PRESIDENTS John Pombe Magufuli (Tanzania) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) have pledged to continue taking swift measures that are meant to eradicate non-tariff barriers in order to spur trade between the two countries and the East African region at large. The Heads of State have concurred that removing barriers to trade could increase more benefits to the people of the two countries, who already enjoy historic brotherhood relationship. Speaking during the Official visit of President Kagame in Dar es Salaam on 1st July, 2016, President Magufuli outlined measures taken by Tanzania to improve the Dar es Salaam Port and road network along the central corridor. President Magufuli said in the past there were some challenges of bureaucracy at the Dar es Salaam Port and huddles along the corridor but now a lot has changed thanks to government interventions. “We are making sure that our port become more efficient. I would like to assure businessmen that the Dar Port is now peaceful, just like its name (Dar es Salaam means the port of peace). Other measures he said were reduction of weighbridges for transit trucks and buses from eight to just three from Dar es Salaam to the borders with Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. According to President Magufuli, the two Presidents bi-laterally agreed that Tanzania should set aside land for the construction of an Inland Container Terminal for all transit goods destined to Rwanda to reduce bureaucracy. Tanzania will also station in Rwanda liaison officers from Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) to...

Stakeholders in the envisaged 4-billion- US dollar crude oil pipeline from Kabale in Uganda to Tanga Port in Tanzania are finalising drafting contracts to establish a company that would oversee implementation of the mega project, it has been learnt. Parties in the scheme include the governments of Tanzania and Uganda as well as Total E&P of France, Tullow Oil of the United Kingdom and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). The Managing Director of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), Dr James Mataragio, told the 'Daily News' at the ongoing 40th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) that the company will be known as Pipeline Company (PIPECO). According to the TPDC boss, PIPECO will be charged with seeking funds, procuring goods and services and operating the oil pipeline. "In essence the project has already started but physical work will kick-off after final investment decision is reached by mid next year," he explained. He added; "The envisaged company will have to seek 60 per cent of the funds to implement the project while the involved stakeholders will foot the remaining 40 per cent." Tanzania will charge Uganda 12.5 US dollars for a barrel of oil while the former has also been invited to own 8 per cent shares in an oil refinery to be set up in Hoima to refine oil for countries in the East African region. Asked whether Tanzania had plans to set up a refinery in Tanga, Mr Mataragio said the country is not considering setting up the...

Tanzania's market, with close to 50 million consumers, has caught the attention of Zimbabwe investors who now plan to grab the opportunities to boost intraregional trade. A recent survey by Zim Trade reveals Tanzania market presents an opportunity for locally manufactured products in pharmaceuticals, agricultural supplies, construction, engineering, safari clothing and footwear, Zimbabwe's daily newspaper, The Herald reported. According to the findings, Tanzania's pharmaceutical market has an annual budget of more than 500m US dollars and the investors are now planning to venture into the market with pharmaceutical products basing on the findings that Tanzania and Zimbabwe have more or less similar disease pattern. While disseminating the results to local companies in both Harare and Bulawayo, Africa Corporate Adivisors Director, Malverin Rusike underscored the need to tap into the sector. "We have the capacity to tap into the Tanzanian market pharmaceuticals sector and this is the time to do so. Our local companies could engage key buying institutions such as the Medical Stores Department (MSD) which has a 60 per cent market share," he said. Opportunities were also identified in the agricultural sector, which is largely subsistence but contributes more than 25 per cent to the economic output. ZimTrade Chief Executive Officer, Ms Sithembile Pilime, urged local companies in Zimbabwe to venture into Tanzania's market taking advantage of the country's booming economy. Tanzania's economy is expected to grow by 20 basis points to 7.4 per cent in 2017, the Central Bank said in its recent monetary policy statement. According to...

