Britain referundum decision to exit the European Union under the so-called Brexit has no long-term consequences on East African Community, Robert Mathu, the executive director of Capital Market Authority in Rwanda, has said. Before and after the voting, the Pound Sterling continued to lose value compared to the last 30 years. The capital markets in UK also incurred losses and have lost value that has made the future of EU uncertain thus the departure of the UK. Mathu said some of the effects might reach the regions that have an economic relation with Britain and the British investment. “Brexit is a problem for the whole world since the reason as to why most countries come together for economic purposes, is to allow investment and businesses to freely operate in the member countries,” he said. Mathu and other analysists worldwide, confirm that the first worry of the Brexit is capitalist countries will spread the ideas of exit making globalisation a major priority while other countries want to put extra security on the immigrants and control the movement. “It will affect the globalisation and the citizens and investors who have been travelling to the UK will encounter problems. Normally, you would find people traveling to UK and other countries with ease,” Mathu said. He added that Brexit will not affect the payment of the $400 million that Rwanda got on the Eurobond market since it got the loan in Dollar currency and not a Pound currency. EAC remains uncertain Mathu said the...

Windhoek – It may be too early to calculate the potential damage to SADC, and Africa, from the unprecedented earthquake that ripped through the European Union – following the exit of the United Kingdom – and the seismic waves of political and economic uncertainty that are unfolding. Until now the EU has been widely held as the world’s best functioning political economic union model, to which even SADC and other African regional blocs had looked up, as they embark on regional integration. What is becoming clear though is the fact that just like with many US companies who found themselves with no contingency plans for an EU without the UK, the 15 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, as well as the rest of Africa, are now scrambling to assess the post-shocks and establish contingency plans. And there are serious implications for SADC and the rest of the continent. To start with, this past week Professor Ian Scoones penned an opinion paper that the European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with SADC that was inked on 10 June in Kasane, Botswana, has to be renegotiated, especially for SADC countries to eventually have free trade access to the United Kingdom, or Great Britain, that is no longer a member of the                      EU. “Now, all these arrangements have to be renegotiated bilaterally with each of the other 162 World Trade Organisation members. It will be a slow and costly readjustment,...

Today’s indicator figure is 8,481,740,000  8,481,740,000 of what? 8,481,740,000 ($8.5 billion USD) is the total amount in current US dollars that is provided as Official Development Assistance to countries in the East African Community (EAC) in the most recent year reported.  What do you mean by Official Development Assistance? According to the World Bank, Official Development Assistance (ODA) consists of “disbursements of loans made on concessional terms and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients”. In other words this money is grants and low interest rate loans from donor countries and institutions (think UN, World Bank, GIZ in Germany, USAID in the US, African Development Bank, and so on) to less developed countries like those in the EAC. This figure does not include personal or religious charitable donations which would certainly increase the figure of financial support to EAC nations. How does this compare to other regions of the world? In the history of ODA tracking, the most a single country ever received was Iraq in 2005 taking in $22.0 billion USD with the next highest being Nigeria in 2006 with $11.4 billion USD in support. Beyond that, recent years show that Sub-Saharan African countries receive the most aid assistance of any region and three EAC countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were listed as the top ten recipients of foreign aid...

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome the two governments’ initiatives to cement bilateral cooperation on various fields, including revenue collection and cargo handling, among others. Tanzanians have attached great importance to President Kagame’s visit as it continues taking the two countries to new heights of bilateral cooperation. We, therefore, would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the two leaders for this landmark decision in which the two countries will move to another level of cooperation by incorporating centralised revenue collection system, opening up the Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) to Rwanda and establishment of Rwanda Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Dar es Salaam. In a world that has recently been hit by the Brexit effects, which have sent some of the world’s economies tumbling following UK referendum, in which people voted to leave the European Union, it is heartening to see that unity remains to be the East African spirit. This spirit of cooperation has set high standard bar in the region. While some economies as we have seen recently, have faced some challenges, compelling them to think of disintegration or even conducting referendum to the effect, the two leaders have been exemplary by demonstration to the world that countries can go far if they remain united. We would like to echo what President John Magufuli said when welcoming President Kagame that the latter advised him on the need to establish a single revenue collection centre that will be handling and keeping track of all government’s earnings....

East African countries have been asked to reject the impending trade deal with the European Union. Kenya and the four other nations of the EAC are required to ratify the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) before the end of the month, gradually grating unlimited market access for exports from the EU. While Kenya reluctantly signed the accord in 2014, the agreement, which the civil society and the United Nations have cited as dangerous, is yet to be approved by Parliament. “We must critically analyse what this agreement means for the EAC, it is dangerous for our trade,” said Nathan Irumba, the executive director of the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (Seatini). He was speaking at the close of a trade conference seeking to examine the impact of the EPA on the East African countries. EAC has been negotiating with the EU as a trading bloc. Failure to sign up would mean steep taxes on commodities such as flowers produced in Kenya, which is classified as a lower-middle-income economy. Kenyan flower exports were heavily impacted when the EU slapped heavy taxes of up to 12 per cent some two years ago after the lapse of the preceding agreement, forcing President Uhuru Kenyatta to sign the agreement. Other EAC nations are classified as Least Developed Countries and would still qualify for preferential treatment in trading with the rest of the richer World. The impending exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, commonly cited as Brexit, has already reduced...

