Regional economies have allocated a third of their individual budgets in the new financial year to infrastructure projects, aiming to boost economic activity and spur growth. Of the $15.8 billion going to development projects, Kenya allocated $6.25 billion (39.5 per cent), followed by Tanzania at $5.3 billion, then Uganda at $3.05 billion and Rwanda at $1.28 billion. Kenya reduced its allocation from $7.4 billion in the 2017/18 fiscal year. Tanzania’s allocation increased from $5.27 billion in the year ending June 30. Uganda had set aside $1.32 billion, while Rwanda had earmarked $924 million for development expenditure last year. The projects range from airport upgrades to aircraft purchases, modernisation of road and railway networks, and energy generation. Tanzania says it will prioritise the construction of its Central Railway Line under the standard gauge railway project, for which it has budgeted $3.14 billion, with about half of it paid to the contractor. Kenya has allocated $747 million in the new financial year for the construction of Phase 2A of its SGR, from Nairobi to Naivasha in the Central Rift. Uganda is juggling between upgrading its metre gauge railway and initial work on its SGR, which is currently at the land compensation stage. Uganda Railways Corporation took over the operation of the metre gauge railway, after the termination of the Rift Valley Railways concession. Railway services on the Eastern Route resumed in February, and they reinstated the passenger rail service in the Kampala Metropolitan Area. Ugandan Finance Minister Matia Kasaija reiterated the country’s...

The plan to connect the region through a railway network is inching towards reality, after Kenyan and Ugandan presidents met with Chinese officials this week, with reports that the two countries are likely to finalise a financing deal for the Kisumu-Malaba-Kampala stretch of the standard gauge railway soon. Uganda has said that it will sign its final financing agreement for its SGR in September, to pave the way for the construction, which has been delayed for more than two years. Kenya, which depends on Kampala to secure joint funding for the Kisumu-Malaba stretch, has already started laying the tracks for the $1.5 billion second phase of the line between Nairobi and Naivasha. This week, a Chinese delegation led by vice-premier Wang Yang and China Exim Bank chairperson Li Ruogo met with Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Yoweri Museveni. The agenda was to update the Chinese officials on the progress of the SGR projects in Kenya, and hold discussions on Uganda’s first phase. The Chinese Exim Bank is the financier of the railway project for both Kenya and Uganda. The financing deal between Uganda and China Exim Bank on the Malaba-Kampala line could be concluded in September, when the leaders are expected to visit Beijing for the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation. SGR PROGRESS The Chinese officials’ meeting with the Ugandan leadership came as Kampala intensified its efforts in renovating its meter-gauge railway while it awaits a financing deal for the SGR. “By July, the financing agreement made with the Chinese contractor and...

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development has adopted a regional policy framework on cross-border trade that promises to be a lifeline for the region’s small-scale traders. Trade ministers from Djibouti, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Somalia and Kenya and a representative from Ethiopia meeting in Mombasa last Thursday signed a policy document seeking to strengthen border security systems, support trade facilitation at border crossings and promote participation of border and communities in policy making. The Informal Cross-Border Security Governance policy tackles issues related to food security, employment, peace and security in the region’s borderlands. Kenya’s Trade Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said the initiative is expected to sensitise on cross-border trade among member states. “The beneficiaries are likely to be women and youth, and we are happy that today we have a framework that will recognise the socioeconomic contribution of informal cross-border trade within member states,” Mr Mohamed said. “It will also help us understand the linkages between cross-border informal trade and cross-border security,” he added. The policy document will be presented to the Igad Heads of State for onward transmission to the African Union. Mr Mohamed said that improving cross-border trade is one step towards the Continental Free Trade Area that the Heads of State signed in Kigali in March. Uganda’s Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde said the policy will regulate the informal trade within Igad countries and provide an opportunity to grow the informal sector. HORN OF AFRICA SUMMIT TO DISCUSS CROSS-BORDER TRADE, SECURITY. “This policy will have an impact because every...