Hoima — Construction of the Uganda-Tanzania crude oil export pipeline is planned to start in January next year, Uganda's Energy minister Irene Muloni has said. Ms Muloni, who led a Ugandan team that held closed door discussions with the Tanzanian delegation in Hoima Town on Tuesday, told the media that the two countries had agreed to fast-track the project which will cover 1,443 kilometres. The construction of the pipeline, meant to export the Ugandan crude oil to the international market, is planned to be finalised by 2020. Oil explorers have discovered more than 6.5 billion barrels of crude oil reserves from about 40 per cent of the Albertine basin in western Uganda. Uganda's new round of oil exploration licensing may see the country increasing its petroleum reserves, if the surveys prove positive. "Every activity in respect to the project will be done in a fast tracking mode. We have agreed to meet in Tanga (Tanzania) in October this year to launch the front-end-engineering-design for the project," Ms Muloni told the press at Miika Eco Resort and Hotel, where the meeting was held. She added that feasibility studies estimate the project to cost $3.55 billion. Land acquisition assessments, surveys, environmental and social impact studies will be conducted before construction starts. She said a pipeline company will be set up and Uganda, Tanzania and other interested East African states will have shares in it. "The pipeline is very attractive and viable. Securing financing will be explored in much detail. Contacts are being...

Dar es Salaam — With Tanzanian President John Magufuli having hosted his Rwandan counterpart, President Paul Kagame, on a recent two-day state visit that began on July 1, it's now time for the two countries to inject useful supplementary ingredients into their good neighbourliness, friendship and cooperation. After the frosty diplomatic relations that seemed to go downhill during the Kikwete administration, Tanzania and Rwanda are walking out of the woods. That President Magufuli visited Rwanda in his first official trip abroad in April this year and President Kagame has - within a space of just three months - made effort to reciprocate the visit points to a turning point in the recent history of Tanzania and Rwanda, two of the five member countries of the East African Community (EAC). By President Magufuli publicly extending his thanks to President Kagame at a joint press conference in Dar es Salaam for advice offered on how Tanzania could, for example, acquire good planes for its national carrier Air Tanzania in a brief period of time, the two leaders sent a clear signal that, Tanzanians and Rwandans were opening a "new chapter" in diplomatic relations, bilateral trade and economic cooperation, espousing the wider cause of reinforcing the EAC, whose current chair is President Magufuli. During his two-day visit, President Kagame officially inaugurated the 40th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF), held annually at the Saba Saba grounds in Dar es Salaam. Besides this, the Rwandan president also charted with his host, President Magufuli,...

Customs officials are betting on the efficiency at the Taveta one-stop border post (OSBP) to boost transit cargo and increase cross-border trade. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) border post manager Daniel Nyambaka said the OSBP has already started paying dividend, saying trucks take 30 minutes to cross the border compared to up to five hours previously. Under an OSBP, customs and immigration procedures are undertaken by officials from the bordering countries housed under one roof. Mr Nyambaka said a joint verification of goods, which is also undertaken at the facility, making the process faster as traders no longer have to waste time moving from one post to the other. The OSBP has been operational for a year now. It is expected to boost transit cargo that pass through Mombasa Port to landlocked countries like Burundi and Rwanda, which have in recent years reduced Kenya-bound imports. Passengers who use the border post frequently said clearance was now faster. According to Jah Ramzan, a driver with Tahmeed Bus Company which operates from Mombasa to Dar-es-salaam, whereas they would spend more than five hours waiting for passengers to clear with immigration at both posts, the time has reduced to less than 15 minutes. “Initially we would park the bus at the Tanzania border and clear passengers then come to Kenya where we would repeat the exercise. But with all the officers under one roof, it takes one person about five minutes to clear,” he said. According to a recent report by the East...

Cargo clearance time at the new Taveta-Holili border post has been reduced significantly from eight hours to 15 minutes, improving intra-trade between Kenya and countries along the Central corridor. The Kenya Revenue Authority has attributed the faster service to the newly launched One Stop Border Post. Under the OSBP framework, officials from Kenya and Tanzania are stationed on either side of the two borders, reducing bottlenecks and avoiding duplication of clearance procedures for goods and people. Taveta customs and border control manager Daniel Nyambaka said the reduction in clearance time has increased the inflow of goods into Kenya, mainly cereals from Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. “Clearing agents had to walk for a long distance from the Tanzanian border to the Kenyan one to clear their goods. After this facility was brought up, it only takes 15 minutes to clear a truck heading to Kenya from Tanzania,” Nyambaka told journalists at the border on Saturday. Project manager Daniel Muturi said the previous process could take up to 33 hours to clear cargo trucks. Clearing of passengers now takes about 10 minutes from five hours. “A joint verification is done at the OSBP thus reducing the time,” Nyambaka said. “The facility will soon get scanners and a dog unit to ensure quick scrutiny of goods and people.” Tourism stakeholders and business people have welcomed the project launched on March 2. It became the first OSBP to be operationalised among the 15 OSBPs being set up regionally, funded by TradeMark Africa. “The initiative...

