Back in 1999, under what is known as the Yamoussoukro Decision, African countries planned to free their skies for air travel. Last Sunday the African Union (AU) took its first big step towards this goal, launching the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). The landmark announcement unveiled by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the new chair of the AU, aims to transform intra-African air travel, lower prices and increase connectivity. The initiative has 23 signatories. There are 32 AU members still to come on board. Take off for African aviation Opening up the continent's skies could be a huge coup for African airlines, which would work under a common regulatory framework. It could also benefit intra-continental travelers who are often bound to illogical and time-consuming routes via Europe and the Middle East when flying between African countries. The agreement will also hope to increase the continent's global share of the aviation industry. The total population of Africa accounts for around 17% globally, but the continent's proportion of air travel passengers varies between 2-4%. In a statement, Rapahel Kuuchi, Vice President for Africa at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said: "Greater connectivity will lead to greater prosperity." "An IATA survey suggest that if just 12 key African countries opened their markets and increased connectivity an extra 155,000 jobs and US$1.3 billion in annual GDP would be created in those countries." The approach follows in the footsteps of similar single market aviation agreements such as theEU's Internal Market for Aviation, which are generally recognized to...

South Africa and Uganda have ended a two-day Joint Trade Committee (JCT) meeting after agreeing to place various measures to boost and diversify trade, promote inclusive growth and create jobs in their territories, South African Deputy Trade Minister Gratitude Magwanishe said on Tuesday.According to the minister, talks with his Ugandan counterpart Amelia Kyambadde explored new trade, investment and technical cooperation opportunities, as well as removing obstacles to equitable trade. Following the accord, the two countries have signed a collaboration agreement between the Uganda Industrial Research Institution (UIRI) and the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of South Africa. The deal will see Uganda and South Africa cooperating in an agro-sector project on essential oils, the two ministers said. The project, which has already been piloted in Uganda, will see the establishment of the Essential Oil Out Grower Farmers Programme. This project will see university students being attached to this project to enhance local content creation and human capital development skills. South Africa and Uganda will also work on projects in the areas of agro-processing, minerals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, footwear and chemicals, the two sides said. These will be led by South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Uganda Development Cooperation and the Uganda Development Bank Limited. The agreement will see the agencies continually engaging on the prospects of lines of credit given to the common projects. Collaboration between the two countries will see the reviewing of laws around retail distribution value chains, which will be inclusive of shelf life standards.As...

A trade initiative is helping mid-size businesses tap opportunities there. A Kerala-based spices company recently started growing chillies in Rwanda, which is estimated to have increased the income of farmers there six-fold. A leather company from Tamil Nadu has set up a plant in Uganda producing one million pairs of shoes annually and is generating new jobs in both countries. And, 300 Ethiopian artists are getting handloom and handicrafts training in Bengaluru. These are just a few of the success stories that have been spun over the past two-three years by Geneva-based development agency International Trade Centre’s initiative — ‘Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa’ (SITA). “We are looking at mid-sized companies which have less of a natural inclination to look abroad. Through the SITA initiative we are building bridges between India and East Africa by taking Indian companies to these countries to see with their own eyes what the opportunities are,” said ITC Executive Director Arancha Gonzalez, in a telephonic interview with BusinessLine. Investment flows worth $71 million and additional trade flows of $26.5 million have so far been generated between India and East Africa (with an additional $10 million in the pipeline) as part of the six-year project (2014-2020) funded by the UK’s Department of International Development. Gonzalez will be in India later this week and visit Jaipur, Chennai and Bengaluru to take stock of the progress made so far and prepare the ground for more partnerships. Multiple sectors The sectors being promoted include leather, spices, pulses, textile...

