Naftali Elude Mzota, a driver for the Impala Shuttle Company in Tanzania, has been driving between Tanzania and Kenya for over 23 years. Asked about the difficulties of crossing the border, Mzota sighs. “Customs clearance used to be a real challenge here, because there were two borders. You had to go through at the Tanzanian immigration office, and then repeat the exercise on the Kenyan side. It used to take between one and a half and two hours,” he said, smiling. “That’s all changed now. When passengers arrive, it doesn’t matter which side they come from, a single checkpoint does all the administration and they are able to carry on across the border.” The land border between these two East African countries, now has just a single border post. This project, the One-Stop Border Post, was set up at Namanga, a town of 16,000 inhabitants that straddles Longido District in Tanzania and Kenya’s Kajiado County in Kenya. By cutting the crossing time to a maximum of half an hour, the One-Stop Border Post project has boosted trade and tourism between Kenya and Tanzania. To set up the border post, the African Development Bank in 2007 approved $185 million in funding, of which $108 million went to Kenya and $77 million to Tanzania. The Bank co-financed the project with Japan International Cooperation Agency. “Thanks to the new crossing point, road traffic has increased,” said Edward Wilson Lyimo, the owner for more than 20 years of a hotel on the Tanzanian side...

Summary In its latest African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement report, the African Development Bank (AfDB) says that despite countries embarking on a cautious reopening of economies to stem further damage, the impact of the pandemic is bound to be severe. Losses are expected to be carried over to 2021 because the projected recovery will only be partial with losses ranging from $27.6 billion (baseline) up to $47 billion (worst case) from the potential GDP of $2.76 trillion without the pandemic. Cumulatively, the pandemic could lead to GDP losses in 2020–21 of between $173.1 billion and $236.7 billion in current value terms. At mid-year, African economies, already battered by the Covid-19 pandemic are now facing a total GDP loss of at least $145.5 billion. With many countries recording an unprecedented surge in the number of infections, and the continent’s total cases surpassing the half million mark as per World Health Organisation data, Africa is forecast to suffer GDP losses of between $145.5 billion and $189.7 billion from the pre-Covid-19 estimated GDP of $2.59 trillion. In its latest African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement report, the African Development Bank (AfDB) says that despite countries embarking on a cautious reopening of economies to stem further damage, the impact of the pandemic is bound to be severe. Losses are expected to be carried over to 2021 because the projected recovery will only be partial with losses ranging from $27.6 billion (baseline) up to $47 billion (worst case) from the potential GDP of $2.76 trillion without the...

Summary/Brief On 3rd July 2020, the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) in a notice issued to the public directed shipping lines to extend the free period on the return of empty containers by additional seven (7) days and three (3) days for transit and local traffic, from the existing granted periods. On 3rd July 2020, the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) in a notice issued to the public directed shipping lines to extend the free period on the return of empty containers by additional seven (7) days and three (3) days for transit and local traffic, from the existing granted periods. This materialized after consultations with various stakeholders in the maritime industry following KMA’s pledge to engage key players in the logistics chain, with a view of putting in place measures to handle delayed containers in the Northern Corridor stakeholders Zoom meeting convened and chaired by the Northern Corridor Secretariat for rapid information sharing, providing quick interventions and collaboration in mitigating the challenges and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in each Member State and at each transit or transport node along the Corridor: Port, Weighbridges, One-Stop Border Posts, ICDs, and Transit Parking Yards. The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged all sectors of the economy with measures, guidelines and protocols instituted by the East African region and individual member countries to curb the spread of the Coronavirus disease partly contributing to delays in clearance and movement of cargo at the port of Mombasa and along the Northern Corridor. These delays have contributed to longer truck...

