Regional legislators will from next week tour the EAC States to collect stakeholders’ views and submissions on the envisaged East African Community Electronic Transactions Bill 2014. East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) said the visit which involves the Committee on Communication, Trade and Investment starts today, ending on Thursday. The Committee chaired by Uganda’s Mukasa Mbidde, has split into two groups to be more effective. Members will undertake simultaneous tour of the capitals. “The first group shall visit Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala while the second group will be in Bujumbura, Kigali and Kampala,” Eala said in a press statement. Stakeholders to be visited include ministries responsible for ICT, finance, trade, commerce and tourism. Others are the offices of the Attorney General and the Law Reform Commissions as well as the Law Societies and enforcement agencies. The MPs are also expected to meet representatives of the private sector including the East African Business Council and the respective private sector federations in the partner States. Both groups then converge in Kampala, Uganda on March 4, 2015, to consider the views and synthesise the input into a report. The Bill was introduced as a private member’s Bill at the recent sitting in Arusha by Dr James Ndahiro. “The Bill aims at making provision for the use, security, facilitation and regulation of electronic communications and transactions to encourage the use or e-government service and to provide for related matters,” noted the regional parliament. In May last year, the East African Payments System was...

The United States on Tuesday presented a UN draft resolution on imposing sanctions in South Sudan where warring factions have repeatedly failed to abide by agreements to end 14 months of war. Source: Daily Nation

February 23, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s bid to join the East African Community (EAC) has reached negotiation level, a key stage for any new member to be admitted to the six-member regional bloc. “South Sudan, for the progress it has been making for the last three years, has now been elevated to the position of negotiations. It is now admitted to start technical negotiations as from March 23rd,” Agrey Tisa Sabuni, a co-chair of South Sudan’s Accession Committee to the EAC, told reporters in Juba on Monday. “This is a very serious development. The political consideration has been sorted out particularly South Sudan’s acceptance to abide by the terms of the treaty that brings together member states,” he added. South Sudan applied to join the EAC after its independence from Sudan in 2011. Its application was, however, delayed as issues of governance, security and judiciary systems were being looked into as the young nation maintained observer status. Sabuni said South Sudanese president Salva Kiir attended the 16th EAC heads of state meeting held on Friday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi as an “active observer”. “South Sudan’s accession to EAC will be properly handled with due consultations [and] sharing of the ideas with key stakeholders,” he said. The EAC was originally founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was officially revived in 2000. In 2008, after negotiations with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the EAC agreed to an expanded...

HISTORICAL reasons explain why the Kenyan industrial base is much more advanced in comparative terms to other East African countries Tanzania included. However, it is significant to note that not all that was Azimio la Arusha was negative. Today, Tanzania has plenty of homegrown cottage industries owned by ordinary Tanzanians. Mr. Mazzari Taj Mohammed is one such Tanzanians who produces honey packaged as Asali One. The product, like many Tanzanian made products are struggling to capture the East African market. There are several reasons why Tanzanian exports, despite being the leading export partner to Kenya do not earn the exports as much money as they should. Chief among them is that Tanzania exports raw unfinished goodsmaize, beans, potatoes, tomatoes and onions among others. Tanzania even exports cashew nuts in its unprocessed form to Kenya. The politicians will scream blue murder that the Kenyans are engaging in economic sabotage. In reality there is no such government policy by the Kenya Government just like the Tanzanian government has no policy to exploit its own farmers due to their vulnerability. What individuals entrepreneurs like Mzee Mazzari of Asali One lack most of all, is not hunger for markets but market awareness. This past week, Traidlinks a development organisation funded by the Republic of Ireland, and Trademark East Africa brought together some 15 or so local producers who are ready for the export market to give them skills necessary to capture the existing glut which is currently filled by brands from all over the...

The East African employers and trade unions have called on EAC partner states to fully implement the trading bloc’s Common Market Protocol which came into force in July, 2010. The East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) and the East African Employers Association (EAEO) asked EAC partner states to work towards eliminating all non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in an effort to promote free movement of labour in the region. This was revealed in a meeting called by the speaker of EALA aimed at making a case on facilitation for freer movement of labour, persons, services, capital and goods Source: Business Week

The East African Community Heads of State Summit in Nairobi resolved that, following the implementation of the One Network Area by Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, all the EAC countries should harmonise their calling rates on all networks by July. To meet the deadline set by the EAC presidents, the Council of Ministers has already adopted the principles and methodology for determining reduced, harmonised EAC roaming rates and a plan of activities that will ensure the reduced rates are in place by the set date. The EAC Heads of State have also directed the Secretariat to provide the Partner States with a list of protocols that have not yet been ratified and these do include; Vehicle Load Control Bill (2012), Defence Cooperation Protocol and the EAC Peace and Security Protocol. The Summit also approved key priority interventions to be implemented over 2015/2016 and these do include; consolidation of the Single Customs Territory Road map for the implementation of the Single Customs Territory; Vehicle Load Control Limit;Implementation of the Heads of State Prioritised projects in railways,ports,inland water ways and energy; conclusion of negotiations of the Tripartite Free Trade Area Source: The East African

