TRADE within East Africa and Great Lakes Region is set to flourish in the wake of ongoing measures by Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to revamp and expand its terminals, according to stakeholders in the transportation sector. The multi-billion projects, they said, will improve and expand trade between Tanzania and the neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with an estimated 210.4 million total population. Marine Services Company Limited (MSCL) Chief Executive Officer Eric Hamisi said here the state-owned marine firm depends much on improved TPA’s infrastructure to exploit the growing market in the transport sector in all major lakes in the country. MSCL, which currently operates four ships in its fleet of fifteen, including cargo ships and an oil tanker in Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa, reinstated its operations in 2015 after years of subdued performance. They are ML Wimbi, MT Sangara, MV Umoja and MV Clarias. As part of government’s efforts to add more ships into the MSCL fleet, two vessels- MV Victoria and MV Butiama- are currently undergoing major renovations. The new ship to be named ‘MV Mwanza-Hapa Kazi Tu’ with the capacity to carry 1,200 passengers, 400 tonnes of cargo, 20 small vehicles and three trucks is also being constructed in Mwanza at the cost of US dollars 39million (89.7bn/-). The vessel, which will be the largest in Great Lakes region, measures 92.6 metres in length, 17 metres width and 11.2 metres height. It will...

THERE is still need to exhaustively go through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) content and see how it will benefit the country before rectifying the pact. The Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Engineer Stella Manyanya said that the AfCTA pact is considered to be an important one by the government as it aims at connecting a market of 1.3 billion people and trade worth 3 trillion dollars, but it was cautious on best modality before taking a ratification step. “All Tanzania wants is an assurance that there will be a win-win provision equally for all countries before ratification of the AfCTA which is of unique importance for Africa to push an agenda of fighting for economic freedom,” Engineer Manyanya said in Dar es Salaam as she officially opened Africa Industrialization day which went in hand with industrial exhibition on Saturday evening. The deputy minister cited that one of the areas the country was still examining cautiously before the ratification step includes assuring itself that the pact will get rid of ill will competition between nations but instead, harmonize trade between the involved countries for positive change. She cited an example of areas which may lead to ill will trade is that of not properly working on demandsupply curve among African nations which lead to countries scrambling to produce and export similar products, a move which may turn to be a setback to realization of the AfCTA pact to its intended potentiality. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization...

Mwenyekiti wa Makampuni ya Usafirishaji ya Simba,  Azim Dewj ambaye alikuwa mgeni rasmi katika Uzinduzi wa mfumo unaowaunganisha wadau wa sekta ya Usafirisaji ”National Freight and Logistics Information Portal, akizungumza na wadau mbalimbali waliofika katika Uzinduzi huo ambao ni Mfumo ulioanzishwa na TPSF kwa ushirikiano na TMA una lengo la kuwakutanisha watoa huduma za Usafirishaji na watafuta huduma kwa maana ya wenye mizigo. Mwenyekiti wa Makampuni ya Usafirishaji ya Simba,Azim Dewj(Watatu toka kulia) Akizinduzia wa mfumo unaowaunganisha wadau wa sekta ya Usafirisaji ”National Freight and Logistics Information Portal. Mwenyekiti wa Makampuni ya Usafirishaji ya Simba, Azim Dewj (Watatu toka kulia) akiwa katika picha ya pamoja. JUKWAA la Wafanyabiashara na wadau wa Usafirishaji kutoka Sekta Binafsi (TPSF) wamezindua mfumo wa kieletroniki wa manunuzi, uuzaji  na usafirishaji (NFLIP) utakaotumika katika nchini na nchi jirani. Akizindua mfumo huo Jijini Dar es Salaam, Mwenyekiti wa Kampuni ya Simba Group, Azim Dewji alisema kuwa, mfumo huo utawarahisishia wafanyabiashara kwa kupunguza gharama za usafirishaji kutoka eneo moja kwenda jingine. ‘’Mfumo huu utasaidia sana, badala ya mtu kutoka hapa kwenda Zambia au Kongo kununua mzigo, ukifika kule, utatafuta Hoteli, utatumia usafiri wa ndani ya nchi uliopo, mawasiliano ya ndani hiyo ni gharama, lakini ukitumia mtandao wa NFLIP itaokoa gharama nyingi kwani itafanya hayo yote kwa wakati mmoja, alisema Dewji. Dewji alitoa mfano kuwa Bandari ya Tanzania ina uwezo wa kuhudumia nchi sita za Afrika Mashariki ambazo hazina Babdari, hivyo NFLIP itakuwa na uwezo wa kuhudumia nchi zote hizo kwa muda mfupi na kurahisisha muda wa kutoka sehemu moja kwenda nyingine. Aidha alisema...

