Kenyan traders can now access the continent’s investment regulatory data on one platform following the launch of an e-portal aimed enhancing ease of doing business. The tool, tradebarriers.africa, has been developed by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the African Union, and also seeks to make trade less costly for local investors. The platform became operational on January 13. UNCTAD and African Union (AU) said Kenyan traders and businesses moving goods across the continent will be able to report the challenges they encounter, such as quotas, excessive import documents or unjustified packaging requirements. UNCTAD and the AU trained 60 public officials and business representatives from across Africa on how to use the tool in December 2019 in Nairobi. “Non-tariff barriers are the main obstacles to trade between African countries,” said Ms Pamela Coke-Hamilton, director of UNCTAD’s trade division. “That’s why the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) depends in part on how well governments can track and remove them,” she said, referring to the agreement signed by African governments to create a single, continentwide market for goods and services. Complaints logged on the platform will be monitored by government officials in each nation and a special coordination unit that’s housed in the AfCFTA secretariat. The unit will be responsible for verifying a complaint. Once verified, officials in the countries concerned will be tasked with addressing the issue within set timelines prescribed by the AfCFTA agreement. Kenya’s manufacturing sector is betting big on the Africa-wide...

The UK is partnering with five African countries to mobilise private sector investment in quality, environmentally-friendly infrastructure projects, International Development Secretary Alok Sharma announced on Monday. Speaking at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London ahead of an infrastructure investment forum on Tuesday, Mr Sharma said the UK will partner with Uganda, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya to design a new facility to plan, deliver and support finance to a range of infrastructure projects across Africa that are attractive to businesses and investors. Sustainability will be central to these new infrastructure projects, focusing on investments with low carbon emissions and projects that will be resilient to a changing climate. International Development Secretary Alok Sharma said “Investing in quality infrastructure enables children to travel to school and parents to go to work to provide for their families. It lets people keep food in fridges and provides light so children can do their homework at night. It also powers factories, phones and computers to connect people and grow businesses. It is the difference between surviving and thriving. “Using world-leading British expertise in infrastructure and investment, including from the City of London, the UK will support our partners across Africa to build their projects in an environmentally-friendly way and bring them successfully to market.” Alongside this, Mr Sharma pledged extra UK aid to help African governments raise finance to deliver much needed high-quality public sector infrastructure projects, such as building schools and hospitals and boosting access to clean energy and water supplies for the...

President Yoweri Museveni is among a dozen African leaders in London for a summit aimed at boosting the UK’s private sector investment on the continent. The summit aimed at boosting the UK’s private sector investment on the continent. ‘‘I thank the Prime Minister [the Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson] for the invitation. Like I told him in our bilateral meeting, Uganda is ready to receive British investors, given the immense business opportunities in the Pearl of Africa.’’ President Museveni said on Monday. He added: We have greatly upgraded infrastructure to support investment. We have sufficient electricity, a skilled workforce, fair tariffs, good roads, etc. Opportunities exist in agriculture, services, tourism, dairy sector, ICT etc. In his speech, the Prime Minister indicated that African products, including Uganda’s beef, would find its way onto the dining tables of post-Brexit Britain. The UK government has signed 11 trade agreements with African countries, just over a week before it officially leaves the European Union. It is expected to unveil a new strategy for development in Africa later on Monday, which will focus more on infrastructure and trade. This is a major shift in the UK’s relationship with Africa. It is about using aid money to support investment. The Department for International Development says it is now focusing on digital technologies, green energy and women entrepreneurs. UK businesses will also play a big role. They have already signed deals worth more than $7.8bn, with more expected during the summit. With many of the fastest growing economies...

A decade since it came into force, the East African Community Common Market Protocol, is going through a reality check. This week, Uganda lodged a formal protest against Kenya, over blockage of its milk exports. Kenya also accuses Uganda of imposing hefty duties on some of its exports especially beverages. Tanzania has been involved in several trade skirmishes with Kenya even as they were united in disputing Uganda’s sugar surplus and for a while blocking Ugandan sugar from their markets. In a case of selective amnesia, Uganda also does not believe Tanzania has a rice surplus although many Ugandan entrepreneurs rent land in southern Tanzania to grow rice. When the common market was conceived, it was believed free trade would be a vehicle for efficient allocation of resources across the economic spectrum. For instance, free movement of labour would allow skills to move from areas of surplus to areas in the community that had a deficit. Theoretically, application of those skills would over time raise the productive capacity of such an economy, creating a degree of parity with the rest of the region. What the framers might have anticipated but did not state, was that open markets would trigger a realignment of the regional economy as investors look for the most cost efficient production bases. Uganda got a taste of this early on when multinationals Bata and British American Tobacco shifted their manufacturing operations from Uganda to Kenya. This seeming loss has however, been more than compensated for by the...