In a world looking increasingly inwards, Africa will need to make its own opportunities, writes Kingsley Makhubela. Changes in the global landscape require emerging markets to consider how they must shape their future. Many countries in the developed world have focused their efforts and resources inwards as a result of challenging economic times. There is a danger that a shift away from emerging markets will negatively affect the global economy’s ability to grow. This would not bode well for Africa, given its growing integration into the global economy in recent years. To mitigate this, Africa must take steps to secure its own share of global economic growth and African citizens must sustain the economic growth of the continent. The greatest opportunity to realise its growth potential is often overlooked — Africa’s ability to trade and do business with itself. What is required is an inward and outward strategy acting in tandem — outwardly cementing Africa’s place in the global economy through foreign investment and improved trading links while internally driving the integration of regional trade. It is no coincidence that Africa’s recent growth, epitomised by the label "Africa rising", was in part realised due to increased levels of foreign direct investment. Improvements in fiscal policies, governance and regulatory frameworks, along with a move to diversify away from commodities, presented greater opportunities to investors. If Africa is going to capitalise on this base, it needs to collaborate on a shared future. Africa’s development must be underpinned by further regional integration and...

Traffic will soar above the muddy swamp between Uganda's capital and its international airport when a new Chinese-built highway opens in a few months time, but the road itself is mired in controversy. The government has funded the 51-km (30-mile) four-lane expressway with a $580m loan, part of $11bn in borrowings in the decade since the World Bank cancelled debts about a third that size as part of debt relief for poor states. Uganda says the road is the jewel in the crown of an infrastructure programme that will boost economic growth. The country's first expressway should trim the two-hour trip between the capital and international airport to 30 minutes. Begun in 2012, construction should end in May, missing the initial target by a year. But it's the price, rather than the delays, that have caused alarm. "We do not have a uniform unit cost, standard unit cost to understand how much would a kilometre cost, it's not clear. So, this stretch, very narrow stretch, very short stretch, 51 kilometres to cost that much, it is something ridiculous, it is ridiculous," said Erias Lukwago, the Mayor of Kampala. Critics accuse President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 32 years, of squandering debt relief and mortgaging much-anticipated oil revenues before crude starts to flow in 2021. China alone has loaned the east African nation nearly $3bn and is in talks for $2.3bn more as part of its vast overseas development Belt and Road scheme. Misplaced criticism An Auditor General report noted the...

Kampala: President Museveni used the recently concluded African Union Ordinary Summit in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia to hold meetings with other leaders with an aim of strengthening the existing relations. Mr Museveni on Monday held meetings with Presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Joao Lourenco of Angola, Felipe Jacinto Nyusi of Mozambique, Salva Kiir of South Sudan and Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia. On Tuesday, Mr Museveni held another bilateral meeting with Paul Kagame, the new AU Chairperson, at the Sheraton Hotel, Addis Ababa. During the separate meetings, Mr Museveni said in tweets that he and his counterparts discussed issues of cooperation in areas of peace, security, trade, economic and political relations. Mr Museveni and his Somali’s counterpart discussed regional security and the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, AMISOM. “With President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia, we discussed regional security and issues pertaining to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, AMISOM,” Mr Museveni said in a tweet. Uganda contributes the highest number of troops to the AMISOM that is helping to stabilize the horn of African nation from being overrun by Islamic militants, Al-Shaabab. President Museveni discussed political, trade and foreign relations with his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenco. It was the first time President Lourenco was attending the AU summit after being elected in September last year to replace Jose Eduardo dos Santos who had ruled the country for 38 years. Mr Museveni said that the two countries agreed to strengthen the existing relations. “Uganda and Angola will work to...

Arusha — ANOTHER submarine telecommunications system is set to link the East African region with South Africa, Asia and Europe. A statement from China's Huawei Marine, now made available here, reveals that HM was completing a 'desktop study' for a new subsea cable system, dubbed the 'Peace Subsea Cable' whose first phase is meant to connect South Africa, Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia and Pakistan (Gwadar and Karachi). Peace is short for 'Pakistan East Africa Cable Express' and the system has been designed by Chinese firm, Tropic Science, to provide a new information expressway for interconnection among Asia, Africa and Europe - through existing land and subsea cables The report further explains that Huawei Marine would begin a marine survey on January 15, with the Peace system expected to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2019. The first phase will span some 6,200km and would link Pakistan (Gwadar and Karachi), Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya. The second phase would provide an "extended option" to South Africa and Europe with a total length of about 13,000km, all based on 200G dense wave-division multiplexing technology on a design capacity of 60Tbit/s. "The Peace system will provide a new information expressway for interconnection among Asia, Africa and Europe by connecting with existing land and subsea cables," Huawei Marine and Tropic Science said in a joint statement. Tropic Science chairman He Liehui said the system will become "an important infrastructure for Asian, African and European intercontinental communications and promote economic development of the regions"....

