The inaugural Manufacturing East Africaconference will be hosted in Nairobi, Kenyafrom the 19 – 20 April 2017 and has been developed to explore and address the growing need for intra-Africa trade across the continent.  The event will comprise a 1 day conference, manufacturing competitiveness workshop and allocated business networking time. There is increased interest from South African manufacturers to explore new markets to sell products and services and with the rapidly growing East African market, this provides an opportunity to establish new business partnerships, trade relationships, the opportunity to explore investment into the regional SEZs and a platform to engage and meet with key East African stakeholders.  The event is partnered with the South African Department of Trade and Industry, the Manufacturing Circle, Kenya Manufacturers Association, Trade Invest Africa, CAIA as well as our private sector partner, Deloitte Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. "Many local companies have registered to attend and we look forward to hosting a successful inaugural event aimed at paving the way for manufacturing growth and intra-Africa trade.  This further supports the growth strategy of the annual Manufacturing Indaba hosted in South Africa to aid companies to find emerging markets to enable growth.’  commented Liz Hart, Managing Director of the Manufacturing Indaba portfolio of events. Source: Engineering News

The president of the African island nation of Seychelles kicked off a three-day visit to Kenya on Monday, his first visit to a foreign country since he was elected president last October. Danny Faure met with Uhuru Kenyatta, the president of the East African nation, in Nairobi, who accorded him full state honors including a 21-gun salute. In talks aimed at bolstering trade and cooperation between the two countries, Faure announced that Seychelles will start importing beef from Kenya, stating that it will be cheaper than Brazil, where they previously imported their meat from before a meat inspection scandal. “We want now to start imports of meat and poultry from Kenya, with the main objective being bringing down the cost of living for the citizens of Seychelles,” Fuare said. Kenyatta said that his country will receive support from Seychelles to fully realize its blue (ocean) economy potential, Seychelles also promised to aid Kenya in boosting its maritime security. On Tuesday, Faure will visit the Kenyan meat commission. The Seychelles archipelago lies 2,000 kilometers southeast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. Source: World Bulletin

Kenya and the Seychelles have agreed to combat illegal fishing in Indian Ocean, which borders the two countries. Speaking at State House, Nairobi, after holding bilateral talks, Seychelles President Danny Faure and his host Uhuru Kenyatta agreed to support best fishing practices and share intelligence on maritime security. “We will be exchanging intelligence and ideas on how to combat drug trafficking, piracy and terrorism in the Indian Ocean,” said President Kenyatta. “We will eliminate this evil trade.” The Head of State added that the Seychelles will help Kenya to develop its fish industry at the Coast, which he said is not fully unexploited. The coastline between the two countries has witnessed cases of piracy and drug trafficking, among others, and the two nations have vowed to end it. President Kenyatta described the visit by President Faure as historic, saying it marks the beginning of a new partnership between the two countries. “The Seychelles can support Kenya in the development of its blue economy with partnership in areas such as tourism, horticulture and livestock industry,” he said. TRAINED TEACHERS The President also disclosed that trained teachers will to be taken to the island nation to support its education sector but did not disclose the number. “We have been exporting our human capital to several countries such as Namibia, Rwanda and Liberia and we will continue to do so,” he said, noting that the partnership will be a win-win one for both countries. President Faure said 400 Kenyans are working in his...

After Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda commissioned the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS), Tanzania is also being engaged to join the system so as to further boost trade along the Kigali-Dar es Salaam route, officials confirm. In Rwanda, establishment of the e-Cargo tracking system meant to reduce the cost of doing business by reducing transit time, enhancing cargo safety and helping traders better predict arrival of goods, was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through Trademark East Africa (TMA) at a cost of $4.5 million (nearly Rwf3.7 billion). Patience Mutesi, TMA country director, says an engagement started with Tanzanian authorities to extend the system there as well. “Since 80% of Rwanda’s exports and imports are routed through the Dar port, it is important for Rwandan traders that Tanzania gets on board the RECTS for cost and time gains which would come as a result of cargo safety and increased truck productivity along the Kigali-Dar route,” Mutesi said. The system now connects Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda enabling them to jointly track transit cargo from port to destination on a 24-hour basis. François Kanimba, the Minister for Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs, is optimistic that even though procuring the system is costly, TMA “accepted to support Tanzania as has been done in other countries”. The only problem would be, he observed, the fact that procuring the system takes time. Kanimba said: “As regards implementation, in Tanzania, there will be no problem. It is already a member of...

New measures to protect local industries and farmers from cheap imports will be known in June once the East African Community partner states agree on taxation rates. The region’s finance ministers will meet next month meet to agree on a new Common External Tariff (CET) on products like sugar, maize, wheat and rice, as well as customs-related taxation measures designed to protect local industries from cheap imports and unfair competition. Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury Henry Rotich said taxation measures that will be agreed on by the EAC ministers for finance will be communicated through the EAC Gazette Notice and implemented from July 1. “On matters relating to Customs, we have evaluated various proposals from stakeholders for consideration by the EAC ministers for finance during the pre-budget consultations meeting to be held in May this year,” Mr Rotich told lawmakers in Nairobi while presenting the country’s 2017/2018 budget. The current CET is based on three bands of 25 per cent for finished goods, 10 per cent for intermediate goods and zero per cent for raw materials and capital goods, with a limited number of products under the sensitive list, which attract rates above the maximum rate of 25 per cent. The three-band tariff has been blamed for killing competitiveness of local companies and obstructing intra-regional trade by forcing them to pay duty at the rate of 25 per cent on some imported inputs, which should have ordinarily attracted zero per cent or 10 per cent duty. The EAC CET was last reviewed in 2010 but the...