Three little boys in Kigali are sharing a lollipop. They lick it in turns. The lollipop is imported, so 45 per cent of its cost is due to transport and allied costs. It may have been made in Kenya or Tanzania or even farther afield, and it has travelled thousands of kilometres and crossed several borders. So whichever of the boys bought that treat, he’s paying part of the freight clearance charges, handling charges, insurance, fuel costs and the salary of the trucker who got it to the Rwandan capital. Logistics is a critical yet easily neglected component of economic development. Investment in agriculture is futile if there is no supply chain in place to get produce to market. Essential medication is rendered ineffective if it cannot be transported in the appropriate conditions. Consumer goods cannot improve people’s lives if the cost of importing them means they are too expensive for people to access. Yet in discussions of “sustainable development goals” or “poverty reduction,” there is too often a tendency to focus on headline targets and forget about the mechanics of delivery. In East Africa, transport and freight costs are among the highest in the world, with freight logistics expenditure more than 50 per cent higher per kilometre than in Europe or the United States. This extra cost is caused by a “logistics gap”: a lack of infrastructure, technology and expertise affecting everything from road networks to payment systems and warehousing facilities. In landlocked countries like Rwanda and Burundi, this...

What is the economic outlook for the region in 2015, and what are the risks? We expect sub-Saharan Africa to register a growth of 4.7 per cent, accelerating to 5.2 per cent in 2016. The risks include the slow growth environment in advanced economies particularly the Euro area and Japan; the potential volatility and financial disruption as a result of monetary policies operating at different places in the cycle; geopolitical risks and any others that suddenly hit the globe. For example, a year and half ago, we never talked about Ebola because it wasn’t an issue. Now it has affected countries in West Africa. There are concerns about debt with the International Monetary Fund. Kenya, for instance, has been borrowing from the IMF. What are the long-term solutions to foreign exchange support loans for African countries? Kenya asked for a precautionary loan — it is a progression that we observe concerning Kenya and one that is moving in the right direction because it is an indication that the country is more solid economically. A country such as Kenya, depending on how the oil market pans out, could find itself with a good balance of trade and improve its balance of payments. Given that domestic resources in the region remain meagre, how can countries avoid accumulating high debt while addressing infrastructure gaps? The critical choice hinges on what infrastructure projects are prioritised and how they will provide a return that helps the country financially so that it is on a stronger...

South Sudan and Somalia’s applications to join the East African Community (EAC) is one of the main agendas the regional heads of States will be discussing today in Nairobi. The 16th Ordinary Summit of the East African Community Heads of State will be held Friday at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi. “Negotiations for the admission of the Republic of South Sudan into the EAC, verification of the application of the Federal Republic of Somalia will be priority matters on agenda,” EAC secretary general Dr Richard Sezibera said. Last year, the government of South Sudan pleaded with the EAC member states not to reject them because of the violence that had engulfed the country. The Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, Mr James Wani Igga, while meeting the EAC high level technical mission, said: “South Sudan, being a young nation, still needs support and integration from the “older” nations within the region”. In June 2011, South Sudan applied to join the bloc, and a verification Committee from the EAC visited the country a year later to establish its level of conformity to the EAC regulations. However, in April last year, South Sudan halted negotiations because of the war that broke out towards the close of 2013. Source: The East African

NAIROBI, Kenya, 20th February 2015 – The East Africa Community member states have unveiled a state of the art video conferencing system which is aimed at drastically reducing the staff and travel costs at the EAC secretariat and member states and ensuring cost-efficiency gains in communication and decision-making. The launch which was held during the 16th Ordinary Summit of the East African Community Heads of States at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, was presided by the chair of the summit H.E Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and flanked by his fellow heads of state from the region; H.E. Pierre Nkurunzinza, President of Republic of Burundi, H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Republic of Kenya, H.E. Paul Kagame, President of Republic of Rwanda and H.E. Yoweri Museveni, President of Republic of Uganda. Also in attendance was Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, Secretary General, EAC, Phyllis Kandie, Cabinet Secretary of Tourism, Commerce and East African Affairs and Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark Africa (TMA). TMA provided funding for the system to a tune of $1.8million. Since 2011, TMA has been implementing a programme of support aimed at strengthening the technical and institutional capacity of the Secretariat. As part of a broad institutional reform programme that is on-going, and particularly as part of the Secretary General’s drive to realise cost-efficiency gains in communication and decision-making, the Council approved the acquisition and installation of a Video Conferencing System (VCS) for the Community. The key benefits are enhanced efficiency in communication and savings...