Three decades after the plan for open skies in Africa was mooted, 23 countries on the continent this week launched the Single African Air Transport Market in Ethiopia. Driving the single air market is the dream that Africans will be able to fly across the continent seamlessly and cheaper than the prices that the current protective markets will allow. Despite the celebratory mood, however, the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) does not mean travellers will automatically crisscross the continent. On the runway to take-off are a number of significant steps that signatories have to take in realising this dream. “We are not ready to start today. It will take a bit more time to achieve the vision,” said the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) director-general Gilbert Kibe. Mr Kibe said that it would be at least a decade before the full dream of the single market was realised. Under the umbrella of the Single Market, cross-border flights will be treated as domestic flights for taxation and regulatory purposes. Airlines will also be granted fifth freedom rights, meaning a flight from Johannesburg can stop by Nairobi and pick up passengers on its way to Cairo. This will all serve to drive ticket prices down and increase connectivity on the continent. While the African Union aims to erase the tedious bilateral service agreements in favour of a multilateral protocol to govern SAATM, Mr Kibe says that countries in the region are still far from it. Initially, countries will...

More than 10,000 small-scale women traders engaged in cross-border business in the East African Community have been trained on laws governing trade among the member countries. The women drawn from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda Ethiopia and Eritrea have been trained on various areas including taxation laws and common market protocol. Speaking at Green Park Hotel in Taveta, Taita Taveta County on Monday, Eastern African Sub Regional Support Initiative For Advancement of Women (EASSI) project coordinator Ms Ruth Warutere said the women were also being sensitised on using official border posts while crossing the border. “Some of them were using illegal routes to escape custom charges. They did not know that it is cheaper than using these escape routes,” Ms Warutere said. Goods stolen She said some businesswomen at the border had complained that their goods were being stolen by rogue bodaboda operators and thieves along the border. “Some women did not know that it would be more expensive to use these routes because they pay more transport charges that when they use the border points,” she said. She said the organisation also helps the women traders get a certificate of origin, which exempts them from paying taxes of goods worth 2000 dollars. “Some traders don’t know about this and other opportunities. We normally train them on such opportunities and laws governing each trade,” she said. On the other hand, the organisation’s project officer, Manisurah Aheebwa, urged the East African member states to harmonise laws which don’t favour women in...

South Africa and Uganda have put in place various measures to boost and diversify trade, promote inclusive growth and create jobs. The two countries on Tuesday signed a collaboration agreement between the Uganda Industrial Research Institution (UIRI) and the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The agreement will see Uganda and South Africa cooperating in an agro sector project on essential oils. The project, which has already been piloted in Uganda, will see the establishment of the Essential Oil Out Grower Farmers Programme. This project will see university students being attached to this project to enhance local content creation and human capital development skills. The two countries are committing about R2 million each towards this project. South Africa and the landlocked East African country will also work on projects based on MoUs in the areas of agro-processing, minerals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, footwear and chemicals. These will be led by South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Uganda Development Cooperation and the Uganda Development Bank Limited. The agreement will see the agencies continually engaging on the prospects of lines of credit given to the common projects. Creating conducive conditions for improved trade Collaboration between the two countries will see the reviewing of laws around retail distribution value chains, which will be inclusive of shelf life standards. As things stand, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards requires South African retailers trading in dairy products to have a 75% remaining period of shelf life on the products by the time the products are...