Dar es Salaam. Tanzania government has said they will hold talks with Rwanda in an effort to end border crossing nightmare for cargo drivers that was triggered by coronavirus outbreak, Transport and Communication minister Isack Kamwelwe has said. “We understand the challenges that truck drivers have been going through and we are working on them… We will be holding a meeting with Rwanda anytime to discuss the challenges,” Mr Kamwelwe told The Citizen yesterday. He did not state when the meeting will be held but maintained it would be held soon. His response followed a concern by the Tanzania Truck Owners Association (Tatoa), who said yesterday that the ongoing border rows pitying as countries up their fights against Covid-19 pandemic was bad for the economies. Tatoa chairperson Angelina Ngalula said yesterday that the government should review talks with neighboring countries to enable them work in a friendly envi-ronment.It was reported three weeks ago that East African neighbors Rwanda and Tanzania have reached an agreement that puts an end to the impasse between long-distance truck drivers and authorities at the border.. Kigali employed mandatory tests of truckers at its borders mainly at the Rusumo border with Tanzania to curb the spread of the virus through long-haul truck drivers moving goods across the region, a.It also mandated a relay system that would see Tanzanian drivers hand over their trucks to Rwanda’s, an idea the former rejected. Tatoa said it was unfortunate that some countries in the region were rejecting Covid-19 clearance certifi-cates...

WITH the ongoing state of uncertainty that has left hundreds of cargo trucks stranded at Tanzania's border posts with Rwanda and Kenya, the Tanzania Truck Owners Association (TATO) has asked the government to re-negotiate with its counterparts for permanent solutions. Authorities of Rwanda and Kenya have recently been denying access to Tanzanian drivers to cross their borders for the fear of spreading Covid-19. They do so even when the drivers test negative for coronavirus and eventually present their certificates from Tanzania laboratories at the border posts. WITH the ongoing state of uncertainty that has left hundreds of cargo trucks stranded at Tanzania's border posts with Rwanda and Kenya, the Tanzania Truck Owners Association (TATO) has asked the government to re-negotiate with its counterparts for permanent solutions. Authorities of Rwanda and Kenya have recently been denying access to Tanzanian drivers to cross their borders for the fear of spreading Covid-19. They do so even when the drivers test negative for coronavirus and eventually present their certificates from Tanzania laboratories at the border posts. Rwanda, for instance, requires that upon arrival at the Rusumo border post, Tanzanian drivers should offload the cargo from their trucks and unload to the Rwandan trucks, a move strongly opposed by TATO. "This is typically unfair to us, while our trucks are denied access to Rwanda, but they are allowed here, this imbalance isn't accepted at all," TATO Chairperson Ms Angelina Ngalula told journalists yesterday. According to Ms Ngalula, such inconvenience brings loss to truck owners, the...

The European Union and COMESA have signed 8.8 million Euros Contribution Agreement to increase private sector participation in sustainable regional and global value chains through improved investment/business climate and enhanced competitiveness in the COMESA region. The funds will be used to implement the Regional Enterprise Competitiveness and Access to Markets Program (RECAMP), focusing on agro-processing, horticulture and leather products. RECAMP will also support pre-selected value chains based on the potential to generate value addition, job creation and attraction of investments to the region. The EU Ambassador to Zambia and Permanent Representative to COMESA, HE Jacek Jankowski and Secretary-General to COMESA Chileshe Kapwepwe signed the Agreement. RECAMP will address critical issues, such as the provision of business information, facilitating market linkages, harmonizing regional industrial policies and creating a conducive business environment to attract investments. It will strive to ensure collaboration with activities of national trade support institutions and business development and service organizations in the Member States as they provide services to value chains as part of their mandate. These include product development; facilitate technology transfer, provision of business intelligence and connection to buyers. The program will identify champions or lead firms within the selected value chains that have both backward and forward linkages with SMEs and other intermediary firms in order to enhance effect coordination reduce coordination failures and improve competitiveness. In her remarks, Ms Kapwepwe said the program will make efforts to enhance the capacities and skills of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to make them capable players in...