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich says of the amount, Sh63.6 billion will go towards the ongoing road construction while Sh44.3 billion will be directed to foreign co-financed roads. Further, Sh27 billion will be used for low volume seal roads and Sh49.3 billion for road maintenance from the Road Maintenance Levy. At the same time, Sh75.6 billion has been committed to the Standard Gauge Railway from which Sh15.5 billion will go to the completion of the first phase and Sh59.7 billion towards the construction of second phase from Nairobi to Naivasha. Further, Sh400 million will be used to relocate the people along the railway line. “Once completed, SGR will help to integrate domestic markets, link special industrial zones and bring global export markets closer home. The construction of the first phase is nearing completion and we expect Kenyans to enjoy a decent ride from Mombasa to Nairobi starting June 1 2017. At the same time, we are glad to announce that the construction of the second phase has already began,” Rotich said during his budget presentation in Parliament. The government has also allocated Sh10 billion to the LAPPSET project and Sh3.6 billion from development partners towards the Mombasa Port development partners and Sh200 million for the maintenance of ferries. “The first phase of the second container terminal at the port of Mombasa has been completed and is expected to improve cargo handling services and strengthen Mombasa as a preferred port of call in East Africa.” A total of Sh2.6 billion has...

Mar 30, 2017: Cargo scanners will be installed at some stations along the Standard Gauge Railway line, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said on Tuesday. John Bisonga, the regional chief manager for customs and border control, said the scanners would be used to monitor cargo ferried by SGR trains. The SGR cargo trains are set to begin operating between Mombasa and Nairobi on June 1. It is expected that four trains will each haul 200 containers each day, with the trip between the port and the capital taking eight hours. Two passenger trains will move an estimated 1,000 people daily in just four and half hours. “The number of containers that will be transported using the trains is huge and we will need to ensure there is proper surveillance. Drive-through scanners will also be installed along the SGR route,” he said during a workshop for journalists based in Mombasa. There are seven stations between Mombasa and Nairobi; at Mariakani, Miasenyi, Voi, Mtito Andei, Kibwezi, Emali and Athi River. Although Bisonga did not state the amount of money KRA had set aside for the project, he said already, plans were underway to ensure scanners were also installed at the Embakasi Inland Container Depot (ICD) where the cargo will be stored. The ICD occupies 29 hectares of land and has a stacking yard with an annual capacity of more than 180,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). The Sh22-billion facility will handle big volumes of cargo and is expected to play a crucial role in...

Arusha. Nearly seven years after the coming into force of the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol, the issue of free movement of labour is still contentious. Concerted advocacy by lobby groups such as the East African Employers Organisation (EAEO), the East African Trade Unions Confederation (EATUC) and others do not appear to have yielded much results. However, Tanzania, which has been viewed as being largely against the free movement of workers in its attempt to protect its national labour force, has reduced its residence permit fees by 50 per cent. For Ms Rosemary Ssenabulya, EAEO chairperson, this was “a great achievement” in the EAC integration process considering that it was the most contentious issues the organisation has been advocating for in the last two years. It was in 2015 when the employers’ body presented a joint petition with EATUC to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) on removing barriers to free movement of workers. “However, we still need to do more lobbying in this area until the fees are harmonised to zero the way other partner states of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have done,” she said during an annual general meeting of EAEO held in Arusha last week. Towards the end of last year, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta asked Tanzania and Burundi to waive work permit charges in the spirit of EAC of allowing free movement of people and goods. He said the dream of a borderless East Africa would be realised if all partner states honoured an...

Vinod Madhavan, head of transactional products and services for Africa at Standard Bank, said the continent is expected continue as the second fastest growing region in the world over the next four years returning growth rates between four and five percent. He said intra Africa trade reduced due to low commodity prices last year, and trade within the continent would create more jobs. Madhavan said, “Africa could increase its intra- Africa trade three fold and still not match Asia’s level of internal trade. In Asia, trade and exports have been central to the region’s exponential growth, lifestyle improvements and stability of the last 30 years.” “As commodities rebound, 2017 is expected to set new records in the volume and value of African trade however, the point is not to get side-tracked by some of the current headwinds,” he added. He said Africa should learn from Asia, increase trade volumes in the continent for maximum benefits. Global and cross-border trade is the fastest contributor to growth, and it supports domestic trade, small and medium enterprise formation and job creation. Madhavan said this has been seen in emerging markets over the last 30 years. He however cautioned that Africa should address the current challenges like legislators not adopting the most efficient policies and political risks. Madhavan said there has been debt default in Mozambique and local currencies are losing value, U.S. dollar and other hard currencies remains scarce within key economies. He also mentioned, there have been over 10 bank defaults in...

The second East African Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition scheduled to start in Kigali on May 23 will, among others, look into the biggest challenges faced by regional manufacturers and how they can be addressed. François Kanimba, Minister for Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs said this during a press conference at the ministry head office yesterday. Accompanied by Christophe Bazivamo, the Deputy EAC Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Kanimba told reporters that for the past two days, they had a successful steering committee meeting to plan for the three-day meeting. Kanimba said: “Key-issues to be addressed include: how can the region market itself best? Where are the major investment opportunities? What currently are the biggest challenges for regional manufacturers and how should
they be addressed?” The summit, he added, will also look at the success factors for manufacturers in the EAC, how to gain competitiveness in price and quality, how to deal with environmental concerns, and what can be done against counterfeits, illicit trade and intellectual property violations, among others. Other important matters during the conference will include: how to develop the requisite qualified labour force (industrial skills), sectors that are most affected by EAC regulations, and the role of the EAC Diaspora. Kanimba said: “The forum seeks to create an avenue for the private sector to advocate and campaign for the acceleration of industrial reforms aimed at improvement of investment conditions in the EAC strategic sectors.” The EAC region, he noted, already identified strategic...