The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is pushing member states to align their laws with the bloc’s regulations to abolish trade barriers. The bloc says that the Comesa Seed Trade Harmonisation Regulations will lead to increased seed production, supply reliability, enhanced trade and competitiveness of the seed sub-sector. The regulations give seed companies the impetus to invest in testing and trials targeting a bigger market of about half a billion people. Besides, it will eliminate duplication of trials, which often takes years, and enhance collaboration in research. Only seven countries of the 21 Comesa member states have harmonised their national seed regulations with the regional ones. These are Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This push comes at a time when a new report by Netherlands-based Access to Seeds Foundation, which evaluates 22 leading seed companies, shows that two home-grown African seed companies top the 2019 Access to Seeds Index in the region for playing a key role in raising smallholder farmers’ productivity. The two, Kenya’s East African Seed and South Africa-based Seed Co, topped the index due to their broad portfolio of seeds. “Two African seed companies at the top of the ranking is no surprise, given their deeper understanding of the region and the challenges smallholder farmers face. It shows also that these relatively small seed companies are ahead of larger multinational in integrating smallholder farmers into their business models,” said Sanne Helderman, Access to Seeds Index senior research lead. Other East African companies...

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta made brief visits to Uganda and Rwanda on Monday amid long-running disputes between the two countries that has now threatened cross-border trade. Mr Kenyatta held private talks, first, with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame before addressing the country’s national leadership retreat in Gabiro, where he emphasised on the importance of integration. His next stop, before his return trip to Nairobi, was at State House in Entebbe where he met President Yoweri Museveni. President Kenyatta’s visit comes on the back of Mr Kagame’s two-day trip to Tanzania, seen as a quest to firm up relations with Dar es Salaam and secure a trade route from the sea. Rwanda, a small landlocked country, is served by two major transport corridors — the Central Corridor that runs from Dar es Salaam through Tanzania’s heartland, and the Northern Corridor that runs from Mombasa through Kenya and Uganda. About 80 percent of Rwanda’s import cargo is handled through the Dar port, but its major exports — minerals, tea and coffee — go through Uganda to the port of Mombasa. However, souring of relations between Kigali and Kampala have been simmering for years now, and worsened late last month when Rwanda closed the Gatuna border post, its busiest. Integration In Gabiro, President Kenyatta said Kenya’s relationship with Rwanda “is probably the best” adding that: “The more we meet, the more we interact, the better we integrate as a people.” He urged for more engagement among the citizens of the two countries. “As governments, we...

Uganda and Rwanda’s relationship hit a new and worrying low last week when Kigali closed its main border with its neighbour. This move was the culmination of rising animosity over a few years now. Rwanda accuses Uganda of sheltering its dissidents, some of whom it has allegedly forcibly repatriated in the past. Meanwhile, Uganda accuses Rwanda of planting spies in its security apparatus several of whom it claims to have arrested or deported. These tensions were reflected in the war of words that erupted recently between the two presidents. “You can attempt to destabilise our country, you can do us harm, you can shoot me with a gun and kill me. But there is one thing that is impossible,” said Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame at a government retreat this weekend. “No one can bring me to my knees.” President Yoweri Museveni similarly declared: “Those who want to destabilise our country do not know our capacity. It is very big. Once we mobilise, you can’t survive.” A few weeks ago, Ugandan trucks had reportedly been stopped to border points, leading Uganda to advise traders to transit to Rwanda via the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but last week crossings came to almost complete halt. Rwanda shut the border and advised its citizens not to travel to Uganda for safety reasons. This dramatic move has created huge disruptions to cross-border trade and people’s lives on both sides. Many Rwandans depend on Uganda for food and medicines, for example, while cargo porters and currency traders’ livelihoods have been put on hold....

