Regional governments have been urged to give more support to women in business to enhance entrepreneurship and ensure equitable and sustainable development. Mary Muthoni, the chairperson of Women in Business Committee at Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), said women entrepreneurs have limited access to affordable credit, and lack skills required to provide innovative products or services. Muthoni said these challenges are hindering efforts by women to engage in cross-border trade. “It is, therefore, important for governments in the East African Community (EAC) bloc to understand these challenges and design policies that will make it easy for more women to do business,” she said. She added that there is need for training to equip women with skills to help them manage and operate cross-border businesses better. She also called on women to form strong business groups to lobby for their interests at the regional level. Muthoni was speaking at the first Kenya-Rwanda Women Business Forum in Kigali yesterday. The event, which attracted over 100 women entrepreneurs from Kenya and Rwanda, was organised by the Private Sector Federation (PSF) and KNCCI-Women in Business Sector. It discussed ways of addressing the challenges women face while doing business in the region, as well as mechanisms on how they can work together and benefit from opportunities presented by the regional market. Eugenie Mushimiyimana, the president of the chamber of women and entrepreneurs at PSF, said it is important for governments to put in place requisite infrastructure to help reduce the cost of...

Plans for the Lamu - Garissa highway have kicked off as the transport corridor to connect Kenya to Ethiopia and South Sudan starts to take shape. The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is seeking environmental approval for the project that will cost Sh38 billion, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The 250 kilometre road is the second major component of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia (Lapsset) transport corridor after the ongoing construction of three berths at the port. “The project road, Lamu – Garissa road, forms the initial part of Lapsset corridor,” an audit submitted to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) says. “The project road will be a gateway to the Lapsset corridor which will provide connectivity to other parts of Kenya through railway and highway.” The highway has a width of 100 metres, will have two lanes but could in future be expanded to four or six lanes. A lane width of 3.5 metres and the shoulder width of two metres are the proposals for its design. It is expected to pass near wildlife sanctuaries, so eight animal crossings will be built along the five major wildlife and forest corridors for safety of animals. “Safety fences have been proposed over certain lengths before and after the crossing points to prevent animals straying into the road. It is also recommended to provide safety fence at these five corridors all along the road length passing by the side of the sanctuary or forests areas with openings only at...

The construction of Tanzania standard gauge railway Line has received much needed impetus after the China Exim Bank agreed to support the project with a USD7.6m loan.- According to the ministry of transport officials the Tanzania standard gauge railway is expected to cover about 2,190-kilometre and will be implemented by Chinese contractors in assistance with local contractors. The statement also added that the loan given will be able to fund the construction of the project fully and it’s expected to begin in the current financial year as the government has also allocated funds for the same. The state officials added that the money that was given by the Chinese Bank will be able to finance the project. Construction of the Tanzania standard gauge railway is expected to start this financial year as the government has also set aside about 1tri/- from the current budget for the purpose. Standard gauge railway will enhance cross border trade Once the project is complete it will be able to streamline Tanzania’s Transport Sector and will boost trade between Tanzania and its neighborhood countries. The railway is expected to cover countries including Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The construction will involve three phases while the first phase will see the construction of the railway line from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza via Isaka and Tabora. According to Exim Bank president, Mr Liu Liang they look forward to ensure the Transport sector of Tanzania gets to another level. Mr Liu added that the...

