Arua municipality in Uganda has kicked-off the construction of US $5.5m road project. The 2.8km road project stretches from Arua prisons to Arua primary school via River Oli division headquarters. The project is being funded by the World Bank under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development-USMID. According to the Arua Municipal engineer, Anthony Dradria, the dual carriage road will take 18 months to be completed. “Construction works started immediately after the site handover,” he affirmed. He further added that the contractor will receive US $5.07m while the consulting engineer Joadah Consult will receive 253,817. On the other hand, the Arua Mayor, Isa Kato pointed out that upgrading of the two roads is a commendable gesture from the government, which will change the face of Arua town. The Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Program (USMID) The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is implementing Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program, funded by the World Bank-IDA through a US $150m loan. The program is designed to enhance institutional performance of 14 Municipal Councils so as to improve urban service delivery. The USMID program is being implemented in a context where Uganda since 1986 has experienced high economic growth, poverty reduction and an average annual GDP growth of 8.1 % over the last six years (2003/2004- 2009/2010). It has reduced donor assistance from 52% of the annual budget in the early 1990s to the current level of 32%. USMID is contributing to the Second National Development Plan (2010/2011-2014/2015) which has...

Le bénéfice de 6 milliards de Franc CFA du Port Autonome de Dakar annoncé sur 2018 s’inscrit en trompe-l’oeil tant il est loin des performances de 2010 quand la plateforme dégageait 23 milliards de Franc CFA. Autant dire que, sous le magistère de Aboubacar Sédikh Bèye, le PAD, doté de bonnes intentions et d’un plan stratégique 2019-2023 axé sur le désencombrement, semble certes revenir au dessus de la ligne de flottaison. Mais l’on est loin de l’âge d’or des années 2000-2010 pour cette vieille plateforme datant de 1867 et évoluant désormais à bonne distance derrière Lomé, Lagos, Tema, et Abidjan. Assurant actuellement 65% du trafic à destination du Mali, Dakar doit surveiller de près la concurrence (Abidjan) qui convoite cette manne. Le trafic du Mali qui représente 17 à 18% du volume du trafic du PAD pâtit de l’arrêt de la ligne ferroviaire entre Dakar et Bamako. “Il y a cinq ans, 75% de ce trafic partait par le train. Aujourd’hui, c’est 0%”, déplorait le Directeur du PAD, en juin 2018, lors du lancement de son plan stratégique. Le trafic vers le Mali passe désormais par la route, ce qui occasionne des coûts d’entretien routiers évalués à 55 milliards de Franc CFA par an selon le ministère sénégalais des Infrastructures. L’avantage comparatif du port de Dakar dépend aussi des infrastructures portuaires. Les travaux d’extension du «Môle 3» devront permettre de rattraper le retard accumulé. Cette plateforme datant de 1939 a entamé sa cure de jouvence en juillet 2019 grâce à...

““Our Mission is to promote, assist and enhance economic and business development for all our members at both National and County level so as to stimulate wealth at all levels of governments right from the communities they represent,” she reckons. The two-day program was initiated by the High Commissioner of Uganda to Kenya Phoebe Otaala ,under the theme “Unlocking business women’s potential in the region”. The delegation further paid a courtesy call on Uganda President Yoweri Museveni to sought his guidance and intervention on various challenges facing businesses along the Kenya Uganda border. WIB acknowledges that the existing structures such as border offices and market stalls are often dilapidated, whilst toilets, lighting, and fencing are typically absent. In addition, high customs duties, complex clearance procedures, cumbersome documentary requirements (often featuring centralized permit and licensing systems), along with unpredictable trade policies all contribute to raising trade costs. “We shall strive to blend all women professionals in the Women in Business to find the synergy required to empower and create an expanded economic atmosphere and market for all-inclusive business development,” Muthoni says. The business lobby group has voiced its support or contents of the Building Bridges Initiative Report. Through its President Muthoni, the group supports the recommendations to allow the youth to least have a seven year tax holiday as an initiative to help them in business entrepreneurship. She stated the tax holiday would encourage both women and youth to engage in business. Muthoni further termed the tax holiday proposal as crucial...

