US$253m in loans has been approved by The African Development Bank (AfDB) to the Kenya and Uganda for the upgrading of a 118 km road section connecting the two countries and the construction of the 32 km Eldoret town bypass, in Kenya. The development which is projected to be complete in 2021 will enhance the living standards of citizens in the two countries. Kenya is set to receive a whopping US$147mand Uganda US$106m. The AfDB loans will cover the costs 89% for Kenya and 88% for Uganda with the governments contributing 11% and 12% respectively. AfDB Infrastructure, Cities and Urban Development Department director Amadou Oumarou confirmed the reports and said in a statement released last month that the proposed intervention was in line with the AfDB’s Ten Year Strategy, which also includes five priority areas for development – the High 5s – which are Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. “The intervention meets four of the High 5s by contributing to the integration of the East African Community countries; improving the quality of life by providing socioeconomic facilities for people in the zone of influence; increasing agricultural production through access to markets; and the reduction in transport costs, which lowers the cost of doing business that will play a pivotal role in industrialization,” Oumarou explained. The project also includes the construction of a one-stop border post in Suam to facilitate trade between the two...

Kenya on Thursday launched an e-portal for Port Health Services that will boost surveillance against cross border transmission of diseases. Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopha Mailu told a media briefing in Nairobi that the digital platform will manage services offered to traders at Kenya’s points of entry. “The management information system is part of the government’s policy of promoting automation of services for greater efficiency,” Mailu said. “The online system will provide a platform for faster electronic processing of applications for export and import health certificates,” he added. Mailu said that the e-portal will greatly contribute towards creation of an enabling environment for business transactions and thus enhance Kenya’s commercial profile. “Importers and exporters will now be able to acquire health certificates in 12 hours as compared to four days under the manual system,” he added. The digital platform will enable Kenya to provide services at the port of entry in line with international health regulations and therefore contribute towards attainment of Global Health Security Agenda. The portal will also provide a forum for port health officers to share information on the movement of goods thoughout the country. Mailu noted that port health services play a very important role in trade facilitation through the inspection of goods of public health importance. “However some of the goods handled are perishable in nature and require to be processed within the shortest time possible,” he said. The portal was funded by TradeMark Africa. The platform will be rolled out on a pilot...

Twenty-one Economic Processing Zones (EPZ) based garment factories are headed to Mombasa for a three-day products sale. The sale at Visa Oshwal Grounds starting May 5 follows a successful sale at the KICC in Nairobi. In a public notice, the EPZ said firms will use the occasion to exhaust their 20 per cent local sales window for garments costing between Sh100 and Sh600. The Mombasa event comes after a month-long sale in Nairobi that attracted thousands of buyers. The garments are exported to global retail chains such as 1,014-branch JC Penney (US and Puerto Rico), Walmat (US), Kohl’s (U.S), Macy’s (US), Jones New York (US), Dollar General (US) and Ross (US) among others. Last year, EPZ-based factories earned Sh35.2b billion from finished product exports to Europe, Middle East and the US local. The notice said clothes available include men, ladies and children clothes. The firms provide about 42,600 jobs. Source: Business Daily

The government plans to allow textile firms operating in tax-friendly Export Processing Zones to sell up to 40 per cent of their products locally from the present 20 per cent, President Uhuru Kenyatta said yesterday. The move is part of a strategy to promote growth of industry and create job opportunities for the growing unemployed youth, the president said during the Labour Day Celebrations. An estimated 800,000 fresh graduates are churned into the job markets every year from institutions of higher learning. Kenya has since late 2015 been pushing for a phased ban on second-hand clothes, commonly called mitumbas, as part of the ‘Buy Kenyan, Build Kenya’ policy. President Kenyatta on June 1, 2015, directed state ministries, departments and agencies to procure at least 40 per cent of supplies locally under the policy, but this is yet to be fully implemented. The push by the government is also in line with the directive by the East African Community to member states to phase out importation of second-hand of clothes and leather products by 2019. This is aimed at promoting growth of domestic textile and apparel industry. The European Union and the United States are the largest source of second-hand clothes and shoe imports into the East Africa. President Kenyatta yesterday appealed to dealers in the lucrative mitumba business to start sourcing the merchandise from the EPZ firms. Industry and Trade CS Adan Mohamed in March said the ministry was enhancing partnerships with local textile and apparel industry in a bid...

Kenya’s private sector players have sought help from their Tanzanian counterparts to lobby their government to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe. Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Tanzanian Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) are working on a plan they hope will convince Tanzanian authorities to endorse the deal during the East African Community (EAC) Summit. “The EAC Summit that was to happen in Nairobi in February was postponed to early this month. The summit has been postponed again to a date that is yet to be confirmed. Only Tanzania and Uganda have not ratified the EPA deal and we hope by lobbying with our private sector counterparts, we can have Tanzania sign the deal,” said KEPSA Chief Executive Carole Kariuki in an interview with The Standard. The agreement guarantees EAC member States quota and duty-free access to the European market. Speculation has been rife that the EPA deal is dead in the water, with Tanzania maintaining a hardline stance, arguing that the agreement in its current state would kill off its industries. Ms Kariuki said the two lobbies would be represented at the next EAC summit. Source: Standard Digital

The contrast in elections in Rwanda and Kenya, which both go to the polls in August, has come to the fore with the European Union saying it will not send an expert mission to assess the preparedness in Kigali even as it prepares to send one to Nairobi. The EU will also not send an observer mission to monitor the Rwanda election, something which should not be entirely surprising given that it did not send one in 2010 "for lack of resources." However, this is the first time that the EU will not commit to any of the missions. Unlike an observer mission, which assesses the credibility of an election, an expert mission assesses the potential political, social, media and economic risks before the polls and examines likely interventions. The decision not to send observers for Rwanda's August 4 presidential elections was communicated to the National Electoral Commission (NEC) last week by the head of the EU delegation, Michael Ryan, at a closed door meeting in the company of ambassadors from Germany, UK, France and Belgium. "We are not sending any formal observer missions to the August elections. We don't see the need and have limited resources. There are many elections in the world and we have to decide where to put our resources," Mr Ryan said. Campaigns While the campaigns in Rwanda are restricted to the one month provided for by the Constitution, the campaigns in Kenya kicked off in earnest last week with political parties nominating their candidates...