As lockdowns and curfews are being gradually eased across Africa, the continent faces turbulent times ahead as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the global economy. Already, the harsh economic fallout of stringent lockdowns seems to have been felt more keenly by families across the continent than the disease itself, pushing people with little or no savings and limited access to government support either back or further into poverty. The World Bank forecasts the African continent will experience its first recession this century and some report a potential 3% GDP contraction. The impact on jobs will be huge. McKinsey estimates  that between 9 million and 18 million formal jobs will be lost across Africa, and 100 million informal jobs (of which women make up 75%) are vulnerable to loss of income. Development gains undone Many businesses that were booming and families that were thriving just a few weeks ago now face incredibly challenging times. Failure to protect jobs will have major ramifications for the continent’s resilience and long-term sustainable development. This alone risks undoing many of the development gains that have been hard won over the last decade. These issues are compounded by a perfect storm of declining commodity prices and reduced export volumes, as well as depleting foreign exchange reserves and triggering huge capital outflows. International and local responses to the crisis have mostly focused on immediate and medium-term needs, channelling much-needed support to cash-strapped governments and launching or expanding social safety nets to protect the most vulnerable from the impacts of lengthy lockdowns. But the economic impacts of this public...

Trade is emerging as a remedy that could reduce the Covid-19 pandemic’s adversity through flow of essential goods such as food, medical supplies and other hygiene products. This is according to a report dubbed Covid-19: Time to reboot Intra-Comesa Trade released last week. The report authored by experts Benedict Musengele and Jane Kibiru states: “The relaxation of the free movement of essential goods in the region will enhance their production and boost intra-Comesa trade during this pandemic period.” Experts further cite the implementation of the digital trade facilitation and other instruments as core in mitigating vulnerability to shocks such as Covid-19 pandemic. The report also identifies pharmaceutical products as among the top intra-Comesa traded products, which could immensely grow as the import origin markets namely EU, India, USA, China and UK are among the hard hit by Covid-19. The five contribute 45 per cent, 19 per cent 6 per cent 4 per cent and 3 per cent of the source market for pharmaceutical product to Comesa. According to an International Trade Centre report (ITC, 2020), some of these countries, UK, US, China and India have imposed export restrictions in some pharmaceutical products, which may affect their importation, yet these are critical in the fight against Covid-19. Comesa is a net importer of pharmaceutical products with exports amounting $ 442.53 million in 2018 and imports worth $ 6,451.03 million respectively. The intra- COMESA exports of pharmaceutical products constituted 32 per cent of the exports. “This shows that pharmaceuticals are a major...

As the Covid-19 crisis has escalated, stay-at-home orders have led to a surge in online purchases – of everything from groceries to medicines to household essentials – by consumers in the advanced economies. Africans facing similar movement restrictions will not enjoy the same convenience – or the safety it affords. Over the last decade, a growing middle class and rapid progress in mobile and Internet penetration have supported the view that African countries are ripe for e-commerce success. Consumer spending across the continent is projected to reach $2.1 trillion by 2025, by which time mobile-phone penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to stand at 50 per cent. Yet, so far, companies have largely failed to tap Sub-Saharan Africa’s e-commerce potential, owing to logistical challenges and inefficiencies. Nigeria, the continent’s largest market, ranks 110th out of 160 countries when it comes to logistical efficiency, according to the World Bank. It can take three times as long to import an auto part through Lagos, Nigeria, than through Durban, South Africa. And it can cost up to five times more to transport goods in Sub-Saharan Africa than in the United States, based on 2015 estimates. Across the continent, a lack of integration means that companies face smaller markets and considerable red tape when crossing borders. When Alibaba was building and scaling its e-commerce ecosystem in China in 2003, it took advantage of relatively advanced urban infrastructure – the result of significant government investments in the 1990s. Thanks to that physical infrastructure, as well...

If African airlines are to survive the covid-19 pandemic onslaught, then the immediate injection of cash is needed to avoid insolvency or bankruptcy of the airlines. Carriers on the continent are expected to lose US$ 8.1bn in revenues this year in the severe and an unprecedented event which is forcing players under the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) to seek more avenues for support to the industry. The Afreximbank has however assured that there are existing opportunities for African airlines under the bank’s Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA). Covid-19 pushes Kenya’s luxurious hotel out of business AFRAA’s Secretary-General, Abdérahmane Berthé notes that the impact of the pandemic is enormous and it could lead to insolvency or bankrupting African airlines in 2020. The continental airlines’ body headquartered in Nairobi has proposed setting up an aviation sectorial covid-19 recovery fund for the support of the airline industry. “We will continue to seek more avenues for support to the industry from development finance institutions, country development partners and international donors as we navigate through these tough times,” added Berthe. On June 2, AFRAA released an analysis of the impact of the pandemic on the airline industry in Africa which reveals an estimated revenue loss of US$ 8.103 billion this year. The analysis is the first in a series of studies that will be published by the Association examining the toll of the pandemic on Africa’s air transport sector. The impact assessment analysis further shows a 90.3 per cent year on year passenger traffic...

