President Uhuru Kenyatta has offered landlocked Uganda land to build a dry port in Naivasha town, President Yoweri Museveni has said. Museveni was in Mombasa for talks with Kenyatta aimed at boosting ties between the neighbouring states. The two leaders visited the port of Mombasa and travelled to Nairobi by train on the newly built standard gauge railway. They were received in Mombasa by Transport CS James Macharia, Governor Hassan Joho and Kenya Ports Authority boss Daniel Manduku Museveni said:"We shall take advantage of the petroleum facility built in Kisumu so that we transport our petroleum products across Lake Victoria and save our roads from wear and tear occasioned by the heavy trucks." Museveni, in the company of his host, became the first foreign head of state to travel by train on the Chinese-funded SGR. Museveni began a state visit to Kenya on Wednesday as the two leaders focused on strengthening ties between their nations. Museveni said the railway line had ended landlocked Uganda's "perennial problems of delays" of cargo at the port of Mombasa. He hoped it would be extended to reach Uganda's capital, Kampala. “With reinforcement for the inter-land economy, we are looking forward to the extension of the SGR. "I know that once completed it will take 24 hours to Kampala," he said. The ride was seen as a major endorsement in the push for Kenya and Uganda to build a seamless SGR through Kenya’s western border to Kampala. Financing for the Uganda segment of the SGR...

Kenya continued with its efforts to woo back Uganda to the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project, with President Uhuru Kenyatta saying his administration plans to stop transportation of cargo by road. Kenya has offered several lucrative deals aimed at enticing Uganda to build its SGR line to Kampala. Yesterday, Uhuru offered Uganda land to develop a dry port for its cargo in Naivasha. Ongoing reforms The President also promised to continue with ongoing reforms to improve efficiency at the port of Mombasa, removal of non-tariff barriers such as corruption and red tape in clearance of cargo. Naivasha is being developed into an industrial park.  Museveni had developed a cold feet on SGR. Ugandan officials have been blaming Kenya for failing to commit to financing the remaining two SGR phases, that is, Naivasha to Kisumu and Kisumu to Malaba sections of the line. Kenya secured a Sh150 billion loan from China to extend the railway line from Nairobi to Naivasha after  completion of the Mombasa-Nairobi section. The offer of land to Uganda comes just a day after President Yoweri Museveni renewed commitment to the joint development of the SGR line to Kampala. The latest development means Kenya will offer Kampala autonomy to take charge of its own goods and any transshipment to DRC and Rwanda, that passes through their territory. Uhuru said SGR will have reached Naivasha by August this year and therefore the dry port will be ideal for transit cargo.“I have confirmed to President Museveni that with that development in Naivasha and...

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Kaguta Museveni have expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation between Kenya and Uganda in areas of mutual benefit. Addressing the press at State House, Mombasa, after the two Heads of State led their delegations in bilateral talks, President Kenyatta commended the two delegations for ensuring that the inaugural session of the Joint Commission for Cooperation is a success. “I am particularly pleased with the progress we've made in recent years in the areas of trade promotion, the free movement of goods, services and people across our borders, and the people-to-people interactions,” President Kenyatta said. The Kenyan delegation at the bilateral meeting included Deputy President William Ruto, Cabinet Secretaries Monica Juma, Najib Balala, Peter Munya, Farida Karoney, James Macharia, Eugene Wamalwa and John Munyes. President Kenyatta noted the success of the One Stop Border Post at Busia and the ongoing improvement of infrastructure and processes at Malaba and Lwakhakha Border Points. He called for an increase in the number of one-stop-border-posts to promote the free movement of goods and people between the two countries. On his part, President Museveni commended President Kenyatta for enhancing efficiency at the Port of Mombasa by modernising infrastructure and re-engineering systems, interventions that have increased the speed of cargo clearance. “During his first term in office, President Kenyatta took the perennial problem of delays at the port head-on,” President Museveni said. President Museveni pointed out that the enhanced efficiency in handling of cargo at the port and...

Uganda exported 395,097.60 kg bags of coffee in January, according to a report cited by Reuters. This is slightly lower than the 401,930 bags shipped in the same month last year. State-run regulator, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority which released the report did not give a reason for the slight decline. The East African nation is Africa’s leading exporter of the beans. Earnings from the crop are one of Uganda’s biggest sources of foreign exchange. Source: African News

The East African Community (EAC) appears to be reverting to its original membership of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The new EAC members, especially Rwanda, are a headache. Rwanda dared to shut down its border with Uganda. General Paul Kagame is turning Rwanda into an even more irrelevant and irrational entity in East African political economy. The problem begins with Kagame fantasying about Rwanda’s economic might. In his article published by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in 2013, Kagame boasted that Rwanda is “an economic lion.” Kagame further boasted: “There is a view that development is a marathon, not a sprint. We do not agree. Development is a marathon that must be run at a sprint. In our pursuit of progress, we have of course looked to East Asia’s so-called “tiger” economies for inspiration…So while being described as an “African tiger” is a welcome recognition of how far Rwanda has come, perhaps it isn’t quite right. After all, our continent has its own big cat. Step forward the new lions of Africa.” In reality, Kagame’s Rwanda does not compare to the original EAC members whether in terms of the size of their respective economies or their trade within the EAC. Let us analyze Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda in terms of the size of their respective economies or their trade within EAC. The data used here are from the World Bank, 2017. Rwandan trade figures for 2017 come from the National Bank of Rwanda, as indicated. Kenya ’s economy and trade within EAC Kenya is by...