In her 2010/11 Financial Year budget speech, Finance Minister Syda Bbumba said she envisages that the East African Community (EAC) Common Market which comes into force on July 1 will “stimulate greater productive efficiency, higher levels of domestic and foreign investment, increased employment, and growth of intra-regional trade and of extra-regional trade.” Kenya’s Finance Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, also spoke about how the Common Market would allow freedom of movement of goods, services, capital, business enterprises and skilled labour within the EAC. While most EAC budgets did not show plans on how their economies are positioning to survive and thrive under the Common Market, Kenyatta unveiled a robust plan. The Kenyan economy is far bigger than the combined economies of the other EAC states. Its budget shows that it is positioning itself to gain even more from the free flow of goods and services in the EAC. Kenyatta announced a duo-pronged strategy that looked inwards with the “build Kenya, buy Kenya” theme and an outward looking strategy that ensures competitiveness abroad. He proposed seven bills to support business expansion by cutting-down regulation and easing access to financing. Kenyatta showed he was aware of the apprehension among other states. He said: “Kenya is prepared to fully implement the provisions of the Common Market protocol from 1st July, 2010. I also call upon our brothers on the community to do likewise”. The Kenya budget was similar to the regional budgets in emphasising improving ease of doing business and investing in priority areas like...

The manual was first developed in 2006 and later revised in 2010 to accommodate further changes. Since then, the Government has enacted new immigration laws and policies, key among them; the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011, the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act Regulations 2012 and the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol in 2010 and the EAC One Stop Border Posts Act2016. In 2014, the government amended the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, under the Section 75 of the Security Laws (Amendment) Act by adding Section 5A-5D to establish Border Control and Operations Co-ordination Committee (BCOCC) to enhance border efficiency and inter-agency coordination in border management. Additionally, instability, radicalization and armed conflict in neighboring countries have created an uncertain environment for immigration in Kenya which has been addressed in various policy documents including the revised manual. Consequently, these new developments will help address various migration challenges facing Kenya in today’s ever mobile, complex and challenging world. Speaking in Nairobi at the launch, the Director of Immigration Services, Maj. General (Rtd) Dr. Gordon Kihalangwa said that the revised manual will aid border officials tackle a myriad of migration challenges facing Kenya. “Human trafficking, terrorism, and document fraud are some of the complex challenges we are currently facing at our border posts,” he said. On his part, IOM Head of Kenya County Office, Mr. Mike Pillinger, noted that the manual is a result of re-assessing immigration and border management against a backdrop of evolving migration trends, policies, profiles, legislations and...

The US Government on Thursday increased the level of funding to Kenya’s energy sector following agreements signed with two power producers. Through its US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), the American Government advanced Sh160 million to KenGen and Xago Africa, which are expected to use the money in developing their electricity generation projects in geothermal and solar respectively. Last year, USTDA financed different power projects in Kenya through grants of more than $4.86 million (Sh400 million), most of which are in their inception stages. Existing plants Part of the funds by USTDA were advanced from Power Africa, the American initiative to increase access to electricity in Africa. KenGen, which received $500,000 (Sh50 million), said it plans to increase the amount of electricity generated by already existing geothermal plants at its Olkaria fields through maximising the potential of steam from the wells. “We will use the funds for research and development, particularly looking at how we can extract more energy from geothermal steam and water,” said the power generating firm’s Chief Executive Albert Mugo in Nairobi yesterday. Xago Energy said the money will partly finance the development of a $75 million (Sh7.5 billion) solar power plant that it is developing in Siaya County. The plant is expected to have a 40 megawatts capacity and is scheduled for completion towards the end of next year. “Construction of the plant is expected to start in early 2018 and be completed in the fourth quarter of the same year,” said Xago Africa Managing Director Paul Webb. “It...

The investors drawn from Japan, India, France and the United Kingdom visited the port on Wednesday and were received by the Managing Director Ms. Catherine Mturi Wairi at Bandari College. The MD took the investors through a presentation on the development journey of the port over the years from a traditional small harbor facility to a modern international port. "I am glad to note that for the last ten years or so the Kenya Ports Authority has initiated and implemented development programmes geared towards making the port of Mombasa stand out among the well performing ports globally," said the managing director. The MD explained to the visitors the key projects being undertaken at the port including the development of the second phase of the Second Container Terminal, facilitating development of Free Trade Zones near the Port, beefing up security, further dredging of the channel to accommodate bigger ships and the development of a second commercial sea port at Lamu as some of the initiatives aimed to improving efficiency and serve the regional economies. "The port has seen a continued growth in container traffic and overall throughput. Over the last three years, the Port has consistently handled over one million TEUs thus enabling Mombasa to feature in the global map of top container Ports. Last year, the port handled 1.091 million TEUs and the overall throughput grew by 2.4 per cent to post a best-ever performance of 27.36 million tons, against a backdrop of slower than expected global and regional economic...