TANZANIA Ports Authority (TPA) management has pledged to modernise and make Dar es Salaam Port more competitive, to effectively serve countries in the East, Central and Southern Africa. The Authority’s Acting Director General, Mr Awadh Massawe, made the promise in Dar es Salaam just after the visit of presidents Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Paul Kagame of Rwanda at the Port, recently. “The Port has continued to be a major entry hub for our country and our neighbours,” he told journalists over the weekend. Armed with data and statistics, the Director General said that in 2014, Dar es Salaam Port served 630,000 tonnes of cargo for Rwanda compared to 213,000 tonnes served by Mombasa port for the same country. Tanzania also served 1,500,000 tonnes of cargo for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while Mombasa had only 437,000 tonnes of cargo for DRC during the same period. According to Massawe, the statistics and experience indicate how neighbouring countries have their confidence and faith in Dar Port following major transformations that are still ongoing. He said that no container or any kind of cargo has been lost in the past three years. “These positive changes have started to bear fruits,” he said, adding that the average waiting time for ships to offload is one and a half hour compared to 28 hours in the past seven years. Dar port serves seven neighbouring countries which include DRC, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Zimbabwe. TPA board Chairperson, Prof Joseph Msambichaka said: “35...

KAMPALA - The minister in charge of general duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere has advised government to do a teacher exchange program with neighbouring Tanzania. Bring in Tanzanians to teach Ugandans Kiswahili, and send Ugandans there to teach the natives English, he suggests. If this is done, the minister sees more Ugandans learning Kiswahili and hence breaking the kind of communication barriers that may come in the way of Ugandans fully benefiting from regional integration. "Kiswahili is a language of communication in the integration process and it is urgent that every East African learns it,” Kabwegyere said at a stakeholders' conference on the end of the Ministry of East African Community Affairs (MEACA) capacity-building project this week. “Because to be competitive and gain greater good in the process, Ugandans need to learn the language urgently.” He pointed out that Uganda is the only country among other East African Countries with the smallest percentage of people that can speak Kiswahili fluently. "The language is very relevant and we need to learn it urgently in order to break communication barriers with other East African countries. But we are slow because ignorance is holding many Ugandans back." “But the faster we learn it, the more we shall enjoy the benefits of the integration.” Although taught in many schools in Uganda, many locals are skeptical about adopting Kiswahili, with several associating the language with the army, police and crime-related activity. “It’s a language thieves use to rob people....

Heads of State of countries implementing Central Corridor transport projects have been urged to adopt delivery systems that will ensure timely completion of identified projects in their respective countries. The call was made by Omari Issa, Chief Executive Officer of the President’s Delivery Bureau’s (PDB) which oversees implementation of the Big Results Now (BRN) in the country. Speaking at the Central Corridor Development Acceleration Programme’s Presidential Roundtable event in Dar es Salaam yesterday, he said, Tanzania has made beyond expectation achievements with less budget in the first year of implementation because of the BRN’s discipline which emphasises on prioritisation of frameworks that are rigorous and continuous monitoring and problem solving. The discipline has been useful in addressing emerging challenges, hence, has enabled the country to make significant strides in each national priority area, including transport projects. Specifically, Issa remarked that the implementation of critical Central Corridor projects in Tanzania which are currently being tracked and monitored under BRN has yielded significant results. These include port rehabilitation, reinvigoration of the central railway line, critical roads and energy projects along the corridor, he said. Government leaders from the Central Corridor countries indicated their interest to adopt Tanzania’s BRN Delivery Methodology in the transport sector in order to fast-track implementation on all fronts. Launched in January 2014, the Central Corridor Acceleration Project, aims to see that railway, road, marine and air routes link the landlocked countries of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo with Dar es Salaam. While fasttracking infrastructure...

