The East African Community (EAC) is, probably, the most integrated regional bloc in Africa. Earlier this month, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda traveled to Tanzania to meet his counterpart, Dr. John Pombe Magufuli. As reported by the media, the two leaders, among other things, discussed “issues affecting trade relations” between their two countries and in the region. Uganda and Tanzania are two among the six EAC Partner States. The Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community (“EAC Treaty”) was signed on 30 November 1999 and entered into force on 7 July 2000. The EAC integration is still forming. Key pillars such as the common market and the monetary union are yet to take their shapes. So, it’s not very surprising that there are “issues”. Despite marked successes in the customs union, there are several other areas that are not in harmony with each other among the Partner States. One such area is the tax systems. For example, some Partner States levy the excise tax on ad valorem basis (monetary value) while others levy on a specific basis (quantity). Also, Partner States offer tax incentives (say 10 years tax holiday) and others don’t. Capital gains are taxable in some Partner States and exempt in others. What is the implication of all these differences on the free movement of capital, goods, and services? Lack of a certain level of harmonization of the national tax systems and tax policies is among the issues that may be impeding implementation of the common...

THE East African Community (EAC) looks forward to having success stories of the youth, who engage in agriculture for economic prosperity. EAC Deputy Secretary General Christophe Bazivamo said having the successful youths would enable others to learn. He was speaking in Dar es Salaam during a two-day regional validation workshop on best youth agribusiness models in EAC partner states, which started in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. "If properly utilised, the youth have the potential to boost productivity and strengthen inclusive economic growth," he stated. He said in this new initiative, the EAC would be collaborating with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to address youth unemployment through agriculture. "Engaging the youth in an agri-food chain is increasingly seen as a viable solution to youth unemployment, food insecurity, rural poverty and distress migration for EAC," he remarked. According to EAC and FAO, the youth represent 48 million of the total population of the EAC partner states in the next 20 years. The number is expected to grow to 82 million. The EAC senior official urged the youth in the EAC bloc to change the mind-sets and appreciate what they had. For his part, Mr Mohamed Aw- Dahir, senior officer (programme and partnership) in the sub-regional office for Eastern Africa (SFE) said as part of FAO commitment to supporting member states to achieve sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they had also decided to support the youth in agriculture to ensure no one was left behind. Mr Aw-Dahir added that they would enable the...

LONDON – Add Africa to the locations Theresa May is hoping will help shore up Britain’s post-Brexit future. The prime minister on Tuesday promised to tweak her government’s generous aid budget to open doors for UK companies on the continent of a billion people. The longer-term shift to “trade not aid” will have to be dramatic if it is to compensate for the setback of severing close ties with the European Union. There are strong reasons for Britain to promote African development. As May noted in a speech in Cape Town, a more prosperous continent is less likely to breed international jihadists or economic migrants eager to sneak into Europe. The economic rationale, however, looks more suspect. Total trade with Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya – the stops on May’s three-country trip – amounted to £13.1 billion in 2016, according to UK government figures. That’s less than 2.5% of the £554 billion in goods and services that Britain exchanged with the European Union in the same year. In other words, if UK trade with the bloc drops by 2% after it departs, commerce with the three countries – which include Africa’s two largest economies – would have to almost double to make up the difference. At the moment any pickup looks a stretch. Over the last decade, the value of UK-Africa trade has grown at around 1% a year – a trend that is likely to continue given the subdued economic trajectories in South Africa and Nigeria. Besides, the EU...

With the United Kingdom’s (UK) departure from the European Union (EU) imminent, it is no surprise that the UK is currently on a charm offensive, with a view to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships. Going by the UK Prime Minister’s currently ongoing tour of Africa, where she intends to meet and hold trade talks with three African Heads of State, Africa is top on the UK’s global agenda. Evidently, with 16 per cent of the world’s population, but only three per cent of global goods trade, Africa is heralded as the containing untapped trade potential. In support of its new focus on trade partnerships with the African continent, Mrs Teresa May announced an additional GBP 4 billion in British trade and investment support earmarked for Africa, with an expectation that a similar amount will be matched by the private sector. In her pledge, the UK PM signalled a shift in UK’s trade relationships with the African continent. Traditionally, critics have noted with concern that the UK tends to prioritize financial aid targeted at eradicating poverty in the African continent – financial aid that in the long run has not concretely benefit the African continent. Now, with a potential hard Brexit looming in the horizon, the United Kingdom hopes to focus on long-term economic growth and development of the African continent, with the hope that a rapidly industrializing Africa will stand to plug any potential trade deficit resultant of a hard or no-deal Brexit. Indeed, a rapidly industrialising Africa is...

Dar es Salaam. The government is creating a viable space for encouraging agricultural innovative activities in a bid to attract more youth into the sector, which employs about 80 per cent of Tanzanians. The remark was made by the policy advisor for the ministry of Agriculture (Food Security and Co-operatives), Mr Revelian Ngaiza said on Tuesday August 29 when presenting a report in a meeting organised by the East African Community (EAC) in Dar es Salaam. Mr Ngaiza, who represented the ministry’s permanent secretary, said the government had identified the innovative approach as a powerful tool of encouraging the youth to take up agriculture as their main economic activity. “In our two-year pilot project for identifying the challenges making the youth shun agriculture, they have discovered that innovations in agriculture were crucial in attracting the youth to engage in agriculture,” he said. In his opening remarks to such meeting on Best Youth Agri-business Models in East Africa, the EAC deputy secretary general, Mr Christophe Bazivamo, said that since many young people do not regard agriculture in a positive way, there is a need to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to attract them. “ICT can be improved let us say to integrate music and sports in agricultural activities for attracting more youths in this sector,” said Mr Bazivamo. He cited the case of the use of ICT in agri-businesses such as marketing of agricultural produce, which is attracting more youths in Kenya. The EAC senior officer for the UN Food...

