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. He spoke at the Pride Inn Beach Resort, Shanzu, during a sensitisation workshop for journalists based in Mombasa. Seven stations There are seven stations between Mombasa and Nairobi; at Mariakani, Miasenyi, Voi, Mtito Andei, Kibwezi, Emali and Athi River. Although Mr 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...

Hordes of investors will soon stream to the coastal city of Mombasa after mega infrastructural projects are complete, with President Uhuru Kenyatta launching roads and the standard gauge railway on June 1. Transport CS James Macharia says the projects will not only help ease the way of doing business but also put Kenya in the league of other countries with the best infrastructural developments. On Wednesday last week, Macharia toured several projects at the Coast aimed at opening up the coastal city. These include the second container terminal, the ongoing construction of airport road, standard gauge railway marshalling yard, Mombasa west terminal and the Dongo Kundu bypass. Macharia says several airlines have shown interest in flying to the coastal city and as such, a well opened-up road and sea networks are critical. The terminal cost Sh27 billion, while the airport road is on a Sh6 billion budget. At the airport road, the CS pointed out that the road will ease entry and exit in Mombasa. “One cannot talk about airport without roads. We have settled compensation worth Sh1.7 billion, while the remaining Sh800 million will be paid because we want to identify the right people,” he said, adding that compensation remains a headache. “We cannot concentrate on the standard gauge railway alone as projects have to be synchronised,” he said. The CS says for the Moi International Airport to sustain its status, it has to have the best roads linking it. Macharia says investments in road, railway, airport and sea...

It will be a big leap into the unknown once the United Kingdom triggers formal talks to leave the European Union. The EU’s existing trade agreements will then no longer apply to Britain and have to be renegotiated. “We don’t know where we are going to end,” Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorko Botwey told DW. “Are we going to have to sign new agreements? And if so which agreements are we going to sign? All these things are very fluid at the moment, so you can’t say much.” Traditionally, trade with the UK has been very important for African Commonwealth countries like Ghana. At its peak in 2012, UK-Commonwealth Trade accounted for $120-billion (€110-billion), according to the Commonwealth. Some are hopeful the UK might be eyeing to boost trade with its former colonies. Better deals for Africa? “With UK going solo, it may strengthen our course to face them one-on-one,” said financial analyst Courage Martey. Rather than dealing with the EU as a whole, “there is an opportunity for us to balance the scale, to ensure that we strike trade deals that favor especially our local business.” “Initially there were fears that Brexit would be harmful to the South African economy because of the threat of a decline in European economic growth as a result of Brexit. But those fears have been allayed more recently as we have seen increased interest by the British in South Africa,” said Azar Jammine, Chief Economist at the Johannesburg-based consultancy Econometrix. “The latter...

EAC Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko and ICGLR Executive Secretary Zachary Muburi Muita signed a memorandum of understanding that focuses on cooperating mainly in the matter of peace and security as well as political affairs. “Among the areas identified for joint intervention are development of capacities to address conflicts, refugees and humanitarian issues, promotion of democracy and good governance,” Mfumukeko said. He added that other sectors requiring joint intervention include the fight against illegal exploitation of natural resources, the promotion of the private sector and the civil society as well as combating gender based violence (GBV). Mfumukeko indicated that priority areas for joint intervention are peace and security, conflict prevention, border security management, trans-boundary crime management and circulation of small arms and light weapons. He said, “With regards to democracy and good governance, priorities include deployment of election monitors in regional elections.” According to Mfumukeko, the most immediate concern from the EAC perspective is “solving the Burundian crisis in a sustainable way” and addressing the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” prevailing in South Sudan. Members of the East African Community (EAC) are at the same time members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). The EAC is made up by six countries including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan and its secretariat is based in Arusha, Tanzania. For its part, the ICGLR is made up by 12 African Great Lakes countries including Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR...

The planned Sh31.2 billion upgrade of a key link road between Kenya and South Sudan is set to begin, raising prospects of enhanced cross-border trade. The Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) yesterday signed contracts for the job on a stretch running from Loichangamatak to Lodwar, Nadapal, and Nakodok which has been impassable. The road’s construction, funded jointly by the World Bank and the government, is expected to be complete in three years. “This component is an important link along the Biharambo–Mwanza- Musoma-Sirari-Isebania-Kitale–Lodwar –Lokichogio-Nakodok-Juba Transport Corridor of the East African Community’s regional trunk road network,” said Kenha director-general Peter Mundinia. Kenya’s main transport artery has traditionally been the Northern Corridor, running from Mombasa through Nairobi to the border with Uganda at Malaba. The upgrade of the road will come as a boost for traders who use it for South Sudan’s export and imports. Its deplorable state has hindered the movement of cargo. Total inflows Imports from Kenya make 25 per cent of South Sudan’s total inflows. The road has been identified as an important catalyst for integration of South Sudan into the regional economy and as an important link in the international road connection between Kenya and its neighbours. “Upgrading of the East Africa Regional Transport, Trade and Development Facilitation Project well known as the South Sudan Link Development Corridor, will transform lives and improve the movement of goods and people along Lokichar-Nadapal/Nakodok part of the Eldoret-Nadapal/Nakodok road in the north western part of Kenya in particular and to enhance connectivity...

