Kampala- The founding First Ladies of the East African Community (EAC) have called for fast-tracking of the integration plans by the member countries. This call was made during a special sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) in Arusha, Tanzania, on Tuesday. Ms Ngina Kenyatta, the widow of Kenya’s first president Jomo Kenyatta, and Ms Miria Obote, the widow of former president Milton Obote, reminisced over the memories of the first EAC and challenged Eala members to ensure the future of integration is both guaranteed and realised. Ms Maria Nyerere, widow of Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania, did not attend the function and was represented by Makongoro Nyerere, an Eala member. Ms Obote called for the prioritisation of economic investment projects, including oil refineries, the Standard Gauge Railway, agricultural research, food security and climate change. She urged the region to move faster to have an integrated syllabus and curriculum to stabilise the labour market within EAC. “For instance, a majority of Ugandans have never learnt proper Swahili. We are now learning proper Swahili in schools and in the public engagement. This is the best way towards integration,” she said. Ms Kenyatta informed the regional MPs that EAC’s founding fathers had “walked and worked tirelessly” in anticipation of unity of the region. “In 1967, all three of us were witnesses to the establishment of a community that spoke to that shared sentiment. The East African Community was built on the understanding that our nations and our people were...

The six East African States are set to replicate a new driving curriculum recently launched in Kenya as the region moves to harmonise its roads' instruction manual. East African Community (EAC) secretary-general Liberat Mfumukeko said Kenya's curriculum meets the standards of the proposed regional one that would be launched soon and adopted by all member states. The bloc's members include South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Mr Mfumukeko said EAC would use the syllabus to test the implementation of the regional training manual. "The curriculum that you have launched meets the requirements of the regional standards. We at the community will use the implementation modalities for the Kenyan curriculum to test the implementation of our manual guide," said Mr Mfumukeko. Last week, Kenya launched a new curriculum to replace the one that is currently on use as the country seeks to curb increasing cases of road accidents that have largely been attributed to human error. TradeMark Africa has developed the regional curriculum and training material for drivers of large commercial vehicles in EAC. The syllabus comprises the EAC standardised curriculum for drivers of large commercial vehicles for both passengers and freight. The curriculum was developed with input from Kenya's National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). The country's Transport Cabinet secretary James Macharia said it is important for the region to harmonise the driving curriculum for the benefit of member states. "It is good to note that we are heading towards harmonisation of the regional curriculum for drivers, this...

Trade policy must be carefully crafted to ensure trade helps to reduce poverty, concluded a joint WTO-World Bank forum on 26 May, with speakers explaining how sound policies can help farmers, women and workers benefit from trade. The forum focused on rural poverty and gender inequality, employment and poverty alleviation, data gathering, and the Aid for Trade initiative. “Lowering trade costs faced by developing countries and integrating them into the trading system is essential,” Anabel González of the World Bank Group said. “But we have learned that this process of integration has the greatest impact on poverty reduction when poor people have been connected to the benefits of trade, with their capacities to gain maximized, and their vulnerabilities addressed,” she said. The WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement and Aid for Trade can help make it easier for small players in developing countries to participate in the international trading system, said Bridget Chilala, Director of the WTO's Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation. There remains room, however, to explore more ways to ensure trade eradicates poverty, she said. Rural poverty In the agriculture sector, several speakers called on policymakers to refrain from protectionist strategies as the trade distortions can hurt the rural poor, particularly in developing countries. “One thing that is really important to keep in mind when considering the role of trade policy in agriculture is that most developing countries' agricultural trade is now with other developing countries,” said Will Martin, the President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists. “Very...

Business leaders meeting today (30 May 2016) at the WTO headquarters outlined how the organization could address the current needs of the business community. In addition to the current negotiating agenda, they urged the WTO to look at a wide range of issues such as electronic commerce, rules to better facilitate services and investment flows, support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, action to provide trade finance, and many others. The Trade Dialogues event brought together over 60 business leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in conducting trade operations and to discuss how the WTO can help in dealing with them. The attendees were from small and large enterprises, from developed and developing countries, and from a variety of sectors. The event was held at the request of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the B20 group of leading independent business associations from G20 economies, and facilitated by the WTO. The businesses that participated in the event are listed below. This high-level event for the business community is the first of its kind to be held at the WTO. It is part of a series of ‘Trade dialogues’ that will provide a range of stakeholders with the possibility to discuss their concerns on trade-related matters. Participants were welcomed by WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo. This opening session was followed by break-out sessions where participants engaged in a focused dialogue in small groups. These sessions were chaired by four ’discussion leaders’: Sunil Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti...

Over 4000 clearing and forwarding agents have received training in clearing and forwarding to match with the growing trade in the East African Community. The training is part of the  $2.1m program funded by Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) and implemented by the East Africa regional freight forwarding Association  (FEAFFA) in conjunction with the East Africa Revenue Authorities (EARA). TMA's chief executive officer, Frank Matsaert said the training program was aimed at addressing the skills gap among freight forwarders and clearing agents in the region. He explained that the training was based on a survey by TMA that found out that freight forwarders and clearing agents lacked the necessary skills and capacity in clearing cargo at the border points resulting into delays, increase in cargo clearance costs and cargo release times. "The training could save companies up to 385 dollars in savings as the same amount of money could have been spent in fines by companies whose agents commit errors in the process of clearing," said Matsaert. He added that through training key people in freight forwarding businesses, there will be increased trade transactions. "Where you see trade grow you see prosperity take root. By training the key people in the freight forwarding business, we are helping move goods quicker, save time and money and help the region develop" added Matseart. According to him, the efficient flow of international trade relies on a range of skilled service providers working together, clearing and forwarding agents. Since 2011, 90 per cent of...

