Cross-border imports from Uganda and Tanzania have helped keep the price of maize flour relatively low despite forecast increase to Sh120 for a two kilo-packet after lapse of government subsidy on December 31. Most brands are now selling at less than Sh110 for the two-kilo packet with an exception of Jogoo that is retailing at Sh113. Millers say they are getting sufficient stocks from the neighbouring countries and at a good price compared with what local farmers are selling them. “We are getting good stocks from Uganda and Tanzania that have played a key role in boosting the local stocks hence keeping the cost of flour low,” says Cereal Millers Association. Regional maize is landing at Sh2,500 per 90 kilogramme bag whereas millers are paying a minimum of Sh3,000 to get the produce locally, after the government set a price of Sh3,200. Still there are fears the cost might go up starting March when maize stocks are expected to start dwindling. Imports from Uganda grew significantly between October and November last year compared with the same period in 2016, thanks to good price in Kenya following a drought. Data from Eastern African Grain Council indicates the cross-border trade between the two countries increased from 1,408 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 47,563 in the same period last year. Source: Business Daily

Trademark East Africa (TMA) has launched the process of setting up a logistics centre in Gulu town to facilitate trade between Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Speaking to journalists at their offices in Kampala this morning, TMA country director Moses Sabiiti said the organization has already secured $8m (Shs 28.8bn) from United Kingdom’s Department for Foreign Aid (DFID) and European Union for the world-class facility. “The hub will be able to handle 500,000 containers at one time, making it one of its kind in the region,” Sabiiti said. He explained that the Gulu Logistics Hub will be located at the current grounds of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) – an intersession between road and railway. This land was given to TMA – a not-for profit company established in 2010 to support the growth of trade in East Africa – by the Uganda government for this sole purpose. He said the design works have started and the subsequent works will be tendered out in June after the designs are complete. “Our aim is to change the job market in northern Uganda as we hope to create more jobs in the area. This will complement with government’s plan to rehabilitate and expand Gulu Airport, that will make easy importation of goods in and out of the region,” he said. According to Sabiiti, all merchandise going to South Sudan and DRC will go through this hub. Even relief supplies from World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nation High Commission for Refugees...

Members of the East African Legislative Assembly last week began a wearing road trip in their two-week on-spot assessment of institutions, installations and facilities of the EAC on the Central Corridor and the Northern Corridor. While in Kahama, north western Tanzania, Sunday Times' James Karuhanga who is part of a media team travelling with the MPs interviewed the Central Corridor team leader, MP Wanjuki Muhia  (Kenya) before they headed for Ngara, 300 kilometers away. She explained why the newly sworn in fourth Assembly embarked on the trip and what is expected of them. Below are the excerpts: After getting to Kahama last night, you covered exactly 1,509 kilometers from Zanzibar, please shed light on why two teams of regional lawmakers are traversing the central and northern corridors. We embarked on this journey from Zanzibar all the way through the central corridor to Rwanda so that we can identify and appreciate East African institutions. We found it fit for members of parliament to come out of the comfort zone and go face the reality; where are these institutions, what does the public want, how does the public perceive the Community and how much can we do for the Community? In this journey, we are meeting stakeholders such as clearing agents, government officials, and operation managers be it at the port of Dar es Salaam, or the transporters you saw at Vigwaza weigh bridge. We interviewed truck drivers to understand their story and the main agenda is to first, appreciate the institutions...

Expulsion of Ugandans by the Tanzanian government is not something new; it happens almost every year. But I have never seen the Ugandan government react until when herdsmen were expelled. The Foreign Affairs minister wrote a letter of protest and handed it over to the ambassador of Tanzania to Uganda. Being a shadow minister for East African Community Affairs, I don't think that this higgledy-piggledy scenario would be happening between member states under the East African Community, if the heads of states of member countries were transparently committed to the integration. It is important to recollect that on November 30, 1993, the heads of states of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania signed a permanent tripartite commission (PTC) which arrangement later ushered in the signing of the East African Community Treaty on January 22, 1999 by the three states. The integration process has been progressing in four steps embodied in protocols: I will only mention the two which have been birthed. First is the Customs Union Protocol, which came into effect in 2005; this allows East Africa to operate as a free trade area where partner states reduce or eliminate tax on goods originating from their countries and have a common tariff on goods imported from outside the participating countries. Secondly, there is the Common Market Protocol, which came into effect on July 1, 2010. This provides the region with a single economic space within which business and labour will operate to stimulate investment. The common market serves to provide freedom of...

Last year, there were a lot of discussions on how Africa could leverage on its regional economic communities for more integration on the continent. Continental Free Trade Zone, was also one of the major discussions in the recently concluded African Union summit; one to be led by the new African Union chairperson Rwandan president Paul Kagame. In a recent report by Brookings Institute, the importance of leveraging on Africa’s regional communities when talking about a Continental Free Trade Zone was laid bare. The report, titled “ Foresight Africa: Top priorities for the continent in 2018” featured contributions from many influential figures on the continent including Rwanda president Paul Kagame, Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara, former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, African Development Bank chairman Akinwunmi Adesina e.t.c, who all gave their thoughts on what they think will happen on the continent in 2018. Unleashing Africa’s Inner Strength The first chapter was about ‘Unleashing Africa’s Inner Strength,’ and the Rwandan president who is also leading the push for a Continental Free Trade Zone wrote on building a stronger African Union. The president referenced a survey conducted by Afro Barometer in 2015, which did an extensive study into the relative strength of regional bodies on the continent. Criteria such as trade integration, regional infrastructure, productive integration, free movement of people, and financial and macroeconomic integration were used to rank each regional bodies. The African Union recognizes eight Regional Economic Communities (REC); Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA),...

