Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are the key destinations for high-skilled Kenyan migrants, attracted by opportunities in financial, IT, engineering and hospitality sectors, a new UN report showed. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said labour shortages in information technology, engineering, finance, hospitality and management in some regional markets in Eastern Africa have fuelled migration of professionals from the region, some of them young. “Rwanda is a major destination for migrants from Kenya and Uganda and has attracted highly skilled professionals. Its burgeoning information technology sector has driven labour mobility among young highly skilled migrants from Kenya, who have taken advantage of economic opportunities in the sector, and demand in financial services and other skill-intensive sectors in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania has also fuelled mobility among professionals from Kenya” the agency said. Mutual recognition agreements between various professional bodies within the East African Community (EAC) allow for cross-border practices among professionals and accord experts from partner States in accounting, architecture, dentistry, medicine and engineering to the same treatment as nationals. “Such agreements, along with the abolition of work permits by some EAC partner States, have been vital in facilitating labour mobility among highly skilled professionals within the region. Regional investment in economic sectors, besides creating labour demand in specific sectors, has also become an important driver of intraregional economic migration” UNCTAD noted. Highly skilled migrants tend to earn relatively high incomes in destinations. “For example, skilled Nigerian migrants in Ghana and South Africa have household...

Kenya has for months been feuding with Tanzania and Uganda over the treatment of its confectionery products in the regional market. The bone of contention has been a 25 per cent tax that the two East African Community partners have been imposing on products with industrial sugar. And with every indication that the community’s trade dispute resolution structures may not rule in its favour, Kenya has threatened Tanzania and Uganda with retaliatory action should the standoff persist beyond July 1. The two neighbours have dared Nairobi to make good its threat. We wish to state that such kind of grandstanding is unnecessary among countries that belong to a single regional market. The East African Community integration, as revived 18 years ago, has clear laws that all members must obey to keep it alive. Playing by the community’s rules is the only way out of the current crisis. Otherwise the game of musical chairs can play forever. Lest we forget, Kenya has always asked for a stay of the remission scheme on industrial sugar on the understanding that products such as biscuits, chocolate, ice cream and sweets would be priced competitively for export market. That’s how the East African Customs Management Act (EACMA) states it. When such goods are diverted into any of the five six integrating countries – which EACMA regards as a single customs territory - such products are deemed to have come from outside EAC, and as such attract 25 per cent import duty. According to EACMA, similar treatment must be meted out...

June 3, 2018 (JUBA) – At least $4m has been set aside for the upgrade of key infrastructure connecting Uganda to South Sudan through Nimule border, TradeMark Africa announced this week. The money, an official told Uganda’s Daily Monitor, will help establish a one-stop border post at Nimule, help to upgrade the road infrastructure between the two countries in about six months, which will in turn improve trade. The TradeMark Africa South Sudan director, John Kalisa said the move would promote transparency and accountability among the two respective countries and agencies operating at the borders. The project, he added, also seeks to improve market access and fasten border processes leading to elimination of non-tariff barrier. The money will be reportedly also be used to construct a parking yard, access roads, examination shed and drainage systems. Currently, it takes traders an average of three days to clear goods through the Nimule border post. South Sudan has, in recent years, emerged as the largest importer of Ugandan goods. Over 150,000 Ugandan traders reportedly operate across the border with South Sudan, generating an estimated $900 million in business annually. Source: Sudan Tribune

TradeMark Africa, has availed $4m (Shs14.9b) for the upgrade of key infrastructure connecting Uganda to South Sudan through Nimule. The money, which is expected to establish a One Stop Border Post at Nimule, will also seek to upgrade the road infrastructure between the two countries in about six months, which will in turn improve trade. Currently, it takes traders an average of three days to clear goods through the Nimule border post. Mr John Kalisa, the TradeMark Africa South Sudan country director, said in an interview that this is expected to promote transparency and accountability among the two respective countries and agencies operating at the borders.” The project, he said, also seeks to improve market access and fasten border processes that will lead to the elimination of non-tariff barrier. The Shs14.9b will be used to construct a parking yard, access roads, examination shed and drainage systems. Source: Daily Monitor

Bukoba — THE East African Community member states are poised to ratify laws to control the importation of inferior pharmaceutical and food products, says the Director of Medicines and Complimentary Products under the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), Mr Adam Fimbo. " Tanzania was the first among EAC nations to have ratified the laws in controlling the safety, quality and effectiveness of food, medicines, cosmetics and medical devices," he disclosed. Other EAC nation will soon follow suit, he added. "Upon completion of this exercise we shall have uniform standards," he said. Mr Fimbo made the remarks recently during a meeting between TFDA officials and representatives of different media outlets from Kagera and Geita regions, as part of enlightening the people in the Lake Zone. He also revealed that TFDA had plans to install special mini-testing labs in all 32 entry points in seven zones to ensure consumers were safe and the market was free of inferior drugs, foods and diagnostics. Various strategies have been put in place that would maintain strict and timely testing of the products with state-of- the art laboratory stationed in Mwanza City as the headquarters in the Lake Zone area comprising six regions-Simiyu, Kagera, Mwanza, Geita, Shinyanga and Mara. He cited, for instance, that the Post Marketing Surveillance programmes (PMS), which between January and March this year, had handled 594 samples of human drugs it collected and tested and found that 96 per cent of them met the required standards. He urged the media to...

