A business guide developed by the International Trade Centre (ITC) was launched on Tuesday to help the private sector and policymakers better understand and navigate the agreement. Albert Muchanga, the AU Commissioner of Trade and Industry, said the bloc was confident of getting the 15 remaining member-states to ratify the agreement by December. So far, Kenya, Rwanda, eSwatini, Chad, Niger, Guinea and Ghana have ratified the AfCFTA, while three countries (Egypt, Kenya and Uganda) have ratified the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) Tripartite Free Trade Area. At least 22 ratifications are needed for the AfCFTA to enter into force, and 14 are required for the TFTA. COMESA Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe said overlapping activities between the TFTA and the AfCFTA needed to be harmonized. Kapwepwe, who is the chair of the TFTA Task Force, said closer co-ordination between the AU and the regional economic communities will be key to successful implementation of both agreements. “The narrative of the regional economic communities being the building blocks of the ACFTA should be promoted to ensure complementarity,” she said. Source Apa News

ZAMBIAN importers and exporters should heed the advice by Mozambican Ambassador to Zambia Jeronimo Chivavi to use the port of Beira for ease of transport of goods across the two countries. Mr Jeronimo said Beira is secure as there are no thefts of cargo and is the shortest route to the sea. The advice by ambassador Jeronimo is timely as Zambia is deepening economic diplomacy and people in business should take advantage of every opportunity that beckons. Zambia has traditionally used the ports in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Durban, South Africa and Walvis Bay in Namibia for exporting and importation of goods. Yet, in terms of distance, the port in Beira is shorter and will make business sense for exporting and importation of goods from overseas, especially from Asia. Beira is 1,300 kilometres from the Chanida border post in Katete and 1,900 kilometres from the capital city, Lusaka. Using the Beira port will also spur trade between Zambia and Mozambique. The volume of Zambia’s trade with Mozambique is low, yet these neighbouring countries have enjoyed bilateral relations for over 40 years. Zambian traders should take advantage of Beira, the fourth largest city in Mozambique which lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean. Trade should become an integral part of Zambia’s economy and a significant tool for economic modernisation. The appeal by the Mozambican for the utilisation of Beira’s port facilities ties in well with Government’s commitment to facilitating...

TradeMark Africa (TMA) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) have opened a new chapter of cooperation on regional integration programmes following a high-level meeting between the parties in Lusaka. The TMA team, led by its Board Chairman Erastus Mwencha, who is also former COMESA Secretary-General and immediate Deputy Chair of the African Union, comprised of the Chief Executive Officer Frank Matsaert among others. COMESA Secretary General Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe led her team flanked by the Assistant Secretary-General (Programmes) Dr Kipyego Cheluget and other senior officials. Mwencha said TMA already works closely with East African Community institutions, national governments as well as the private sector and civil society organisations to boost trade. “The main purpose is to increase trade by unlocking the economic potential of Member States’ increased physical access to markets, enhanced trade environment and improved business competitiveness,” he said. In his brief to the Secretary-General, Matsaert said: “TMA has diagnosed the problems in the North and Central corridor and has come up with a program now in its second phase with an initial investment of $2m.” He added that TMA’s biggest programs have been in the ports of Dar-e-Salaam and Mombasa focusing on infrastructure upgrade to raise productivity. Additionally, TMA has registered success in coordinating and integrating border management systems, automation, cargo tracking, reduction of non-tariff barriers and harmonizing standards on a national and regional level. Matsaert stated that the company closely works with the private sector particularly the small-scale traders at each country level....

rademark East Africa (TMA) has earmarked $2million for the next three years to support women in the logistics and transport sector in the East African Community countries. According to Sandra Kirenga, an Economist at TMA, the funds will be used to establish a secretariat that will develop strategy on mainstreaming gender in the logistics sector. “The fund will also be used to train women in leadership to become agents of change, do research on challenges facing women and how they can be addressed; develop a guideline for gender equality best practices and also engage educational institutions on available opportunities for women in the logistic sector,” she said. “The fund will also be used to organize regional logistics awards that will be aimed at promoting women in the logistic sector.” According to a survey that was done by the Federation East Africa Freight Forwarders Association (FEAFFA) with funding from TMA on 97 logistics companies in East Africa, Only 19% of all the employees in the companies are women. “Even the small percentage that is employed in the logistics sector is being unequally treated compared to their male counterparts. They are paid less for the same jobs, they are sexually harassed and work in unconducive environment with no security,” Kirenga said. The Gender project, she said, will start in Kenya with $600,000 dollars already secured from TMA funders and will be expanded to other East African countries. Kirenga revealed this during a panel discussion on ‘Mainstreaming Women in Logistics’ during the Global...

Recently, the permanent secretary in the Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation ministry, Prof Adolf Mkenda, lamented that Kenya had slapped a ban on rice imports from Tanzania, noting that the ban is allegedly on account of the commodity’s low quality and packaging, Prof Mkenda said Tanzania has demanded an explanation over the ban, which suggests that a new trade tiff is brewing. The ban comes a few months after President John Magufuli and his Kenyan counterpart, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, intervened to get their ministers in charge of East African Community (EAC) affairs to resolve an earlier trade dispute. Indeed, there are unresolved trade concerns between Tanzania and Kenya, and this latest only adds to the woes. But as good, old members of the EAC, we need each other in the regional integration stakes – along with the other four EAC member states, namely Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. So, tit-for-tat decisions should be avoided in the best interests of our peoples and economies. Indeed, such developments do not augur well for EAC cooperation and economic integration. And, in that regard, the relevant authorities must always seek to address contentious issues promptly, amicably and conclusively. Source The Citizen