As the UK prepares for life after Brexit, prime minister Theresa May is leading a charm offensive to Africa this week. With a delegation that includes the UK trade minister and minister for Africa, the British leader will visit three of Africa’s largest economies, South Africa (Aug. 28), Nigeria (Aug. 29), and Kenya (Aug. 30). May will be the first UK prime minister to visit Kenya in more than three decades and the first to visit Sub-Saharan Africa since 2013. The visit, described as ”a unique opportunity at a unique time,” has a very clear purpose: “As we prepare to leave the European Union, now is the time for the UK to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships,” May said. As it is already late to the party in Africa, following increased efforts from China and the United States in recent years, the UK is making the pitch for a “renewed partnership” with “mutual benefits.” It says it will work “side by side” with partners on the continent to “maximize shared opportunities.” Those sentiments appear to be particularly veiled references to contrast China’s activity on the continent which has been branded as “debt trap diplomacy” and criticized for encouraging dependency. In Kenya, for example, debt to China has grown tenfold in five years. May will need to make a strong impression on Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also meeting leaders from China and the US this week. In addition to trade talks, May will be pledging more military support as Kenya continues to battle the insurgent...

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May walks out of 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, May 2, 2018. /REUTERS Britain will use its international aid budget to boost its own interests while also seeking to deepen trade ties with Africa, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday, countering critics who say aid funds would be better spent at home. May, battling to unite her divided Conservative Party over her plan to take Britain out of the European Union, is visiting South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on her first official trip to the continent. In a speech in Cape Town, May said she wanted Britain to become the biggest investor in Africa out of the Group of Seven nations, overtaking the United States, by using the aid budget to help British companies invest on the continent. The government has held out the prospect of increased trade with non-European Union countries as one of the major selling points of Brexit as it prepares to leave the bloc, currently its biggest trading partner, in March next year. In April, Britain hosted a meeting of Commonwealth countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, seeking to reinvigorate the network of mostly former colonies and drum up new trade amongst its members. May recommitted to maintaining the overall British aid budget at 0.7 percent of economic output but said she would use it in a way that helped Britain. “I am unashamed about the need to ensure that our aid programme works for the UK,” May said....

Trade among East African Community member states has grown by $4b (Shs15.014 trillion) since the establishment of Customs Union on January 2, 2005. The growth signifies the importance of regional integration to member states which mainly pursues trade and market integration. Mr Kenneth Bagamuhunda, the EAC customs general, said during the 22nd Ordinary Meeting of the East African Community Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) that while integration will take long to be fully realised, there are already positives results. “Since January 2005, EAC trade integration has resulted into increased volume of trade. In 2005, trade between the EAC states was $1.5b but has since increased to $5.5b in 2017,” he said. According to Mr Bagamuhunda, infrastructure development in the region has developed, which has helped to grow trade in the region. “We have put emphasis on infrastructure development for economic growth [with] customs as one of the avenues for growth,” he said. The East African Customs Union was followed by the East African Community Common Market, which represents the second pillar of the EAC regional integration process. The EAC regional integration provides for freedom of movement for all the factors of production such as goods and labour, among others. Mr Bagamuhunda said the implementation of the Common Market has progressed well with the secretariat implementing a number of procedures such as the e-passport and one-stop border points, among others. The East African Legislative Assembly has also passed the Bill establishing the East African Monetary Institute. LARGEST TRADE PARTNER Since the establishment...

50 kilograms or 110 pounds. That is the maximum Nathalie can smuggle in one night. She knows a shortcut to avoid the border control. Her heavy bags are packed with used trousers, dresses and shirts from Europe and North America. "If you get caught, you can go to jail. If you are lucky, you can bribe the police," she said. One trip takes her two days. Eight hours by van from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to the place near the border where her parents live. Another hour by boat to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There she spends the day at the market. "I look for all kinds of clothes. Back home, the people buy everything because second-­hand clothes are hard to get." High tariffs for textiles in Rwanda, pressure from the US Nathalie's 50 kilograms of used clothes are just a minor contraband compared to other smugglers. Rwandan authorities have impounded 230 tons of illegally imported clothes from July to December 2017. This is a consequence of the rise of tariffs for textiles from $0.20 (€0,17) to $2.50 (€2,09) per kilogram by the Rwandan government. The high tariffs are part of the strategy to strengthen the domestic textile sector. Currently, local production cannot compete with the quality and price of used clothes from the West. In 2015, the states of the East African Community (EAC) decided to ban the import on second-­hand clothing from 2019 onwards. Today, Rwanda is the only state that sticks to this plan. It is the US that...

President Uhuru Kenyatta wrapped up his official visit to the US with a message that Africa is open to mutually beneficial trade and investments with the world. Speaking to the media after his meeting with President Donald Trump, the President observed that Africa has come of age and does not look to the world for aid but how to foster win-win partnerships that benefit all parties involved. “There has been dramatic change across the African continent where people are beginning to get a better understanding of themselves, who they are and where they want to be,” he said. The Head of State added: “And we are looking at how we can partner with countries across the globe in a partnerships that are not patronising but those that are anchored on a win-win positions.” The President spoke shortly before he departed Washington DC on Monday evening after a busy day that saw him hold bilateral talks with President Donald Trump. He also met business executives of leading US companies during which he witnessed investment deals worth USD 238 million (Sh24 billion) signed between Kenyan and US companies. Uhuru termed his meeting with President Trump a big success, saying it cemented a relationship that was already strong between Kenya and the US. “The meeting with President Trump was fruitful. We discussed security, especially the fight against terrorism. We also discussed how to increase trade and investments between our two countries and how US companies can help create jobs for our youth,” he...