Eight companies from Germany, dealing in energy, construction and health, are taking part in the ongoing 40th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) as they seek to establish their presence in Tanzania and the East African Community (EAC). “Bilateral trade between the two countries should grow significantly as more companies from Germany are showing interests to invest in Tanzania,” Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Tanzania, Mr John Reyels, said yesterday. The envoy was speaking during a news conference to introduce the eight companies at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Trade Fair Grounds in Dar es Salaam. “I do not have exact figures on the trade balance between the two countries but it should be between 60 and 40 per cent for Germany and Tanzania, respectively,” Mr Reyels explained. Major exports from Tanzania to Germany include minerals, metal and agricultural produce such as coffee and spices while it imports technology, machinery, motor vehicles and industrial machinery from the European country. At the same occasion, the Head of the Tanzanian German Business Centre, Mr Dirk Smelty, said since the Fifth Phase Government under President John Magufuli came into office Tanzania was becoming a driving force in the East African region. He welcomed ongoing negotiations among member states of the East African Community (EAC) to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, noting enormous potential for trade and investment in the region. “In Tanzania for instance, the economy has been stable, growing at average of 7...

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) says passenger and cargo dwell time at the Taveta border has reduced by two hours due to the success of the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP). The post, an initiative of the East African Community, has also reduced transport costs incurred by businesses, farmers and transporters while crossing borders. KRA Taveta post manager Daniel Nyambaka said the agency is anticipating increased revenue collection at the post once the tarmacking of the Mwatate-Taveta road is completed. The Taveta-Holili One-Stop Border Post came into operation in May last year and is part of the 15 such posts in East Africa built at a cost of $12 million (Sh1.2 billion) through funding from TradeMark Africa. “We hope to see increased revenue due to increased cross-border trading between Tanzania and Kenya by December when construction of the road is complete. The road will reduce the distance from Tanzania to the port of Mombasa by nearly 400 kilometres,” said Nyambaka. He said the post has boosted cross-border trade and fostered good relations between Kenya and Tanzania. “In the past, people coming to Kenya would spend up to two hours waiting for clearance. But now it takes just 30 minutes to clear and move on to your destination,” he added. Source: Mediamax

What exactly will replace it, if anything, is much, much less clear…” Reuters News Agency Columnist, Peter Apps. THE most dramatic news this time around was the vote by British people to exit from the European Union, henceforth christened by the global media as ‘Brexit vote’. For us here watching the news on television in the intervening period, what prompted the referendum to be taken on whether or not Britain should stay as member of the 28-member post Second World War European unity body was far from clear. I guess not many of us here were interested in this development given the fact that Britain belongs to the club of what Mwalimu Nyerere once described as “wakubwa” – in a collective sense meaning the powerful wealthy North - as opposed to us who belonged to the impoverished South; in the economic sense. But Britain matters. It is a former colonial power of this country and indeed the whole major states of East Africa today. Britain is, from a cultural perspective, influential because English language is one of the leading global languages that links up people across the planet. So what happens in Britain is interesting to Europeans as much as to Africans. Following the opinion of the British national, a columnist quoted at the launch of the perspective, reading his article further, the journalist says that within the UK government no one “planned for the outcome of Brexit vote”. “The results show the country savagely, bitterly divided. Essentially voters in...

DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania (Xinhua) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame has called for the consolidation of economic ties between his country and Tanzania. On the first leg of his two day tour of Tanzania, President Kagame said the two countries stood to record high economic growth with their abundant natural resources. "We have people with talents who could do wonders in propelling these countries to prosperity," said Kagame accompanied by his host, President John Magufuli, at the official opening of the 40th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. More than 650 firms from over 30 countries across the world, including China, are participating in the week-long trade fair showcasing businesses from across the world. President Kagame urged public and private sectors to work together for the benefit of the people in the two countries endowed with abundant natural resources which could contribute heavily to the growth of their economies. He added that the two countries have been working closely in removing obstacles in trade with a view to boosting integration between the two countries, and among member states of the East African Community (EAC). President Magufuli assured President Kagame of his government’s resolve to improve the performance of the Dar es Salaam port to facilitate movement of goods to the landlocked hilly country. He said it was sad to learn that trade in Tanzania contributed to less than five percent to the world economy while the EAC regional bloc contributed only 20 percent....

IN SUMMARY Across the region, political parties are facing a torrid time, with little financing, restrictive laws on mobilising funds, especially from external sources, and dominant ruling parties that feed off the state — a situation that makes for a generally weak political party foundation. While incumbent parties look strong, are flush with cash and have countrywide networks, experts warn that that strength is hinged on their stay in power — were they to turn into an opposition party, their existence would not be guaranteed. Complaints of an uneven political playing field persist and while the EAC partner states have made attempts to provide statutory financing, critics say the funding is too little or skewed and at best cosmetic. If the functioning and welfare of political parties were a measure of a country’s democracy, how would the East African region fare? Currently, multipartyism is more or less taken as the universal standard of democracy, of course when accompanied by regular elections. Though most of Africa has adopted this standard with some nudging from the West, pockets of resistance remain on whether parties and elections equal democracy. The funding systems set up by governments in the region and freedom for the parties to mobilise their resources is a safe good measure to test the region’s commitment to functional political parties and democracy. The scorecard for East Africa turns out to be mixed. Across the region, political parties are facing a torrid time, with little financing, restrictive laws on mobilising funds, especially...