Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has re-emphasised the benefits of integration and observed that for over 50 years East African leaders have been working towards the integration of the region in particular and the African continent in general because of the numerous advantages for Africans.Museveni was addressing the 9th Northern Corridor Integration Summit at Serena Hotel in the Rwandan Capital of Kigali on Saturday. Member countries of the Northern Corridor Integration include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan while Tanzania and Burundi are observers. The Kigali Summit was convened to fast-track the implementation of the 14 projects launched under the Northern Corridor Infrastructural Projects Framework. Museveni also saluted the Kenyan leader, Uhuru Kenyatta for waving off taxes levied on goods entering Uganda at the customs which, he said has reduced the delay of goods entering the country. Host President Paul Kagame thanked the private sector in East Africa for their participation in the Northern Corridor Integration Project Summit saying this had added value to their work as the East African Community members. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, who is the current Chairman of the East African Community, wished Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit success in their endeavours. South Sudan President, Salva Kiir asked regional leaders to keep supporting the two sides in South Sudan to ensure that they are brought further together in order to ensure that peace returns to his country. Source: Star Africa

Arusha. The East African Court of Justice has dismissed a case against the attorneys general of the five partner states in the bloc which alleged that South Sudan was not fit to join the East African Community (EAC). The application was filed by Patrick Ntege Walusimbi, Dan Ssenga and Mohammed Waiga -- Ugandans trading in South Sudan -- through their company known as Uganda Traders Association of South Sudan Ltd. The Association was initially one of the Applicants in the case until September 5, 2014 when it was struck out for non-compliance of Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court which requires a case made by a cooperate body to be accompanied by documentary evidence of its existence in law. The case was prompted by South Sudan’s application to join the bloc under Article 3(3) (b) of the Treaty on the Establishment of the EAC Treaty. The applicants opposed the application on grounds that South Sudan does not adhere to universally accepted principles of good governance, democracy, rule of law and observance of human rights and social justice as required under Article 3(3) (b) of the EAC Treaty. They sought a declaration that the country, which gained independence in July 2011, was not a fit and proper candidate to be granted membership in the bloc. The Court in delivering the judgment held inter alia that, it is vested with jurisdiction to entertain the case and it has been persuaded and convinced by the applicants that the case...

The recent oil price volatility provides us with a strong warning not to over-rely on oil revenues for national budgets and development. We have recently witnessed a number of oil-dependent countries which are facing socio-economic disorientation as revenues plummet. One such country is Nigeria. When we studied African geography in the 1960s, both Nigeria and Kenya were successful agricultural economies that sufficiently fed their populations and exported enough produce to finance their imports. While Kenya remained an agricultural economy, Nigeria at some point discovered oil and unwittingly prioritised it at the expense of agriculture and other economic sectors. For nearly 60 years, Nigeria has remained heavily dependent on oil for their foreign currency requirements and for funding national budgets. The country’s economic fortunes or failures therefore follow the plot of global oil prices. Kenya’s is a fairly balanced economy with low exposure to global commodity dynamics. In addition to agriculture, it has developed other key economic sectors like services (financial and communication), tourism, manufacturing, mining and energy. Although Kenya is yet to be labelled an oil producer, it has discovered about 0.6 billion barrels of oil in Turkana basins but these are not likely to be monetised until about 2017/18. Kenya has, however, benefited from foreign direct investment (FDI) from oil and gas investors. Without oil Kenya has performed fairly well, and can still continue to succeed without oil. The newly discovered oil should therefore be treated as incremental to the existing GDP and should not be permitted in any...

