Despite an agreement arrived at on Wednesday by government officials from Kenya and Uganda on the process of Covid-19 testing for truckers at the common border, an association for Kenyan truck drivers on Thursday advised its members to suspend services until both governments address stigma and harassment. Secretary-general of the Kenyan truckers union Nicholas Mbugua said on Thursday: “There is no safety agreement between Kenya and Uganda and yet drivers are being coerced by police officers to cross over to Uganda. We demand to be guaranteed the safety of our drivers in Uganda.” Speaking at the union’s offices in Mlolongo, Mr Mbugua said the drivers were tired of ‘’unbearable humiliation drivers were subjected to in Uganda”. The truckers had blocked the Kenyan side of the border for three days from Monday, stretching almost 50 kilometres. On Tuesday, meetings between senior government officials from both countries failed to reach an agreement. Mercy Ireri, the chief operations officer at the Kenya Transport Authority, said: “I can confirm people are moving. Trucks are also moving,” she told The EastAfrican on Wednesday. “Previously the drivers had demanded that they be addressed by both President Kaguta Museveni and Uhuru Kenyatta, but we managed to allay their fears,” she said. “There was a meeting yesterday [Tuesday] where we discussed with the truck drivers their grievances. One of the big issues was the Covid-19 testing. There is a full agreement to accept each other’s testing,” said Solomon Kitungu, the principal secretary in Kenya’s ministry of Transport. “Security...

Since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the Great Lakes region in mid-March 2020, small scale traders have been unable to cross borders as they have traditionally done either to buy or sell goods. The regional supply of primary agricultural commodities, most of which are traded under the Simplified Trade Regime (STR), especially foodstuffs from surplus to deficit areas has also been disrupted by the long delays at borders as truck drivers wait to be tested for Covid-19 before crossing. To support cross border trade, which is the lifeline of a huge community in the region, the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GLTFP) engaged stakeholders to come up with innovative means of trading across the borders of the three countries covered by the project. These innovations are meant to ease the movement of goods and avoid food shortages. The project region covers eastern DR Congo bordering western Rwanda and Uganda. Subsequently, a new concept of bulk-buying has been developed whereby goods are procured in large consignments in collaboration with suppliers across the borders. This ensures there is no mass movement of traders crossing the borders. Led by the Cross-Border Traders’ Associations (CBTA),  this concept has helped traders minimize the risk of COVID- 19 spread and allow safe trade. It consists of packaging similar goods from either side of the borders and moving them across the border using joint means of transport. This limits the movement of people to a strict minimum. Only the driver conveys the goods accompanied...

Dar es Salaam — The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) is gearing up for a full reopening of cross-border trading. This comes after experts in the region expressed satisfaction over the precautionary measures countries within the 16-member bloc have taken to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus which causes Covid-19. The move comes after about 50 days when the body adopted its regional guidelines for harmonising and facilitating movement of critical goods and services across the region during the Covid-19 pandemic. The guidelines, adopted after a meeting of the Sadc Council of Ministers on April 6, 2020, aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19 through transport across borders; facilitating the implementation of transport related national Covid-19 measures in cross-border transportation and facilitating flow of essential goods such as fuel, food and medicines. The guidelines also sought to limit unnecessary and mass movement of passengers across borders and harmonising and coordinating transport-related national Covid-19 policies, regulations and response measures. But with some countries - including Tanzania - making some important milestones in their fight against Covid-19, a virtual meeting of experts met yesterday to draw the roadmap for a meeting of Sadc Council of Ministers today (Thursday, May 28) resolved that some things must now change. "This meeting is being held in preparation for a meeting for the Sadc Council of Ministers. Key on the agenda that we will be presenting to the Sadc Council of Ministers is that some of the issues that we knew about Covid-19 must now...

