Uganda is clamping down on informal cross border trade with Tanzania and the unregulated movement of people between the countries, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, in a region where cases of infection have increased. People living in the Rakai District of Uganda and Missenyi in Tanzania tend to ignore border regulations because they live as one community, with families having relatives on both sides. Cross border trade and travel is centred on the town of Mutukula, but people also use unregulated roads, which makes the movement of goods and people between both countries hard to monitor. Some 20 people have recently tested positive for Covid-19 in the region on the Uganda side, after returning from Tanzania. Now, in order to ensure trade continues, while limiting new cases of infection, the authorities in Uganda's Rakai district have banned cross border travel, unless it is for business. The clamp down is being enforced by the Ugandan army, with soldiers ensuring residents in the region comply with the directive. It could raise tensions between the two East African nations and it is not clear how Tanzania will respond. This week it banned flights from Kenya, after the government in Nairobi deemed measures taken by its neighbour to cope with the pandemic were insufficient. Read the original article Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of TradeMark Africa.

COMESA, SADC, and the EAC have adopted common transport and trade guidelines to use during the pandemic. The tripartite guidelines will facilitate the safe movement of goods and services and contain the pandemic within the three trading blocs. It is also an opportunity towards the achievement of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) signed in 2015. According to the trade guidelines, member countries will now treat truck drivers who test positive for COVID-19 in the partner country as opposed to repatriating the crew to the country of origin. Speaking during the harmonization of the trade protocols, COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force Chairperson Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax noted that mobility restrictions during the pandemic have resulted in shortages of goods, thus higher cost of doing business. Similarly, cross border restrictions have led to the stigmatization of truck drivers which threatens efforts to contain the virus. Dr tax, therefore, called for harmonized guidelines for the movement of goods and people, to tackle these challenges, and others to stimulate traffic in the region. Drivers are to use gazetted transit routes along the transport corridor and interconnecting roads. Governments in the region will also designate specific points in the route to allow drivers to recuperate, without risking contact with local communities. The tripartite trade guidelines urge member states to introduce and enhance the pre-clearance of goods and adapt common surveillance systems for both drivers and trucks. Leaders in the regional blocs have also called shipping lines to waive charges on container delays and costs for handling essential goods during...

The launch of the digital Covid-19 certificates by East African Community (EAC) is set for Friday in a move that will curb the use of fake certificates and help in easing of congestion at the crossing points. EAC says the system will be launched at border points of Malaba, Rusumo, and Kobero today (Friday), while at Mutukula crossing point and Namanga it will be effected on August 14 and 21 respectively. Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking system will ease the movement of goods at the border points as it will allow sharing of Covid-19 test results of truck drivers electronically, eliminating the need for physical checks, which has been blamed for causing delays in clearance. The reliance of hard-to-verify manual certificates has been blamed for costly long delays at border points, that sometimes last for weeks. “Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracing System will be launched at border points of Malaba, Rusumo, Kobero, Mutukula and Namanga… this August,” said EAC. The Ministry of Health had in June said the roll-out of the electronic certificate will be implemented once the member states put in place a technology that will link all the laboratories and ensure a seamless operation. The precautionary measures laid down by the ministry are meant to stop the spread of Covid-19 along transport corridors after Busia County emerged as the virus hotspot. The move follows claims that truck drivers useg fake certificates to cross to neighbouring countries and into Kenya. It is also designed to ensure that truck...

Summary The technology has the capacity to monitor and model human congestion, thereby mapping how the virus is spreading. It is not clear what the starting date would be now but Commissioner Muchanga indicated that his Department was entering into many partnerships with multiple Pan-African stakeholders to ensure that the free trade bloc gets going as early as possible. Contact monitoring can be used in tracking social behavior mobility and the movement of persons from one region to another. But in implementing such a program, organisations involved must protect the data privacy of the persons being monitored. As African airlines get back to international skies this month for the first time since March, their commitment towards minimizing the possibility of an upsurge in Covid-19 infections will be critical in jump starting the air travel business. To help manage the uncertainty among passengers about the health safety of international flights, the African Union (AU) Open Corridor Initiative is supporting a collaboration among pan-African private sector institutions to launch a Consortium to deploy and manage a digital platform that will perform bio-screening and tracing of contacts across borders. Dubbed PanaBIOS, the application, which can be accessed on the web or downloaded from Panabios.org, is already being utilized in Ghana to manage congestion in workplaces and other high-risk locations while enabling digitizing of cross—border travel health clearance to suppress disease importation and transmission. A pilot was initiated on June 1 in Ghana as part of the West African country's Trancop Initiative and then formally...

SUMMARY The resumption of passenger flights signals a reduction on cost of freight charges resulting from additional capacity offering a relief to exporters who have had to content with high rates in the last four months. Passenger airlines, which had been grounded since March, account for 40 percent of the total export freight in the country. Freight charges have remained at a high of Sh321 a kilogramme from Sh197 in the same period in corresponding time last year. The resumption of passenger flights signals a reduction on cost of freight charges resulting from additional capacity offering a relief to exporters who have had to content with high rates in the last four months. Passenger airlines, which had been grounded since March, account for 40 percent of the total export freight in the country. Freight charges have remained at a high of Sh321 a kilogramme from Sh197 in the same period in corresponding time last year. Sanjeev Gadhia, the chief executive officer of Astral Aviation, a Nairobi-based cargo airline forecast a 20 percent cost cut. “Passenger airlines carry up to 40 percent of the total cargo in the country. The increased capacity will see the freight charges come down,” said Mr Gadhia. Exporters say the belly cargo that has been missing since the closure of the airspace in March, plays a significant role in supplementing the cargo flights, hence checking on the high cost. Kenya horticulture industry suffered one of the worst moments in its history after a number of major...

