Parliamentary Diplomacy has played a key role in Global Governance. Experts from all over the world have analysed empirical case studies to demonstrates that parliamentarians and parliamentary assemblies have an increasingly important international role. The European Parliament, said to be one of the strongest autonomous institutional actors in world politics has been at the center of Parliamentary Diplomacy but the world has been turning attention to Africa: looking into the role of parliament and cabinet in foreign policy making, especially in South Africa and the East African Legislative Assembly. According to Weiglas and de Boer (2007, pp.93-4), Parliamentary Diplomacy is the full range of international activities undertaken by parliamentarians in order to increase mutual understanding between countries, to assist each other in improving the control of governments and the representation of a people and to increase the democratic legitimacy of inter-governmental institutions. In this article, Joel Okwemba, the Managing Director at the Centre for International and Security Affairs, shares his thoughts on Why we need a Structured Parliamentary Diplomacy for Africa. Why we need a Structured Parliamentary Diplomacy for Africa. However, opportunities are abounding when it comes to: how Parliaments interact with Foreign Policy questions; how Parliaments engage with the State on these questions; how to create form and structure on Parliamentary Diplomacy; and in the development of academic and theoretical literature on the Parliamentary Diplomacy theory in Africa. Parliamentary Diplomacy also referred to as Parlomacy[1], creates opportunities that are alternatives and complimentary to traditional diplomatic approaches that rely on...

The African Infrastructure Guarantee Mechanism’ was organised as part of the 3rd African Pension Funds and Alternatives Investment Conference. It was well attended by an audience mostly composed of industry players – private pension fund administrators, trustees, asset managers, government pension funds and development finance institutions. This grouping clearly demonstrates the interest to develop such initiatives to scale up greater investments in the African infrastructure space. The session was moderated by Dr Morgan Pillay Senior Infrastructure Finance Expert from GIZ, who presented the objectives of the AUDA-NEPAD session. To objectives were; to gauge the appetite of institutional investors (pension funds) for the implementation of the African Infrastructure Guarantee Mechanism and discuss its financial potential; and to make use of the Pension Fund conference platform to consult on what can make the concept a reality. This includes possible implementation strategies and concrete action steps towards scaling risk mitigation and an African Guarantee Scheme to enable the mobilisation of African pension fund investment for African infrastructure. The session panel, with representatives from the AUDA-NEPAD, the African Development Bank; the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Trade and Development Bank gave its interpretation of the African Infrastructure Guarantee Mechanism as instrument of risk mitigation. Industry players were requested to give their thoughts on how the development of such initiative could bring value in facilitating alternative investments in the African Infrastructure space. Deliberations included working with development partners in the development of similar initiatives such as the African Development Bank and its co-guarantee...

Last week, Rwanda president Paul Kagame sounded war drums in a terse tone to an anxious parliamentary chamber. The president promised hell to his country’s enemies who have “gone behind their backs.” This came on the backdrop of a relatively successful year in the region marked by several positive developments. The DR Congo is open for business, leading a number of high-powered trade missions in the region. Peace in the DRC has also given breathing space to the Banyarwanda/Banyamulenge diaspora to trade at the borders and further inland. The local unit has absorbed this effect in its strengthening against the US dollar at a record 3,680 to the greenback up from 3,950 in July 2018. The DRC has started talking to Uganda over the $10 billion war debt arising from liability imputed by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Inside the DRC, there may be some tension between former president Joseph Kabila’s party, which is normal as he wants to potentially run for office again, but president Tshisekedi hasn’t run into direct combat with him, leaving that task for his Chief of Staff and political coalition partner. There is now a big opportunity for Uganda and Rwanda to relocate factories into the Congo, especially if DRC’s application to enter the East African Community, (EAC) is considered. In South Sudan, the warring parties are being nudged towards a settlement. Even Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby are planning to come. The price of crude oil may yet...

