NAIROBI (HAN) July 23.2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. Tanzania’s concern early this month over the impact of Brexit on the East African Community has now turned into an opportunity for leaders and trade negotiation experts to demand a review of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the regional bloc and the European Union that was due for signing next month. The experts want the aspect of liberalisation in the EAC-EU EPA renegotiated, with open-ended time because the agreement currently contains a number of provisions that are prejudicial and bound to constrain EAC’s development. They also want a review of the nomenclature for classification of countries such as Kenya — the only developing country in the EAC — whose exports to EU, unlike those from least developed countries, will face a stringent entry regime if the EPA is not signed. The EPA is a trade and development deal that has been under negotiation between the EU and countries in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific since 2002 — it was to succeed the 2000 Cotonou Agreement. The 2007 Framework Economic Partnership Agreement would pave the way for a free trade area between the EU and these regions. Nathan Irumba, chief executive director of regional trade negotiations institute Seatini Uganda, said the EAC might be hounded into signing because of the unique situation Kenya finds itself in, yet there are options around it. “If the negotiations are between blocs, why doesn’t the EU treat EAC as an lesser developed country (LDC)?” asks Mr...

The launch of the Pan-African passport was one of the most memorable milestones at the just-ended 27th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda. The African passport will be the third for citizens in the East African Community after the national and the East African passport. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairperson of the AU Commission, handed two representational African passports to President Paul Kagame, and to the head of the AU, President Idriss Deby of Chad. "At the summit in January 2016 this year, you decided that we must launch the African passport. We are making this start with our heads of state and government, foreign ministers, the leadership of the regional economic communities (RECs) and the leadership of the representatives of the AU executive councils and organs," she said in her opening remarks. Dlamini-Zuma also urged heads of state to create conducive conditions for member states to issue the passport to their citizens, "within their national policies, as and when they are ready." The passport seeks to create advantageous visa-regimes across the continent and later on create a pathway for a visa-free Africa, under the AU agenda of the "Africa We Want." She explained that after sharing aspirations of African citizens, the commission adopted Agenda 2063, which is a 50-year framework towards a continent that is integrated, peaceful and prosperous, driven by its own citizens and playing a dynamic role in the world. "The Africa we have today is full of hope, possibility and optimism, but...

A few days ago, Tanzania’s Trade minister Charles Mwijage announced that his country would not be signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. He argued that the EPA would expose his country to harsh economic conditions in post-Brexit Europe. This followed an earlier announcement by Dr Aziz Mlima, Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary to the East African Community, that his country would not sign the EPA. This came as a shocker to Kenya, especially when Uganda immediately followed suit in rejecting the EPA. As if reading from the same script, Uganda’s and Tanzania’s decision left many wondering if there is more to this. Would this also mean the end of the EAC? According to WTO rules, countries that form an economic bloc like the EAC cannot make individual agreements with another bloc such as the EU. This generally means that the decision by Tanzania and Uganda has put paid to Kenya’s efforts and those of Rwanda and Burundi to sign the EPA with the EU. This means that Kenya’s horticultural sector may be adversely exposed if it will not enjoy preferential (duty free and quota free) access to the EU, the world’s largest single market. OBJECTIONS TO THE EPA There are many people who have objected to the EPAs with Europe, in fact quite a number of NGOs have been active in trying to dissuade governments from signing them, citing the lopsided nature of the agreement. They also say that the EPAs may curtail the development options available to...

Members of the European Parliament are rooting for the extension the October deadline to sign the comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between East African Community (EAC) and the EU. The MPs said the move is meant to salvage Kenya after Tanzania and Burundi stood in the way to the realisation of the deal set to give relief from heavy taxes for the country's exports to the EU.Tanzania has refused to sign the agreement while Burundi is at the verge of being sanctioned by the European Union following political instability in the country.EU chair of a joint delegation of Trade and Development Committee Bernd Lange attending the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Nairobi said Kenya would be the biggest casualty should the two scenarios persist and the EPA is not signed hence the need to save the situation"Our first proposal is to have the October 1st deadline extended to allow for more time and see whether Tanzania will agree to sign or if Burundi will improve her democratic situation and evade sanction from the European Union. "If none of these happen then I expect that Kenya will apply for the GSP plus and when it is received then we can begin the market access regulations and save Kenya," Mr Lange said.The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status will allow Kenya to continue exporting at the current preference terms even if the two countries fail to sort out their issues standing in between the region and a...