The much anticipated African Free Trade Zone – the world’s largest trade zone – is set to launch in July this year. It will be a major development for the continent where most countries mainly trade with nations outside Africa. Only 15% of trade is done between African countries compared to 70% of trade among European nations and 25% in the South East Asian region. The Continental Free Trade Area will comprise of 53 African countries with a population of 1.2 billion people and an estimated gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion. Eritrea is the only African country that has not signed the African Continental Free Trade Area treaty. Some of the challenges that are likely to hinder the single market project are: Poor road and rail networks linking African nations Underdeveloped industries High dependence on custom revenue Inefficient border posts Additionally, there are concerns that the more developed nations will gain from the single market at the expense of the less developed nations. Countries like South Africa and Egypt, with their advanced industrial base, will benefit by selling their goods to less developed markets in the region. For the Single Market trade agreement to succeed, African countries need to improve their infrastructure, create new revenue streams away from customs income, eliminate protectionist laws, and improve efficiency at points of entry. Source: The Kenyan Wall Street

Africa made history this year as the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) officially entered into force. As trading under the AfCFTA starts on July 1, 2020, with a market of over a billion people and income of about $3 trillion, the big question is whether the new free trade area will lead to one big African market. Already, the AfCFTA has energised the continent by positioning regional integration front and centre. By requiring member states to remove tariffs from 90 per cent of goods, the agreement is expected to boost trade among African countries from its low level of 16 per cent. The Economic Commission for Africa estimates likely trade effects of over 50 per cent. Yet, lowering tariffs further will not be the magic bullet. Overcoming non-tariff barriers is key. Here are factors to facilitate one big African market. Regional Economic Communities (RECs): Africa’s regions have many RECs with overlapping memberships, including the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community. These RECs are at different stages of integration. The AfCFTA aimed to consolidate them into one entity. That did not happen. AfCFTA’s Article 19(2) states that “members of a regional economic community that have attained higher levels of regional integration than under the AfCFTA, shall maintain such higher levels among themselves”. This provision mandates trade liberalisation to follow different paths, not one single market. The signatories recognise the problem of many overlapping RECs. At their July summit meeting, they asked...

The World Bank has projected a weaker economic growth in sub Saharan African in 2020, pinning hopes on investor confidence to turnaround fortunes of the region’s economies. According to the Bank’s 2020 Global Economic Prospects, growth is expected to pick up to 2.9 per cent this year, assuming investor confidence improves in some large economies, energy bottlenecks ease and robust growth continues in agricultural commodity exporters. The forecast is weaker than previously expected, reflecting softer demand from key trading partners, lower commodity prices and adverse domestic developments in several countries. But for East African Community, the problem is further compounded by low intra-trade, meaning much needed foreign exchange is spent on imports from outside the region, leading to slowdown in manufacturing and reduced job opportunities. This is the reason increasing intra-East African Community trade is top on the agenda of the regional private sector-led umbrella body—the East African Business Council (EABC). This was the major resolution arrived at in Arusha last November during the two-day high-level East African Business and Investment Summit. Even though the EAC is one of Africa’s fastest growing regional blocs, registering economic growth of 5.7 per cent in 2018, more intra-trade won’t be easy. While the Summit took stock of EAC achievements for the past 20 years, it is increasingly becoming clear that the more resolutions are made to increase intra-trade, the more the challenges the region faces. “Mechanisms for resolving Non tariff barriers were put in place, for instance, the national monitoring committees and regional...

Following a series of high-level meetings with President Yoweri Museveni and local business executives, Momar Nguer who recently led a business delegation of top French executives to Uganda declared the mission a success. The 25-member delegation recently traveled to Kampala under their MEDEF umbrella (Mouvement des Enterprises de France), a French business association which brings together close to 170,000 French companies to explore opportunities in road and internet backbone infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, telecoms and credit finance, among others. Nguer who is the chairman of MEDEF’s Eastern Africa Business Council and also sits on French oil major, Total’s executive committee, told local journalists in a debriefing session at the French ambassador’s residence in Kampala on Nov.26 that French companies are “eager to build long-term partnerships with their Ugandan counterparts.” “We know that French companies will never know better the local environment than our Ugandan counterparts,” Nguer said, “We are humble enough to know that and we are humble enough to want to build upon the knowledge that our Ugandan counterparts may have.” Among the French business leaders who traveled to Kampala were those from Airbus Helicopters, a helicopter manufacturing firm, Thalès, an aeronautic, space, defence and security firm, Société Générale, a banking and financial services giant, Ponticelli Frères, a construction and maintenance firm that has interest in the oil and gas sector, Sogea Satom, a construction and public works firm and Bolloré Transport & Logistics, a logistics company which is already well-established in Uganda. Others included; Suez International which...