In Summary On Friday, Kenya added 7 more countries to its list of countries whose passengers will be allowed into the country when international flights resume on August 1. Flights from the United States of America (except for California, Florida and Texas; United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Italy will now be allowed into the country. Apart from China and Zimbabwe, other countries allowed to operate flights to Kenya are South Korea, Japan, Canada, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, and Morocco. Kenya and Tanzania have been urged to consider an East African Community (EAC) coordinated approach after the two countries clashed over the ‘safe flights’ list. The East African Business Council (EABC) said the two nations should prioritize decisions that promote intra-EAC trade and revive the tourism and hospitality sector heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The East African Business Council congratulates Kenya and Rwanda as they resume international flights today, 1st August 2020. Tanzania resumed international flights on the 18th of May 2020. These are important steps towards the recovery of the aviation and tourism sectors, however, the differences emerging in regional air transport services among some partner states are set to adversely affect the rebound of business in the region,” Dr. Peter Mathuki, the EABC Executive Director /Chief Executive Officer said. According to him, intra EAC trade stood at $5.98 billion (Ksh. 644billion) two years ago but with the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, regional trade is expected to decline by 50 percent this...

The Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on 29th July, 2020 adopted harmonised Tripartite Guidelines on Trade and Transport Facilitation Guidelines for Safe, Efficient and Cost-Effective Movement of Goods and Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Guidelines are aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 whilst facilitating trade and transport of goods and services across the Tripartite area during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his remarks at the opening of the Tripartite Council of Ministers meeting, Honourable Mr Tarek Shalaby, Assistant Minister for Foreign Trade, Agreements and International Relations of the Arab Republic of Egypt, representing the Chairperson of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Council of Ministers said the harmonisation of guidelines on Trade and Transport Facilitation presents an opportunity towards the realisation of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) which was signed by the Tripartite Heads of State and Government in June, 2015. The Minister called for collective action to guarantee movement of goods and services to promote intra-regional trade, while reducing the cost of goods and services within the tripartite area. He added that the attainment of tripartite and continental integration can only be realised with the harmonisation of regional initiatives and overcoming the challenges of overlaps and multiple membership of COMESA, EAC and SADC. On her part, the Chairperson of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force, the Executive Secretary of SADC, Her Excellency Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, highlighted that the overlapping nature of membership and sharing of traffic...

Thando Mnkandhla Windhoek – The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) is integrating electronic surveillance systems that will not only movement of haulage trucks, but will also track drivers’ health and safety. The integrated surveillance system is part of a package of Guidelines for Safe, Efficient and Cost Effective Movement of Goods and Services during the COVID -19 pandemic as adopted by the Tripartite Council of Ministers on July 29. The TFTA brings together the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Among other matters the ministers would like harmonised are movement of goods – particularly agricultural inputs, food, fuel, and medicines and medical equipment - between countries subject to health and safety regulations. On “Application of Customs Laws and Interpretation”, customs administrations were urged to waive fees, storage and handling charges, and warehouse rent on essential goods during the COVID-19 pandemic. The harmonised regulations establish standard operating procedures for management and monitoring of cross border road transport at designated points of entry and COVID-19 checkpoints, with the objective of facilitating safe movements of passengers and goods. The standard operating procedures cover testing, quarantining, truck stops, catering and sanitation. Representing the Chairperson of the Tripartite Council of Ministers, Egypt’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Trade, Agreements and International Relations, Tarek Shalaby, said the guidelines on trade and transport facilitation presented an opportunity for full implementation of free trade as envisaged when Heads of State and Government signed up for the TFTA...

THE Tripartite Task Force of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East Africa Community and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is in the process of developing a common guideline that would ease cross border movement of goods, services and their people. The guidelines are to be used during and beyond Covid-19 crisis, to address any future health emergencies that might arise for transportation and trade facilitation. In the course, the Regional Economic Communities (REC) has developed an integrated electronic monitoring and surveillance system in a grand move to facilitate the effectiveness of the tripartite guidelines on facilitation of cross-border movement of goods and transport. These were unveiled by the Chairperson of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force, Dr Stergomena Tax, who is also SADC Executive Secretary, while gracing the extraordinary virtual meeting of the tripartite council of ministers. According to her, it was encouraging to note that the RECs guidelines have contributed to improving trade and transport facilitation, and that the need to have harmonised guidelines at the tripartite level, while taking into accounts the importance of tripartite crossborder movement of goods, services and persons to facilitate trade and other socio-economic activities. "With the overlap of RECs membership and the sharing of traffic between and among RECs, the need for harmonised tripartite trade and transport facilitation guidelines for the movement of persons, goods and services across the tripartite region during the Covid-19 pandemic has become more apparent and urgent," she said. Expounding, she said the guidelines are...

Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat (C) announces the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement during the launching ceremony in Niamey, capital of Niger, on July 7, 2019. (Xinhua) The implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could catalyze development and growth of Africa, and help the continent recover from the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. by Xinhua Writers Ding Lei, Bedah Mengo NAIROBI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could catalyze development and growth of Africa, and help the continent recover from the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Economists believe AfCFTA is an opportunity to plot, organize, strategize and mobilize African economies for growth that has suffered a major blow due to the pandemic. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Africa's growth this year will drop from an initial estimate of 3.2 percent to between -2.8 percent and about zero percent due to COVID-19, a dire situation that could throw an extra 20 million people into poverty in a continent where almost 300 million cannot afford one meal a day. AfCFTA OFFERS SILVER LINING IN CRISIS The start of trading under AfCFTA, slated to begin on July 1, was postponed due to the pandemic. While some believe the scheme has suffered a setback, there is a silver lining in the crisis for Africa. In a virtual panel held earlier this month to mark...