The East African Community (EAC) currently consists of 5 countries vis Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Of these, only two have direct access to the sea, whilst the rest of the three are landlocked and thus fully dependent on the other two to handle bulk imports and exports. As a result of these dependencies, the EAC has established groupings and protocols like the Northern Corridor and the Central Corridor transport routes to handle and advise on logistical issues surrounding the transportation of goods mainly to the ports of Mombasa and Tanzania. The major issue addressed in these groupings is infrastructure. The EAC are currently net importers of goods and the transportation of these from the ports of Mombasa and Tanzania has been the biggest preoccupation hence the regular infrastructure summits like the one held in Kampala and Kigali recently. Because of the bulk of the exports and imports passing through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, it is important for the road and rail network to be efficient and reliable. This has not been the case and there has been a lot of dependence on the road networks that have been problematic due to the poor condition of the roads, the problems associated with border crossings and dealings with different authorities. In order to address this, member states of the Northern Corridor; Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and Burundi have been pushing for the establishment of a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project to relieve the pressure on the dilapidated and often...

KIGALI, Rwanda – The East African Community (EAC) is looking at developing a regional capital markets infrastructure which is aimed at integrating the region’s capital markets. writes AGNES BATETA. “We will not have a single East African exchange but we do believe we can have an integrated EA capital market infrastructure working with our different regulators, the market participants and our capital markets,” Secretary General EAC Richard Sezibera said during a discussion held during the EAC capital markets conference held in Kigali recently. Sezibera said, “This is an important agenda and one of the areas in which East Africa has moved fast forward and is moving increasingly in the area of harmonization and integration”. “We believe to deepen the capital markets for EAC; we need to make sure that our standards are benchmarked against international standards. We might be developing the regional standards but these must be strongly benchmarked against international standards,” Sezibera said. EAC is aimed at widening and deepening integration among the five member states which include Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi. “For the widening part, EAC over the last few years has formed the Customs Union with the Single Customs Territory, it has a common market and the monetary union which was signed in 2013, and a 10-year road map that will introduce in a single currency,” Sezibera said. According to Sezibera, the deepening part of it especially in the common market and the capital markets integration agenda is based on six pillars. “EAC is engaged...

Bujumbura, 24th February 2015: Burundi Ministry of East Africa Affairs received USD 1.2million to help support teaching English to government officials, private sector, media and civil society. English language is identified as key enabler to increase Burundi competitiveness through enhanced communication as it conducts trade with its East African neighbours, majority of which use English as business language. “The training will be completed in June 2016.” The project “Enhancing English Language Skills and Training &Setting up of English language center”is funded by TradeMark Africa (TMA) and implemented by Learning and Testing Services Africa (LTS Africa). With 3 training centres in Bujumbura, Gitega and Ngozi provinces respectively, the phase 2 of the program will reach an additional 2500 adults and 40 teachers to be certified in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL). Phase 1 implemented from 2012 to 2014, reached 1700+ trainees and 40 teachers who received certification in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL). The objective of the project will be to strengthen English language communication skills of the various stakeholders in regional integration. Speaking on behalf of the Ministry at the Presidency in charge of EAC matters (MPACEA)in Burundi, the Assistant to the Minister, Mrs Clarette Inamahorosaid, “We should not and will not minimize the impact of those barriers to integration that are linked to communication. As a dutiful member of the East African Community, Burundi is tackling the array of non-tariff barriers that are impeding the implementation of the common market and the monetary union. We...

(Reuters) - The United States and five East African countries pledged on Thursday to ease trade flows and set the stage for more U.S. investment, a program that could be extended to other parts of Africa. The agreement commits Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to cooperate with the United States in customs issues, ease red tape at borders, reduce customs wait times and harmonize trade standards. As part of the deal, which has been in the works since 2013, Washington will provide training on food safety, animal and plant health standards and international regulations. "We see this agreement and all our work with (East Africa) to date as an important steppingstone, not the final destination," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said. China's rapid entry into Africa has fueled a rush to the continent by Western and other economies, including India and Brazil, and the region's economy has grown more than 6 percent in the last decade. Trade in goods between the United States and the East African bloc grew by 52 percent to $2.8 billion in 2014, according to federal data. Exports were at $2 billion, while imports totalled $743 million. All five countries currently take part in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a program that grants African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets. The program is set to expire later this year and the White House has already kicked off an early bid to raise congressional support for a renewal. The East African region could become even...

Amid political tensions in Burundi over a bid to give President Pierre Nkurunzinza a controversial third term in office, a new poll shows a solid majority of voters favours presidential term limits. The president’s supporters are trying to bypass a clause in the Constitution that limits him to two consecutive five-year terms in order to extend his rule after 10 years in power. According to the Afrobarometer survey, 62 per cent of voters nationwide say the president should be limited to only two terms while only 37 per cent want term limits done away with. Last year, a Bill to introduce a third term failed to sail through parliament after CNDD-FDD’s junior coalition partner boycotted the vote. The ruling party, which holds 81 out of 106 seats in parliament, fell one vote short of the 85 required to pass the amendment. A similar poll by the same agency in 2012 showed the president fast losing public support, with 51 per cent of respondents preferring term limits against 46 per cent. “The larger new majority may indicate that, as the country approaches elections, and in response to public debate on the issue, the number of people opposed to a third presidential term is increasing,” says the Afrobarometer report. The president may not have declared his intentions but he has left no doubt that he intends to push his candidacy in the elections slated for mid this year. A brief from IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review says President Nkurunzinza is likely to vie...