Doris Akol denied that URA was seeking to introduce more taxes to raise domestic revenue. Tax incentives on foreign direct investment are denying Uganda up to 70% of potential corporate tax revenue, the Uganda Revenue Authority’s Commissioner General, Doris Akol has disclosed Speaking at a public dialogue on national development in Kampala, Akol said such policy contradicts the country’s plan to expand local revenue to fund the national budget. She said the commitment by government to increase the tax base was undermined by policy contradictions and a pervasive corporate culture of under-declaration of sales. Akol cited the central bank’s indifference to cryptocurrencies, even when many Ugandans were already transacting using the digital currencies. “Some goods are coming through our customs that have been purchased using loyalty points or air miles and we clear them. But there is no policy on cryptocurrencies,” she stated. Ramadhan Ggobi, a board member of the Uganda Development Corporation said the private sector in Uganda was concerned about increasing taxes and borrowing levels. Ggobi argued that attempts to increase the country’s tax base were being directed at the same tax payers, creating a burden on a small group instead of casting the net wider. “Government needs to reduce the appetite for direct taxes and rely more on indirect taxes and improve tax administration,” he advised. Akol denied that URA was seeking to introduce more taxes to raise domestic revenue and part of the answer lies in the huge informal sector which accounts for 60% to 70%...

The Horn of Africa coast is strategically important because it is on the Bab al Mandab Strait and Indian Ocean coast where nearly 20 percent of the world trade and maritime shipping pass through. Thanks to their sea port developments, it is set to be the gateway and the link that connects the sub-Saharan Africa to this international trade route, Suez Canal and the Arabian Peninsula on the opposite side of the Red Sea. The mercantile shipping vessels plying along the Bab el Mandeb can now drop their transit consignments at any of the Red Sea or Horn of Africa ports. Similarly, export goods from sub-Saharan Africa and their imports from the rest of the world can easily be picked or delivered from these ports and hauled across to central and West Coast of Africa by existing railways or roads. Recently, the significance of the Horn of Africa and its sea ports was boosted by the discoveries of oil, gas and other extractive minerals in the sub-Saharan Africa countries. Huge exploitations of the same are now in progress in Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia, DR Congo and Kenya; among others. Additionally, the coastal Horn of Africa countries are experiencing a relative peace renaissance that has enabled development of their Ports and Roads developments not realised in the last 50 years. Hitherto, these countries were ravaged by civil and territorial wars, military rules and instabilities that hindered their endeavour to address their national development challenges. This peace...

THE East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers has been tasked to furnish the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) with comprehensive reports on regular basis about implementation of pillars of integration. Specifically, the ministers are supposed to inform the august House on each partner state’s status in relation to progress in execution of the Customs Union Protocol and the Common Market Protocol. The resolution was moved by Dr Abdullah Hasnuu Makame (Tanzania Constituency) and adopted by the House. It further wants the Council of Ministers to direct all partner states to fully implement the Customs U nion Protocol by June 2020 and the Common Market Protocol, a year later. The House further urges the Secretary General, (Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko) to furnish the House with comprehensive reports on the implementation of the Food Security Action Plan, the Climate Change Policy and the Industrialisation Policy and Strategy. The Council of Ministers is also encouraged to develop Comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting frameworks that would track implementation of major actions to be taken and adopted by the Summit of EAC Heads of State and other organs. According to Dr Makame, it is only the Customs Union Protocol that has a stipulated Treaty Timeframe under Article 75(7 ), with the Treaty documenting a period of four years in which to conclude it. He informed the House that, Article 7 7 of the Treaty forecast on the establishment of a Common Market through a Protocol that would be concluded without prescribing a timeframe to achieve...