Delays in clearing goods, corruption and theft at the Port of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, and high fees charged by some regulatory agencies continue to hurt trade along the Central Corridor, officials have said. Members of the East African Business Council (EABC) brought the matter up during a Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) in Dar-es-Salaam last week. Traders also complained about value added tax (VAT) charged on auxiliary services levied on goods on transit. Omar Kassim, chairperson of Uganda Clearing Industry and Forwarding Association (UCIFA), said the issues need to be addressed to ease doing business. Kassim, who is also EABC vice-chairperson for Uganda, said, for instance, clearing of goods in Tanzania takes 10 days on average, while in Rwanda the same task takes a maximum of three-days. “Long clearing time in Tanzania is attributed to complicated documentation and compliance activities as businesspersons require 10 documents to import or export to Tanzania,” Kassim said. Various documents, he argued, attract different costs estimated to be double the average costs incurred in other sub-Saharan countries. “As if that is not enough, delays and challenges linked to documentation and border compliance has bred corruption among trade facilitation agencies,” Kassim said. According to Tanzania’s VAT Act 2014, supply of international transport services is zero-rated regardless of who the supplier is. Eighteen per cent VAT is applicable to additional services such as cargo inspection, preparation of customs documentation, container handling and storage. Sources say for goods in transit to qualify for to zero-rate, the services must have a...

According to information received from Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian government signed a comprehensive financing deal with China's EXIM Bank, securing the necessary funds to commence construction of this new Central Corridor mega-rail project. Once complete, the new Standard Gauge (SGR) line will link the port of Dar es Salaam with Kigali, although there are also plans afoot to connect Eastern Congo to the rail line and maybe even Burundi, although that country is currently in a political and economic freefall, unable to look beyond today. The new rail line will broadly follow the present narrow gauge line, also connecting from Tabora to Isaka, the designated link station from where the line then continues into Rwanda to connect the capital Kigali. Additional domestic rail lines from Tabora are reportedly also planned, to the Lake Victoria port of Mwanza but also to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika. The signing of the finance deal concludes one of the key prerequisites for the construction of the new rail line and going by the Kenyan experience, where the new Mombasa to Nairobi SGR line is ahead of schedule, the same is now expected for Tanzania, once construction proper goes underway. Promoters of the Northern Corridor rail link between Mombasa, via Nairobi and the Ugandan border to Kampala and on to Kigali, are now said to be scratching their heads though, trying to figure out what Kigali's position will be vis a vis their proposed link via Mirama Hills to Kampala. When the rail line to...

Intra-African trade has long been a weak point hit upon by leaders looking to strengthen sustainable growth on the continent. Within certain regions, such as the West African Economic and Monetary Union, WAEMU (or by its French acronym, UEMOA), the East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC) or the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), regional economic unions have flourished along trade needs and cultural links. The most recent African Economic Outlook (AEO) shows that despite varying degrees of economic growth and development, economic blocs have benefitted community members through not just increased trade, but income convergence, with UEMOA leading among them. Incomes have narrowed at an average rate of 19.6 per cent between WAEMU’s richest and poorest countries over 15 years, according to AEO. In almost all WAEMU countries, the per capita GDP has risen compared to Côte d’Ivoire, the region’s leading economy. Benin and Senegal have caught up with Côte d’Ivoire, while remaining members Niger, Benin, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso are still behind. “This could mean that poorer countries grew faster than richer ones to narrow the gap. The convergence may also be explained by the slowdown of the Côte d’Ivoire economy during the country’s political crisis of the early 2000s,” the report stated. African trade with the rest of the world, especially the European Union, has remained consistently high throughout a decade of growth and the 2008 economic crisis. However the ‘Brexit’ shake-up, along with a general downturn in commodities prices, puts...

NAIROBI - The East African Community (EAC) governments have been urged to support grain trade, with the argument that such trade is the only sure way for the people to transact and exchange value and thereby raise the standards of living of the citizens. The directors of Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) pointed out the challenges faced by their members in conducting cross-border trade, particularly within the region. It is understood some regional governments have been taking short-term measures to block trade and thereby undoing all the efforts made towards long-term solutions. The directors cited cases where export permits were cancelled without notice. "Some of the effects include trucks being impounded and stopped at the border points, resulting into very heavy financial losses in transport waiting charges, loss of time, inability to meet contractual obligations and high expenses," they said in a press statement. They acknowledged that each of the regional countries had different agro-ecological zones and that at any one time within the year, crops were being harvested in one country and when one country was harvesting, another was not. The EAGC directors said there is reason and basis for continuous trade in grains throughout the year. And their argument is that as a region, if free trade is facilitated by the various national governments, then the entire region will always have sufficient food to feed the East Africans. Regional governments were urged to refrain from any actions that would impede cross-border trade. The meeting, which took place in...

