The East African Community ( EAC) Secretariat has embarked on a strategy to encourage ownership and protection of the integration process by citizens. As a way of strengthening communication and sensitisation on its achievements and popularising integration benefits to all East Africans, the EAC Secretariat and GIZ, an international enterprise owned by the German Government, are set to conduct sensitisation workshops at various border points including the one at Sirari/Isebania. The workshops to be held between April 16 to 17 and from 23 to 24 targets small traders, young entrepreneurs and women traders. Special attention will be given to the free movement of goods, capital, persons and labour across EAC partner States. The workshops will be complemented by trainings on customs clearing procedures, including payment of taxes and the consequences of crossing the border without a valid travel document, according to a statement from EAC Secretariat. Training guidelines will be developed to increase knowledge about cross-border trade for the selected target groups. Source: Standard Digital

Landlocked countries that import goods through Mombasa port could see a significant rise in the cost of goods when sections of the Kenya Finance Act 2014 come into force from July 1. Transporters are warning of a possible 10 to 12 per cent increase in freight charges thanks to recent changes to the VAT law. In a tax alert to its clients last September, the accounting firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers said that while the supply of taxable services in respect of goods in transit was previously zero rated under the repealed VAT Act, the Finance Act 2014 had changed services relating to goods transiting through Kenya to inland countries from zero rated to exempted services. “By exempting these services, transportation companies will not be entitled to input tax recovery on the same percentage of VAT paid on their purchases equal to the percentage of revenue earned for transit cargo. This will increase the cost of doing business in Kenya and ultimately increase the cost of transit goods,” the firm said it its alert. The EastAfrican has learnt that sections of the Kenyan freight industry engaged the Kenya Revenue Authority over the development on March 31, but the tax collector said the power to correct the anomaly lies with the Treasury. On April 10, Kenya Uganda rail concessionaire Rift Valley Railways in conjunction with Spedag-Interfreight were expected to submit a lobby paper to the Treasury, seeking a reversal of the move on VAT. Separately, the Kenya Association of Transporters was preparing another...

NAIROBI, Kenya – A proposed regional law that will help unlock agricultural productivity is waiting for the signatures of the five Heads of State. The enactment of the East African Community Cooperatives Bill 2014, which stands to benefit EAC farmers now awaits endorsement by Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi. Agriculture is the dominant sector in the five member states, followed closely by wholesale and retail trade as well as manufacturing, transport and communications. This piece of legislation which was passed last January may have gone unnoticed by the majority of the 140 million citizens with in the EAC. It is expected to move the entire region’s economies and people to new levels of social and economic development by unlocking the region’s productive potential. The EAC Cooperatives Bill is a harmonized legislative framework for the facilitation of East Africa’s cooperative societies. It is viewed by its proponents as a vote of confidence by East Africans and the vehicle that will drive existing economies to new levels of growth and prosperity. Mike Sebalu, a Member of Parliament in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) from Uganda who moved the Bill said the importance of creating a law that responds to the needs of East Africans by its capacity to catalyze economic and social development in the region. “The spirit of the EAC’s integration agenda is that it is people-centred, private sector led and market-driven process that...

ARUSHA, Tanzania - The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, together with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), will hold sensitization workshops at Mutukula and Sirari/Isebania borders. These will take place from April 16th to 17th and from 23rd to 24th April respectively. The workshops are seen as a way to strengthen communication and sensitisation of EAC achievements and popularizing integration benefits to all East Africans. Target groups include small traders, young entrepreneurs and women traders, will be conducted in a participatory manner with presentations on EAC policies, projects and programs. “The potential for cross border trade and related economic impact at border communities are not entirely explored, because remote communities have very little or no knowledge of the integration or its benefits” Richard Owora, the Head of EAC Corporate Communications and Public Affairs said last week. Special attention will be given to the free movement of goods, capital, persons and labour across EAC Partner States. According to a release, the workshops will be complemented by trainings on customs clearing procedures, including payment of taxes and the consequences of crossing the border without a valid travel document. Training guidelines will be developed to increase knowledge about cross-border trade for the selected target groups. EAC-GIZ will also be engaging community based media in disseminating EAC information, education and communication as a means of reaching out to more East Africans. “With these workshops, border communities and the small traders will gain essential skills and knowledge from the best practices and lessons learned...

BUJUMBURA, Burundi - In the latest World Bank Group Doing Business survey, Burundi was ranked 150th out of 189 economies evaluated but took the first place in sub-Saharan Africa for the ease in starting a business. The country is also ranked fourth for the transfer of ownership indicator and 11th the protection of minority investors in the Africa region. The Burundi Second Vice-President of the Republic, Eng. Dr. Gervais Rufyikiri, last week asked officials involved in the implementation of Doing Business reforms to work harder and make the impact of the reforms more visible. He was speaking at the preliminary report on Doing Business reforms in 2016 for Burundi which will be sent to the World Bank by May 31st, 2015 for evaluation. In his address, the Second Vice-President said since 2010, several reforms have been undertaken and implemented. He said progress has been made in stimulating the entrepreneurial skills and initiation of investments. There had also been a gradual conversion of the informal economy into a more formal structure. Other factors are the promotion of tax compliance, the fight against corruption and related offenses. However the creation of jobs remains a high priority of the government. Vice President Rufyikiri said despite these encouraging results, efforts must continue to ensure that economic and social spinoffs and different measures related to improving the business climate become more visible. In this way Burundi will attract foreign investment. He also stressed that the Doing Business 2015 report introduced a change in methodology that...