Seven years in the making, the Continental Free Trade Area is almost established. A minimum of 22 states is needed to bring the trade bloc into force; only 21 African states have so far ratified the agreement. Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy, is still considering whether to join the club. The idea of an African common market has been circulating for decades and it was adopted at an African Union heads of state conference in 2012. On 21 March 2018, 49 of the African Union's 55 member states signed the agreement. A minimum of 22 countries need to ratify the accord before Africa's single market can finally be launched. The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) will create an African common market worth $3 trillion where 1.2 billion people will be able to move freely. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, one of the leaders spearheading the CFTA, once wrote that “in Africa, our biggest threats are also opportunities”. He was referring to Africa’s booming youth population. “In less than a generation, it is projected that Africa will have the world’s biggest workforce. That means 1.1 billion working-age Africans, which is more than China or India,” said Kagame at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali. “We don’t have any time to waste to do what is necessary, so that this statistic becomes Africa’s greatest asset, rather than a burden for our continent and the world.” Intra-African trade Trade among African countries is more costly than with Asia. According to Carlos Lopes, professor at the University of Cape...

The JPCC was sealed on Tuesday in Nairobi with a ceremonial signing of minutes of the meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kutesa and his counterpart Monica Juma, Kenya’s cabinet secretary of Foreign Affairs, according to a joint press statement. “The two delegations among other things agreed to embark on a joint border demarcation exercise and establish a mechanism for sustainable utilization of trans-boundary resources, including Lake Victoria,” the statement reads. The high-level inter-ministerial meeting was also attended by ministries of Trade, Lands, Defence, Internal Affairs, Agriculture and Justice of both countries which means the JPCC will also touch each of the sectors highlighted. The ministers also signed the agreed minutes of the Joint Ministerial Commission that will form the basis for the bilateral engagement between Kenyan leader  Uhuru Kenyatta and President Yoweri Museveni who begins a three day State Visit to Kenya today. Yesterday, Kutesa and Juma acknowledged the strong historical relationship between Uganda and Kenya but welcomed the JPCC as an important step and vehicle to transform bilateral relations to a strategic level in a structured manner. Foreign minister Sam Kuteesa signs documents during the meeting. Courtesy Photo   On her twitter handle, Juma said that their meeting was intended to agree on  modalities of implementing the decisions of the joint ministerial commission that and make final touches to preparations for “Museveni’s historic visit to Kenya.” While in Kenya, Museveni’s engagements include endorsing a number of bilateral agreements and discussions in the areas of trade, agriculture, defence and...

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Yoweri Museveni have renewed their efforts to promote trade and sustain peace between their countries. Addressing a joint press briefing at State House Mombasa, they expressed their desire for joint cooperation on the standard gauge railway and said a team would review the plan. Source: NTV

At a meeting held at State House Mombasa, President Kenyatta and Museveni said opening more border points will boost trade ties between Kenyan and Uganda. Museveni, who is in Kenya for a two-day state visit, said the free movement of people and goods along the border points will also reduce incidences of smuggling of contrabands. “On free movement of people, we have agreed on more border crossing point. I know some of these boarder points, Malaba and Busia. But we need to have more official crossing points and I appeal to East Africans to use these legal entry points,” said Museveni. President Kenyatta said the two neighbors have resolved to explore natural resources in border sections sustainably. “The issue of Migingo is indeed one of the matters that we discussed. We have agreed to establish a formal border commission to look at the issue, not only of Migingo but the entire region and boundaries,” said President Kenyatta. He said the two countries have also agreed to develop the Lake Victoria trade together. Other issues that were discussed at length was the ongoing construction of the Standard Gauge Railway linking Mombasa and Uganda Capital City, Kampala, and the export and import trade through the port of Mombasa. Museveni said in 2013 President Kenyatta resolved the perennial cargo delays at the Mombasa port through the signing of the Mombasa Port Community Charter. “Some of the people at the port of Mombasa were causing artificial barriers thinking that they were doing Uganda a...

Africa still lags behind the rest of the world in its digital transformation, and in spite of a growing number of innovative solutions, the ongoing lack of adequate infrastructure and connectivity is preventing the continent from realising its true economic potential. The best and fastest way to overcome these barriers, may lie in heightened cooperation between countries and their various regulators. This is according to James Claude, CEO of Global Voice Group (GVG) (www.GlobalVoiceGroup.com) – a provider of IT solutions to governments and regulatory authorities – who says that while many countries in Africa are individually working to increase their infrastructure and digital capabilities, the most effective solution will be to approach these challenges from a regional perspective. While attending the 5thCrans Montana Forum in Dakhla, Morocco in March of this year, Claude noted that African governments have a crucial role to play in taking the continent to the next stage in its digital evolution. “Businesses, universities and young entrepreneurs are increasingly contributing to the digital economy and fostering innovation in Africa. Governments now need to work towards helping these private sector players to grow their solutions more rapidly and affect real change on the continent. This will require harmonising regulations that allow businesses and services to expand beyond country borders.” Africa’s potential as a global leader in the world’s digital economy grows significantly with each passing year. Africa’s population is increasing exponentially, and is expected to reach between 1.379 billion and 1.486 billion by 2025. In addition to this,...