“Trade has been growing over the past years save for ‘just’ last year … the removal of non-tariff barriers is among issues to be resolved,” he explained. Dr Mahiga was speaking during the 34th EAC Council of Ministers meeting held yesterday ahead of the 18th EAC Heads of State Summit scheduled for tomorrow in Dar es Salaam. The minister noted, for instance, that other countries in the regional bloc had raised concerns on existence of Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), complaining that the two entities were subjecting traders to double inspection of goods. “They look at the existence of the two institutions as a form of non-tariff barriers to trade … so these are among issues to be sorted out,” he stated. Earlier during the session, Uganda’s third deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Affairs, Mr Kirunda Kivejinja, urged countries in the bloc to focus on how to fast-track the integration rather than dwell on minor issues. “Uganda and Tanzania could become the food basket of the EAC given their vast arable land but you will hear people discussing trivial issues like how many Tanzanians, Kenyans or Rwandese are employed at the secretariat. Source: Daily News

East Africa has developed something of a reputation for gender equality in politics over the years. Rwanda has a higher percentage of women in parliament than any other country in the world while Burundi, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda are also among the highest ranking nations for female political figures (top 31 of 130 world parliaments) However, the latest East African Community Gender Barometer report by EASSI suggests those numbers don’t paint the full picture of gender equality in the region’s political environment. The study finds that, despite women sitting in many parliaments seats, they generally lack the same political influence enjoyed by their male peers. According to the group responsible for the study, Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are no different from other countries in the region when it comes to handing political power to women. Female politicians lack power in East Africa Rwanda and Bolivia are the only two countries in the world where female politicians outnumber men. Rwanda tops the list where 61.3% of the country’s members of parliament are female (source: ipu.org). Gender equality was a key part of Paul Kagame’s strategy for rebuilding Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. More than two decades later, Rwanda is the shining example of gender equality in politics, but it seems the stats might not tell the whole story. The latest EAC Gender Borameter report suggests these numbers don’t always translate into political influence for female politicians in East Africa. According to Dr Josephine Ahikire, the Dean at the School of Women and Gender Studies who designed the...

Have you ever considered how competitive a country would be if donkeys and camels were the primary mode of transport for its cross-border trade? Over long distances, a donkey can trot at a leisurely 9 km/hour but it can notch up a top speed of 43 km/hour. That is approximately how efficient trade would have been for our forefathers in Africa’s ancient trading kingdoms around Timbuktu and similar cities. It took a trade caravan 40 days to cross the Sahara Desert in those medieval times. Fast forward to the twenty-first century and you would think that things must be totally different and that Africa would have considerably accelerated. Not quite, when you consider that the estimated effective speed of road transport within the Southern African Development Community, for example, is between 6 km/hour and 12 km/hour.[1] The road infrastructure has substantially improved since the medieval era and trucks can move as fast as anywhere else in the world. But when drivers have to be stopped at numerous checkpoints and are forced to spend days at borders, the average speed of an entire journey reduces to donkey pace. It is therefore unsurprising that Africa faces the largest trade costs of any region in the world. And many of the challenges are man-made. Granted, geographic constraints, such as having more landlocked countries (16) than any other region in the world, put Africa at a disadvantage. But such geographic barriers have not prevented Switzerland or Austria from participating effectively in international trade. In...

Dar es Salaam — Tanzania will this Saturday host East African Community (EAC) leaders for the much-awaited regional bloc’s Heads of State Summit. So much is at stake ahead of the high-profile meeting that was thrice postponed over the past few months at the request of the hosts, Burundi and Kenya. Apparently, as the leaders finally meet in Dar es Salaam, the main issue of interest will be what direction to take for the Community that has of late been dogged by fresh cracks, and a financial crisis, which derailed the implementation of key projects. Granted, it has been a rough year for the EAC. Member states are still entangled in the confusion that was brought by the tricky trade deal with the European Union – with Kenya and Rwanda on one side pushing for the ratifying of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and Tanzania leading a splinter group that is against the pact. Last September, the EAC presidents met in the wake of Tanzania’s stiff opposition to the deal. It was during the meeting that the leaders decided to give technocrats more room for consultations on EPAs and to review their position in January. But there is no sign yet that member states will reach common ground. Kenya has, since 2007 been pushing for the deal to be concluded with speed. Being the only developing state in EAC (the rest are classified as Least Developed Countries that enjoy duty-free trade with EU without reciprocating), Kenya has had to lobby...

Arusha — East African Community (EAC) partner states are divided on the proposed financing mechanisms to bail out the cash-strapped regional body. While the founding members, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, want to maintain the existing equal contribution arrangement, Burundi and Rwanda prefer differentiated contribution. A guidance on the matter will be sought during the 18th Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State scheduled to take place in Dar es Salaam on Saturday. Sustainable financing mechanism for the EAC will be among the key items on the agenda, but a report seen by The Citizen indicates that the partner states are not agreed on the proposed alternatives. One of them is to raise funds for the Community’s projects and programmes is to slap a 0.7 per cent levy on the value of dutiable imports from outside the bloc. The percentage should be reviewed after every five years by the Council of Ministers which is the policy organ of the Community and the most supreme after the leaders’s Summit. Hybrid option The other mechanism recommended is a hybrid option which will use various parameters for each country. It is favoured as a means to promote equity and fairness. An alternative financing mechanism for the EAC has been on the cards for years and has been proposed to increase the budget of the rapidly expanding Community whose institutions have lately increased. The option also aims to overcome the cash woes facing the regional body due to dwindling financial support from donors and delayed...