The East African Community (EAC) partner states are being urged to expedite harmonisation of standards for the prioritised 20 most traded goods such as edible fats and oils so as to boost regional trade. Compliance with standards and market requirements are prerequisites for successful market access and for improving the competitiveness of exporters in the region. Lilian Awinja, the chief executive of the East African Business Council (EABC), says that although partner states have done a great job on harmonising several standards, many more standards are yet to be harmonised. According to the apex body of business associations of the private sector and corporates from the EAC, partner states also should increase adoption rate for harmonised regional standards for the 20 most traded goods. “There is still a low adoption rate of harmonised regional standards. This has led to costly and time-consuming re-testing processes or denial of market access,” said Awinja. According to Awinja, lack of a regional technical regulations framework contributes greatly to the application of national technical regulations, which do not have a common administrative approach neither in process nor in the list of standards declared as mandatory. “This situation is exacerbated by a frequent misunderstanding amongst stakeholders on the different roles of regulatory authorities and national bureaus of standards and the lacking coordination among those institutions.” Raymond Murenzi, the director general of Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), said in the case of Rwanda and other partner states – besides Tanzania – there is no misunderstanding among stakeholders on...

A drop in value of imports amid rise in exports helped push down Kenya’s trade deficit 15 percent in 2016, new economic data showed Monday. The East African nation’s trade deficit declined to 8.3 billion U.S. dollars from 9.8 billion dollars in 2015 on account of low import bill. The imports, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data, fell 9.4 percent to 13.4 billion dollars from 15.5 billion dollars mainly due to low oil prices in 2016. On the other hand, domestic exports increased slightly by 0.5 percent to 4.9 billion dollars from 4.8 billion dollars mainly attributed to increased volumes amid rise in prices of tea, horticulture and coffee. The three accounted for 46 percent of the country’s total exports in 2016 compared to 45 percent in 2015, the highest level in six years. During the period, the total value of fuel and lubricant imports declined by 12 percent to slightly above 2 billion to account for only 14.5 percent of the total import bill, compared to 15 percent in 2015. This was a notable improvement from a high of 27 percent in 2011, with the fall being attributed to the low global oil prices in 2016. The oil import bill, according to the economic data, averaged 150 million dollars a month last year from a peak of 437 million dollars in July, 2014. The drop pushed down Kenya’s monthly oil import bill to a level witnessed about a decade ago, but the oil prices are...

Prime minister urged not to heed call by hardliners to refuse to settle debts with Brussels after triggering article 50 Theresa May will be urged by pro-EU Conservatives to reach a quick deal over the divorce bill from Brussels in order to maximise the chances of reaching a free trade deal within the tight deadline for Brexit talks. As the prime minister prepares to trigger article 50, the formal process for leaving the EU, on Wednesday, rebel Tories who seek the closest possible relationship with the EU are preparing to offer May political cover for settling what they see as Britain’s debts to Brussels. They fear that Britain could waste valuable time and erode goodwill by locking horns with the remaining members – the EU27 – over the price of exit, which must be agreed upfront, according to the EU’s lead negotiator, Michel Barnier. They are concerned that dragging out the issue would hand Brexit hardliners an excuse for walking away from the negotiating table without a deal. Barnier has suggested the outlines of a deal must be agreed within 18 months in order to allow EU member states to ratify it before the two-year deadline set out in article 50 of the Lisbon treaty. Neil Carmichael, the Stroud MP who campaigned for remain, said: “If we’re going to row about money all the time, then we’re not going to find ourselves in the right kind of relationship. Some of this money is about the support that we have been...

he East African Community (EAC) and the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) jointly has organized from 27 March, a two-day meeting in the capital Bujumbura to discuss the regional challenges “We shall seek to develop common positions in tackling the political problems affecting some of the countries belonging to both organizations such as South Sudan and the Burundi-Rwanda political impasse”, says Zachary Muita-Muburi, the ICGLR Executive Secretary during the joint ICGLR/EAC meeting, this 27 March in the capital Bujumbura. The same view is shared by Libérat Mfumukeko, Secretary General of the EAC: “Our main concern is how we can draw on our synergies towards finding a sustainable solution to the Burundi political impasse and respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Republic of South Sudan.” The EAC Secretary says among the areas identified for a joint intervention are the development of capacities to address conflicts, refugees and humanitarian issues, promotion of democracy and good governance, fight against illegal exploitation of natural resources, promotion of the private sector and civil society as well as combating sex and gender based violence. The ICGLR Executive Secretary says the EAC is a regional economic community committed to the promotion of the regional integration in order to transfer and foster economic development. As for the ICGLR, he says it is a regional mechanism established for the purpose of facilitating member states working with partners for political interventions to tackle peace and security challenges. “There is necessity for the two organizations to work...

One possible explanation of the slowing down could be the impact of Brexit and the turmoil – if I can call it so – it has created in the European Union. Until up to recently, the European Union was considered by many as a good example of unifying economies for the common progress of the members. Now that the future of the bloc is seen to be in doubt, even our East African Community members may be beginning to think that the whole East African project might not be viable in the long-run after all. I personally believe that Brexit and the other challenges facing the European Union today should instead provide the EAC partner states an important lesson that would help them formulate a better East African Community than the one they had envisaged, even if it meant revisiting the whole concept. But abandoning key joint projects, such as the envisaged railway, would be a missed opportunity. It’s clear there are some dishonest members who are bent on stabbing their peers at the back. I know there are national interests every country is pursuing, but that should not be to the detriment of a good working relationship in the community. There have been abrasive and bare knuckles in the way things are done. If this is not managed well then the Njonjo prophecy will come to pass. I hope I am wrong but I fear I may be right.     Source: The New Times