan imports, impounded cattle that had...

The Rubavu Cross Border Market complex worth $2 million (approximately Rwf1.7 billion) which will be inaugurated early April is set to significantly empower small scale traders in Rubavu and other neighbouring districts. According to the government, the TradeMark Africa (TMA) funded project, whose construction activities have taken about 15 months will officially open to the public at the beginning of April. Speaking to Sunday Times yesterday, Robert Opirah, the director general for trade and investment at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said that the market is almost complete. “The activities are almost completed and we are now in the finishing touches. The work is at 98%, only remaining with a few fittings,” he revealed. Opirah mentioned that if nothing hinders the progress being made, the market which is located in Rubavu district in the Western Province will open in the first or second week of April. Rubavu currently has one of the busiest borders, and the district which borders Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the fastest growing secondary cities, according to recent studies. The official highlighted that Rubavu market would improve informal trade as well as empower small scale cross-border traders. “There was no such facility before, but now it is there. We are creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is part of the strategy to promote cross border trade, and we have high hopes this [Rubavu] market will just do that,” he said. The soon-to-be inaugurated Rubavu market has cold rooms for perishable...

Rwanda’s tea export volumes and revenues recorded big increases last year driven by good weather conditions and better prices on the global market, the National Agricultural Export Board (NAEB) annual report has indicated. According to the report, the country earned close to $84.3 million (about Rwf72.6 billion) in foreign exchange from tea exports last year, higher than $78 million earlier projected by NAEB or an increase by 108 per cent during the reporting period. In 2016, the country recorded over $63.4 million (Rwf54.7 billion), which represents an increase of 32.8 per cent in value terms. The agro-export body attributes the good performance to higher volumes exported and good prices on the international market. Last year, the average price of tea on the global market was $3.21 per kilogramme compared to $2.6 the previous year. NAEB interventions pay off Rwanda’s total ‘made tea’ production rose by 2,258,353 kilogrammes or 9 per cent from 25,628,412 kilogrammes in 2016 to 27,886,765 kilogrammes last year. Total green leaf out by all the processing factories was at 116,673,563 kilos over the period compared to 108,344,002 kilogrammes produced the previous year, the NAEB report shows. This represents an increase of 7.6 per cent in volumes, attributable to the establishment of new tea factories - Karongi, Mushubi, Rutsiro and Rugabano. “The good performance was also driven by the expansion of tea plantations, implementation of good practices in tea growing, as well as regular training for farmers, timely and appropriate application of fertilisers and good rains recorded in...

Arusha — THE Republic of Somalia is in the line-up for becoming the 7th member of the East African Community (EAC). The prospect will be on the agenda for discussions as the regional bloc's Heads of State assemble in Kampala, Uganda, from tomorrow. The Ugandan Minister of State for EAC Affairs, Mr Julius Wandera Maganda, who currently chairs the Council of Ministers, revealed in a statement here that the six heads of state from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and South-Sudan will review progress of the verification exercise for the admission of the Republic of Somalia into the EAC. The inclusion of Mogadishu will make the East African Community to now own 'The Horn of Africa,' and boast the longest coastline of the Indian Ocean on the continent. The joint population of Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, South-Sudan and (if admitted) Somalia, will be close to 190 million in total, which is essentially the same number of people as Nigeria. Apart from discussing the horn of Africa factor, other agenda items in the EAC Heads of State retreat's table include the modalities for promotion of motor vehicle assembly in the community, although already Kenya is ahead on this, by hosting assembly lines for Nissan, Volkswagen and China's Foton. Included, too, will be a review of the textile and leather sector, in which Tanzania tops the bill by having a large number of textile factories if the defunct ones were to be revived, and working on the Report of the Chair...

NAIROBI, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will fly to Uganda on Thursday for a three-day official visit to attend a regional summit on financing infrastructure and health, his office said Wednesday. During the summit of the East African Community (EAC) member states, State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said in a statement that Kenyatta will showcase the progress Kenya has made in investments in infrastructure over the last five years. Esipisu said the Kenyan leader will also unveil plans for further investment in the infrastructure and emphasize his commitment to a more integrated approach in infrastructure development for the region. "Affordable health for all is one of President Kenyatta's Big Four commitments in his second term, alongside affordable housing, enhanced manufacturing and value addition as well as food security and nutrition," Esipisu said. During the presidential retreat on financing infrastructure and health and a summit of the EAC member states Kampala, Kenyatta will also make the point that it was no longer viable for East Africa to build infrastructure with a silo mentality. According to Esipisu, Kenyatta will urge greater speed in implementing projects, with a sharp focus on continuing the agenda of promoting the free movement of people across EAC and the wider African continent. "The president sees enhanced people-to-people contact as key to improving trade, growing regional economies and lifting the lives of citizens," he said. Esipisu said the president will also speak on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) arrangements between the EAC and the European Union...