Kenya is quickly losing its position as The East African Community (EAC) exports powerhouse, a regional trade report has shown. Nairobi-manufactured products are increasingly finding it difficult to compete with cheaper imports from China and India and those produced by regional rivals, shrinking Kenya’s share of exports to its EAC neighbours. Increase in counterfeits, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), lack of product diversification and high cost of production have also rendered Kenyan products less competitive in the market. The study by the EAC Secretariat, in partnership with TradeMark Africa, shows that Kenya’s exports to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan are facing new threats posed by regional manufacturers who have upped their game in the production of similar products. The EAC Trade and Investment Report (2018) shows that Kenya’s exports to other EAC member states grew at a slower pace of 0.1 per cent in 2018 compared to a high of 6.1 per cent in 2017, largely due to increased efforts by regional peers in strengthening their manufacturing capacity to produce corresponding industrial products. According to the report, Kenya’s total exports to EAC Partner States have been on a downward trend for the past five years falling 11 per cent to $1.27 billion in 2018 from a high of $1.43 billion in 2014. The country’s exports to the region increased marginally to $1.273 billion last year from $1.272 billion in 2017. Among Kenya’s manufactured exports to EAC countries are processed foods, mineral products, chemical and chemical products, metals, pharmaceutical and botanical...

The African Continental Free Trade Area is a continental agreement which came into force in May 2019. It covers trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy. Of the 55 African Union member states, only Eritrea has yet to sign it. The immediate objective of the free trade area is principally to boost trade within Africa by eliminating up to 90% of the tariffs on goods and reducing non-tariff barriers to trade. In 2017, the exports and imports between African countries represented only 16.6% of Africa’s total exports. This figure is low compared with exports within other regions: 68.1% in Europe, 59.4% in Asia, and 55.0% in America. Proponents of the free trade area say that increasing intra-Africa trade will provide larger markets for African producers and encourage manufacturing. It will also help achieve a better connection between production and consumption. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development argues that the phase of transition to the free trade area alone could boost intra-African trade by 33% and increase manufacturing in Africa. This line of argument is that free trade leads to industrialisation and structural change. But in my view it works the other way round: industrialisation leads to free trade. Industrialisation should come first Low intra-Africa trade is indeed an indication that African countries do not consume what they produce. But this is a problem of production (product focus), not trade. The export products of most African countries, which follow the colonial pattern, influence the...

A digital platform specifically designed to address the information needs of women in business and connect them via a custom-built social networking tool was launched over the weekend in Kigali, Rwanda. The platform, known as 50 Million African Women Speak, was unveiled during the Global Gender Summit in the Rwandan capital. It primarily seeks to help economically empower women by providing a one-stop-shop for a wide range of financial and non-financial services that women need to start and grow successful businesses. The initiative which is accessible at www.womenconnect.org is implemented by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It will allow women in 38 African countries to find information on running businesses, accessing financial services, create business opportunities online and access training resources, ultimately contributing to their economic empowerment. “I certainly believe that the creation of this platform is a very practical way of speaking to the general agenda of empowering women. I think a lot has been said and now we have come to a stage where we have practical initiatives such as this one,” said COMESA Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe. Through a robust social networking functionality that has been embedded in the platform, women will have opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, mentoring and sharing information and knowledge, connecting via the web-based platform or through the 50 Million African Women Speak mobile app. The platform is touted as having the potential to unleash a dynamic...

The revival of Uganda Airlines and Air Tanzania have raised the stakes for the aviation industry in the East African region as the two state-owned flag carriers fight for a slice of the sector currently dominated by international carriers, SADAB KITATTA KAAYA. As Uganda Airlines launched two additional routes to Mombasa in Kenya and Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro International Airport, Tanzanian authorities were looking at possible partnerships with Uganda to cut out the possibility of unhealthy competition between the two countries’ airlines. Uganda Airlines resumed commercial flights on August 28, almost three years after the revival of Air Tanzania in September 2016. But since the two airlines are fishing from the same pond for passengers on their regional routes, Atashasta Nditiye, Tanzania’s deputy minister of Works, Transport and Communications, suggests that the two airlines can complement each other with Uganda Airlines feeding Air Tanzania’s long-haul routes. With two Airbus A220-300 and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in its fleet, Air Tanzania operates routes to Mumbai, India and Guangzhou, China, and plans to start flights to Thailand which are popular trade and tourism destinations for East Africans. “Instead of competition, we can complement each other by Uganda Airlines flying passengers from its various destinations to Air Tanzania’s hub at Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar-es-Salaam for Air Tanzania to take them to its long-haul destinations,” Nditiye said. The second area of cooperation is in revamping the East African Civil Aviation Academy also known as Soroti Flying School, proposing that Tanzania’s civil aviation authority works together with...