I had read and heard about the One Stop Border Post from East Africanists, but was frustrated because no one was putting out a photograph or graphic illustration of how it works. So I decided to check it out, driving from Kisumu into Uganda through the Busia border point. There were surprises aplenty. Something radical is happening with this one-stop thing. When you are entering Uganda from Kenya, you go to a single immigration hall. At one window, a Kenyan immigration official stamps your travel document to log your exit. And you step right over to the next window, hand over your passport and a Ugandan official stamps your entry. If you are a law-abiding citizen, you are through in about two to three minutes. You walk through a short corridor, and you are in Uganda. On the return leg, you head to the opposite immigration complex, and the process happens in reverse. The same thing happens for Customs clearance. This exercise used to take travellers at least 30 minutes, and sometimes clearing your car could run into an hour! If you don’t have a passport, you also get an interstate pass, which is issued simultaneous by Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. On average, the one-stop posts have cut the time travellers spend at the border by at least 90 per cent. This is truly remarkable, because it was all but impossible to think of an African government acting alone or collectively with others achieving those levels of efficiency. But politically,...

The Beit bridge border between Zimbabwe and SA, the busiest border post in Southern Africa, has been rocked by unprecedented violent protests since June. The protests largely concern the restrictive trade measures unexpectedly introduced by the Zimbabwean government, which included banning the importation of basic commodities like body creams, baked beans and bottled water. While these measures were meant to support the development of domestic industries, they have the potential to do severe harm to the already fragile state of the Zimbabwean economy, characterised by significant unemployment and shortages of basic commodities and cash. The import bans are likely to spur increased informal economic activity, currently estimated to be at 60%, and in particular increase informal cross-border trade. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the informal economy refers to "all economic activities by workers or economic units that are – in law or practice – not covered or sufficiently covered by formal arrangements." This includes legitimately-produced goods and services that do not necessarily follow formal processes such as standards regulations, business registration or operational licenses. It is estimated that the informal economy provides up to 70% of employment in sub-Saharan Africa, providing access to domestic goods and services that are not available through the formal economy, and bringing significant socio-economic benefits for those engaged in such activity. Governments typically disapprove of informal activity as it results in revenue losses, and the difficulty of regulating such activities can have negative effects such as increased criminality. Informal cross-border trade constitutes the...

In Tanzania, perishable exports are set to receive a boost as cold storage facilities at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar-es-Salaam are being upgraded. The facilities have been modified to meet demands of export of perishable items. The cold room will now allow scanning and screening of perishable items. “According to last year statistics, 44.79 tons of vegetables, 589.13 tons of flowers, 1,331 tons of meat and 67 tons of fish were exported through the Airport,” Swiss-port Tanzania Plc. Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Gaudence Temu, has said Source: Daily Trust

The 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will today come to an end in Nairobi, Kenya. It is one of the most important events for the global investment community, providing an opportunity and platform to interact trade-wise. The conference brings together Heads of State and Government, ministers and other prominent players from the business world, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and economic development challenges. Among the key issues the meeting tackled is the need to strengthen the evolution and management of globalisation, interdependence of trade, finance, investment and technology, and ways of advancing growth and development prospects, especially for developing countries. One feature during this high-level trade conference is calling off the scheduled signing of Economic Partnership Agreement between East African Community (EAC) and European Union (EU). Members of the EAC were split down the middle, with Uganda reportedly joining Tanzania in pulling out of the pact that would have guaranteed continued access to the European Union market without paying duty. Of course, this arises from the recent Brexit. It stood out that regional trade agreements are too difficult to negotiate, may be for defensive reasons, fear of individual interest being locked out or protection of existing preferential agreements in other areas. Such reservations may ultimately slow down the higher ambitions and results sought by the crucial integration agenda. Trade gains from regional integration are one of the key economic objectives behind the creation of any trading bloc. Turns out that member states’ decision...

NOMSA NKANA, Lusaka A financial analyst says the newly-launched African Union passport will accelerate trade in Africa and open up new trade opportunities for African entrepreneurs. Noel Nkhoma said the passport will break down trade barriers that the continent has been grappling with for a long time. According to news monitored on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Mr Nkhoma said trade barriers such as visas have made it difficult for some countries to freely conduct business within the continent and yet those nations are major investors. “For instance, Dangote will require a travel visa to come to Zambia and yet he is a major investor in Zambia. “I also see no reason why Kenya being probably the largest single market in the East African trading bloc would require a visa to go to Johannesburg, which is equally a single largest trading economy,” he said. Source: Zambia Daily Mail

The East African Community member states have been asked to harmonise taxes on agricultural products to promote free trade. “Despite the high cost of production on food crops in countries like Kenya where farm inputs such as fertilisers are expensive, free trade is good for the market and business. VAT of food items, however, remains a challenge,” the EAC customs and trade director general Peter Kiguta said, adding farmers stand to benefit more. He was speaking during the launch of the G-Soko grain trade directory which seeks to facilitate information sharing amongst grain traders in the region. Kiguta said although EAC has zero-rated taxes on grains and some goods, some countries are still levying taxes on food items, making imports more expensive. Eastern Africa Grain Council chairman Dr Bernard Otim said taxation of agriculture products is hindering free trade across the East Africa region. “There is need to harmonise excess and import duties on some commodities within the region. Taxation on inputs should also be considered so that farmers, traders and suppliers can get inputs such as tractors and processing equipment like driers to enhance productivity,” Otim said. Source: The Star