“We must buy more; produce more for our economy to grow. My office assisted by Ministry of Trade will coordinate ministries, departments, agencies and local governments... Effective implementation of the Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) policy through supporting local industries, enhancing quality and quality of goods produced will reduce Uganda’s trade deficit with other countries globally, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda has said. “Uganda’s population which is now estimated to be at 40 million will require these goods and services; and this is already a market available. If they consume locally produced goods, they support local producers, they create jobs and support growth of industries,” said Rugunda. He said this during a dinner to mark the closure of BUBU expo at Kololo Airstrip on Saturday evening. Uganda last year exported goods worth $3.6b and imports stood  at $6.2b implying a deficit of $3.4b. Rugunda hailed Amelia Kyambadde and her ministry for the BUBU initiative, pledging to support it. “We must buy more; produce more for our economy to grow. My office assisted by Ministry of Trade will coordinate ministries, departments, agencies and local governments for the success of BUBU,” he stated. Amelia Kyambadde, Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives said the main purpose of BUBU is to promote local companies and help them benefit from government procurement systems as well as enhancing quality of goods. She said however said there’s need for Government to invest in raw material value addition such as hides and skins for leather, minerals among others to...

The East African Community (EAC) has adopted a wait-and-see policy to the ensuing border dispute between Uganda and Rwanda as the arms investigative unit hits the ground running on a fact finding mission. The ongoing trade dispute has cast a shadow on the EAC cross-border trade relations as the Uganda’s largest border crossing with Rwanda — the Gatuna post — remain closed to traffic. “We have our directorates’ of customs and trade in both Rwanda and Uganda. We expect to file a report on the dispute in the next few days before engaging with the partner states,” EAC Secretary General Dr. Liberat Mfumukeko said. Mfumukeko, who spoke on Tuesday during a private sector roundtable on elevating the role of the sector in the EAC,  further warned of the disputes impact on cross-border business activities as is the case with the majority of non-tariff barriers (NTBs). According to the East African Business Council (EABC), the ongoing conflict has an effect resonating to beyond just the scope of the duos border points. “Any time there is a challenge with one border, it affects all the other borders. Our respective members have asked us to make our voices heard but we can only do this carefully. We need to understand what is exactly happening and the political issues involved,” EABC Chairman Nick Nesbitt told Citizen Digital. Uncertainties into the dynamics involved in the near-month long wrangle have left experts perplexed on the probable outcomes from a prolonged trade spat between the pair. Chief Executive...

He said technology is a prime enabler of sustainable competitiveness, with the power to elevate African countries to middle-income level. Ruto noted that countries can embrace modern technology by investing in education and training, beginning by aligning the needs of the private sector “vis-a-vis what our youth are taught”. “A suitably reoriented technology should impart leadership, digital and soft skills in every young person going through the education system,” he said. The Deputy President spoke on Tuesday in Munyonyo, Uganda, during the Africa Now Summit 2019. Leaders attending the two-day conference, whose theme is “Towards a secure, integrated and growing Africa” are Uganda President Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Uganda Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. Others are Tanzania Vice President Samia Suluhu, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Mukhisa Kituyi and Chairman of Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa Tony Elumelu. Having appreciated the power of technology in furthering growth, Ruto said Kenya was scaling up training and support for innovation by financing and facilitating market access for young people to create, collaborate, test and improve concepts. “This is how vibrant tech hubs arise, survive and drive structural change,” he noted. At the same time, Ruto urged African leaders to refine their education to focus on science, technology and innovation. He said the move would help align training with market needs and to the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He told the conference that Kenya was already implementing the “most ambitious...

As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is still battling with teething problems of its age long pet project of single currency,  the Africa Union (AU) may have seized the initiative to launch common monetary policy and single currency to accelerate economic integration of African countries. According to Ms Naglaa Nozahie, a Special Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, who represented the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) at the third session of the Specialised Technical Committee of the African Union (AU) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration in Yaounde, Cameroon last week, the initiative is to culminate in the establishment of the African Central Bank (ACB) by AU in 2045. Late last year, the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) said, at the Intra Africa Trade Fair (IATF)in Egypt that it was working on an arrangement that would enable countries trade and settle transactions costs without reference to external currencies. According to its Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Obi Emekekwue, Afreximbank is already working on the scheme that would enable African countries trade among one another without resorting to other convertible currencies like the dollar, pound sterling, euro and the Chinese renminbi. He disclosed that the bank had already commenced a test run of the scheme, which would be launched across the continent soon. The lack of such deal to facilitate urgent settlement of trade mighteventually truncate the dream of a common market under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) regime, according to the...

Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Richard Sezibera has allayed fears of a significant trade impact that could result from the current impasse with neighbouring Uganda. Government late last week issued a travel advisory on Rwandans going to Uganda, owing to the spate of illegal detentions of Rwandans and irregular deportations that have been going on for the past two years. Addressing a news conference on Tuesday morning, Sezibera, who also doubles as the Government spokesperson, said that Rwandan borders remain open and allows entry of people and goods from Uganda, despite what he called misleading reports that the borders were closed. He however elaborated on the three issues that Rwanda has had with Uganda for the last two years, one of them being the frustration of goods transiting through Uganda and destined for Rwanda. Rwanda accesses the port of Mombasa in Kenya through Uganda in what is called the Northern Corridor and, according to Sezibera, several trucks headed to or out of Rwanda have been stopped by Ugandan authorities, sometime for weeks, before being released without any explanation. To minimize any negative consequences, Sezibera said that in partnership with the local private sector and allied ministries, there were ongoing efforts to ensure a steady supply of imports and commodities in the country to avoid shortages or price hikes. This will ensure that commodities required in Rwanda are available and at regular prices. He said that they were working on using alternative trade routes and corridors such as Central Corridor via Tanzania. In...

Rwanda has started to allow trucks carrying goods from Uganda to enter at one of the main crossing points on their shared border, the Ugandan government said on Monday, a sign that renewed hostilities have started to ease. Rwanda last week abruptly begun blocking cargo trucks from Uganda from entering its territory as well as stopping its nationals from crossing over to Uganda. Uganda summoned Rwanda’s ambassador to Kampala on Friday to protest against the border closure. Ofwono Opondo, Uganda’s government spokesman, said on Monday that the flow of cargo traffic had been eased at Mirama Hills, one of the three main border crossings between the countries.   Rwanda cabinet extends central bank governor's term by six years Uganda will review allegations of arbitrary detentions of Rwandese which authorities in Kigali have cited as one the reasons for stopping the country’s nationals from coming to Uganda, Opondo said. “Specific cases raised on alleged arbitrary arrests or detentions shall be handled through normal diplomatic channels,” he wrote on Twitter. Two other crossings including the busy Katuna border post remain closed, he said. The hostilities, fuelled by longstanding mutual suspicions and allegations of supporting each other’s dissidents, are unlikely to escalate into war because of overwhelming western diplomatic pressure on both sides to calm the situation, analysts said. Rwanda depends for much of its imports on a trade route through Uganda to Kenya’s Indian Ocean seaport of Mombasa. ove him or hate him, Kagame could be Africa’s Lee Kuan Yew The same...

As the border closure between Rwanda and Uganda entered day six on Monday, the Uganda Revenue Authority revealed that it was taken by surprise by Rwanda’s action, and that pleas to Kigali to find a quick solution to the crisis went unheeded. A March 2 letter by the Commissioner for Customs at URA Dicksons Kateshumbwa to his Rwandan counterpart revealed the scale of the crisis. “Whereas the rationale and spirit behind the decision is appreciated, it would have been more appropriate to undertake the measure as a joint decision, considering the fact that the affected borders are OSBPs (one-stop border posts) where either side is interdependent on the other,” said Kateshumbwa. “Besides, a decision of this nature would ideally give ample time to the stakeholders to enable adjustments to be done so as to comply and in the case of customs to rationalize manpower so that we facilitate trade smoothly. In this particular case, the implementation of the decision was done on the very day of notification.” 'UNCLOG BORDER' Mr Kateshumbwa said most of the stranded cargo had already been cleared under the Single Customs Territory. “We have a clogged Gatuna border post with 10 Rwanda registered trucks, 49 Uganda registered trucks, 37 Kenya registered trucks and nine Burundi registered trucks all carrying mixed goods,” he said, adding that some of the trucks are carrying perishables while 17 of the Kenyan registered trucks are carrying petroleum products. “Therefore, considering the potential risk of these highly flammable products as well as...