EAST African Community (EAC) Secretariat in collaboration with GIZ plan to conduct sensitization workshop in Mtukula and Sirari borders between April 16 and 17 and 23 and 24 respectively to strengthen communication and sensitization of the community achievements and popularizing integration benefits. Head of EAC Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Mr Owora Richard Othieno, pointed out that the workshops targets small traders, young entrepreneurs and women traders and will involve presentations on EAC policies, projects and programmes. "Special attention will be given to the free movement of goods, capital, persons and labour across EAC Partner States," reads part of the statement. He said that the workshops will be complemented by trainings on customs clearing procedures, including payment of taxes and the consequences of crossing the border without a valid travel document. According to Mr Othieno, training guidelines will be developed to increase knowledge about cross-border trade for the selected target groups. EAC-GIZ will also be engaging community based media in disseminating EAC information, education and communication as a means of reaching out to more East Africans. "The potential for cross border trade and related economic impact at border communities are not entirely explored because remote communities have very little or no knowledge of the integration or its benefits," he noted. He explained that from the workshops, border communities and the small traders will gain essential skills and knowledge from the best practices and lessons learned in the integration process. The first round of the sensitization workshops were held between June...

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) urges African politicians to ratify the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) at the 20th anniversary of the organization in Marrakech. Welcoming Ministers from African nations, the Prime Minister of Morocco and representatives from the World Bank, TradeMark Africa and the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the World Trade Organization celebrated its 20th anniversary in Morocco. The event marked the birth of the WTO in Marrakech in 1995 and gathered African Parliamentarians to discuss the benefits of the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement for Africa's economic growth and trading future. The event targeted parliamentarians from more than 20 African countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Kenya, as in many countries parliament plays a key role in the TFA Protocol's ratification process. The TFA has the potential to deliver an unprecedented stimulus to the world economy with a boost of US$1 trillion. Thus far only Hong Kong, US, Singapore and Mauritius have ratified the TFA while 107 ratifications are needed for the TFA to enter into force. In his opening remarks, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo identified the TFA as a momentous opportunity for African countries as trade costs in Africa are still 30% higher than the global average. Donia Hammami, ICC Policy Manager, spoke on the benefits of the TFA for Africa from a business perspective - emphasising the TFA's ability to boost countries' competiveness. Noting that Africa only accounts for less than 3% of world trade, Ms Hammami said:...

Investments in trade infrastructure as well as the removal of bureaucratic and procedural barriers to economic integration have positioned the East Africa region as the destination of choice for doing business, a study has shown. A study published on Wednesday by the TradeMark Africa (TMA), a donor-funded organization formed to help regional states speed up integration, said the harmonization of product standards has expanded the East African Community (EAC) trade basket. Encouraging results achieved over the past year, including investments in key ports have resulted in reduced cargo transit times on East Africa’s main transport corridors, and accelerated implementation of the EAC’s Single Customs Territory, said TMA Annual Report. TMA Chief Executive Officer Frank Matsaert said the reduction of average time to clear goods at Kenya’s Mombasa port and transport them to Kampala, Uganda to fours days has buoyed the investments in the EAC region. Matsaert said the reduction in the number of customs declarations by 90 percent leading to an increase in trade volumes, an example of fuel imports into Uganda which has increased from 32. 1 million litres to 108 million litres are behind surge in investments. "The results presented in this annual report point to an ever improving trade environment which is expected to spur investments and ultimately benefit the citizens of East Africa," he said in Nairobi. He said poor infrastructure, delays in cargo clearance and customs procedures at the port contribute to the high cost of doing business along the transport corridor. Mombasa port serves...

Innovative efforts to dismantle trade barriers in East Africa provide a shining example of how the private sector can work alongside governments and nonprofits to help drive sustainable economic growth and lift people out of poverty. The East African Community has made great steps toward stimulating trade in the region in recent years. Customs union and a common market mean that Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda enjoy some of the most liberal trade relations on the continent. The five member states also qualify for duty-free access to the U.S. market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. However, underdeveloped infrastructure, nontariff barriers like rules and regulations, slow and uncertain transit times, and some of the highest transport costs in the world remain big challenges. These have a direct impact on the poor — both as producers and consumers — explained Matt Rees, U.S. Agency for International Development deputy coordinator for Trade Africa. They limit farmers’ access to agricultural inputs and raise food prices for the poor. Inefficient border operations and uninformed export bans prevent countries with surplus food from trading with neighboring countries that don’t have enough, which contributes to food insecurity. “Reports indicate that East Africa produces enough food to feed East Africa,” Rees said. “[But] inefficient markets and [nontariff barriers] produce peaks and valleys in the food supply, leading to chronic food shortages and an approximately $1 billion a year requirement for food aid from the U.S. government alone in sub-Saharan Africa.” East Africa’s major ports —...

WITH an improvement in the level of intra-African transactions and communication, African products would enjoy a boost at the global market coupled with the concomitant promotion of peace, integration and trans-border trade across the region, the African Organisation for Standardisation has said. Underlying the need to boost intra-African trade, ARSO President, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, who is also the Director-General of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), stated that the organization is working at boosting intra-African and global trade through the provision, facilitation and the implementation of harmonized standards in the continent. According to him, the fundamental mandate of ARSO is to develop tools for standards development, standards harmonization and implementation of these systems to enhance Africa's internal trading capacity, increase Africa's product and service competitiveness globally towards sustainable industrial growth and development. He stated that by 2017, the African standardization mechanism should be able to deliver a benchmark that would be acceptable to all in the continent. "Most of our achievements at ARSO are on the continental level, but one thing we have done is that, we have midwifed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) between countries because we believe that even though we act at the continental level, it is the country to country relationships that will result in a closer working relationship between countries. "For example, Nigeria has signed with five other African countries and I am also aware that Cameroun has signed with another seven African countries. The other point I will like to make is that...