Manufacturers want East African Community member states to fast-track harmonisation of taxation policies to facilitate free cross-border trade. Kenya Association of Manufacturers chief executive Phyllis Wakiaga said yesterday this will support growth of industry which faces stiff competition from cheaper imports. “This year, the common external tariff is being reviewed,” she said. “(The policymakers are) are looking to review the (import) duty values that can encourage local production and improve domestic trade. Hopefully by December we will have this ready.” The review, EAC Affairs PS Betty Maina said in February, is at amending rules used in classifying goods entering into the five-nation bloc with the aim of supporting growth of the industry, which is largely still at infancy. Wakiaga singled out slow harmonisation of standardisation certificates and VAT as major hurdles to free trade within the EAC bloc. “So far we have addressed over 150 non-tariff barriers but what we are trying to ensure is how we can sustainably avoid blocking trade within the East African Community,” she said. Data collated by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that manufacturing contributed 9.2 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product down from 9.5 per cent during the previous year. KNBS data shows that manufacturing sector contribution the gross domestic product has stagnated at around 10 per cent in the last 10 years. The sector faces such challenges as illicit trade, high power costs, congested industrial zones, high labour input costs, increased overall production costs and a huge import bill....

Barely two weeks to the launch of the Standard Gauge Railway’s (SGR) Mombasa-Nairobi commuter service, the government has affirmed that all is is on course. However, commencement of cargo freight services will be delayed until December due to slow expansion and modernisation of the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD). Transport Principal Secretary, Paul Mwangi said the commuter service will start as scheduled, adding that the government was keen to optimise the SGR for freight transport, both locally and to Uganda, Rwanda Burundi, South Sudan and DRC He, however, said the freight operations will start in December, in accordance with the commitment made in the Mombasa Port Community Charter, signed in June 2014. Mwangi spoke at the Mombasa port when he received additional 17 freight locomotives, six shunting locomotives, 50 flat wagons for containers and four unit cranes for use in the SGR operations. He said consultations are going on to come up with reasonable fare charges before the official launch. “We urge Kenyans not to worry, we are going to set reasonable charges from commuters which are likely to be cheaper compared to buses,” said the PS. The consignment was offloaded under the supervision of the PS, Kenya Railways Corporation engineers, China Road and Bridge Corporation, the EPC contractor for Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway project, and the project supervisor, TSDI-APEC-EDON Consortium (Taec). So far, the country has received 25 freight locomotives out of the 43 on order; the full order of five passenger and eight shunting locomotives, the full order...

Kenya is seeking an additional Sh370 billion ($3.59 billion) Chinese loan to extend the standard gauge railway (SGR) from Naivasha to Kisumu, pushing the total cost of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s pet project to Sh847 billion. The President today led the Kenyan delegation in making a formal request for additional funds from China Exim Bank. The money will finance the construction of the third phase of the SGR, a 270km-line between Naivasha and Kisumu. “The funding request will undergo normal procedure of approval and Premier Li (Keqiang) has promised to give it the adequate consideration and urgency it deserves,” State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu told reporters in Beijing, where the President has been attending a trade conference. NATION IN DEBT So far, Sh327 billion has been spent on the first phase between Mombasa and Nairobi and Sh150 on the Nairobi-Naivasha section. With a national population of about 46 million, every Kenyan is set to owe China Sh18,413 in SGR debt once the deal is sealed. The money does not include the interest charged. The additional funding implies that each kilometre of the third phase of SGR will cost Sh1.37 billion, almost twice the Sh693 million per kilometre rate for the Mombasa-Nairobi line. The Nairobi-Naivasha line will cost more, at about Sh1.5 billion per kilometre. Source: EABizInfo.com

The International Monetary Fund and Fitch Ratings concur on Rwanda’s positive economic outlook. While each country is unique in its circumstance, this reflects on the wider EAC, specifically Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, which are as favourably projected. The just-released IMF Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa reports that the four EAC members states are expected to sustain annual growth rates of five per cent or higher. Rwanda, for instance, is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent in 2017 as vouched at the IMF second review of country’s Policy Support Instrument in Kigali this week. The percentage growth coincides with Fitch forecasts for this year, onward to 6.6 per cent in 2018 (See “Fitch confirms Rwanda’s economic outlook as stable”, The New Times, May 15, 2017). If the projection holds, this will mean more than a slight improvement from the 5.9 per cent growth registered last year. It is the same with the other three member states. According to the IMF report, their economies’ comparative strength is due in large measure to public spending and investments in infrastructure. Generally, however, one wishes the positive outlook rubs on Burundi, which remains in economic doldrums, as much as South Sudan which continues to be wracked by conflict. But a wish is only a wish, and more a measure of intent than effective action. What is certain is that the two countries must weigh their options with the better able section of the EAC playing its role to offer the support it must,...

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) concluded here Monday, and officials and experts said the forum has strengthened international trade ties and sounded a call against protectionism. The forum has strengthened international trade ties and sought new channels of distributing goods to bring about mutual benefit for all, said Ignacio Martinez Cortes, head of the Research Laboratory for Trade, Economy and Business. "It is also a call against protectionism," Martinez Cortes said in an interview with Xinhua in Mexico. China's new commercial strategy will allow Latin America and the Caribbean to join this drive of "opening up, inclusiveness and mutual benefits," said the Mexican expert on China affairs when talking about the two-day forum held in Beijing. The Belt and Road Initiative breaks with both regionalism and corporate-driven global supply chains and will benefit Latin America in the two fields of raw materials and added-value technologies, he said. The initiative "is the gateway" to international free trade and sustainable development, and also "more focused on investment, infrastructure and development, instead of just on trade," he said. "Through this initiative, China is offering new channels, which is focused on strengthening partnerships and on the success of sustainable development," the expert said. The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with an aim to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond ancient trade routes. "In his opening speech President Xi highlighted the importance of infrastructure...