News Tag: Kenya

Signing EPA with Europe is bad, declares Magufuli

Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli yesterday described the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as a “form of colonialism”, dampening Tanzania’s possibility of signing the deal with the European Union (EU). “It is bad for our country,” Dr Magufuli affirmed. Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at the State House here, Dr Magufuli disfavoured EPAs, which are aimed at creating a free trade area between EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. His Ugandan counterpart warned African countries that EPA might break up their unity. “It’s better if the signing of the deal is shelved until further consultations are made.” President Museveni arrived in Dar es Salaam yesterday morning for a two-day state visit. Dr Magufuli noted that after studying EPA he had realised that African countries would not benefit from it economically as its architects touted. He noted that terms included in the agreement were not intended to help African countries to grow economically. “I believe that our neighbour, Uganda, will second us for the betterment of our countries. We have discussed EPA for a long time but to me it seems like another form of colonialism… it is bad for our country,” he said. There has been criticism in other quarters that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by EU are incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules. President Museveni noted that the fact that many African countries had not signed EPA shows that the proposal was meant to create...

Barriers hurting cross-border trade

Non-compliance of regional trade agreements by Rwanda’s neighbours is taking a heavy toll on the nation’s earnings from cross-border trade. Legislators are concerned that informal trade with Burundi, Tanzania as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, faces multiple barriers resulting in low export volumes to these strategic markets. A report tabled last week by parliament’s Standing Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs shows that while trade with DR Congo suffered as a result of the instability in the Kivu Province, Burundi and Tanzania have imposed restrictions intended to block Rwandan traders from accessing their markets. The highlighted practices are contrary to the provisions of the East African Community Customs Union as well as other trade agreements with regional trading blocs such as the Economic Community Great Lakes Region (CEPGL), which brings together Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. “We want the concerned authorities to address the issues we found,” said MP Adolph Bazatoha, who leads the committee that carried out an assessment at different borders. Mr Bazatoha said the issues had been forwarded to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs. Burundi is Rwanda’s second largest cross-border trade market after DR Congo, with agricultural and livestock products being the major commodities traded in informal transactions. However, trade with Burundi is carried out illegally after the government imposed trade restrictions with Rwanda. Worsening diplomatic relations with Burundi led to the closure of the border with Rwanda in July last year. Ties between the two countries deteriorated in 2015...

Direct US flights will bolster trade – state

The decision by the US authorities to give Kenya security and safety clearance for non-stop flights will bolster investment flows from the world's largest economy, state officials have said. Transport CS James Macharia announced last Thursday the Federal Aviation Administration had finally granted the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport category one status after sustained investments to expand the airport's capacity and enhance its air safety. The approval of the JKIA followed a successful audit to ascertain it met the standards set by International Civil Aviation Organisation – the UN agency that sets standards for international air transport. Treasury CS Henry Rotich said the move will lead to increased tourists from the US in the coming years, subject to to the Kenya Airways getting codeshare deal with US airlines. “We have in the past used various airlines to deliver our goods to the US market but with the non-stop flights this will change,” he said in Naivasha, adding that sectors such horticulture will also be key beneficiaries. The value of imports from the US dropped 187.20 per cent to Sh43.89 billion last year from Sh126.05 billion recorded in 2015, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows. Exports, on the other hand, rose 7.57 per cent to Sh43.47 billion from Sh40.41 billion. "This achievement is an important milestone for Kenya-US bilateral relations. Both countries have maintained numerous and diverse areas of partnerships and cooperation in security, exports and imports as well as tourism,” Vision 2030 director-general Julius Muia said. “We expect...

