The launch of the Pan-African passport was one of the most memorable milestones at the just-ended 27th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda. The African passport will be the third for citizens in the East African Community after the national and the East African passport. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairperson of the AU Commission, handed two representational African passports to President Paul Kagame, and to the head of the AU, President Idriss Deby of Chad. "At the summit in January 2016 this year, you decided that we must launch the African passport. We are making this start with our heads of state and government, foreign ministers, the leadership of the regional economic communities (RECs) and the leadership of the representatives of the AU executive councils and organs," she said in her opening remarks. Dlamini-Zuma also urged heads of state to create conducive conditions for member states to issue the passport to their citizens, "within their national policies, as and when they are ready." The passport seeks to create advantageous visa-regimes across the continent and later on create a pathway for a visa-free Africa, under the AU agenda of the "Africa We Want." She explained that after sharing aspirations of African citizens, the commission adopted Agenda 2063, which is a 50-year framework towards a continent that is integrated, peaceful and prosperous, driven by its own citizens and playing a dynamic role in the world. "The Africa we have today is full of hope, possibility and optimism, but...

A few days ago, Tanzania’s Trade minister Charles Mwijage announced that his country would not be signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. He argued that the EPA would expose his country to harsh economic conditions in post-Brexit Europe. This followed an earlier announcement by Dr Aziz Mlima, Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary to the East African Community, that his country would not sign the EPA. This came as a shocker to Kenya, especially when Uganda immediately followed suit in rejecting the EPA. As if reading from the same script, Uganda’s and Tanzania’s decision left many wondering if there is more to this. Would this also mean the end of the EAC? According to WTO rules, countries that form an economic bloc like the EAC cannot make individual agreements with another bloc such as the EU. This generally means that the decision by Tanzania and Uganda has put paid to Kenya’s efforts and those of Rwanda and Burundi to sign the EPA with the EU. This means that Kenya’s horticultural sector may be adversely exposed if it will not enjoy preferential (duty free and quota free) access to the EU, the world’s largest single market. OBJECTIONS TO THE EPA There are many people who have objected to the EPAs with Europe, in fact quite a number of NGOs have been active in trying to dissuade governments from signing them, citing the lopsided nature of the agreement. They also say that the EPAs may curtail the development options available to...

Members of the European Parliament are rooting for the extension the October deadline to sign the comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between East African Community (EAC) and the EU. The MPs said the move is meant to salvage Kenya after Tanzania and Burundi stood in the way to the realisation of the deal set to give relief from heavy taxes for the country's exports to the EU.Tanzania has refused to sign the agreement while Burundi is at the verge of being sanctioned by the European Union following political instability in the country.EU chair of a joint delegation of Trade and Development Committee Bernd Lange attending the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Nairobi said Kenya would be the biggest casualty should the two scenarios persist and the EPA is not signed hence the need to save the situation"Our first proposal is to have the October 1st deadline extended to allow for more time and see whether Tanzania will agree to sign or if Burundi will improve her democratic situation and evade sanction from the European Union. "If none of these happen then I expect that Kenya will apply for the GSP plus and when it is received then we can begin the market access regulations and save Kenya," Mr Lange said.The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status will allow Kenya to continue exporting at the current preference terms even if the two countries fail to sort out their issues standing in between the region and a...

I had read and heard about the One Stop Border Post from East Africanists, but was frustrated because no one was putting out a photograph or graphic illustration of how it works. So I decided to check it out, driving from Kisumu into Uganda through the Busia border point. There were surprises aplenty. Something radical is happening with this one-stop thing. When you are entering Uganda from Kenya, you go to a single immigration hall. At one window, a Kenyan immigration official stamps your travel document to log your exit. And you step right over to the next window, hand over your passport and a Ugandan official stamps your entry. If you are a law-abiding citizen, you are through in about two to three minutes. You walk through a short corridor, and you are in Uganda. On the return leg, you head to the opposite immigration complex, and the process happens in reverse. The same thing happens for Customs clearance. This exercise used to take travellers at least 30 minutes, and sometimes clearing your car could run into an hour! If you don’t have a passport, you also get an interstate pass, which is issued simultaneous by Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. On average, the one-stop posts have cut the time travellers spend at the border by at least 90 per cent. This is truly remarkable, because it was all but impossible to think of an African government acting alone or collectively with others achieving those levels of efficiency. But politically,...

The 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will today come to an end in Nairobi, Kenya. It is one of the most important events for the global investment community, providing an opportunity and platform to interact trade-wise. The conference brings together Heads of State and Government, ministers and other prominent players from the business world, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and economic development challenges. Among the key issues the meeting tackled is the need to strengthen the evolution and management of globalisation, interdependence of trade, finance, investment and technology, and ways of advancing growth and development prospects, especially for developing countries. One feature during this high-level trade conference is calling off the scheduled signing of Economic Partnership Agreement between East African Community (EAC) and European Union (EU). Members of the EAC were split down the middle, with Uganda reportedly joining Tanzania in pulling out of the pact that would have guaranteed continued access to the European Union market without paying duty. Of course, this arises from the recent Brexit. It stood out that regional trade agreements are too difficult to negotiate, may be for defensive reasons, fear of individual interest being locked out or protection of existing preferential agreements in other areas. Such reservations may ultimately slow down the higher ambitions and results sought by the crucial integration agenda. Trade gains from regional integration are one of the key economic objectives behind the creation of any trading bloc. Turns out that member states’ decision...