​​​​​​​IN a move to tackle foreign domination of shipping business in Africa, the African Union (AU) has adopted the Deep Blue Economy strategy by taking initiatives to promote maritime transport, port activities, maritime security, as well as interstate exchanges. In a report “Africa Blue Economy Strategy”, the AU noted that foreigners intentionally destroyed the budding African shipping lines and conferences to ensure that only Europeans offer such services and at their own prices. Besides, the AU is also expecting port activity in Africa to reach two billion tonnes by 2040. West Africa is home to port facilities in the process of continuous modernisation since the end of the colonial era. East Africa has expanded its ports, including Djibouti, which is responsible for exports to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India. The port of Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania carries many imports from India and China. To this end the group also concluded plans to reduce, if not eliminate foreign domination of shipping businesses in the continent as it commenced research and studies in fisheries, aquaculture, conservation and sustainable aquatic ecosystems, shipping/transportation, trade, ports, maritime security, safety and enforcement, coastal and maritime tourism, climate change, resilience, environment, infrastructure, sustainable energy and mineral resources and innovative industries, polices, institutional and governance, employment, job creation and poverty eradication as well as innovative financing. According to the report, the AU noted that in its current configuration, maritime trade remains dominated by arms conglomerates which unilaterally set freight rates and thus organise the shipping market as they see...

Today the House of Lords’ International Relations and Defence Committee has issued its first report of the current parliament, The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa: prosperity, peace and development co-operation. The report rightly argues that the UK should take a greater strategic interest in and seek a stronger partnership with Africa to support the delivery of the African Union’s (AU) strategy. In fact, ODI’s written and oral evidence to the Committee argued that the government should consider building on the recent UK-Africa Investment Summit to lay the foundations for a new medium-term post-Brexit economic partnership, to diversify UK investment in Africa and increase trade by taking advantage of Africa’s integration. Together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Trade out of Poverty, we also suggested a UK-Africa Prosperity Commission is set up to inform these efforts as equal partners. The government must now take note of the House of Lords report, reset economic relations and publish an ambitious Africa strategy. The strategic approach to Africa falls short The Committee’s diagnosis on the state of UK-Africa economic relations is stark. It warns of a flatlining of the relationship between the UK and African countries between 2008-2018 in terms of trade and investment, at a time of growth in the continent and increased integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Reflecting insights from the APPG on Africa and ODI, it also presents the UK’s visa policy as a thorn damaging the relationship, but notes the good track record of UK aid for trade programmes such as TradeMark Africa and aid to support industrialisation in Ethiopia. It...

The East African Community (EAC) is likely to see a sharp decline in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) this year owing to the current Covid-19 pandemic that continues to ravage economies across the globe. According to the latest World Investment Report 2020 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) FDIs in East Africa declined by nine per cent to $7.8 billion in 2019, from $9 billion in 2018. The report forecasts FDI inflows to the continent will fall by 25 to 40 per cent in 2020, exacerbated by low commodity prices. “Although all industries are set to be affected, several services industries including aviation, hospitality, tourism and leisure are hit hard, a trend likely to persist for some time in the future,” said James Zhan, Unctad director of investment and enterprise. The decrease, according to the report, comes after the continent recorded a 10 per cent decline in FDIs flows to $45 billion in 2019 from $46 billion in 2018. Alternatively, the expected transformation of international production also brings some opportunities for development, such as promoting resilience-seeking investment, building regional value chains and entering new markets through digital platforms, the report reads in part However, capturing these opportunities will require a shift in development strategies. According to Mukhisa Kituyi Secretary-General of Unctad, export-oriented investment geared towards exploiting factors of production, resources and low-cost labour will remain important. But the pool of such investment is shrinking, and the first rungs on the development ladder could become much harder to climb. He...

Cross-border travel after COVID must be safe and predictable and shouldn’t require excess disclosure of personal health information. Developing such crossing experiences will take cooperation between the health sector as well as aviation, travel and tourism sector stakeholders. Timing is of the essence to prevent further harm to economies and make travelers comfortable with travel. When the six nations of the East African Community opened to essential trade in June, COVID-19 testing created kilometers of backed up trucks along the borders as truck drivers waited for hours to get test results. By working together to share test results in a harmonized system, border crossing and regional integration was later accelerated within East Africa. We need this kind of coordination and harmonization on a global scale. Unfortunately, that is not the current trajectory of COVID-19 era border crossing. COVID brought a patchwork of closed borders and complex border entry requirements as reopening countries attempted to balance the urgent need to restart travel and cross-border economic activity against the imperative of protecting their population’s health. Such disparate efforts are slowing travel and halting a range of industries such as tourism. Without intervention, these efforts will lead to fragmented policies and procedures and make international travel confusing and uncertain long into the future. Image: IATA The need: Safe, dynamic borders that respect private data For cross-border traffic to resume fully, travelers need border crossing experiences that are safe, predictable and do not require excess disclosure of personal health information. Such policies are not universally in place....