East Africa to track trucks from Mombasa port to stop theft

East African customs authorities have adopted an electronic system to track lorries travelling between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to speed up journeys. The trackers will allow officials and traders to monitor trucks travelling to and from the Kenyan port of Mombasa. A device will be attached to vehicles and is intended to help prevent hijacks and goods being tampered with. Uganda, which pioneered the project, says journey times could be cut from three-and-a-half days to just 36 hours. Detours detected The geo-mapping, known as the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking (RECT), will apply to the main road stretching from Mombasa port to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, known as the "Northern Corridor". Officials will be able to monitor journeys on a map and be able to immediately detect any detours. About 90% of goods through the region are transported by road with the risk of cargo being targeted by criminals. Customs officials say drivers have also been known to take diversions and siphon off freight, for example offloading coffee and adding stones to make up the missing weight. "There has always been that unpredictable aspect of not knowing whether your goods will reach or they won't reach and that in itself is a very serious discomfort, now this will resolve that problem," Kassim Omar, chairman of the Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents in Uganda, told the BBC at the launch in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. "The level of assurance guarantees the buyer abroad or the supplier from this end that what...

Who is who in the EALA race

As the elections for the nine representatives to the East Africa regional body’s Parliament draw near, the candidates are spending most of the time at Parliament trying to solicit their support. There are six candidates from NRM, the ruling party, one from the Forum for the Democratic Change, one from UPC, one from DP and over 30 independents. As the elections EALA draw near, the candidates are spending most of the time at Parliament trying to solicit their support. As the elections for the nine representatives to the East Africa regional body’s Parliament draw near, the candidates are spending most of the time at Parliament trying to solicit their support. There are six candidates from NRM, the ruling party, one from the Forum for the Democratic Change, one from UPC, one from DP and over 30 independents. Janet Kenyangi Kikwaya (Independent) At 24, she is the youngest in the race Q: What motivated you to contest for the EALA seat? I have always been involved right from primary three at Margaret Preparatory School up to Senior Six at Kyeizooba Girls Secondary School. I look at politics as way of serving people.  Q: What do think has been lacking in EALA and which value would you intend to add there? EALA has signed a lot of protocols on peace and security, integration, non-tariff barriers; however, most of the protocols signed are not implemented. I will make sure that all the protocols and policies signed are implemented as well as deepening integration among...

WTO's new global trade deal comes into force

GENEVA –An international agreement forecast to boost global trade by $1 trillion (£800bn) a year has come into force. The Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Roberto Azevedo, called it "the biggest reform of global trade in a generation". The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) involves streamlining customs procedures. Mr Azevedo said it would have a bigger impact than eliminating all existing taxes on imports, known as tariffs. It involves countries signing up to a long list of reforms, including easier access for businesses to information, reduced fees and simpler and faster procedures. WTO economists estimated it would cut the cost of trading by 14.3%, and that developing nations would gain the most. TFA is one of the few successes of a much wider set of negotiations that were launched in late 2001 in the Qatari capital and known as the Doha Round. It is not the only product of the Doha Round, but most of the negotiating agenda ran into the sand. The TFA was finally agreed at a meeting in Bali 2013, but could not come into force until 110 countries had ratified it. That is what has now happened. Mr Azevedo said the agreement would boost global trade by up to $1 trillion a year. This development comes at a time when there is increasing uncertainty about the outlook for the agenda of increasing trade liberalisation that the WTO embodies. The new US President Donald Trump wants to renegotiate the country's trade agreement with Canada and...

Standard gauge railway tests to start next month – Macharia

Test rides on the standard gauge railway will start next month to ensure optimum performance once full operations begin in June, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure announced yesterday. Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the construction works on the SGR are 99 per cent complete, adding the 472-kilometre track and other installations are in place. “The contractor will add all the facilities after testing for the purposes of operations and maintenance of the trains,” the CS said. The Kenya Railways Corporation has so far received eight freight haulage heavy-duty locomotives for mainline use out of the expected 43, and two shunting locomotives out of eight ordered for the SGR. Last week the KRC received 60 wagons in the first batch of 1,620 freight haulage rolling stock. Two more passenger coaches are expected by May. Macharia spoke when he flagged off trains carrying 35 students, including 15 women, who are going to study in China under a scholarship by the SGR main contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation and the KRC. He said the ministry has set aside up to Sh1 billion for the construction of a business school within the Railway Training Institute targeting about 1,000 students who will be taught how to operate the SGR and will help build the second phase of the project. CRBC general manager Sun Liqiang said they will work with the ministry to sponsor more students. Source: The Star