(www.abndigital.com) The African Development Bank's annual meetings kicked off in Arusha this week, with a host of activities, including the launching of the 2012 African Economic Outlook. This is to be followed by the inauguration of another report about private sector development in the continent. ABN's Godfrey Mutizwa spoke to Uledi Mussa, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the EAC Ministry and Nkosana Moyo, Executive Chairman of Mining at the Mandela Institute of Studies. Source: CNBC Africa

East African countries have been advised to formulate a legislation through which Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the region can be regulated and monitored.The legislation should make sure that a region doesn't receive FDIs from a country or investment hub where EAC has a direct market. The moment FDI's are allowed from such areas, countries that are trading directly with EAC will benefit even more by taking advantage of the existing trade relations to abuse ways through which investments come into the country. The call was made by the Chairperson and member of the Committee of Trade investments and Communication in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Mukasa Mbidde. He was on Friday officiating at a closure of a two day regional meeting on Making Investments Work for the People, organized by the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI),at Lake Victoria Hotel, Entebbe. The meeting was aimed at enhancing stakeholders' awareness and capacity to understand and appreciate the importance of investment policies and practices that are gender sensitive; protect human rights; protect the environment and address development needs of the EAC region. Mbidde explained that countries where FDIs are coming from are facing challenges like the lack of land for investments, for some, trading quotas have been closed and are now looking out for areas with enough land which they can get for free despite the fact that such land should carry a price. Therefore when they come to EAC countries like Uganda, instead of Uganda...

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- East African apex business body has complained again over the high level of non tariff barriers that exist during cross border trade.The newly elected East African Business Council (EABC) Chairman Econie Nijimbere said in Nairobi that non tariff barriers add to their transaction costs. "The business community continues to face non-tariff barriers which contribute to the low level of intra-regional trade," Nijimbere said during the EABC 17th Annual General Meeting. During the meeting Nijimbere was elected to replace Dennis Karera who was the previous chairman. The EAC signed the Custom Union protocol in 2005 and a Common Market Protocol in 2010. The Customs union brought about a three band structure for the Common External Tariff for raw materials, intermediate goods and finished goods. Nijimbere said that there are critical gaps and a disparity in the implementation of the two protocols which is in turn creates obstacles for business persons across the region. He said that lack of harmonized standards for goods and services is also hampering trade. EABC Acting Executive Director Lillian Awinja said that the trading bloc has a limited number of harmonized regional standards. "This is a form of non tariff barrier because it leads to expensive and time-consuming re-testing processes at the border points," Awinja said. She said that harmonization of standards should be fast tracked for the 20 most traded goods across the EAC. She noted that currently some products have several standards. Typically, the EAC committee on standards approves a standard for...

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - The second round of Challenge Fund support for innovators and entrepreneurs working in the logistics and transport sector was launched recently with a financing mechanism in the range of $16m. The Logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) Challenge Fund, which is a $16 million (Tsh.35.2 billion) grant-based financial mechanism, supports innovators with good ideas for products or services that can reduce the costs of transport and logistics in East Africa. According to TradeMark Africa (TMA) which is a non-profit organization, LIFT will provide grants ranging from $ 150,000 to $ 1,000,000 (Tsh.330 million to Tsh.2.2billion respectively) to winning proposals from innovators from across the world whose project ideas will be implemented in the East African Community (EAC). East Africa is reported to have the highest freight and transport costs in the world. It is said that the freight costs are over 50% higher than those of the United States and Europe per kilometre. Successful LIFT projects will contribute to TMA’s objective of reducing transport time along the main East Africa transport corridors by 15% by the end of 2016. Dr. Josephat Kweka, Country Director Tanzania, TMA said it was their hope that the entrepreneurs and innovators of the EAC in partnership with their counterparts internationally will drive forward development through the adoption or introduction of ‘best practice’ technologies in the transport and logistics sector, enabling local businesses to compete favorably in the increasingly global economy. “LIFT is a valuable financial instrument that supports private sector ‘can-do’...

On 23rd May, 2016, Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) handed over office equipment to facilitate the Coordination Office of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters. Amb. James Mugume, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the equipment from Mr. Richard Kamajugo, Senior Director for Trade Development, TMA Nairobi Office, during a brief handover ceremony attended by Ms Allen Asiimwe, TMA Country Director for Uganda, Mr. Moses Sabiiti, TMA Program Manager and Senior Officials from the NCIP Coordination Office. The Permanent Secretary conveyed the Ministry’s gratitude to Trade Mark East Africa for the support provided which will complement the resources of the Coordination Office. He pointed out that the Northern Corridor Initiative and Trade Mark East Africa have a common agenda of deepening regional integration, increasing competitiveness, reducing the cost of doing business, enhancing economic growth and improving people’s livelihoods. The equipment provided is valued at USD 29,050, equivalent to UGX 100 million and includes: 01 Heavy Duty Photocopier/Printer 04 Desktop Computers 04 Laptops 02 Projectors 02 Medium Duty mobile printers NCIP Coordination Office Source: Insider