Sorena Sattari, Iran's Vice President for Science and Technology, has traveled to the East African region to explore business opportunities there and boost bilateral trade ties. Heading a delegating comprised of heads of 45 knowledge-based firms, Sattari will sit down with senior officials and investors from Kenya and Uganda, IRNA news agency reported on October 2. Boosting exports and strengthening business and trades ties in various fields, including health, medicine, chemistry, electronics, mines and engineering have been set as the main objectives of the visit. In each of the two African countries, the Iranian delegation will attend meetings where ways of boosting commerce with their counterparts will be surveyed. The unique geography and apparent suitability for farming made East Africa a target for European exploration, exploitation and colonization in the 19th century. Today, tourism is an important part of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles and Uganda. Source Trend News Agency

Nairobi. High cost of additional equipment for tracking and tracing goods has hampered smooth implementation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT), according to the business fraternity. The system was rolled out by the East African Community (EAC) last year to enable faster clearance of goods and reduce the cost of doing business in the region. Under SCT, vehicles carrying imported goods from the point of entry to the destination within the region have to be tracked using electronic devices to ensure security and tax compliance. SCT is based on destination model and under it, goods are cleared at the first point of entry into the community and taxes are assessed and paid in the destination country. Business leaders say the system has eased cross border movement of goods in the region and that by December last year, all goods were rolled onto the SCT. However, the business leaders in Tanzania are concerned that drivers carrying goods beyond the country’s borders have to buy other tracking devices. “This is due to the fact that the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) covers for transit goods only within Tanzania,” said Frank Dafa, a trade policy specialist with the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI). He said the drivers taking goods to Kenya, for instance, have to buy new tracking devices from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which are said to cost up to $1,000 (about Sh2.3 million). He made the remarks in Dar es Salaam last week when briefing journalists from the six East African...

In March this year, there was a jubilant mood in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, when African leaders gathered to sign an accord herald as a critical step in the actualisation of free trade from Cape Town to Cairo, signalling a new era in intra-African trade. The Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) is a multilateral agreement whose idea was conceived in 2012 and has finally been endorsed across Africa by 44 countries. The vision of the CFTA is to build an integrated market in Africa connecting more than a billion people and harnessing the enormous potential of the continent. Under a free trade agreement, all the signatory countries will agree to reduce trade tariffs and import quotas amongst each other. Principally, the CFTA as it is currently is the initial stage of closer economic co-operation across the more than fifty countries that make up the African Union. Consequently, this should ease Africa’s transition into a fully-fledged union. The CFTA, it is hoped, will mimic the successes of the now faltering European Union whose underlying ethos was the benefit accruing from free movement of people, a customs union, a common market and even a single currency. Effectively, the CFTA is expected to unlock Africa’s potential by shifting focus from being a harvesting ground for resources including human capital and raw materials that are subsequently exported to the more flourishing economies of the West and East for beneficiation. Additionally, there is a spirit of optimism emanating from the benefits that are expected to...

In March this year, more than 40 African leaders signed a free trade pact that aims to make it easier for countries across the continent to produce, sell and do business across borders. Intra-African trade is key to sustainable development and long-term economic security – there’s little debate about that. Yet, the latest figures suggest the recent efforts by African leaders to remove trade barriers isn’t having enough of an impact with internal trade across the continent remaining low. While the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed in March proves African leaders acknowledge the importance of internal trade, they now need to prove their willingness to remove the existing barriers standing in the way of it – something that will take more than signatures and handshakes. Existing barriers to intra-African trade Despite the signing of trade agreements between a majority of African nations, the free movement of goods and business is still being held back by non-tariffs barriers, red tape, insufficient infrastructure and political conflicts. This has been evident in the East African Community (EAC), which has its own regional trade agreements to boost local business. However, poor relations between neighbouring countries has been an ongoing problem for regional trade, as outlined by TradeMark Africa. Reports of Rwandans with dual Ugandan citizenship being stopped at the border by immigration officials aren’t uncommon. Friction between Rwanda President Paul Kagame and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni appear to be hindering the progress of trade between the neighbouring countries. Cases like this are still common. East African traders also complain that new...

The global trading regime is in great need of change to avert real and potentially destabilising losses resulting from the escalating trade frictions between the United States and China and elsewhere, experts said. The Trump administration has leaned heavily towards unilateralism in addressing what it sees as unacceptable status quo in which the United States has long been taken advantage of by countries around the world, including its allies, in terms of trade and others, defence included. Trump has fired the first shot in this global trade battle by failing to adequately negotiate. Furthermore, China is increasingly singled out as the source of the world’s trade woes. Caught in the cross fire, many U.S. soybean farmers are feeling uneasy about their coming harvest and have contemplated planting other crops for the next season, even though the Trump administration has said it will offer a package of 12 billion U.S. dollars to compensate for their losses. “I do not want government compensation, I want the Chinese market,” said Don Lutz, a farmer in Scandinavia in the state of Wisconsin. In Brazil, the farmers there seem to have benefited from the U.S.-China trade friction, with the price of Brazilian soy beans rising by over 15 percent year on year on expectations of higher demand from China. “In the past season 2017-2018, we extended the sowing for 4 per cent more and we had a good income. For the new cycle, we tried to expand more, up to 7,100 hectares, and getting an increase...