Plans by the government to transport all transit cargo from the Port of Mombasa to Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD) through the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) effective June 1, have elicited protest from road transporters. They have termed the move as a deliberate plan by the government to “kill” the economy of Mombasa. Last Friday, the government directed that all transit cargo be moved and cleared at the Naivasha ICD for delivery to Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) chief executive Dennis Ombok accused the government of overlooking them during decision making on cargo transport matters. The government said in a statement on Friday 22, that some of the cargo will be moved on the old metre-gauge railway directly to Tororo in eastern Uganda or Kampala, while fuel will be transported by pipeline to Kisumu, Kenya and thereafter by water through Lake Victoria to Portbell in Luzira, Kampala or Jinja. Ombok dismissed the government’s claims that transporting cargo by railway is cheaper than using trucks. He made the remarks during a joint briefing convened by Muslim for Human Rights (Muhuri) in collaboration with Okoa Mombasa lobby group. Hidden costs “The government does not want to tell the public the hidden costs of using the SGR to ferry containers. If Uganda says its comfortable with cargo going by road, why is the government forcing this mandatory cargo transportation through SGR?” posed Ombok. Now, the Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers Association (KLDTDA) has threatened to mobilise its members to...

The domino effect of the coronavirus pandemic will plunge many economies into recession and means the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is now needed more than ever to ensure that member states are trading with each other and supporting one another at this time, according to Banji Fehintola, senior director and head of treasury at the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). He says South Africa has a very important part to play. It is the most industrialised and diversified economy on the continent and is one of the only financial markets that is sound enough to be tapped for infrastructure projects. “Trade finance and infrastructure finance are incredibly important in the creation of growth across Africa. However, since the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, some global banks have retreated from emerging markets, including Africa. These means credit capacity from global banks for African Financial Institutions (FI) has reduced considerably, constraining their ability to serve clients’ needs,” he tells Fin24. No amount of policy change or cuts in taxes will truly make Africa competitive when the physical hinderances are ignored, according to Fehintola. He says the AfCFTA is not just a dream, but there is a long way still go before it becomes a tangible reality. The next phase comprises a new set of challenges as the ratifying countries commence implementing the AfCFTA with the goal of truly unlocking Africa’s potential through the free movement of goods, services and people. He points out that the elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers...

Kampala, Uganda: The UK Government announces its support to the Government of Uganda’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease and to respond to the impacts of SARS-COV-2 coronavirus. We are supporting Government of Uganda (GoU) at both national and district levels.  We have provided £500,000 to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to strengthen testing, surveillance and contact tracing, as well as screening at Uganda’s borders. With a contribution of £167,000 to the World Food Programme we have established a temporary screening facility for international arrivals at Entebbe Airport.  Our health programmes continue their work to protect health workers and essential health services. The UK recognises the importance of maintaining safe trade routes between Uganda and her neighbours.  Through Trade Mark East Africa, we support the ongoing expansion of a regional electronic cargo tracking system and are working to help protect drivers and communities at points of entry and along transit routes.  We continue to support the GoU to protect elderly people and refugees; as well as in maintaining learning while schools are closed. The Head of Office of the UK’s International Development arm in Uganda, Andrew Ockenden said: “Our contribution will help cater for the most immediate public health needs in Uganda to help counter the spread of the virus. The UK has already been a strong and constant international partner throughout the Ebola response and is key player in the fight against malaria. We remain committed to the Ugandan people and are proud to now be able...

