Slow Covid-19 testing result in long queues such as this on Bungoma-Malaba highway, and costly delays. FILE PHOTO | NMG As the East African economies re-open after many months of hiding from coronavirus, Covid-19 tests have become the latest non-tariff barrier to regional trade. The EastAfrican reported that Rwandan cross-border transporters are losing money as the impasse over Covid-19 testing of drivers continues to hold up the movement of goods from the port of Dar es Salaam to Kigali. Rwanda too does not accept Tanzanian Covid-19 certificates presented by Tanzanian truck drivers, preferring to do its own tests. Uganda and Kenya are holding their noses, and looking away pragmatically. They accept anyone’s certificates. But even with the system “working”, it is still very slow compared to the pro-pandemic times — which themselves were actually quite shambolic. These Covid-19 penalties, say economists, are now the biggest source of the increase in prices of goods and services in the region. With projections of vaccines getting to the region at the end of 2021, we are in for some bleak times unless enlightenment descends upon governments soon. There are ways out if there are people bold enough in East African executive mansions to seize on them. Beyond the health concerns, there is some narrow nationalism, and a sense that competitive advantages might somehow be extracted through this Covid-19 tests politics. But if that can be overcome, technology offers a path to speed everything up. First, to manage the politics and save face, let...

The African Union has amplified action to tackle non-tariff barriers and increase small businesses’ use of the tradebarriers.africa tool through its new online platform The African continent is about to become the world’s largest free trade area. If not addressed, non-tariff barriers (NTBs) may slow down this effort. Although the negative impact of NTBs on intra-regional trade is recognized, so far there has been limited success in addressing them. “The success of the AfCFTA depends in part on how well governments can track and remove non-tariff barriers,” said Ambassador Albert Muchanga the African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry. A new campaign to spotlight and remove non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in intra-continental trade launches this week. The #TradeEasier campaign aims to promote the uptake and use of the African Union’s tradebarriers.africa, a non-tariff barriers reporting mechanism tool. The tool, developed by the African Union in partnership with UNCTAD, supports efforts to make continental trade easier and less costly by helping African businesses report such barriers and supporting their elimination with the help of governments. NTBs slow down the movement of goods and costs importers and exporters billions of dollars annually. They also stand in the way of the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). “If we want the AfCFTA to thrive, we have to ensure operational barriers are dropped and businesses and traders, especially small ones; don’t suffer from undue limitations placed on them as they try do the basic thing that makes economies work – trade.” Trade...

Landlocked countries are net importers and dependent on neighbours to access the sea he rapidly increasing population and a growing consumer class across Africa are creating a big demand for imported goods. This means that countries that act as the gateways to the continent improve cargo transport to tap into this evolving market. Requirements will need improvements in containerized cargo which will allow efficiency in supply chains and reduced import costs. There are 16 landlocked countries in Africa hosting 30 per cent of the continent’s 1.2 billion cargo transportation. Read: African countries urged to approach infrastructural projects jointly Interestingly, all these landlocked countries are net importers making them dependent on their neighbours to access the sea. Kenya is among the countries fronting an ocean, the Indian Ocean, making it a transit country for Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, northern Tanzania, and the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). To ensure that the Mombasa remains suitable for improved service delivery, the government of Kenya dispatched an inter-ministerial team from the National Treasury, Interior, Transport and Trade ministries to improve efficiency at the port last year. The team formed in September 2019 was to look into aspects of trade facilitation including work permits issuance, security and the relationship, and cooperation between the inter-agencies working at the port. Kenya’s Finance Cabinet Secretary, Ukur Yatani, who spoke at the time, said that Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) staff would also have set targets in a bid to ensure that the port...