Businesses in Tanzania are accusing the government of being anti-business after its recent announcement that it will introduce value added tax on ancillary services. During an East Africa Business Council meeting this month, Gilead Teri, the director of policy at the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, said the introduction of VAT on ancillary services provided for goods in transit had resulted in a drastic decrease in the amount of transit cargo shipped via the Dar es Salaam port; competing ports don’t charge VAT on ancillary services. “Introduction of 18 per cent VAT on tourism services such as game driving, water safaris, animal or bird watching, park fees and ground transport services will be unfavourable for business,” said Mr Teri. The measures to broaden the tax base have started to bite, with some hotels in Dare es Salaam turning their facilities into hostels. Kassim Omar, the chairman of the EABC Uganda Chapter and national chairman of the Uganda Clearing Industry and Forwarding Association, told the meeting that businesspeople require 10 documents to import or export to Tanzania, which attract costs estimated to be double the cost incurred in other sub-Saharan countries. “Having discriminatory taxes between domestic and imported products from EAC partner states is against Article 15 on National Treatment of EAC Customs Union Protocol, which prohibits EAC partner states from enacting legislation or applying administrative measures that directly or indirectly discriminate against the same or like products of other partner states,” Mr Omar said. He further claimed that unlike other EAC...

The political crisis in South Sudan is expected to impact on the East African economies as the crisis disrupts businesses and trade, undermining the region’s prospects for growth. The crisis is happening at a time when the region has yet to find a concrete solution to the Burundian political crisis, which not only raises the bloc’s risk profile but also dents investor confidence. While South Sudan’s admission into the EAC earlier this year raised optimism about the potential economic gains from its integration — expanding the EAC Common Market to 162 million people — the recent violence has analysts warning that it could wipe out recent economic gains. While definite figures are not readily available, Uganda and Kenya’s annual exports to South Sudan are valued at some $200 million and $180 million respectively. However, political instability and the adverse impact of external shocks over the past two and a half years are expected to have a significant impact on South Sudan’s economy and the region. Regional businesses, mainly from Kenya and Uganda, that have opened outlets in South Sudan are already feeling the pinch due to political instability, forcing them to rethink their business strategy. “Due to the recent disruptions in South Sudan, we scaled down our operations and we have been reviewing this stance as the situation improves,” said KCB Group chief operating officer Samuel Makome. KCB was among the first regional banks to enter the South Sudan market. “South Sudan is a key market for us and we...

The Dutch government and Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) have committed to improve the financial fortunes of women in East Africa’s cross-border trade. Through the ‘Women in Trade’ programme, the Netherlands authorities aim to reach 25,000 women in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Burundi by the end of this year. Trade Mark has signed a $500,000 (Sh50 million) agreement with the International Trade Centre (under the programme to support 800 women-owned SMEs to access international markets. While addressing trade exhibitors at a Nairobi hotel, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen said there is need to support the women businesses to complement statistics that show they own over 40 per cent of business in East Africa. “Research has shown that empowering women to trade is good for the economy, society and women themselves,” she said while touring a trade exhibition on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Nairobi. TMA director general David Stanton said supporting women in trade is part of the organisation’s vision to foster inclusive and sustainable economic development. “The partners will work to improve export opportunities for women enterprises in East Africa, and strengthening the capacity of institutions and associations to effectively support women entrepreneurs,” he said. Stanton said TMA was committed to increasing its support to women, with a vision of reaching at least one million more women in the second phase of the programme. However, Ploumen regretted that, despite the prevalence of women-owned SMEs...