East African Community Heads of State are expected to convene in Uganda’s capital Kampala next week to discuss a number of regional matters, including infrastructure and health sector growth. Olivier Nduhungirehe, the State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and East African Community, confirmed to The New Times on the agenda includes a two-day Joint EAC Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure and Health Financing and Development. The meeting will be held between February 21 and 22 and will be followed a day later by the 19th Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State, which will also be held in Kampala. “We are going to examine the progress of EAC agenda; looking into a number of issues facing the regional bloc, ranging from EAC financing to infrastructure development,” Nduhungirehe said yesterday. EAC Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko said in a statement that preparations are in “high gear” for the joint Heads of State retreat themed “Deepening and widening regional integration through Infrastructure and Health Sector Development in the EAC Partner States’’ Mfumukeko, who was speaking at a news conference held at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, to update the media on the upcoming Joint EAC Heads of State Retreat and 19th Ordinary Summit, said that the former is aimed at accelerating the attainment of the objectives of the EAC Development Strategy, African Union Agenda 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals in the infrastructure and health sectors in the EAC. He said the joint retreat is expected to...

Pakistan has become Kenya’s largest export market even as trade with the country’s East African neighbours continues to falter. The value of exports to the Far East nation went up by 69 per cent from Sh40 billion recorded in 2016 to Sh64 billion last year, boosted largely by tea, Government data shows. Pakistan has in the past been a strong market for Kenyan exports and in 2014 was the fourth largest buyer of the country’s goods after Uganda, Tanzania and Britain. Over the past five years, however, the value of exports to the Asian country have steadily increased and pushed it to the top of Kenya’s export destinations. The value of exports to Pakistan have since risen from Sh18 billion in 2012 to Sh64 billion last year. Imports have similarly recorded a 30 per cent rise to stand at Sh18 billion in 2016, up from Sh12 billion in 2012. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) further indicates the value of Kenya’s tea exports went up by 28 per cent from Sh124 billion in 2016 to Sh159 billion last year. Aside from tea, other export commodities from Kenya to Pakistan include coconuts, dry nuts, mangoes, fresh flowers and powdered milk while the main import is mainly rice. IN DECLINE Uganda and Tanzania, which once commanded a lion’s share of Kenya’s export market, have been on a decline. Trade with Uganda, for years the leading destination of Kenya’s goods and services to the East African region, fell by 28...

Kampala: The construction of a state of the art inland port at Bukasa on the shores of Lake Victoria will commence in June 2019, it has been revealed. The revelation was made by Mr Jochen Scherer, the Projects Director of GAUF Engineering Company, a German firm that is doing the consultancy for the construction of the Bukasa port. He was speaking during a stakeholder’s workshop on the draft of the final master plan for the project at Kampala Sheraton Hotel. Government through the Ministry of Works and Transport decided to construct a modern port at Bukasa to handle cargo transportation along the central corridor that will connect Uganda to Dar es Salaam through the Mwanza port on Lake Victoria. While presenting the roadmap for the Bukasa Port construction that will be in three phases, Mr Scherer said that, GAUF engineering company will finalize the master plan by mid-April which will be followed by the final preliminary design by July 15, 2018. This is the first phase of the project. “At the moment, we are finalizing the final master plan followed by the final preliminary design that will be out on 15th July 2018. With that done, we shall embark on the dredging and surcharging of the swamps to pave way for the start of physical construction in June 2019,” Mr Scherer said. The construction works will kick-start the projects second phase that will be finalized in April 2022 with the infrastructure, administration unit and the shipping facilities called Roll-on/Roll-of (RoRo)...

East African nations that are en-route to banning the importation of used clothes may soon pay the price after Washington said it will impose trade penalties in retaliation to what it sees as a blockage of free trade. The US State Department's Harry Sullivan, the Africa Bureau acting head of the economic and regional affairs, said Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have until next week to reverse the decision or face the penalties. The East African leaders are expected to meet at the EAC Heads of State Summit on Infrastructure and Health Financing and Development in Kampala, Uganda on February 23. "I believe the results of the meeting next week will determine how we proceed," Mr Sullivan said in a conference call with reporters. East African Community (EAC) member states agreed two years ago to impose phased ban on used clothing imports (known as mitumba) over a three-year period beginning 2019. Kenya subsequently withdrew from that agreement following US threats to end its eligibility for duty-free clothing exports to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Kenyan retreat US trade officials say that the mitumba ban violates an Agoa stipulation requiring beneficiary countries to eliminate barriers to trade with the America. Kenya feared the loss of the duty-free and quota-free access to the US, its third largest market. Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda -- each of which earns far less through Agoa than Kenya -- jointly affirmed last July that they intend to proceed with the mitumba ban....

The headline news at the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa last month was the announcement of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), with 23 countries pledging to remove non-physical barriers to air routes, and ultimately create a single aviation area across the continent. Most of Africa’s major airlines belong to countries that are signatories, such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa. Together, they represent over 70% of intra-African air traffic. SAATM sets a new standard for regional policy-making because the benefits are clear and the challenges more practical than political. Furthermore, it brings together coalitions of actors in government and the private sector whose interests align well. What this flagship project from the AU shows is that regional integration can succeed as long as certain conditions are met. Important lessons may be gleaned from this example. Impact International industry groups and the major African carriers immediately welcomed the news. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had recently estimated that a unification of 12 countries’ air markets could result in some 155,000 jobs and US$1.3bn additional GDP to their economies. It is also hoped that African airlines will be able to increase their market share on the continent, which currently stands at only 20% of the total. The benefits for the air traveller and African trade were plainly obvious, as it would make connections faster and cheaper, if implemented well. Moreover, SAATM may be more significant than the sum of its parts. Because of the largely bilateral...