THE ruling CCM presidential candidate Dr John Magufuli said the government successfully managed to register 1,307 foreign and local investment projects worth 3.3trl/- in the period of five years. In fact, the incumbent President said Tanzania is leading in the East African Community (EAC) bloc for attracting Direct Foreign Investments (FDIs). Addressing hundreds of thousands of wananchi at Samora Stadium in Iringa municipality yesterday in run up to the October 28th General Elections, Dr Magufuli said his government has strived to boost the private sector in the past five years, purposely to improve the economy and create jobs for Tanzanians. He said in the past five years, the private sector created 183,503 jobs through various investment projects. Over 50 per cent of the projects were related to industrial production. According to the party's 2015-2020 manifesto, the fifth-phase government managed to create a total of six million jobs through various projects across the country. And, Dr Magufuli said CCM through its 2020-2025 manifesto has set strategies for strengthening the private sector for mutual economic development in the country. The 303-page document states that the government is focusing on creating a total of eight million jobs in the coming five years. “Private sector is one of the key engines in driving the economy. For the past five years, a number of jobs have been created through registered projects. The ruling party is focusing on improving the sector in the coming five years so as to create more jobs and build a strong...

In Summary The sudden downturn of international tourism as a result of the new corona virus pandemic brought the world’s largest employer to a virtual standstill, leaving widespread hardship in its wake. Dar es Salaam. Tourism prices are in affordable for most Tanzanians and some foreigners - a factor which calls for government and private sector collaboration in reducing the costs if the sector is to quickly recover from the Covid-19 pandemic effects. The sudden downturn of international tourism as a result of the new corona virus pandemic brought the world’s largest employer to a virtual standstill, leaving widespread hardship in its wake. Going by the World Travel and Tourism Council, more than 197 million jobs could be lost globally if barriers to global travel - such as blanket anti-travel advisories and quarantine measures - remain in place. Strategies such as reducing parks-entry fees for citizens, and lowering, waiving or postponing payments of aircraft landing and parking fees, would lower costs of tourism, industry players say. Government tax breaks and other subsidies deemed appropriate would also boost other recovery efforts. These were among issues which were also raised on Sunday during the virtual Mwananchi Thought Leadership Forum (MTLF) which was held under the theme ‘Strengthening Tourism after the Post Covid-19’. Natural Resources and Tourism minister Hamisi Kigwangalla said there was a need of coming up with a strategy of attracting more tourists into Tanzania - adding that it was high time the sector’s players created an environment for direct flights,...

Summary Presidents Magufuli and Ndayishimiye agreed to build a narrow gauge railway from Uvinza in western Tanzania to Gitega in central Burundi. After last week’s maiden tour of Tanzania, where Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye met Tanzanian President John Magufuli in Kigoma, the two countries agreed to build a railway to transport minerals from Gitega. Addressing the crowd in Kigoma, President Magufuli said that they agreed to build a narrow gauge railway that will help transport nickel from Burundi. “I have assured him that the experts here revived a railway from Dar to Kilimanjaro and Arusha; they can’t fail to build this one,” said President Magufuli. The railway is expected to run from Uvinza in western Tanzania to Gitega in central Burundi through Musongati, where the largest deposits of nickel are found. The two governments have set up a permanent commission to implement the project. Burundi has 231 mega tonnes of proven nickel reserves. The two governments are also working on setting up a refinery for the mineral. It is also rich in vanadium, gold, rare earth, phosphates, kaolin, quartzite and limestone. Burundi imports most of its cargo through Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Deputy Minister for Minerals Stanslaus Nyongo told The EastAfrican that Tanzania will strengthen business ties with other landlocked countries. Tax payments for minerals have been harmonised to curb illegal business transactions across the border. Reforms in mining have accelerated the sector’s growth in Tanzania. The country expects a turnover in revenue from mining of Tsh600 billion ($270 million)...

CCM Central Committee member and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has appealed to Isaka residents in Kahama District to utilise opportunities arising from Isaka Dry Port Project for their own development. Mr Majaliwa said this on Friday during campaigns held at Kagongwa and Isaka on his way to Kakole Ward in Msalala Constituency in Shinyanga Region. He said the dry port and the construction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) offered best opportunities for Kahama residents to benefit from. The PM said the two major projects created many opportunities for residents living where the project was being implemented. “The dry port will help facilitate cargo handling from neighbouring countries. This is also a good opportunity for Kongwa residents to do business and Isaka residents can as well set up guest houses and hotels. Once the SGR project crossing Isaka is completed, a person will only use four hours to travel to Dar es Salaam instead of 14 hours spent on travelling by buses,” said Mr Majaliwa. He asked Shinyanga residents to choose CCM presidential candidate, Dr John Magufuli, and all candidates vying for councillorship positions in Msalala Ward for development in their areas. On the other hand, Msalala Constituency candidate Iddi Kassim passed unopposed. Speaking to Segese and Kakola residents, the PM told them a plan of constructing a 106km road stretch from Geita-Kagongo-Kahama to tarmac level. “A feasibility study has been identified on page 66 of the CCM Manifesto 2015, whereas, the new manifesto states its implementation and completion for people...