OVER 80 percent of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) reported through the online system developed within the tripartite COMESA-East African Community and South African Development Community (SADC) has been resolved. According to a status report presented at the ongoing COMESA policy organs meeting in Addis Ababa, 476 NTBs have so far been reported on the online system, http://www.tradebarriers.org out of which 385 have been resolved. At least seven were considered non-actionable. A press statement issued by COMESA Secretariat Public Relations Officer Mwangi Gakunga on the 18th COMESA Summit, currently, eight categories of NTBs have been identified as most restrictive to trade in the region. They included government participation in trade and restrictive practices tolerated by governments; lengthy customs and administrative entryprocedures; technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures. Others were specific limitations including quantitative restrictions, and quotas; charges on imports; transport, clearing and forwarding; and issues related to transit clearance; and other procedural restrictions. It was notable that no NTB of the SPS related category have lately been reported meaning that member states are applying the health and sanitation measures judiciously,” he said. “Part of the reason why reported NTBs take long to resolve is the different understanding the parties involved have regarding them,” says the report. Customs and administrative entry procedures lead in the number of NTBs reported at 37 percent followed by transport, clearing and forwarding with 17 percent and other procedural problems with 15 percent. The three categories account for 69 percent of the reported NTBs. “The...

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Investments in trade infrastructure as well as the removal of bureaucratic and procedural barriers to economic integration have positioned the East Africa region as the destination of choice for doing business, a study has shown. A study published on Wednesday by the TradeMark Africa (TMA), a donor-funded organization formed to help regional states speed up integration, said the harmonization of product standards has expanded the East African Community (EAC) trade basket. Encouraging results achieved over the past year, including investments in key ports have resulted in reduced cargo transit times on East Africa’s main transport corridors, and accelerated implementation of the EAC’s Single Customs Territory, said TMA Annual Report. TMA Chief Executive Officer Frank Matsaert said the reduction of average time to clear goods at Kenya’s Mombasa port and transport them to Kampala, Uganda to fours days has buoyed the investments in the EAC region. Matsaert said the reduction in the number of customs declarations by 90 percent leading to an increase in trade volumes, an example of fuel imports into Uganda which has increased from 32. 1 million litres to 108 million litres are behind surge in investments. "The results presented in this annual report point to an ever improving trade environment which is expected to spur investments and ultimately benefit the citizens of East Africa," he said in Nairobi. He said poor infrastructure, delays in cargo clearance and customs procedures at the port contribute to the high cost of doing business along the transport corridor....

KAMPALA, Uganda - Transport costs in East Africa are around 60% higher than those in the United States or Europe and this is complicated by the many underdeveloped supply chains which keeps rates up. The British government’s Department for International Development (DfID) has come up with a $16 million fund to pay for ideas that would provide practical savings for East African business people and traders. More money is being sourced. Consultancies and other firms are being invited to offer solutions that will help business people reduce their regional transport costs Over seeing Logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT), is TradeMark Africa (TMA) who are already at the centre of streamlining cross-border trade across the region “Its aim is to encourage the private sector to invest in East Africa’s logistics and transportation industry, testing out fresh innovations that will help bring down the significant barriers to trade that slow the region’s economic development,” Frank Matsaert, the TMA chief executive officer said recently. He said, “The idea is that LIFT will shoulder part of the perceived risk of investing in East Africa and reduce the cost of entry for companies eyeing the region.” Deadline for applicants is tomorrow, but by last week more than 30 private firms had applied for grants in the first round. Matsaert said, “One example of the type of innovation TMA hopes to trigger through the grants is the development of electronic platforms allowing small businesses to jointly buy space on a truck rather than individually bearing the...