The duty on cement imported into East Africa has been lowered from 35 per cent to 25 per cent, heralding good news for the construction sector. But manufacturers warn that the resultant price crash could send them out of business and lead to massive job losses. According to a gazette notice of the EAC released last month, apart from the reduction in the common external tariff (CET), cement has also been removed from the list of sensitive products that require protection until domestic industries can compete. Decisions on the CET are made by the East African Council of Ministers. Despite the current 35 per cent duty on cement from non-EAC countries, imports are still largely cheaper than the locally produced commodity. Cement manufacturers fear the latest move is opening a window to cheaper cement imports that are likely to leave them staring at idle capacity and losses. “This will only create unnecessary competition from manufacturers outside the region, leading to an influx of cheap cement imports,” said Ronald Ndegwa, Savannah Cement chief executive. Mr Ndegwa said that the costly business regime in East Africa will render the local firms uncompetitive against rivals who operate in “subsidised economies.” Electricity, which on average makes up 40 per cent of the direct cost of cement manufacturing, is four times cheaper in Asian countries. “Until the cost of production in the region comes down, we still feel that it is unfair to remove cement from the sensitive items list it is likely to put...

The East African Community Council of Ministers has initiated the process of fast-tracking the Non-Tariff Barriers Bill into law. This is expected to compel partner states to eliminate the numerous NTBs that hinder smooth movement of goods and services within the economic bloc. The EAC Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Bill, 2015 was passed by the East African Legislative Assembly in January to enable partner states to completely remove NTBs to allow free movement of goods, people and labour as a requirement by Common Market Protocol. Non-tariff barriers have been cited as the biggest threats to doing business in East Africa. While the five EAC partner states have agreed in principle to remove non-tariff barriers by December this year, this largely depends on good faith on the part of the five countries due to the absence of a legal framework. A report on the status of NTBs released last year indicates that last year, the economic bloc eliminated 66 per cent of the non-tariff barriers, enhancing trade. The report, which was released by the EAC Secretariat, showed that 18 NTBs remained unresolved while four new ones were introduced by the partner states. However, 78 NTBs were reportedly resolved cumulatively by the member states. Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda were reported to have imposed the highest number of NTBs during the period under review while Burundi had the least, with Rwanda imposing none. The new and the unresolved NTBs are mostly restrictions imposed on Customs and administrative entry procedures, technical barriers to trade...

East African economies are showing promising growth prospects for 2015, but the falling prices of key commodity exports and the region’s mounting debt burden remain a threat. The region’s growth is expected to average six per cent this year, up from about 5.5 per cent recorded in 2014, driven by increased investments in infrastructure, falling inflation and an expected surge in private-sector lending. However, this growth is dimmed by plummeting prices for tea and coffee, the region’s two leading exports, which have reduced export earnings and widened the current account deficit of Tanzania and Kenya. Tea prices have been depressed by oversupply, while poor rainfall has hurt coffee output. In Uganda and Burundi, a supply glut and lower production have seen depressed earnings from tea and coffee. In the 2014 season, Uganda reported coffee exports worth $394 million, representing a 2.3 per cent drop in volume and nine per cent decrease in value from the previous year. Uganda sold its coffee at an average of $1.87 per kg, down from $2 per kg the previous year. In Burundi, earnings from coffee fell to $23.8 million in 2014, from $66.3 million in 2013, attributed to unpredictable weather conditions and a lower-yielding crop cycle. Tea earnings fell six per cent in the first nine months of 2014. Kenya’s tourism sector, one of the key drivers of dollar earnings, contracted by about 14 per cent during the third quarter of 2014, but is expected to make a comeback as the security situation stabilises....

THE East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers has urged the trading bloc to fast track the implementation of the Regional Postal Sector Strategy, an official said over the weekend. EAC Director of Infrastructure Philip Wambugu told a regional forum in Nairobi that a baseline survey for the regional postal sector has already been concluded. “A meeting to consider the report of the survey has been scheduled for May 2015,” Wambugu said during the East African Communications Organization Postal Conference on Leveraging Information Communications Technology in the Transformation of the Postal and Courier sector in the region. Wambugu said that the report of the survey is rich in information on the current state of the sector as well as insights on the way forward. He said that the strategy would assist EAC partner states to harmonize their policies, laws and regulations for the sector. In the recent years the region has liberalized the sector, which led to a development of a vibrant private sector. The director said that development of the postal sector cannot take place without the involvement of the private sector. According to the EAC official, electronic commerce presents a great business opportunity for the postal sector. “This is because physical goods bought online have to be delivered physically to the buyer,” Wambugu said. “However, the challenge is for postal operators to develop strategies for exploiting the opportunities that ecommerce provides,” he said. Source: Daily News

ARUSHA, Tanzania - The cost of doing business across the East African Community remain high, in spite of the efforts being made by Partner states and with the support of Development Partners. In addition, 24 non-tariff barriers (NTBs) still remain unresolved, the just-ended 16th ordinary EAC Summit was told in Nairobi. “This denies us the opportunity to unlock the immense potential of regional integration and starves businesses of innumerable opportunities,” President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya said during the 16th Summit of the regional leaders in Nairobi. He was handing over the Chair of the Summit to President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania. “To grow intra-Community trade, we need to implement decisive solutions without delay,” he said. The Kenyan leader said NTBs still complicate businesses in the region. These are also impediments to East Africa’s competitiveness as a global investment destination denying the EAC Bloc unaccountable business and investment opportunities. “NTBs must go. I am glad to note that our Council of Ministers (the policy organ of the Community) has introduced a legal framework aimed at moving this agenda forward,” he said. Kenyatta also acknowledged the high cost of roaming calls across the region, describing it as yet another unnecessary impediment to trade and communication in the bloc. “It is unacceptable that in many instances, calling outside our continent is much cheaper than communicating within our region,” he said. He called for urgent interventions by relevant regulatory authorities on the issue. However he appreciated the One-Area-Network initiated by Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya...