In an ongoing corruption, fraud and tax evasion sweep at the port of Dar es Salaam, newly elected President John Magufuli has dissolved the board of the Tanzania Port Authority and dismissed the head of the Ministry of Transport.  These dismissals follow ever-increasing revelations of tax evasion on import duties and port fees, with some 2,400 containers allegedly passing through unrecorded and untaxed in 2014. In November, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa conducted two surprise inspections of the port, and he said that the current level of official response to corruption was unacceptable. The port's own report on the missing containers said that some ten low-level employees were dismissed for involvement. “You have decided to suspend ordinary workers and leave bosses to continue working. We cannot continue denying the government revenue in such a way," said Majaliwa. During his second inspection, the Prime Minister also took the port's management to task for misallocation of funds. He said that key projects financed by the government had not been started. “The main goal of you being given that money was for the improvement of projects so that you could run your firm commercially, but you decided to spend it on your salaries," he said. Last week, eight officials of the Tanzania Revenue Authority were indicted on charges of economic sabotage and tax evasion over the missing container scandal. They included the head of Customs and the Commissioner for Customs and Exise Duty. The charges followed shortly after the President suspended the head of the...

Nordic countries have not only largely overcome economic problems but have also weathered the storm of the global economic crisis much better than many of their European neighbours. East African economies can, therefore, pick lessons from the economic model that has seen these Scandinavian countries succeed. Although this model followed by Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark has long been conflict-ridden in some quarters, some people are exalting it while others are just trying to forget everything about it. About three weeks ago, hundreds of delegates from East Africa and the Nordic region were in Kampala for the first Nordic-East Africa Trade Summit & Expo organised by the Nordic Business Association in Uganda. The two-day event saw business leaders from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, and their counterparts from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland deliberate on business issues of mutual interest. In a pre-event meet with Daily Monitor, the communications advisor to the Nordics in Uganda, Shamilla Kara, said: "The summit will bring together businesspeople and entrepreneurs from both sides to discuss business opportunities and to build contacts for trade and investment. These will be days of great interaction, compelling content and business networking." Ms Kara's words pose the question of what these small European nations would teach the seemingly big East African countries, including the gigantic Tanzania. But she had insisted that the expo was a great opportunity for East Africa, especially Uganda. But what is this model? The Nordic model (also called Nordic capitalism or Nordic social democracy)...

Roberto Azevedo is a very optimistic diplomat. It is an attitude he has cultivated over a long period as a career diplomat representing his country, Brazil, in high-profile missions. But he will need an extra muscle to sustain his expectation of a good outcome from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Tenth Ministerial Conference that kicks off in Nairobi next Tuesday. In his two years as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General, he has used every available opportunity to exude confidence that members of the trade organisation will finally end a trade dispute that has pitted rich nations and poor nations since 2001. His optimism will be severely tested in the face of a possible explosion of the organisation that he took over leadership in 2013. An explosion because both rich and poor nations are increasingly losing patience with the WTO as a platform to make global trade serve or protect their economic interests. The heart of the disillusionment with the WTO is the obstinate refusal by rich nations which include the US, Canada, Japan and European Union to abolish trading policies in agriculture and food security, and intellectual property rights that give them advantage over poor nations. The negotiations to end these trading practices are referred to as the Doha Development Agenda or simply the Doha Round because they started in Doha, Qatar in 2001. Developing nations want rich countries to put an end to agricultural subsidies which give their farmers an unfair advantage against those from developing countries....

Players in the transport sector are meeting in the city to discuss ways of improving infrastructure as the trade volume is increasing in Africa. The two-day second Africa Ports and Rail Summit which started yesterday attracted industry leaders, port owners, investors, governments and service solution providers from across the region who are charting ways that can assist in international cooperation for the development of ports in Africa and share global experience. While majority stressed the need for railways to facilitate movement of goods to and from the ports, others said port operators should also focus on building dry ports in the landlocked countries to decongest the ports. The stakeholders also called for more investment in both ports and railways as population and trade volumes increased every year. “Africa’s population is expected to grow from the current 1.1 billion to 1.6 billion in the next one year and that means the trade volume will also increase. Are our ports ready for this growth?” challenged Ms Nozipho Mdawe, secretary general of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA). Mr Paul Wallace, the chief executive officer of Tanzania International Container Terminal Services Ltd (TICTS) which handles cargo at the port of Dar es Salaam, explained how the containers have been increasing at the port and called for more investment to tap the potentials while delivering at the reasonable time Source: Hellenic Shipping News

Dar es Salaam — With the East African Community single tourist visa, travellers can visit any of the countries in the region but not Tanzania and Burundi. The two countries refused to join the system since it was effected in the beginning of 2014 with Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda going ahead with the initiative. However, pressure is mounting from both public and private sector institutions for Tanzania and Burundi to join the initiative to make it easy for marketing the region as a single destination. East African region has a vast range of natural attractions some of which are in the list of wonders of Africa. Some players remarked publicly that Tanzania and Burundi should not think that "they are living in isolation" and that they needed the two countries to join the single tourist visa to reduce the cost of travelling to the region and therefore attract more visitors to East Africa as one destination. The tourists nowadays pay $100 for a 90-day multiple entry visa that takes them to all the three countries instead of $150 that was required by each country. That makes it easy for the travellers to access the three countries and create a chance for them to spend money while touring diverse attractions in the region. "Our brothers and sisters in Tanzania and Burundi should know that we are in one region and they should join us as we embark on regional efforts to market it as one destination," said Mr Stephen Asiimwe, chief...

Johannesburg — Africa and China have vowed to focus on industrialisation which they hope will unlock inclusive economic growth and sustainable development for the continent. The two sides believe that industrialisation, if implemented effectively, has the potential to unlock opportunities beyond borders, leading to sustained economic growth and development. While Africa has experienced sustained economic growth above 5% over the last decade - with some countries above 7% - the contribution from industrialisation was minimal. Industrialisation is closely linked to infrastructure development and job creation and has been identified as a precondition for Africa to achieve inclusive economic growth. In his address during the China-Africa Business Forum held during the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), President Jacob Zuma said Africa is ripe for industrialisation. "The truth is that Africa is rising and Africa has a bright future. It all depends on all of us here to make things happen," President Zuma said. Africa's growth has been attributed to the increasingly sound macro-economic environment with low government debt, rising domestic resource mobilisation and reduced inflation rates. The consumer market in the continent is said to be rising in line with its growing population while the environment for doing business is steadily improving in light of successful remedial actions in governance and economic management. The rollout of technology and innovation is also improving the access to financial services. This is in addition to the abundance of natural resources. Over the past five years, 30% of global oil and...

The Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) plans to invest at least 60bn/- next year for port facility expansions including purchase of two new cranes to cope with increasing cargo traffick at the Dar es Salaam Port. Speaking with reporters during the TICTS Family Day yesterday in Dar es Salaam, TICTS Chief executive Officer Paul Wallace said buying of the two new cranes and improving the general port infrastructure is part of the firm’s long term investment plans.  “The main challenge we see is the increasing number of containers and to cope with the changing business environment, we are working hard to continue investing in infrastructure and technology,” he said. Wallace said investment is part of the firm’s commitment to moving ahead and strengthen its role as the country’s premier maritime gateway to Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. “TICTS will continue to invest in and upgrade facilities to meet the needs of our operations and to facilitate increase in trade,” he said. He also commended efforts by the new government in ensuring public resources are used for the nation’s development. “We have to make sure that people are paying tax, Tanzania is a very rich country,  what it needs is organisation so it is very encouraging to see the president taking action to increase revenue collection and improve the public sector in general,” he said TICTS Industrial Relations Manager Fredrick Mushi assured customers that TICTS is there to serve them and cited improved security at all its ports. Handling more than...

Across East Africa, something wonderful is happening. Technology is monetising people's lives especially in the rural areas, at a rate totally unheard of before the coming of the mobile phone. When someone uses their phone to either send or receive money, the networks are happy, the banks are happy and the customer is happy. More important financial inclusion is expanding which is always good for an economy, because it also encourages savings. Now cross-border mobile money services are helping to rapidly demystify the whole concept of regional trade. With greater financial inclusion comes more business and consequently general prosperity. The East African Community governments should also be commended for encouraging financial inclusion. According to the World Bank, an estimated two billion working-age adults - more than half of the world's total adult population - do not have an account at a formal financial institution. Financial inclusion efforts ensure that all households and businesses, regardless of income level, have access to and can effectively use the appropriate financial services they need to improve their lives. Currently, the world's poor live and work in what is known as the informal economy. Even though they have little money, they still save, borrow and manage day-to-day expenses. However, without access to a bank, savings account, debit card, insurance, or line of credit, for example, they must rely on informal means of managing money. This includes family and friends, cash-on-hand, pawn-brokers, moneylenders, or keeping it under the mattress. Sometimes these choices are insufficient, risky, expensive,...

What is the future of the WTO? Will the Doha Round survive? How can trade help develop the world’s poorest nations? Why does Africa import 83% of its food? These are some of the big issues to be explored at the Trade and Development Symposium (TDS) in Nairobi, Kenya, 14th to 17th December. TDS will run in parallel with the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference and offers a unique and vital platform for wider discussions that wouldn’t be possible in the confines of the WTO negotiations. TMA is a strategic partner for TDS and will host and lead in a number of discussions related to trade. With more than 1500 participants, TDS 2015 will be the biggest ever gathering of trade experts in the world. [caption id="attachment_10990" align="alignleft" width="600"] ICTSD fellow Amb. Darlington Mwape addresses the press in Nairobi. “There have been benefits for Africa and Least Developed Countries in the lifespan of WTO. For example the OSBP made possible by WTO.”[/caption] They will be joined by WTO trade ministers and their delegations, representatives from the private sector, NGOs, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the International Trade Centre, the World Bank, senior academics, think-tanks and thought leaders. In addition to TMA experts other, Notable names that will talk trade at TDS include: Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Ambassador Amina Mohamed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Kenya Roberto Azevêdo, Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dr. Richard Sezibera, Secretary General of the East African...

China is being coy about the navy installation it is setting up in the East African country of Djibouti, referring to it simply as a resupplying position for its ships participating in United Nations anti-piracy missions. But whether it is to be called an outpost, a base or some other term, there is no escaping the symbolism and meaning. The historic role of the Chinese military has been to protect borders and territory, yet the Horn of Africa nation is more than 7,700km from Beijing. To rivals like the United States and Japan, such a facility could readily be viewed through the lens of hegemonic intentions. President Xi Jinping (習近平 ) has made no secret of his plans for the People’s Liberation Army. In a speech to senior military officers last week outlining a restructuring of operations, he said he wanted to “build a robust national defence and a strong military that corresponds to our country’s international stature and is adapted to our national security and developmental interests”. A white paper earlier this year outlined ambitions for China to become a global maritime power. Djibouti, adjacent to waters through which billions of dollars in Chinese trade and resources pass and on a continent where there is no greater trading partner and investor, is an ideal location to pioneer such aspirations. Djibouti, a poor country of 900,000, gets a sizeable income from renting military bases. The country’s strategic location, near sea lanes between Asia and the Middle East and Europe, and...