Nairobi’s domestic air travel capacity is set to grow further this year as regional carrier Jambojet seeks to expand to other African destinations. “We would like to serve Kenya and the greater Eastern Africa region with future plans to go into Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi,” Jambojet chief executive Willem Hondius said. A report by ForwardKeys released in August shows Nairobi’s domestic air travel capacity grew 22 per cent, making it the only city in Africa whose airports are recording higher growth in domestic than international flight capacity. “After proving our operations are sustainable and getting the air operators certificate, we can now go international,” Hondius said. The low-cost airline is now operating two daily flights from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Entebbe International Airport at an introductory price of Sh11,740. This, Hondius said, will boost tourism and trade between the two countries as it will encourage more East Africans to travel by air. The barely four-year-old airline recently increased the number of routes from four to six, increasing flight frequency due to fleet expansion. Other routes on which the airline operates include Eldoret, Kisumu, Malindi, Mombasa and Ukunda. Source: The Star

The East African Community member states’ appreciation of rail transport has increased, a trend experts think is good for doing business because it reduces on time. This trend, according to the experts, does not only ease doing business in the region but also it is cost effective because of its turnaround. Latest report from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) published this month shows that containers delivered up-country by rail from the Port of Mombasa recorded 671 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) registering an increase of 233 TEUs compared to the previous week. Port operations performance during the week showed that a total of 11,189 TEUs (full and empty) were discharged from the ships and 10,049 TEUs loaded for export. The total yard population registered 14,644 TEUs out of which 5,753 TEUS were awaiting pick up orders. Uganda, Rwanda, DR Congo and South Sudan import and export their products through the port of Mombasa. Imports population breakdown indicated that there were 3,170 TEUs locally bound (Kenya) and 4,873 TEUs for transit destinations. Uganda bound containers recorded 3,825 TEUs, out of the 4,873 TEUs making it the biggest customer. This was followed by Tanzania bound containers that registered 444 TEUs, South Sudan with 233 TEUs, and Democratic Republic of Congo with 162 TEUs and Rwanda with 157 TEUs. Reaction Mr Daniel Birungi the executive director Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), says the reason Ugandans are taking up rail transport as an alternative is because it’s cost effective, especially to bulky importers. “A case in...

Members of the East African Legislative Assembly last week began a wearing road trip in their two-week on-spot assessment of institutions, installations and facilities of the EAC on the Central Corridor and the Northern Corridor. While in Kahama, north western Tanzania, Sunday Times' James Karuhanga who is part of a media team travelling with the MPs interviewed the Central Corridor team leader, MP Wanjuki Muhia  (Kenya) before they headed for Ngara, 300 kilometers away. She explained why the newly sworn in fourth Assembly embarked on the trip and what is expected of them. Below are the excerpts: After getting to Kahama last night, you covered exactly 1,509 kilometers from Zanzibar, please shed light on why two teams of regional lawmakers are traversing the central and northern corridors. We embarked on this journey from Zanzibar all the way through the central corridor to Rwanda so that we can identify and appreciate East African institutions. We found it fit for members of parliament to come out of the comfort zone and go face the reality; where are these institutions, what does the public want, how does the public perceive the Community and how much can we do for the Community? In this journey, we are meeting stakeholders such as clearing agents, government officials, and operation managers be it at the port of Dar es Salaam, or the transporters you saw at Vigwaza weigh bridge. We interviewed truck drivers to understand their story and the main agenda is to first, appreciate the institutions...

The U.S has made a fresh call for the East African Community not to phase out imported used clothes and leather products locally known as “Chagua”, but Rwanda says the U.S should not shift goals on what was agreed by the parties in 2015 when the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), pact was renewed. Genesis In 2015, the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State adopted a three-year gradual process to phase out the importation of second-hand clothes and footwear to promote textile, apparel and leather industries in the region and instead focus on evolving domestic industries. This move, was deemed to make EAC textile and leather factories self-sufficient to serve the local and international markets, including AGOA market which had kept the window wide open for African exports into the American market same year. Despite Kenya rescinding on the decision at a later stage, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania have remained “solid” on their stance to phase-out second hand clothing. The government of Rwanda deliberated on a strategy to develop the textiles, apparel and leather industrial sectors and a blueprint was consequently designed on how to implement such a strategy. A draft 2017-2019 strategy for the transformation of textiles, apparel and leather industrial sectors aim to increase the quality and quantity of textile, apparel and leather for both local and foreign markets. Rwanda’s strategy estimated that, if everything is implemented, this could create 25,655 jobs, increase exports to $ 43 million and decrease imports to $ 33 million by...