Tanzania has signed an agreement to link its Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a deal that gives Dar es Salaam’s multi-billion-dollar project a major shot in the arm. Transport ministers of the three countries Isack Kamwelwe (Tanzania), Jean Bosco (Burundi) and Roger Biasu (DRC) signed the agreement this past week in the port town of Kigoma. The SGR link gives landlocked Burundi and DRC direct access to the Dar es Salaam Port, greatly boosting Tanzania’s Central Transport Corridor. The development is, however, a blow to Kenya’s Northern Transport Corridor, which had marketed its own SGR as the cheaper and more efficient route for East Africa’s landlocked countries including Burundi and eastern DRC. “This agreement is in line with the completion of a preliminary feasibility study of detail design plans which was successfully done by the consultancy company Gulf Engineering Ltd based in Uvinza,” Mr Kamwelwe told The EastAfrican. The first phase of the construction will start from Uvinza district in Kigoma region in north western Tanzania to Gitega, via Msongati region, in Burundi, covering a stretch of 240km. The railway will then be extended to the eastern regions of DRC according to the agreement. Source: The East African

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Dar es Salaam which is geared at boosting trade volumes between the two countries. Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) data show that India is among the top five sources of investments in Tanzania. Until 2017, Indian investors had invested a total of $2.2 billion in various sectors of Tanzania’s economy. In this regard, India was only behind China, the UK, the US and Mauritius. Until 2017, China, UK, US and Mauritius had invested $5.9 billion, $5.54 billion, $4.7 billion and $4.308 billion in Tanzania respectively. Gracing the India-Tanzania Business Forum, Industry and Trade minister Innocent Bashungwa said the MoU was meant to boost trade volumes, and also address the trade imbalance between the two countries. Source: The Citizen

The movement of workers from lower to higher productivity employment is essential for growth in low income countries. However, even with this movement economic structures have changed very little and this has been a concern for economists and policy analysts. Historically, manufacturing drove economic transformation in many developed nations but today new technologies have spawned a growing number of services and agro-industries including agriculture. They are tradable, have high value added per worker and can absorb large number of moderately skilled workers. Like manufacturing they benefit from technological change, productivity growth. One of the changes emerging in Africa is Manufacturing led transformation of East Asia, ICT-based services, and tourism and transport are outpacing the growth of manufacturing in many African countries. Between 1998-2015, services exports grew more than six times faster than merchandise exports. Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa have vibrant ICT based services. Tourism is Rwanda’s largest single export activity accounting for about 30 percent of total exports, in 2014, 9.5 million tourists visited South Africa contributing three percent to its GDP. Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Senegal all actively participate in global horticulture value addition chain. Ethiopia has achieved extraordinary success in flowers exports, so much so that the country is now a global player in the sector. Kenya has achieved extraordinary success in Tea exports and the country is a global player in the sector. It's possible to develop a strategy for structural transformation based on three factors that have largely shaped the global distribution of manufacturing,...

THE East African Community (EAC) has formally started the process of screening the membership application by a giant state –the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Initiating the process, The EAC Council of Ministers has referred the application to the 21st Summit of the EAC Heads of State for consideration. The 21st Summit of the Heads of State that was expected to take place here this year was postponed to early next year, after a request by one of the members. Senior Public Relations Officer in the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department of the EAC Secretariat, Mr Simon Owaka, explained that the Chairman of the EAC Council of Ministers, Dr Vincent Biruta, has written to the EAC Secretariat on the request of the DRC to join the Community. Dr Biruta, who is also Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, made the move and referred the issue to the Summit. The Council noted that Article 3 of the Treaty specifies matters to be taken into account by partner states in considering the application by a country to become a member of the Community. DRC, which has a population of more than 81 million, seeks to join the EAC that celebrated its 20th anniversary last Saturday with the bloc prioritizing removal of trade barriers, increasing intra-trade as well as focusing on a political confederation towards political federation. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi wrote to EAC Chairman, Rwanda President Paul Kagame in June this year, seeking to join the Community, months after there had been speculations...

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...

TANZANIA and Namibia have struck an agreement that would deepen cooperation in five key areas envisaged to boost the two nations’ economies. Closing a three-day Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) meeting between Dar and Windhoek, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Prof Palamagamba Kabudi mentioned the targeted areas of cooperation as diplomacy, agriculture, tourism, health, business and investments, education, sports and culture. “Apart from sharing common colonial history whereby both countries were colonised by Germany, Tanzania has a lot to learn from Namibia in sectors of tourism, exporting processed meat and deep sea fishing,” the minister noted. Namibia can also draw a leaf from Tanzania in the fields of medicine, academic cooperation, agriculture and methods of combating drought, suggested Prof Kabudi. According to the Tanzanian minister, the new agreements of boosting economy were indispensable as statistics over the past ten years, showed that growth of trade and investment between the two was moving at a snail’s pace. The minister recalled Namibia’s exports and investments to Tanzania, saying Windhoek beer was topping imported commodities from the Southwest nation with many liquor consumers preferring the Namibian beer. On improving cultural relations, Prof Kabudi said the two nations agreed to recognise Kiswahili should as a liberation language for African countries and that Tanzania will spearhead establishment of the liberation heritage site. “Tanzania will select an area in which a world class liberation heritage site will be constructed. Soon it will be decided where the site will be located among the former...

On July 7, 2019 African Heads of State and Government held their summit in Niger and signed up the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The signing was a continuation of a long process. It includes the summit where 44 Heads of States and Governments met in Rwanda in March 2018 to deliberate on the matter. The free trade area is among the key issues of discussion in the continent and beyond. New as it is, there are many unknowns in this potentially very important initiative to boost trade in Africa. This piece contributes in making the AfCFTA more known. AfCFTA The AfCFTA is a free trade area outlined in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. Source: The Citizen