WASHINGTON: Senior officials from East African countries agreed during a workshop that significant progress had been made over the past five years in expanding and improving national accounts statistics and in implementing several 2008 System of National Accounts recommendations. They participated in the IMF’s East African Regional Technical Assistance Center (East AFRITAC) workshop in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Thirteen officials representing the East African Community (EAC) and national statistical offices of Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda took part in the East AFRITAC harmonization workshop during February 16-20, 2015. For each country, the economic statistics strategies were presented and discussed. In addition to harmonizing the national accounts, the statistical offices for Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, and South Sudan will continue to focus on implementing the General Data Dissemination System; while those of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda will focus on implementing the Special Data Dissemination Standard. The workshop also helped to ensure that the technical assistance program for real sector statistics is closely aligned with member countries’ needs. The knowledge acquired by participants will contribute to improved planning and implementation of macroeconomic statistics development work in East African countries. Source: Customs Today

* Region has made big oil, natural gas discoveries * Infrastructure a barrier to regional trade By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM, March 26 (Reuters) - The leaders of five East African countries went on a charm offensive on Thursday to lure investors for a massive plan to upgrade infrastructure in the region that has made big hydrocarbon discoveries. Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, whose combined economies are worth a total $110.3 billion, are working to package joint infrastructure plans aimed at boosting trade and speeding up economic integration in the region. Oil and gas discoveries in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have turned the region into an exploration hotspot. "East Africa is a good bet for investors ... this is about mutually beneficial and profitable investments, for all stakeholders involved whether public or private," Rwandan President Paul Kagame told an investor conference in Dar es Salaam on Thursday. The East African Community (EAC), which groups the five countries, said in a 2015-2025 strategy document it needs between $68 billion and $100 billion over the next decade to build roads, ports, railways, transmission lines and oil and gas infrastructure. Tanzania plans to upgrade its railway and connect land-locked Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to its Dar es Salaam port through a 1,300 km (780 miles) central corridor. Tanzanian transport officials said the government was in talks with CANARAIL, a Canadian rail consulting and engineering firm, for the construction of a 1,464km standard gauge railway...

Negotiations over the establishment of a Tripartite Free Trade Area on trade of goods between the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) have been finalized and will be launched later this year, COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said during the 34th Council of Ministers meeting currently taking place in Addis Ababa. The tripartite FTA will not only be a major boost in intra- regional trade but would also stimulate the level of economic activity across the region and reduce poverty through employment creation and wealth generation, Ngwenya said Thursday. With 26 countries or 48 percent of the membership of the African Union, 56 percent of the population of the continent, the launch of the free trade area is also anticipated to significantly contribute towards establishment of an African single market Meanwhile, negotiations on the trade in services and trade-related areas such as competition policy and intellectual property rights will commence soon after the launch of the Free Trade Area in goods, he adds. The intra-trade within the COMESA region reportedly reached $22 billion in 2014 as the intra- trade in SADC and EAC has reached $72 billion and $8.6 billion respectively. I am confident that the establishment of the Free Trade Area would follow the same growth path, however it should be supported by accelerated growth pace of infrastructure and industrialization, Ngwenya said. He said even if intra-trade within Africa remains low, the continent recorded intra...

Africa's trading bloc said it has resolved about 80 percent of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) restricting trade, a statement emailed to Xinhua on Thursday said. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) said 385 out of 476 NTBs identified as most restrictive to trade in the region through an online reporting system have been resolved while seven were considered non-actionable, according to a statement released by the bloc's public relations officer Mwangi Gakunga. "Currently, eight categories of NTBs have been identified as most restrictive to trade in the region. They include Government participation in trade and restrictive practices tolerated by governments; lengthy customs and administrative entry procedures; technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures," the statement said. According to the statement, other barriers include specific limitations including quantitative restrictions, and quotas; charges on imports; transport, clearing and forwarding; and issues related to transit clearance; and other procedural restrictions. Customs and administrative entry procedures lead in the number of NTBs reported at 37 percent followed by transport, clearing and forwarding with 17 percent and other procedural problems with 15 percent, the statement added. "Part of the reason why reported NTBs take long to resolve is the different understanding the parties involved have regarding them," the statement said. The online system was developed within the context of a tripartite arrangement among three African trade blocs namely COMESA, East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), for reporting, monitoring and eliminating NTBs. It is a systematic way...