NOMSA NKANA, Lusaka A financial analyst says the newly-launched African Union passport will accelerate trade in Africa and open up new trade opportunities for African entrepreneurs. Noel Nkhoma said the passport will break down trade barriers that the continent has been grappling with for a long time. According to news monitored on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Mr Nkhoma said trade barriers such as visas have made it difficult for some countries to freely conduct business within the continent and yet those nations are major investors. “For instance, Dangote will require a travel visa to come to Zambia and yet he is a major investor in Zambia. “I also see no reason why Kenya being probably the largest single market in the East African trading bloc would require a visa to go to Johannesburg, which is equally a single largest trading economy,” he said. Source: Zambia Daily Mail

The East African Community member states have been asked to harmonise taxes on agricultural products to promote free trade. “Despite the high cost of production on food crops in countries like Kenya where farm inputs such as fertilisers are expensive, free trade is good for the market and business. VAT of food items, however, remains a challenge,” the EAC customs and trade director general Peter Kiguta said, adding farmers stand to benefit more. He was speaking during the launch of the G-Soko grain trade directory which seeks to facilitate information sharing amongst grain traders in the region. Kiguta said although EAC has zero-rated taxes on grains and some goods, some countries are still levying taxes on food items, making imports more expensive. Eastern Africa Grain Council chairman Dr Bernard Otim said taxation of agriculture products is hindering free trade across the East Africa region. “There is need to harmonise excess and import duties on some commodities within the region. Taxation on inputs should also be considered so that farmers, traders and suppliers can get inputs such as tractors and processing equipment like driers to enhance productivity,” Otim said. Source: The Star

Kenya, the biggest economy in East Africa is considering trade deals with the European Union (EU) as a nation and not as part of the East African Community. This follows Tanzania’s absence from the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with EU, a trade pact that would give East African community members duty-free quota-free access for all exports to members of European Union. The ceremony was to be held on Monday, July 18, 2016 on the sidelines of the United Nations Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) that is ongoing in Nairobi, Kenya. The five East African Community members; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have until August 4, 2016 to sign the deal with EU. According to The Star, this will help Kenya avoid duties of as much as 22 percent on its exports to EU members. This comes following Britain’s decision to leave the EU after 40 years, which has left the much anticipated deal in serious doubt. Britain’s exit (Brexit) may reduce capital inflows into East Africa, weaken exchange rates and damage economic stability in the region. In June 2016, Tanzania expressed her reluctance to sign any deal and decided to wait and see what happens within EU following Brexit. Uganda also said it wants to delay signing the deal. This has left the three other members; Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi at a loss, prompting the Kenyan government to consider trading with EU as an individual nation. We would like to sign it together; the desire...

East African Business Council (EABC), a regional business lobby on Tuesday called for the speedy conclusion of the ongoing East African Community (EAC)-European Union (EU) trade talks. EABC Executive Director Lillian Awinja told Xinhua here that the delay in signing the agreement is causing anxiety among the EAC business community. "We are concerned that if the agreement is not reached before the Oct. 1 deadline, Kenyan exports into the EU will begin to pay import duty," Awinja said during the Financial Services Sector Forum that took place as part of the UNCTAD 14. If an agreement is not reached, Kenyan goods will be subjected to import duty in order to access the EU market while goods and services from the other EAC member states will still access the EU duty free because they are considered Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Awinja noted that lack of a trade deal will not only affect Kenyan goods because Kenyan exporters currently have working arrangements with the companies in the other EACs nation in order to meet quantity requirements. She noted that some of the EAC member states are reluctant to sign the EU-EAC trade deal because they will not get additional benefits from the agreement. "We therefore need to bring on the table, the contentious issues and renegotiate as soon as possible in the spirit of the EAC," Awinja said. She added that some of the EAC states will take about two years to graduate into becoming developing countries and will soon be in...

On 15th of July 2016, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved USD 12.4 million grant for a project called "50 million Women Speak" to create a networking platform dedicated to sub-Saharan women entrepreneurs. The grant will be spread between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The project is an innovative social media platform to enable women to start, grow and scale their business through the dynamic exchange of ideas. According to Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the AfDB's Special Envoy on Gender this digital/virtual marketplace will connect business-women to encourage peer-to-peer learning, mentoring, and information and knowledge sharing. The platform will cover 36 countries and will be accessible on mobile phones. It will enable women to access business training, mentorship, financial services and locally-relevant business information, while building their own networks of contacts. The project will be implemented within a period of three (3) years starting from 2017. The number of monthly platform user could reach 50,000 women in 2022, and by developing their businesses they expected to create 10% more jobs. In Africa like in many parts of the world, women business owners continue to face gender-specific barriers such as lower levels of education and business training, weak property rights that deprive them of collateral and tangible assets, legal barriers that impede their economic activities and cultural barriers that discourage women from thriving as entrepreneurs. The consequence is that women have challenges accessing financial and...