Kampala has faulted Nairobi’s decision to move clearance of all transit cargo from Mombasa to Naivasha despite an array of incentives that include 30-day free storage period. Ugandan minister of Works and Transport Katumba Wamala, in a letter to his Kenyan counterpart last Friday, protested Kenya’s move and wants use of Naivasha inland container depot (ICD) to be optional. “The option of using Naivasha ICD for transit cargo would not reduce human traffic movement as truck drivers will still be required to pick the containers from Naivasha to their destinations,” said Gen Wamala in the letter, which he said followed consultations with Uganda’s private sector. “It’s our considered opinion that the use of Naivasha ICD, which is part of our long-term regional infrastructure development, should remain optional.” On Wednesday, however, Transport secretary James Macharia told the Business Daily that Kenya’s position was as a result of a decision reached during the May 12 virtual East African Community Heads of State Summit on measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.  The meeting was attended by Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda and current bloc’s chair). Kenya moved the first consignment — a 200 20-foot equivalent units of cargo by Bolloré Transport and Logistics — direct from Mombasa to the standard gauge railway station at Suswa near Naivasha on May 7.  The Kenya Revenue Authority has since gazetted Naivasha ICD as a customs station, and announced on Tuesday it had started clearing transit cargo at the new...

Operations at Malaba Border Post will soon normalize following the intervention by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP), Noor Gabow and his security team. A spot check by KNA established that truck drivers along Bungoma-Malaba road who withdrew services five days ago, citing harassment by Ugandan authorities are currently working on some of the deflated vehicle tyres ready to proceed to Uganda. Earlier, the drivers snubbed a plea to resume operations as the government addressed their grievances about harassment, stigmatization and inhumane treatment by Ugandan authorities. They rejected an agreement reached on Monday between two Principal Secretaries and their representatives to end the five-day stalemate and instead demanded to be addressed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni. The Transport Principal Secretary, Solomon Kitungu and his East African Community (EAC) counterpart, Dr. Kevit Desai had urged them to proceed with their journey to Kampala after their grievances were partially addressed. Speaking to the press after holding lengthy deliberations with officials of the drivers association, Kitungu said that most of the issues raised by the drivers had been resolved. ‘‘We came here to try and talk to the drivers and understand what issues they were facing and we have actually gone through them,” he said adding that some of the issues had been resolved. Kitungu explained that the two governments had agreed that a Covid-19 certificate from either side should be recognized so that drivers are not subjected to testing twice. He at the same time advised...

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC) launched the second Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII 2019). The Index includes a call to action to African economies to deepen their integration. The Africa Regional Integration Index 2019, which builds on the first edition published in 2016, provides up-to-date data on the status and progress of regional integration in Africa. It also helps to assess the level of integration for every Regional Economic Community (REC) and their member countries. The report observed that although 20 countries score above average, no African country can be considered well integrated into its region. Even the most integrated country, South Africa, scores 0.625 out of 1, less than two-thirds of its potential on the scale. The report found that much more needs to be done to integrate regional economies to make them more resilient to shocks such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the Index shows that levels of integration on the continent are relatively low with an average score of 0.327 out of 1. “Whereas the Index edition we are releasing today has data cut off points in 2019, the present COVID-19 pandemic has reopened the question of whether enough is being done in advancing regional integration as a means to help Africa withstand systematic shocks such as the one being experienced today,” said Stephen Karingi, Regional Integration Division Director at the ECA. “This index is both a measurement exercise and a call to action;...

DAR ES SALAAM, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) senior officials on Wednesday urged members of the regional bloc to remove trade barriers to boost economy in the region. Wilbert Ibuge, Tanzania's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, said the appeal to remove trade barriers among SADC members was made by SADC Council of Ministers permanent secretaries at the start of their three-day video conference meeting. Ibuge, who chaired the meeting, told a news conference in the business capital Dar es Salaam that the officials agreed that SADC member states should open their borders wide to ease trade amongst them with a combined population of about 345 million. "The permanent secretaries from the SADC felt that it was high time the member states enhanced their trade cooperation in order to improve economic and trade growth in the region," said Ibuge. He said the three-day meeting that ends on Friday will, among others, review the implementation of SADC's theme for 2019/2020 "A Conducive Environment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development, Increased Intra-Regional Trade and Job Creation". Tanzania is the current chair of the SADC, an inter-governmental organization established in 1992 to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 16 southern African countries. Enditem Source: Xihuanet