EAC countries have turned to tax incentives in a bid to boost industrialisation. Finance ministers from Kenya Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania all presented their budgets on Thursday last week. The four countries also had one common theme; ‘Industrialisation for Job Creation and Shared Prosperity’. The budgets, however, took varied approaches to spur their growth agenda. The budget speeches showed how the governments planned to support and promote their priority areas. One common incentive was tax exemptions. For instance, neighbouring Tanzania is moving to support their local pharmaceutical industry by exempting tax on packaging materials produced specifically for use by products in the field. Experts say that among other things, this is likely to act as an incentive for investors and entrepreneurs in the sector. The Tanzanian Government also exempted tax on purchase of sanitary pads a move which gender activists have applauded saying it will significantly reduce the prices of the items. David Baliraine a senior Manager at Ernst and Young noted that the East African nation had also exempted taxes on government projects funded by non-concessional loans and also on agreements signed between the Government and a Financial Institution. This, he noted is a move geared at attracting more funding for projects being undertaken in the country. Baliraine was speaking at a breakfast meeting convened to analyse the budget for the firm’s clients and stakeholders on Monday morning. Exemption of imported animal and poultry feeds additives was also heighted in the new Tanzanian budget which points towards promotion of...

December 20 is the target to have at least 30 African countries to have ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), members of the Senate heard on Tuesday. Updating the Senators on where Rwanda stands since it ratified the agreement in April, the Minister of Trade and Industry; Vincent Munyeshyaka said that though only 22 countries are required to sign before the agreement comes into force, the target is to have 30. Rwanda is the current chair of the African Union. “The threshold is normally 22 countries but we are targeting 30 by December. We know it’s ambitious but are hoping that by end of the July African Heads of State summit, we will have seen some improvements,” he said. So far, just four countries – Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana and Niger, submitted their instruments of ratification to Treaty to the African Union Secretariat in Addis, Ethiopia. If the 22-country threshold is met, it means the agreement, which intends to make Africa the largest trading bloc in the world, can get into force. Munyeshyaka said that to achieve this, he was lobbying other Ministers of trade but there was also support from the African Union Commission and the AfCFTA both which had their lobbying campaigns. He pointed out that all the concerned institutions were working tirelessly to create a continent that would be viewed as a global competitor on the world market. “To do that, we have to prioritize some things such as the service sector, beating non-tariff barriers and open...

The fifth Ugandan Trade Expo 2018 kicks off in Kampala on June 27 – 28, as foreign investors flock the East African nation for business. Exhibitors from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the larger East African region will showcase their business in the popular expo, organized by Bright Exhibitions from the United Arab Emirates. Uganda is also known as the Pearl of Africa and is a member of Tripartite Free Trade Area comprising of COMESA, East African Community and Southern Africa Development Cooperation. This gives access to market of 140 million people comprising of East & Central Africa. It also acts as a gateway to South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. “There is good opportunity for foreign investors to use the raw materials available in Uganda and to convert them into finished goods by bringing their machinery and technological know-how,” said Moiz Saifuddin from Brigh. The exhibition will also link up international traders and manufacturers from various countries like Turkey, Oman, India, China UAE, and Europe. The exhibition will help Uganda and East African countries at large and will help to create awareness about the companies that can export to Uganda genuine products and this can help reduce and/or curb down counterfeit products in the country. “It our sincere hope that through this fair, exhibitors will get reasonable mileage to enable them gain a foothold in the local as well as regional market,” added Mr Saifuddin. He said in this era of globalization and market integration, the companies with visibility...