THE situation at Tanzania-Kenya borders remains fragile as truck drivers from the two countries are obstructed from entering either side through Namanga and Holili/Taveta frontiers. The border tension between the two biggest regional economies resurfaced last week after Kenya defied the Dar es Salaam-Nairobi agreement on smooth cross border trade amid Covid-19 outbreak. Once again, Kenyan authorities were the provokers after opting to block truckers from Tanzania at Namanga One Stop Border Post (OSBP) claiming that their Covid-19 negative certificates were not genuine. Ironically, the Kenyans wanted their drivers to cross to Tanzania without testing, something that led Tanzanian district and regional authorities to refuse their entry to the country. Drivers are consequently frustrated as they are stranded at the busier border posts with long queues of trucks, as there is still no light on the immediate solution to the standoff. Longido District Commissioner (DC), Mr Frank Mwaisumbe confided with the ‘Daily News’ that while the situation remained unchanged until yesterday afternoon, there were different meetings taking place to find a solution to the problem sooner than later, but was not sure when the matter will be resolved. Mr Mwaisumbe said that there were officials from Tanzania in Nairobi, Kenya and was hopeful that by today at least more information on the outcome of the talks will be divulged. “The situation has not changed; drivers are stranded at the border in long queues at both ends of their country’s frontiers. The matter has been taken up at higher levels of...

NAMANGA, Kenya — They haul food, fuel and other essential supplies along sometimes dangerous roads during tough economic times. But Africa's long-distance truckers say they are increasingly being accused of carrying something else: the coronavirus. While hundreds of truckers have tested positive for the virus in recent weeks, the drivers say they are being stigmatized and treated like criminals, being detained by governments and slowing cargo traffic to a crawl. That has created a challenge for governments in much of sub-Saharan Africa, where many borders remain closed by the pandemic, on how to strike a balance between contagion and commerce. Countries are struggling to reach common ground. “When I entered Tanzania, in every town that I would drive through, they would call me, ’You, corona, get away from here with your corona!’” said Abdulkarim Rajab, a burly Kenyan who has been driving trucks for 17 years and recalls when drivers were being accused of spreading HIV during that outbreak. Rajab and his load of liquefied gas spent three days at the Kenya-Tanzania border, where the line of trucks waiting to be cleared stretched into the distance and wound around the lush hills overlooking the crossing at Namanga. Tanzania closed the border there this week, protesting Kenya's efforts to re-test all incoming truckers, including those who even had certificates showing they had been tested in the previous 14 days. It was the second time the frontier was closed in less than a month and was taken after many Tanzanian truckers with...

TWO weeks after Tanzanian and Kenyan leaders agreed on modalities for enabling truck drivers cross at border posts, Kenyan authorities have started blocking Tanzanian truckers from crossing Namanga frontier on grounds of lacking valid Covid-19 clearance certificates. Responding in kind, Tanzania has also started restricting Kenyan truckers from accessing the country. The government confirmed yesterday that Kenya is blocking Tanzanian truck drivers from crossing the Namanga One Stop Border Post (OSBP) claiming that they don't have valid certificates that show that they have tested negative for Covid-19. The development is contrary to the agreement reached in Arusha by transport ministers of the two countries at the climax of their one-day meeting at the Namanga border post on May 22, this year. Speaking to the 'Daily News', Deputy Minister for Works, Transport and Communication Eng Atashasta Nditiye, said the move by the Kenyan side was a breach of the agreement and could trigger another dispute. "Our counterparts are claiming that they don't trust Tanzanian's certificates and laboratories, but this wasn't part of our agreement," he told this paper in a telephone interview. He said the move might lead to the revival of the dispute that had been resolved and cause unnecessary inconveniences. " We learnt about these challenges facing Tanzanian truck drivers since yesterday (Wednesday), what is happening is contrary to the agreement reached by the responsible ministers, they have breached the resolutions," he said in a nutshell. On his part, Deputy Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children,...