By Andrew Mold and Anthony Mveyange from Brookings institute  At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, such was the scale of the economic disruption caused by lockdown measures that there was much talk of the collapse of global trade. In the midst of the lockdowns, in April, the World Trade Organization estimated that the decline would amount from anywhere between 13 and 32 percent. In a similar vein, UNCTAD was forecasting a 20 percent decline in global trade for 2020. However, recently released trade statistics across the world reveal that those forecasts may have been overly pessimistic and underestimated the relative resilience of the global trading system. In fact, in June, after several months of sharp declines, trade volumes recorded their biggest monthly rise on record, with a 7.6 percent increase. East Africa may be shadowing these global trends. Kenya, the largest regional trader, is a good barometer of broader East African trends. The country was initially hit quite hard in terms of the decline in trade volumes, with a 19 percent drop in total trade volumes in April. As warned in our earlier Brookings policy brief, re-exports to the rest of the region were hit extremely hard, with a 83 percent decline in April. Since June, though, total trade volumes have begun to recover rapidly, with a 9 percent increase in June and a 12 percent increase in July (Table 1). Moreover, the story is a similar if the analysis is undertaken using year-on-year percent changes. Table 1. Kenyan trade, percent monthly change, January-July 2020 Total exports Re-exports...

The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) (www.OPECFund.org) has signed a US$20 million term loan in favor of East African Development Bank (EADB). EADB will use the loan to support small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and infrastructure projects in East Africa. EADB is an important regional development institution for delivering key development objectives across the East Africa region. It enjoys a high level of commitment from member states Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, as well a diverse shareholder base that includes multilateral and bilateral development institutions and international financial institutions. SMEs account for more than half of EADB’s portfolio. They play an important part in development, driving economic growth and employment opportunities in East Africa and in developing countries more generally. The bank is expanding its resource mobilization activities to meet the growing financing needs of SMEs. “We are very pleased to support private sector development in East Africa, which goes to the core of our mandate,” said OPEC Fund Director-General Dr Abdulhamid Alkhalifa. “We have partnered with EADB since 2001 and we appreciate the opportunity to strengthen our relationship. SMEs are critical to achieving progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 on decent work and economic growth. Efficient infrastructure, as part of SDG 9, improves access to social services, reduces business and production costs, supports trade, and will ultimately provide East Africa with a more competitive business environment.” Vivienne Yeda, the Director General of EADB, said: “We are pleased to receive a line of credit of US$20...

Barcelona, September 24, 2020.- The global pandemic of the Coronavirus Covid19 remains, increases its expansion in many countries and does not have a near end. Its economic consequences are unprecedented in the last 100 years. However, we have to learn to live with this situation and conjuncture. The transport and logistics sector is one of the most important to keep us alive. The Freight News South Africa’s publication has highlighted some keys to the proper functioning of the global supply chain: Globally, movement restrictions, health screening, and border controls and closures – put in place to ward off the virus that caused Covid-19 – had led to an estimated 18% average decline in annual turnover for goods transported by road, Hügel said Unlike anything before it, the Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of harmonising legislation governing the transport of goods across borders. This was the message from all four speakers at the second webinar hosted by the Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) earlier this month. The webinar explored Covid-19’s impact on freight and logistics, and was addressed by Transnet group chief executive Portia Derby, TradeMark Africa senior director of transport Abhishek Sharma, and International Road Transport Union senior advisors Jens Hügel and Kazeem Asayesh. The view of every speaker was that harmonising the legislation that governs cross-border good transit would bolster economies by reducing transport and warehousing costs, and thus increase individual countries’ resilience in the face of economic crises. Sub-Saharan Africa had taken several hard knocks due to...