Trade ministers from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) member states will on Thursday meet in Mombasa to discuss how to improve cross border trade. The ministers are expected to consider the adoption of a regional policy framework to solve cross-border security challenges. The meeting will be held at the Serena Beach Resort & Spa. It will be presided over by Kenya’s Industry, Trade and Cooperatives minister Adan Mohamed, Igad Executive Secretary Mahboub Maalim and senior representatives from the African Union Commission. The Igad members are Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Djibouti, Uganda, Somalia and Eritrea. Formed in 1986 initially to tackle effects of drought, the bloc grew both in size and mandate to be a forum for discussing other development issues such as cross-border trade, energy, transportation and migration. Source: The East African

Many East Africans are largely ignorant of the East African Community (EAC) programmes and opportunities. The EAC secretary general, Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko, admitted on Saturday that the six-nation bloc has not done enough to make people aware of its affairs. This calls for an aggressive approach to raise awareness if East Africans are to effectively tap into the opportunities it offers. There is so much to benefit from regional integration, but little is being done to prepare citizens. Poor feedback from the EA Legislative Assembly (Eala) members is seemingly the cause of the unawareness. The EAC has registered increased intra-regional trade – and we believe we can do better. Eala members should not relax; they have an obligation to raise awareness and enable the public to harness the integration opportunities. With a population of 170 million, the EAC has a huge potential for growth considering its abundance of resources and trade opportunities. It is high time our legislators acted proactively to inform the public on EAC activities. By the time $450 million infrastructure projects are completed, it is our expectation that majority of the East Africans will be involved in various intra-regional economic activities. Source: The Citizen

Kigali. Technology promotion and development can accelerate economic growth in East Africa if appropriately applied. Major beneficiaries will include the industrial and entrepreneurship sectors and assure employment to thousands of jobless youth. “Application of science, technology and innovation (STI) will also support other key sectors like agriculture and energy,” affirmed Dr Saidi Kibeya, the deputy executive secretary of the East African Science and Technology Commission (Easteco). He told visiting journalists from across the region that the institution, operationalised only three years ago, was geared to carry on its mandate with support from the partner states. “In so doing we are set to identify potential regional centres of excellence and create a network of industrial research and development institutions,” he said. The Kigali-based institution of the East African Community (EAC) will soon start to develop a protocol on intellectual property rights (IPR) for the region. Dr Kibeya, however, appealed for increased budget to enable the institution acquired adequate office space to cater for its expanding needs as well as enable it recruit more staff members. For the coming 2018/2019 financial year budget unveiled recently, Easteco has been allocated $ 1.6 million for its expenditure, trailing seven of the nine other EAC institutions. Speaking during the visit, EAC secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko said STI can transform the largely agro-based economies of the region into a competitive industrial zone. He said it was worrying that the region was consuming goods that were manufactured elsewhere “and by so doing exporting jobs that would ordinarily...

Traders trucked in 3.28 million bags of cheaper maize from Uganda in five months through May, fresh official statistics indicate, helping price out maize farmers from Kenya’s food basket regions. Data released by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) shows 295,200 metric tonnes of staple maize was imported from the west-neighbouring country in the period, which was 47,610 tonnes more than what was bought in the whole of 2017 and 2016. Uganda accounted for 70.36 per cent of the nearly 419,548 tonnes of maize, an equivalent of about 4.66 million 90-kilo bags, which was was shipped into Kenya in that period. The rest of the maize was bought from Zambia (64,800 tonnes), Tanzania (56,245 tonnes), Mozambique (3,300 tonnes) and United Arabs Emirates (1.45 tonnes), KRA Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Julius Musyoki said in a report to legislators. There was no maize that was shipped in from Mexico where 584,095 tonnes (6.49 million bags) was bought last year, representing nearly half (44.36 per cent) of the 1.32 million tonnes that was imported to bridge a drought-induced shortage. The maize imports in the January-May period of the year were valued at nearly Ksh8.78 billion, Mr Musyoki told the National Assembly’s departmental committee on Agriculture and Livestock, chaired by chaired by Mandera South MP Adan Haji. The committee is investigating irregular purchase of maize by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) from traders at the expense of farmers. Maize from six-nation East African Community such as Uganda and Tanzania is exempted...