Great Lake Region Private Sector Forum chairman Richard Ngatia and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni after he paid the President a courtesy call atState House in Entebe, Uganda on Friday. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has pledged Sh10 million to the Great Lakes Investment and Trade Conference in March. Museveni made the pledge on Friday last week after the Great Lake Region Private Sector Forum (GLR-PSF) chairman Richard Ngatia paid him a courtesy call at State House, Entebbe. The Great Lakes countries surround Lake Victoria, the world's third-largest freshwater lake. Countries on Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi are als in the Great Lakes region. Ngatia led the delegation to meet Musevening after officiating at the launch of the GLR-PSF round table meeting in Kampala. The International Conference Of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from March 18 to 20. “I would like to sincerely thank His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni for the kind gesture and pledge of Sh10 million to support of the upcoming conference," Ngatia said. "As a regional private sector body, we are committed to open up regional and international market linkages to benefit our people, especially youths and women,” Ngatia said. Ngatia, who is also president of Kenya National Chamber Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) was accompanied by Olive Kigongo, president of the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI). United Nations Uganda Resident Coordinator Rose Malango and Uganda Minister for East African Community Affairs Kahinda Otafiire were present, among others. KNCCI is focussed on expanding trade across borders, development...

Namibia has become the eighth country to ratify the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement moving the region closer to having a fully operational agreement this year. Six more countries are required for the agreement to enter into force. Tripartite Coordinator at COMESA Secretariat, Dr Seth Gor confirmed in Lusaka that seven more countries from the EAC-COMESA-SADC are at advanced stages of ratifying the important document which will spur intra-regional trade. “We are optimistic that the remaining six countries will ratify the Agreement and we can have it fully operational this year,” said Dr Gor. He has also revealed that the Republic of Burundi deposited its instrument of ratification in November 2019. The TFTA is a building block for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its aim is to gradually reduce the tariffs for all goods traded in the bloc to zero percent. The TFTA is focusing on three pillars, Market Integration, Industrial Development and Infrastructure Development.  These three areas have been prioritised to support the regional economic integration efforts in the region and the continent. Other Member States that have so far ratified the TFTA Agreement are Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana and Burundi. The TFTA was launched in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt on 10 June 2015 and signed by 22 of the original 26 countries covered by the deal. Tunisia, Somalia and South Sudan have since joined the configuration, bringing the total membership to 29 countries. These countries together represent 53 percent of the African Union membership, 60...

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w88zYmbCfk[/embed] Kenya and Uganda have long enjoyed good trade relations. But in Busia at the border of the two countries, Kenyans traders have taken the relationship a notch higher, finding handsome returns while shunning business environment back at home.

[embed]https://youtu.be/arz5l_mBDag[/embed] The Great Lakes Private Sector Forum partnership has been launched in Kampala today with the United Nations saying it will set the pace for sustainable regional integration through cross-border trade. Dr Rosa Malango, the UNDP Resident coordinator says that it should also require safe movement of people and goods as well as public and private sector investments. Source: NTV

According to their latest report, Foresight Africa: Top priorities for the continent 2020-2030, only Senegal, Rwanda and Niger economies will grow faster than Uganda between 2020—2024. President Yoweri Museveni commissioning the Isimba hydro power dam in March last year in Kamuli District. Investment in infrastructure is expected to be one of the drivers of economic growth in Uganda The Brookings Institution, an American think tank, has projected that Uganda will be among the fastest-growing economies on the African continent in the coming decade. According to their latest report, Foresight Africa: Top priorities for the continent 2020-2030, only Senegal, Rwanda and Niger economies will grow faster than Uganda between 2020—2024. The report projects that Uganda will grow by an average of 7.2% annually during the period. This is almost twice the Sub-Saharan Africa growth average of 3.9%. Senegal is expected to grow the fastest at 8.3%, followed by Rwanda at 7.9% and Niger 7.3%. Brookings did not make specific mention of what the drivers of Uganda’s growth will be, but other economists point to the ongoing infrastructure investment, first oil and greater regional integration as the key drivers of growth in the coming years. According to the Brookings Institution, Uganda was not among the top 10 fastest growing economies in Africa between 2015 and 2019. Mali was the 10th fastest at 5.4% while Ethiopia was the fastest at 8.7%. Economists react The report drew mixed reactions from local economists. Makerere University’s Fred Muhumuza was sceptical about the projections and suggested they may...

The UESW is a system that leverages technology to allow traders submit all the required regulatory documents to all approving agencies electronically using a single access point. The system will offer seamless clearance of goods, hence shorten clearance time TRADE KAMPALA - The implementation of the Uganda Electronic Single Window (UESW) system has saved traders about $85,000 (sh308.4m) annually, that was being wasted as a result of submitting the required trade documents manually. Speaking during the launch of the second phase progress report on the UESW in Kampala last week, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) acting commissioner customs, Abel Kagumire, said the introduction of the system simplified trade procedures and processes, cutting delays caused by human contact, resulting in substantial cost savings. The UESW is a system that leverages technology to allow traders submit all the required regulatory documents, including permits and customs declarations, to all approving agencies electronically using a single access point. Previously, agencies were working in silos, requiring traders to move with physical documents from one office to another to get the necessary trade certificates. This caused delays and increased the cost of doing business. Abel Kagumire, URA's acting commissioner of customs   According to Kagumire, the UESW system reduced the clearance time of goods from 21 days to 14 days, before falling further to four days for imports and two days for exports. “Getting certificates was a big issue, but now all that is done under the single window following the automation of the certificates. So, no...