JUBA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The recently signed peace deal provides opportunities for war-torn South Sudan to attract more trading partners and boost its presence in the global trade arena, a senior official government official said on Monday. Stephen Doctor Matatia, director general of External Trade in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and East African Community (EAC) Affairs, said Juba hopes to negotiate trade agreements with several countries in a bid to diversify its oil-dependent economy. "This time if peace is attained; there must be organized trade, authorized trade and legal trade. We will start with the neighboring countries and the countries of our interests and our choice. We will trade with any country in the world," Matatia told Xinhua in a recent interview. He said trade negotiations with several countries were halted after the east African nation plunged into civil war in 2013, but now the government is prepared to resume dynamic and prosperous trade with any country. With South Sudan's accession to the Continental Free Trade Area pact and its full membership in the regional trading bloc, the East African Community (EAC), Matatia said South Sudan is better placed to succeed in negotiating long-term trade agreements. According to the World Bank, South Sudan is the most oil-dependent nation in the world, with oil accounting for almost the totality of exports, and around 60 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). But after the young nation descended into civil war in late 2013, oil production declined from 350,000 barrels...

East African banks are bracing themselves for yet another period of reduced earnings as governments move to set up treasury single accounts to mop up public funds from commercial banks. The policy shift, which has been approved by the East African Community partner states, is expected to reduce cashflow within the banking sector and subsequently stifle economic activity by reducing lending to the productive sectors of the economy. The regional bloc has resolved that each partner state implements a Treasury Single Account (TSA) to ensure complete oversight over the government’s cash flows and to reduce the cost of keeping public money in several commercial banks. Tanzania’s Finance Minister Phillip Mpango said the move would reduce the number of government accounts operated in commercial banks and the Central Bank and reduce costs related to services offered by commercial banks to the government. The implementation of this policy comes as regional banks continue reporting mixed results attributed to a number of factors, including high levels of non-performing loans, high operating costs, slowdown in economic activity and controlled interest rates in some countries such as Kenya. The regional banks that have released their half-year financial performance for this year are Bank of Kigali, KCB, Equity Bank, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Barclays Bank Kenya and Stanbic Bank Uganda. Related Content EA states opt for one bank account to curb misuse Kenya to launch Treasury Single Accounts in fight against graft In Kenya, KCB Group and Equity Bank announced profit after tax of $121 million...

ARUSHA - The East African Community (EAC) Gender Policy has been launched, with a call to member states leaders and stakeholders to use it to deliver gender equity and equality to all East Africans. Monday's launch of the policy in Arusha, Tanzania followed its adoption by the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in Kampala earlier this year. Its aim is to mainstream gender in all aspects of the EAC integration process by promoting the different and complementary roles of men and women in all regional activities. “As the EAC secretariat, we appreciate that despite these challenges, partner states have made tremendous advances in addressing the ensuring gender equality as a key principle of the EAC integration," said Christophe Bazivamo, the EAC deputy secretary general of productive and social sectors, whose speech was delivered by Mary Makoffu. Makoffu is EAC's director of social sector. "The policy will further strengthen the mainstreaming of gender concerns in the planning and budgetary processes of all sectors in the EAC organs, institutions and partner states,” she said on behalf of Bazivamo. Ahead of the launch, Sheila Kawamara Mishambi, a former EALA member spoke passionately about gender matters. "People do not realise how easy it is to ignore gender equality issues. I cannot count the number of times I have been invited to a programme where we had to reword entire programme documents last minute because gender equality issues were not considered,” she said. Mishambi said an active gender policy would ensure that such scenarios are reduced,...

The story of Africa’s trade with itself is grim. According to COMTRADE 2016, intra-European trade stands at an estimated 60 per cent, intra- Asian trade at just over 40 per cent while intra-Africa trade stands at a low of about 20 per cent. Historically, the freedom of movement of goods and people has always been a natural attribute of growing societies. Presently, this movement is paramount to building Africa’s regional economic integration, facilitating trade and fostering economic growth. When we look at Intra-European trade comparatively, the establishment of the European Union’s (EU) single market in 1993 revitalised the EU economy significantly. Businesses especially those in the manufacturing sector enjoyed the fruits of economies of scale because they were able to operate across borders. With access to a greater diversity of products and markets the competitiveness of the region rose remarkably. This vibrant single market was made possible through the elimination of barriers (tariff and non-tariff) such that citizens and industries could benefit from direct access to 28 countries and over 500 million people. This resulted to higher GDP, increased employment opportunities, increased trade, and better investments into the EU economy. Our regional integration has constantly been hampered by among others political instability, poor infrastructure, inadequate power supply, inadequate market intelligence, high cost of doing business and corruption. In turn trading with each other has become a costly affair. A report by the African Development Bank states that only 75 per cent of countries in the Top 20 most visa-open countries...

The conversation about logistics cannot be discussed without trade. Trade opens up borders and allows for the free movement of goods. The most recent development on the African continent was the signing of an African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) by 44 African countries in March 2018. The ambition of the agreement is to boost intra-African trade with the eventual aim being creating one single trading bloc for African countries. It seemed like a mountain to climb prior to the signing of the agreement considering that negotiations started in 2015. These negotiations are being led by the African Union with support from entities like UNECA. The signing alone marked a significant milestone on the continent especially since Africa as a trading bloc has lagged behind markets like the European Union. Total trade among African countries is still below 11%, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). If the intra-African trade improves as a result of this agreement, then it would present an opportunity for logistics companies because all the available goods will need to be moved around the continent. The economies in Africa are growing and countries continue to invest in infrastructure projects that would boost industrialization. As countries do this, they will need to access markets. Some of those markets are available in Africa. Often it is noted that Africa’s trade imbalance with countries like China remains large. The opportunity as a result of the emerging trade agreements on the continent would be that Uganda gets to...