“Political openness is crucial for EAC partner states to realize integration opportunities. “There is also a need for countries to further push progress implementation of the Common Market Protocol,” said Bernd Schmidt, Deputy Programme Manager of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) when speaking to journalists from the six EAC member states who are on a media tour. The EAC Common Market Protocol, among other things, provides for free movement of goods, people, labour, services and capital across partner states. “Economic growth requires free movement of people and goods,” he insisted. According to Schmidt, trade barriers such as tariffs should also be addressed to promote regional trade which has maintained a downward trend for over four years. He attributed the decline to EAC countries preferring to import various goods including those for the pharmaceutical industry, which are mostly from Asia, North America and Europe. Schmidt said it was high time governments in the region started supporting small local manufacturing firms. He said by supporting local firms, governments will be creating jobs as well as improving the welfare of the people. He was of the view that for the EAC integration to prosper, member states should stop creating disputes since countries were now behaving like competitors, according to media reports. Chief Executive Officer of the East African Business Council (EABC) Lilian Awinja said despite the challenges, EAC integration has facilitated movement of goods and people across the region. She linked the outcome with improvements in infrastructure, especially roads. Awinja said...

The East African Community has kicked off the process of forming a political federation by appointing a 12-member Committee of Experts to draft a regional constitution. This is in line with a directive by the region’s heads of state to the Council of Ministers, asking it to begin drafting laws that will pave the way for the achievement of the last pillar of East African integration. Julius Maganda, Uganda's EAC Minister and chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, said each partner state has appointed two members to the CoE to conduct research, consultations and eventually draft the East African Community Constitution by 2021. The CoE is chaired by Uganda’s Benjamin Odoki and has three years to complete the drafting of the laws. The draft will be reviewed over a year before it is submitted to the Heads of State Summit for signing. It is expected to be promulgated by 2023. According to Mr Maganda, the Council prefers a confederation to a federation initially, so as to allow the partner states to harmonise their systems before surrendering to a federation. The difference between a confederation and a federation is that membership of a confederation is voluntary. One president under one constitution When the political federation comes into force, under one president, partner states’ constitutions will become subordinate to the regional Constitution. Currently, the Treaty for the establishment of the EAC is subordinate to the partner states’ Constitutions. Source The East Africa

Arusha. Regional integration and development within the East African Community (EAC) is being undermined by a failure of member states to cooperate on key issues. Speaking in Arusha, Tanzania, Bernd Schmidt, the Deputy Programme Manager GIZ, said political openness among member states was required if integration is to be deepened, suggesting that the envisaged single currency and political confederation cannot be achieved if the successes of the Customs Union are not safeguarded and the Common Market is not pushed any further. The retricted movement of goods, services and persons including the right of establishment and the right of residence were cited as key issues hindering the acceleration of economic growth and development for the people in the region. “Trade within the EAC region has been declining for over four years now. This is a new reality for the community. You might get the impression that some East African leaders together with their administrations are happier to import be it soap, sugar, biscuits, or pharmaceuticals from Asia, North America or Europe than to support existing small firms from within the region; firms that create more of the desperately needed jobs and wellbeing among let me say brothers and sisters,” he said. Mr Schmidt who was speaking to journalists from across the EAC on a media tour of various key EAC projects urged member states to work for the greater common good than advancing selfish interests. The journalists supported by the EAC Secretariat, in collaboration with the GiZ and the East African Business...

September 26 (today), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation has convened a high level event in New York on the margins of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. The event aims to further foster the implementation of the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III). Below is a message from Mr Li Yong, the Director General of UNIDO. Since the turn of the millennium, Africa has experienced a steady and unprecedented economic growth. However, poverty continues for people across the continent, especially in the sub-Saharan region. Unemployment and inequality have remained high. The rural population and the urban poor, women and youth have not benefited from economic growth. African policymakers realise that, for the benefits of growth to be shared by all, there needs to be a structural transformation of the economy. Specifically, there is an acknowledgement that its composition should change, with increased shares of manufacturing and agro-related industry in national investment, output, and trade. Manufacturing, thanks to its multiplier effect on other sectors of the economy, has always been one of the most important drivers of economic development and structural change, especially in developing countries. Manufacturing is an “engine of growth” that enhances higher levels of productivity and greater technical change, thus creating more jobs with higher wages for both women and men. Recognising this, the United Nations has proclaimed the period 2016-2025 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III) in order to increase global awareness and encourage partnerships to achieve...

The East African Community (EAC) bloc is developing a regional Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy to boost its competitiveness, officials said on Tuesday. Gertrude Ngabirano, Executive Secretary of the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), told a media briefing in Nairobi that the draft policy will be submitted to the EASTECO Governing Board for adoption before consideration and approval by the EAC Council of Ministers of the six member states. “We expect that the EAC Heads of State will endorse the STI policy in 2019, so as to create an enabling environment for increased investment in science, technology in order to boost competitiveness, support sustainable regional development and socio-economic transformation,” Ngabirano said during a regional workshop to review and validate draft STI policy and draft Intellectual Property Rights Policy. The EAC Intellectual Property Rights is expected to ensure that new products and innovations generated through research are protected from being stolen by third parties. The EAC policy will be aligned to the African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024.  Ngabirano said that once the regional STI policy is in place, it will guide the development of national science policies by the member states. “It will also harmonise national science policies in order to enhance cooperation and avoid duplication in research activities,” she added. She noted that the policy will put the east African region on the road map of being globally competitive in terms of product development. According to EASTECO, the EAC is performing poorly...