Land speculators out to make a kill from Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport ( Lapsset) corridor project have been identified as the ones behind land grabbing in Isiolo Central sub-county. Governor Godana Doyo claimed the speculators, working in cahoots with officers from Lands Department and private surveyors, had grabbed hectares of public land, including parcels belonging to schools. "Land grabbing in the county, especially in Central region, has reached new heights. We have now declared total war on this group. We will start with the staff at the Lands department before zeroing in on individuals and companies," said Mr Doyo. "Apart from losing their job, any officer found colluding with speculators to grab public land will be dealt with according to the law," he added. Doyo said the county government had already started pulling down fences that had been erected at Uhuru Primary School playground, allegedly grabbed by private developers. But part of the school land near Isiolo River that had been turned into farms is yet to be repossessed. He was speaking at Wabera Primary School at the weekend when he met primary school heads in the county. He was accompanied by Director of Education Lucy Gachu and other county officials. Easy targets Ms Gachu observed that Vision 2030 flagship projects such as the Isiolo Resort City, Isiolo International Airport and other infrastructural development under the Lapsset corridor project had attracted land grabbers to the county, with easy targets being schools. She asked the Lands ministry and the...

(Reuters) - The United States and five East African countries pledged on Thursday to ease trade flows and set the stage for more U.S. investment, a program that could be extended to other parts of Africa. The agreement commits Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to cooperate with the United States in customs issues, ease red tape at borders, reduce customs wait times and harmonize trade standards. As part of the deal, which has been in the works since 2013, Washington will provide training on food safety, animal and plant health standards and international regulations. "We see this agreement and all our work with (East Africa) to date as an important steppingstone, not the final destination," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said. China's rapid entry into Africa has fueled a rush to the continent by Western and other economies, including India and Brazil, and the region's economy has grown more than 6 percent in the last decade. Trade in goods between the United States and the East African bloc grew by 52 percent to $2.8 billion in 2014, according to federal data. Exports were at $2 billion, while imports totalled $743 million. All five countries currently take part in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a program that grants African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets. The program is set to expire later this year and the White House has already kicked off an early bid to raise congressional support for a renewal. The East African region could become even...

The duty on cement imported into East Africa has been lowered from 35 per cent to 25 per cent, heralding good news for the construction sector. But manufacturers warn that the resultant price crash could send them out of business and lead to massive job losses. According to a gazette notice of the EAC released last month, apart from the reduction in the common external tariff (CET), cement has also been removed from the list of sensitive products that require protection until domestic industries can compete. Decisions on the CET are made by the East African Council of Ministers. Despite the current 35 per cent duty on cement from non-EAC countries, imports are still largely cheaper than the locally produced commodity. Cement manufacturers fear the latest move is opening a window to cheaper cement imports that are likely to leave them staring at idle capacity and losses. “This will only create unnecessary competition from manufacturers outside the region, leading to an influx of cheap cement imports,” said Ronald Ndegwa, Savannah Cement chief executive. Mr Ndegwa said that the costly business regime in East Africa will render the local firms uncompetitive against rivals who operate in “subsidised economies.” Electricity, which on average makes up 40 per cent of the direct cost of cement manufacturing, is four times cheaper in Asian countries. “Until the cost of production in the region comes down, we still feel that it is unfair to remove cement from the sensitive items list it is likely to put...

The East African Community Council of Ministers has initiated the process of fast-tracking the Non-Tariff Barriers Bill into law. This is expected to compel partner states to eliminate the numerous NTBs that hinder smooth movement of goods and services within the economic bloc. The EAC Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Bill, 2015 was passed by the East African Legislative Assembly in January to enable partner states to completely remove NTBs to allow free movement of goods, people and labour as a requirement by Common Market Protocol. Non-tariff barriers have been cited as the biggest threats to doing business in East Africa. While the five EAC partner states have agreed in principle to remove non-tariff barriers by December this year, this largely depends on good faith on the part of the five countries due to the absence of a legal framework. A report on the status of NTBs released last year indicates that last year, the economic bloc eliminated 66 per cent of the non-tariff barriers, enhancing trade. The report, which was released by the EAC Secretariat, showed that 18 NTBs remained unresolved while four new ones were introduced by the partner states. However, 78 NTBs were reportedly resolved cumulatively by the member states. Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda were reported to have imposed the highest number of NTBs during the period under review while Burundi had the least, with Rwanda imposing none. The new and the unresolved NTBs are mostly restrictions imposed on Customs and administrative entry procedures, technical barriers to trade...