A report by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said despite steps taken to develop the country into a regional e-commerce hub, the digitalization of government services is advancing and the government is investing resources into enhancing the overall business environment. “Despite this, Tanzania has yet to adopt a stand-alone e-commerce policy or strategy and e-commerce is not mainstreamed into the national or sectoral trade development strategies. E-commerce development is not currently on the agenda of existing inter-ministerial or public-private dialogue platforms,” the Tanzania’s Rapid eTrade Readiness Assessment report said. The report further noted that with a large and growing population, a competitive mobile network operators (MNOs) market and increasing mobile service delivery, the trajectory of growth of mobile Internet users is positive. “Building the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), connected to the region’s main submarine cables, has resulted in lower mobile data prices for end-users. By the end of 2018, 3G and 4G networks covered around 61 per cent and 28 per cent of Tanzania’s population, respectively. This remains considerably lower than the 2G coverage of around 90 per cent,” the report noted. The UNCTAD report stated that although mobile data prices are reasonably low, they remain unaffordable for segments of the population that mostly reside in rural areas which has resulted in a large gap in Internet use between urban and rural areas. “Also, fewer women than men access and use the Internet. Given that most Tanzanians access the Internet through their mobile phones, the low Internet...

Efforts to speed up cargo movement in the region received a major boost Tuesday after the European Union signed a deal with the Trademark East Africa (TMA) to fund safe clearance at the ports and border points. Under the Sh602 million (€5 million) emergency trade programme, mobile testing labs will be provided at Mombasa port and key border crossings, including Busia and Malaba. The programme to be rolled out under public-private partnership will also provide personal protective equipment to port and border point workers to cushion them from Covid-19 spreading at these trade hubs. “This (fund) grant is very important and will complement the government’s efforts that ultimately cushion not only large enterprises but especially also the MSME who rely greatly on the flow of supply chains as most cannot maintain large inventories,” said Trade Secretary Betty Maina. The funds from the European Union will fund the Kenyan component of the programme, making the bloc the largest donor to the programme. “I am, therefore, happy to support this Safe Trade Emergency Facility in Kenya not only as a donor but also by drawing on the EU’s knowledge and experience. This action will support Kenya as the gateway to the EAC by making certain that all supply chains stay open,” said EU Ambassador to Kenya Simon Mordue. Source: Business Daily

The pilot phase of a regional Covid-19 surveillance system for trucks and their crew starts today, Monday, June 15, before its full implementation next week, an official has told The New Times. Towards the end of last month, East African Community partner states adopted the Regional Electronic Cargo and Drivers Tracking System that will be hosted at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. This came after a consultative meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on May 12 this year, brought together four East African Community (EAC) leaders and discussed regional efforts to tackle the COVID-19 that has ravaged the world. At the time, the leaders directed concerned regional ministers to "finalise and adopt an EAC digital surveillance and tracking system for drivers and crew on COVID-19 for immediate use by partner states." "Today (Monday) we are doing piloting and next week all goes live," Eng. Daniel Murenzi, the Principal Information Technology Officer at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, said. "The system delayed to be implemented immediately after the Ministers had approved the system to be used; this was because we had to first do direct integration to the national laboratories." According to Murenzi, last week, a technical test was "done successfully." "And now we are starting piloting this week since we have agreed with transporters. Also, we have finished purchasing equipment through support of Trademark EastAfrica that will be used for screening: these are tablets that will be having an application on." Murenzi noted that each country has assigned a national focal person...