WTO passes historic trillion-dollar trade facilitation pact

The WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) has entered into force, with supporters hailing it as the greatest single achievement in the organisation’s history. The ratification is a timely boost for free trade advocates, at a time when the populist protectionist rhetoric of US President Donald Trump has been dominating the debate. The TFA has been under discussion since 1996 and has been awaiting ratification since 2013. The process was slow, but at last, the WTO has a ratified agreement. The TFA standardises customs procedures among WTO member states, cutting costs and reducing the time it takes to export and import goods. The WTO forecasts that it will slash trade costs for members by 14.3% on average, boosting global trade by up to US$1tn per year. A 2015 study by the WTO estimates that the TFA would reduce time to market for imports by a day and a half, and two days for exports. This is a reduction of 47% and 91% for imports and exports, respectively. The study says that TFA will add 2.7% a year to world export growth up to 2030. This would equate to 0.5% of global GDP – a huge boost at a time when global trade growth is stagnating and the benefits of globalisation are under scrutiny. The TFA passed the required threshold of 110 members when Chad, Jordan, Oman and Rwanda submitted their instruments of acceptance, and the general consensus is that by streamlining trade facilitation, the developing world will be the biggest winner. “This would boost global trade by...

Africa’s ports revolution: Railway ports of the east

The population of Africa is presently 1.2 billion and growing at a rate of 2.5% a year, more than twice that of any other continent. In two years’ time, it will gain the population of the UK; in 12 years of compounded growth it will gain the population of China. All these extra people may add dynamism to economies, but only if the increase in labour supply can be matched by an equivalent increase in economic activity; otherwise, rising population density may destabilise social and political systems – an effect already seen in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This challenge has led to a different pattern of development for ports on Africa’s east coast, compared to the west coast. In the west, the centres served by these ports are close by, sometimes right outside the port gate. In east Africa, by contrast, they are between 500km and 1,000km away, and most of the infrastructure needed to reach them has not yet been built. In the case of the Doraleh container terminal at Djibouti, the goal is the Ethiopian highlands and the valley of the White Nile at Khartoum, a cluster roughly equivalent to the population of Japan. In East Africa, a similar-sized population is grouped in the Great Lakes states, South Sudan and the DRC. All of these centres, with the marginal exception of the DRC, are landlocked. Their ability to attract investment and benefit from globalisation depends, among other things, on having efficient rail, road and...

East Africa: EAC Pushes to Promote Free, Fair Election

Mombasa — The East African Community (EAC) has reminded election monitoring bodies and media organisations in partner states to use its treaty in line with their respective countries' legal frameworks when managing and covering elections to maintain free and fair polls. The regional bloc has principles for election observation and evaluation based on among others, its treaty. The principles are based on international standards, Union Charter on Human Peoples' Rights and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. The regional body made the statement during a three-day capacity building workshop for election monitoring bodies and other stakeholders to assess fairness of the political space and campaign playing field through media monitoring. Funded by the European Union (EU), the workshop is expected to equip stakeholders with full knowledge and skill in using media to get a firsthand and at glance assessment information in regard to political space and campaign playing field fairness. "Use the treaty as reference in the course of making the elections free and fair in the region," EAC's Deputy Secretary General (Political Federation), Mr Charles Njoroge, said yesterday. He pointed out that the media plays an indispensable role in the proper functioning of a democracy, and within an electoral context, the media is expected to play a transparency "watchdog" role. "If the media's role is vital in the normal course of events, exceptional periods such as elections can put its impartiality and objectivity to harsh test," he argued. Mr Gerard Guedegbe, media training expert based in Benin,...