As the East African Community (EAC) Marks 20 years of regional integration, the East African Business Council has organized a high level business and investment summit. Slated for November 28th and 29th this year, the meeting is intended to discuss wys of making East Africa a leading trade and investment destination and how to increase intra EAC trade. This year, EAC is celebrating 20 years since its revival, marking the signing of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community which was signed on 30th November 1999. EAC is one of Africa’s fastest-growing regional blocs that registered an economic growth of 5.7 percent in 2018. “While we have achieved many milestones, such as the establishment of the Single Customs Territory and One-Stop Border Posts (OSBP), which have eased the free movement of persons and goods and facilitated trade, there are still several challenges to be addressed, including reducing Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), protectionist tendencies by Partner States, and delays in harmonization and domestication of EAC-agreed decisions and directives.” A statement from EABC reads in part. The Business Summit will discuss and address some of the challenges hindering businesses to thrive. According to Article 7 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC states on people-centered and market-driven cooperation as a principle to govern practical achievements of the objectives of the EAC integration process. Article 128 emphasizes on strengthening of the Private Sector as a key partner in the EAC integration. But the question is:  How do we make business the top agenda for the...

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Trademark East Africa (TMA) launched the National impact assessment report that presented the effects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on Uganda, during a national AfCFTA stakeholder consultation meeting on 31 October 2019. Emphasizing that regional platforms are “the way to go” for developing countries to overcome trade challenges, the Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives; Amelia Kyambadde, used her opening statement as an opportunity to applaud the ECA/TMA partnership in supporting regional integration in Eastern Africa. Addressing key players from Government, civil society, academia and private sector, she suggested that the AfCFTA is an instrument for harvesting Africa’s many prospects, saying: “I see more opportunities in Africa than any other continent in the next ten years. AfCFTA is the way to go. I foresee interconnectivity, industrial growth, competition, entrepreneurial development, improved negotiation as a region, regional value chains, standards, and an opportunity to improve future negotiations”.  The Minister deemed the AfCFTA well aligned with Government priorities of transfoming Uganda into a developed economy through building productive capacity and market integration.  Having given credit to the crucial role Uganda played as chief negotiator and champion during the AfCFTA negotiations, the Minister gladly reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the implementation of the agreement, which will be supported through various trade promotion and capacity enhacement programs.  What the AfCFTA means to Uganda  Uganda’s enthusiasm for AfCFTA is well founded. The forum proceeded to present an Impact Assessment Report, set out by Andrew...

TradeMark Africa has signed a partnership with African Union aimed at boosting intra-African trade and realisation of the ambitious Africa Continental Free Trade Area. The agreement was signed by Amb. Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade and Industry, AU and Amb. Erastus Mwencha, TradeMark EA Board Chair and Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark EA. Commenting about the development, Muchanga said, “AU is indeed excited to work with TMA, renowned organisation that has implemented successful trade facilitation programmes in East Africa. We want to complement our efforts in implementing the ambitious boosting intra African trade programme, leverage TMAs experience and ensure similar trade facilitation initiatives are implemented to boost trade and prosperity for the people in this region.” On his part,  Mwencha said: “This partnership with the African Union is an important milestone and embodies our vision for a prosperous Eastern Africa. TMA can help fast-track implementation of the AfCFTA by supporting the African Union (AU) programme for Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT). By implementing quick win measures to ‘thin’ borders and reduce the cost and time to trade along key corridors, TMA will help keep momentum going for this ambitious initiative to be realised, while countries are involved in the longer-term exercise of negotiating trade and tariff regimes.” TMA’s operations across eight countries, working with government, private sector and civil society to address high trade costs in Eastern Africa and support export growth, is well-positioned to support the African Union on its vision for an Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its...