A new fund targeting women-led businesses in Africa will invest up to $500 million over the next decade to increase their participation in investment. The African Women’s Leadership Fund is a brainchild of the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa (Uneca), UN Women, the African Union Commission and the African Women Leadership Network. Uneca executive secretary Vera Songwe said that the Fund’s sponsors hope to address a significant gender imbalance in finance and investment. “Women are less represented in many organisations and very few are leaders. This in turn makes them less represented in key decision-making for the continent,” said Ms Songwe. In Africa, only five per cent of chief executives are women; 18 per cent of businesses lack women in senior roles; only 29 per cent are senior managers while 44 per cent of women hold line roles, a 2016 report by Mackinsey & Company notes. The fund’s strategy is to ensure that at least 65 per cent of its investment capital reaches women entrepreneurs and women-led companies. The rest — 35 per cent — will go to technical assistance in the form of capacity building, leadership training, mentorship and business development. The fund hopes to find emerging women managers who will eventually serve as examples of the potential that they and their peers could have if given the support they need. The fund covers each of the continent’s five regions — North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa — and will evolve over time...

Arusha — The East African Community (EAC) has denied it is negotiating with China on a free trade agreement (FTA) proposed by the Asian economic giant. "Currently, there is no EAC-China FTA and no negotiations have begun, in this regard," an EAC official told The Citizen on condition of anonymity since she was not authorised to speak to the media on policy matters. She said recent reports on purported discussions on free trade between the EAC and China were due to "miscommunication". The official nevertheless confirmed that China had proposed to negotiate with EAC partner states a comprehensive FTA in order to boost trade volumes between the two sides. China, currently the world's second biggest economy, had also requested for a joint feasibility study with the community on the proposed trade arrangement. "This matter was considered by the EAC Council of Ministers in early 2016," the official said. She noted, however, that in view of similar requests received from other countries such as Turkey and Singapore, the EAC secretariat decided to undertake a study on implications of such negotiations. The study will inform the Council of Ministers, which is the policy organ of the EAC, on the way forward and subsequent response to requests by China and other foreign countries. "In this regard, the secretariat communicated with the concerned parties that the EAC was to undertaking internal consultations on their proposals and would revert after consultations are finalised," the official said. In June, last year, the EAC secretariat approved a...

The Government of Korea and the African Development Bank have issued a Joint Declaration following the conclusion of the Ministerial Roundtable of the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Conference taking place during the African Development Bank’s 53rd Annual Meetings in which Korea announced a $5-billion bilateral financial assistance package for Africa. The Ministerial Roundtable is the signature event of the biennial KOAFEC Conference, gathering a peer group of African Ministers of Finance who also serve as the African Development Bank Board of Governors to discuss topical issues and a pan-African approach to engagement with Korea. Taking place under the theme “Africa and the 4th Industrial Revolution: Opportunities for leapfrogging?”, the Ministerial Conference highlighted the need for long-term planning for industrial development and execution of projects, as well as a focus on value addition in sectors where Africa has comparative advantage for example in agriculture and natural resources. There was also a need to further leverage technology such as the mobile phone for more inclusive growth, in favour of the youth. The $5-billion financial assistance package will be delivered over two years through partnerships with various development agencies, including but not limited to the African Development Bank Group. The package leverages resources from various Korean bilateral agencies and platforms, including the Knowledge Sharing Program, the Economic Development Cooperation Fund, Korea Import-Export Bank, among others. Specifically, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina and the Deputy Prime Minister of Korea, Dong Yeon Kim, signed three cooperation agreements for the implementation of certain components of...

The S.Sudan government is to use the Elegu/Nimule one stop border post to fight corruption that is constraining the business community using the border to cross into Juba. Corruption, according to officials from the ministry of trade industry and East African community affairs, is one of the most common challenges facing transporters using that route. This was revealed by the undersecretary in the Ministry of Trade Industry and East African Community Affairs of S. Sudan, Agak Achuil Lual Manok last week, during the site hand over of Nimule border point to the contractor, to start construction work so as to have a complete one stop border post. The first phase of the border post at Nimule will be constructed with funding worth $4m from Trademark East Africa, and this involves construction of the parking yard, access roads, and examination shade and drainage system. Already, the Ugandan side at Elegu has been completed, but may not fully be utilized because Nimule side isn’t complete. “The border post will bring all relevant authorities under one roof that means a trader will not move from place to place to clear their goods, which can be an avenue for corruption. Besides most of the clearing processes in OSBPs are online which again will reduce paper work, reducing human interaction hence eliminating corruption at the border post,” said Manok. He also added that post will reduce accidents of trucks being experienced on their side due to flooding in parking lot, which also has a poor...

The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) seeks to integrate African economies and pull together a market with a consumer spending power of $1.4 trillion by 2020, and increase intra-African trade by $35 billion by 2022. While some countries may have issues with the AfCTA, most governments are behind it and momentum will continue to build to make it a reality. AfCTA is viewed as a game- changer that will allow the free movement of goods and services across the continent, allowing African businesses to tap deeper into the sizeable and growing markets. However, there are a few risks that ought to be managed going forward. The first has to do with the financing of infrastructure that will interconnect the continent. Africa has an annual infrastructure financing deficit of about $93 billion. An obvious next step will be the business of raising funds to build the infrastructure Africa needs because without it, AfCTA will remain a good idea with no lived benefits on the ground. Given concerns with rising debt levels of African countries, coupled with queries on the management of public funds, there is a risk that AfCTA can facilitate a debt binge to finance infrastructure in a context of poor institutional controls and capacity to ensure projects are efficiently financed and developed. African governments have to manage this by ensuring infrastructure plans are financed responsibly, that money reaches the projects and that they are completed in a timely manner. Without these controls, the sheer scale of financing that...