Partnerships, Unions, Associations and such other groupings (including marriage) which are formed for a common purpose, have key ingredients for success some of which include commitment and perseverance. Even when things do not seem to be working well and when difficulties arise, the option should not be to leave but rather find solutions to deal with the difficulties. In some circumstances, however, this is not an option. The United Kingdom decided by majority vote to leave the European Union (EU) as a sign of disgruntlement regarding a number of difficulties arising from their membership. I will not comment on options that could have been pursued but rather lessons that the EU could learn from the East African Community. While the EU has been around for four decades and has provided experiences that the EAC has learnt from, this time round, the EAC has something to teach the EU. The main issue for UK's departure from the EU was immigration. Their membership to the EU led to large migration of various EU nationals into the UK. It was felt that this was putting a strain on their economy and services such as health including job scarcity for UK citizens. In my research, l found various unofficial statistics regarding numbers of migrants with conservative estimates of about 5 per cent of the population constituting of migrants. Migration on its own should not be a problem because migrants bring benefits to the economy. By their membership to the EU, the UK should have...

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta urged African nations to re-engage with Israel as its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, tours the continent pursuing business deals and support in world forums. In turn, Netanyahu exhorted a group of some 80 Israeli executives in his entourage to explore new business ventures in Kenyatta’s country and help strengthen political alliances in Africa. The Israeli leader later told reporters that part of his Africa strategy is to pressure Palestinians to resume peace negotiations by demonstrating that Israel is breaking out of its political isolation. “Come closer, come and invest in Kenya,” Netanyahu told the Israelis in Nairobi who mixed with hundreds of Kenyan executives at a business forum to explore potential deals. “We have strategic interest, we have national and international interests, but I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if I didn’t think that you would benefit.” As the first Israeli prime minister in 29 years to visit sub-Saharan Africa, Netanyahu said he’s asking for political support from countries that have largely sided with Arab nations on resolutions critical of Israel in the United Nations and African Union. “My goal is to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table for direct talks and prevent them from automatically turning to the international community to gain support to pressure Israel to reach peace on their terms, without negotiations,” Netanyahu, 66, told reporters traveling with him on the four-country tour. ‘Head in Sand’ Kenyatta, 54, made his own trip to Jerusalem in February. He said on...

Regional governments have been urged to invest in capacity building of technocrats involved in international trade negotiations to enhance their skills and ensure they bargain for deals that will benefit citizens. According to Henry Kimera of Consumer Food Education Trust (Uganda), with commercial oil and gas deposits being confirmed in almost all the six East African Community (EAC) countries, government must sharpen negotiation skills of technocrats so that they are able to negotiate better deals to ensure maximum benefit for countries. Kimera added that most regional technocrats negotiate from a point of weakness since they are not well-versed with international trade negotiation and other economic agreements, including oil deals. He was speaking during a two-day regional conference on how EAC can achieve structural transformation and sustainable development that was organised by Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI-Uganda) in Kampala last week. The conference, under the theme “Achieving Structural Transformation in the context of Regional Integration and the EU-EAC EPA: Implications and way forward for the EAC” attracted government officials and the private sector players, as well as East African Legislative Assembly MPs, and academia from across the region. Commenting on the EPAs, Kimera said EAC governments alone cannot guarantee the success of the deals, the reason why other stakeholders should be involved in the negotiation process. “We are the consumers, we work with the citizens, and know what’s best for them and the challenges they face mostly. This is why the signing and the ratification of...