East African economies are showing promising growth prospects for 2015, but the falling prices of key commodity exports and the region’s mounting debt burden remain a threat. The region’s growth is expected to average six per cent this year, up from about 5.5 per cent recorded in 2014, driven by increased investments in infrastructure, falling inflation and an expected surge in private-sector lending. However, this growth is dimmed by plummeting prices for tea and coffee, the region’s two leading exports, which have reduced export earnings and widened the current account deficit of Tanzania and Kenya. Tea prices have been depressed by oversupply, while poor rainfall has hurt coffee output. In Uganda and Burundi, a supply glut and lower production have seen depressed earnings from tea and coffee. In the 2014 season, Uganda reported coffee exports worth $394 million, representing a 2.3 per cent drop in volume and nine per cent decrease in value from the previous year. Uganda sold its coffee at an average of $1.87 per kg, down from $2 per kg the previous year. In Burundi, earnings from coffee fell to $23.8 million in 2014, from $66.3 million in 2013, attributed to unpredictable weather conditions and a lower-yielding crop cycle. Tea earnings fell six per cent in the first nine months of 2014. Kenya’s tourism sector, one of the key drivers of dollar earnings, contracted by about 14 per cent during the third quarter of 2014, but is expected to make a comeback as the security situation stabilises....

THE East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers has urged the trading bloc to fast track the implementation of the Regional Postal Sector Strategy, an official said over the weekend. EAC Director of Infrastructure Philip Wambugu told a regional forum in Nairobi that a baseline survey for the regional postal sector has already been concluded. “A meeting to consider the report of the survey has been scheduled for May 2015,” Wambugu said during the East African Communications Organization Postal Conference on Leveraging Information Communications Technology in the Transformation of the Postal and Courier sector in the region. Wambugu said that the report of the survey is rich in information on the current state of the sector as well as insights on the way forward. He said that the strategy would assist EAC partner states to harmonize their policies, laws and regulations for the sector. In the recent years the region has liberalized the sector, which led to a development of a vibrant private sector. The director said that development of the postal sector cannot take place without the involvement of the private sector. According to the EAC official, electronic commerce presents a great business opportunity for the postal sector. “This is because physical goods bought online have to be delivered physically to the buyer,” Wambugu said. “However, the challenge is for postal operators to develop strategies for exploiting the opportunities that ecommerce provides,” he said. Source: Daily News

ARUSHA, Tanzania - The cost of doing business across the East African Community remain high, in spite of the efforts being made by Partner states and with the support of Development Partners. In addition, 24 non-tariff barriers (NTBs) still remain unresolved, the just-ended 16th ordinary EAC Summit was told in Nairobi. “This denies us the opportunity to unlock the immense potential of regional integration and starves businesses of innumerable opportunities,” President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya said during the 16th Summit of the regional leaders in Nairobi. He was handing over the Chair of the Summit to President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania. “To grow intra-Community trade, we need to implement decisive solutions without delay,” he said. The Kenyan leader said NTBs still complicate businesses in the region. These are also impediments to East Africa’s competitiveness as a global investment destination denying the EAC Bloc unaccountable business and investment opportunities. “NTBs must go. I am glad to note that our Council of Ministers (the policy organ of the Community) has introduced a legal framework aimed at moving this agenda forward,” he said. Kenyatta also acknowledged the high cost of roaming calls across the region, describing it as yet another unnecessary impediment to trade and communication in the bloc. “It is unacceptable that in many instances, calling outside our continent is much cheaper than communicating within our region,” he said. He called for urgent interventions by relevant regulatory authorities on the issue. However he appreciated the One-Area-Network initiated by Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya...