Finland has granted 9.8 million Euros to TradeMark Africa (TMA) to support its work in enhancing trade across the East African Community to increase prosperity in the region. The agreement will advance common goals of increasing trade within East Africa by reducing the time and cost of transiting and transporting goods. The partnership will also support East African Community (EAC) regional trade integration. This grant is also expected to broaden TMAs regional integration program at the Port of Dar es Salaam and key border posts along the Central Corridors, and will work with EAC Member States to remove barriers to trade. The agreement was signed by the Finnish Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Tarja Fernández and Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark Africa. Finland’s strategy for development cooperation and action plan for aid for trade put more emphasis on the development of trade and regional economic integration. The Finnish government believes that supporting increased trade in the region in combination with assistance to the private sector will accelerate economic growth and jobs, with the ultimate goal of poverty reduction. Finnish Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Tarja Fernández said: “We know that the new strategy will move the region beyond the accomplishments of the past, creating job opportunities, and opening up, until now, marginalised areas to development through interventions at various nodes of East Africa Trade Network from ports to the hinterlands. That is why we are committed to supporting the second phase of TMA’s programme.” TMA aims to contribute to increased trade in Eastern...

THE quest to bring standard-gauge rail to Africa has gained traction following an announcement from the Tanzanian government that it is seeking bidders for the construction of the final portion of the new line that it plans to build between Dar es Salaam and Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The railway is to be built in four phases and will give the landlocked central African countries their first through rail link to the Indian Ocean. Tanzania is the latest African country to embark on building a new standard-gauge railway. A brand new standard-gauge line running parallel to the old colonial-era railway in Kenya is well-advanced, while a Chinese-built electrified line linking Djibouti with Addis Ababa in Ethiopia was opened in October.The 2190km line, which is part of the East African Railways Master Plan to link Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, will run from Dar es Salaam to the lake port of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, following roughly the same route as the metre-gauge Tanganyika Railway built by the German colonial authorities at the beginning of the 20th century. Known after Tanzanian independence as the Central Line, the railway has suffered from a lack of maintenance in recent decades, leaving the country without reliable rail transport between its lake ports and the sea. Construction of the new railway, currently known as the SGR, will be partly financed by a $US 7.6bn loan from China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim) secured last July. The final section of the railway is...

The Communications Authority of Kenya Director General Francis Wangusi said five East African Community (EAC) member states are currently holding talks in order to expand the One Area Mobile Network to cover all the member states. Wangusi told a regional internet forum in Nairobi that current members Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan are in talks for Tanzania and Burundi to join them, so that all calls amongst those countries are treated as domestic calls. Wangusi said during the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Capacity Building Workshop for Africa’s Governmental Advisory Committee Representatives that an enlarged One Area Mobile Network would reduce the cost of making calls across the trading bloc. He said the direct result is that the volume of inter-country calls will increase and this will help to promote EAC regional integration efforts. Wangusi said that in order for the six-member EAC bloc to become a single network, there are some hurdles that need to be overcome. The telecoms regulator noted that Tanzania and Burundi are ready to change their legislation in order to join the regional network, in view of the numerous benefits their citizens would receive. Source: Telecom Paper

IN SUMMARY An industry report released by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) indicates that earnings dropped from Sh125 billion in 2015 to Sh120 billion last year. Kenya’s tea export earnings declined by 3.6 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year due to a rise in volumes at the auction whose impact was partly mitigated by a strong dollar. However, the government yesterday projected record growth of earnings to Sh133 billion this year driven by good prices and reduced volumes. An industry report released by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) indicates that earnings dropped from Sh125 billion in 2015 to Sh120 billion last year. Announcing the performance, AFA board chairman Raphael Lekolool said the volumes grew by 18 per cent to 473 million kilogrammes from 399 million kilogrammes in 2015, pushing down the average price of the beverage to Sh236 per kilo last year from Sh298 the previous year. However, the negative impact was slightly mitigated by strong dollar rates, said Mr Lekolool. The ongoing drought is expected to cut tea production by 12 per cent to 416 million kilogrammes. Consequently, export volumes are expected to drop by the same margin while export earnings are projected to hit a record Sh133 billion in 2017. “With regard to auction prices, a 22 per cent increase is expected from an average of Sh236 per kilogramme recorded in 2016 to Sh290,” he said. Kericho County recorded the highest production of 93.1 million kilogrammes followed by Bomet at 72.7 million and...

Kenya  is about five months to the commissioning of its Chinese funded rail connection between its capital of Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa. The 472-kilometer railway is 90 per cent funded by Chinese Exim Bank. The commissioning is scheduled for June 2017. The project will cost $3.8billion. In readiness, a batch of modern hybrid long-distance passenger trains for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), will arrive in the country in February, a railway official said. Kenya Railways Managing Director, Atanas Maina, said the five passenger locomotives are part of the 56 locomotives expected in the country prior to the launch of the SGR in June. “These passenger locomotives will cut down a 12-hour journey from Nairobi to Mombasa to just over four hours. Furthermore, the line will result in significant cuts in journey times between Kenya, Uganda and eventually to Kigali, in Rwanda,” Maina said in a statement issued in Nairobi. The government anticipates that incomes for ordinary Kenyans will rise substantially while the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase by 1.5 percent. Maina said the ultra-modern 6,000 litres of diesel powered locomotives can run at a top speed of 158 kilometres per hour and have an overall length of 220 meters. He said Kenya Railways will receive 40 passenger coaches which will have varying capacities with the economy class accommodating 118 passengers in each coach and 72 in the First-Class coach. Its low-weight and optimized aerodynamic design will reduce fuel consumption substantially. “These passenger locos will usher Kenya into in...

IN SUMMARY TMA is funded by a range of development agencies with the aim of enhancing prosperity in the East African Community (EAC) through trade. Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) will today receive a grant of 9.8 million Euros (over Sh1 billion) from the government of Finland to enhance trade and economic integration in the region. TMA is funded by a range of development agencies with the aim of enhancing prosperity in the East African Community (EAC) through trade. “We believe that enhanced trade contributes to economic growth, a reduction in poverty and subsequently increased prosperity,” TMA said. The grant signatories will be Finland ambassador to Kenya Tarja Fernandez and TMA chief executive Frank Matsaert. TMA has been working with EAC institutions, governments, the private sector and civil society organisations to increase trade by unlocking economic potential through increased physical access to markets. In December last year, TMA signed a Sh150 million agreement with East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) to automate tea trading at the Mombasa auction. Source: Business Daily Africa

Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping took to the stage at the 43rd summit of the World Economic Forum, (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. He was the first Chinese president to ever address the annual conference. At an exclusive ski resort on the Swiss Alps, President Xi, flanked by some of China’s billionaires, made a spirited defence for globalisation. He started his 54-minute address by referencing the opening of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. “Today, we also live in a world of contradictions,” he said. “On the one hand, growing material wealth and advancements in science and technology have seen human civilisations develop as never before. On the other hand, however, frequent regional conflicts, global challenges like terrorism and refugees, as well as poverty, unemployment and the widening income gap have added to the uncertainties of the world.” Few countries understand the import of globalisation as clearly as China does since adopting more outward-looking market reforms in 1978. The reforms, dubbed gaige kai- fang, which loosely translates to “change the system, open the door”, saw China emerge as a strategic cog in the global value chain. Economic miracle Strategic sectors of China’s economy, including manufacturing and the financial sector, opened up to international trade and foreign direct investment. The country became a major assembly outpost for everything, from iPhones to nuclear reactors. For close to 25 years straight, China’s GDP growth averaged nearly 10 per cent annually. The country accomplished what the World Bank defines as a near economic...

This week saw another gathering of the world’s powerful in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum, which opened on Monday and ended on Friday. The theme for this year was economic growth and social inclusion. Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam International, got the ball rolling when she said that eight men own as much wealth as half the population of the world. This prompted leaders at the forum to grapple with the question of creating wealth in a capitalist world while eliminating poverty. In his article on the forum’s agenda, Andrew Liveris, CEO of the Dow chemical company said inclusive capitalism is ultimately about re-embracing the purest purpose of business: Solving problems and improving people’s lives. The Swiss president, Doris Leuthard, added her voice to the conversation when she said that the forum should come up with strategies to ensure that the sharp divide between the rich and poor does not get larger. Additionally, Jean Lebel, President of the International Development Research Centre, challenged the world to use ICT to foster inclusion of women in economic growth. Her organisation has partnered with the World Economic Forum to collect data and empower leaders to implement discussions on inclusive growth by providing a data bank on the successes of inclusive strategies. The global agenda included globalisation, digitisation and the fourth industrial revolution, handling the refugee problem and the role of the US and China in the global economy. Chinese president Xi Jinping started off the conversation on globalisation during...

Traders in Taita-Taveta have complained over growing cross-border trade barriers with Tanzania. Women traders mainly cereal dealers, say they are not allowed to conduct business in Tanzania freely despite the East Africa Common Market Protocol. At a workshop on East African Community (EAC) Customs and Immigration procedures, it emerged that apart from arbitrary arrests by security personnel, women are also sexually abused. The two-day workshop sponsored by TradeMark Africa (TMA) aimed at training women traders in EAC member States on how to grow their businesses at the border. Christine Nankubuge Ndawula, Programmes Director, Eastern African Sub –Regional Support Initiative for the advancement of women (EASSI) said women who use undesignated routes were prone to abuse. “Women traders should ensure they get valid travel documents while conducting their business in a foreign country because if they do not do so they are likely to be harassed,” she said. Ms Ndawula said the EAC Gender Bill that is currently at the East Africa Legislative Assembly in Arusha if passed and assented into law will help address the problem. “The law will hold the EAC member States accountable on gender issues and also enable women to participate in governance. The proposed law will also enable women fully participate in regional integration process,” she said. Taita Taveta County First Lady Hope Mruttu noted the cross-border trade is still favouring Tanzania traders who conduct their business freely in Taveta border town. She said some of the foreign traders have established business premises in the town...

More cruise ships continue to call at the Port of Mombasa as the Kenya Ports Authority insisted yesterday the construction of cruise ship terminal will be completed by July next year. A cruise ship MV Nautica yesterday docked at the port with 654 passengers and 396 crew members on board. The tourists, enroute to Seychelles, were on a one-day excursion to Shimba Hills, Malindi, Amboseli and Mombasa town. The ship was making its second call this season, having made the first one on December 10. Another vessel MV Silva Cloud docked on December 6. KPA spokesperson Haji Masemo said two other vessels will dock in the next two months. Speaking when he welcomed more than 1,000 cruise tourists, Masemo said interior partitioning for the proposed terminal in line with set standards has started. He said the terminal will enable the port to bag more accolades.  Last December, during the launch of the terminal, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said the cruise ship terminal cost Sh350 million. He said this was a major boost to Kenya’s tourism sector. Masemo said Trademark East Africa, a development partner, has contributed Sh100 million of the total budget. Hopes on cruise ship tourism were revived after the government restored calm following a series of incursion by pirates. Ships were diverted North, some tourists were abducted and ransoms amounting to millions of shillings was demanded. Masemo said the terminal will increase the number of cruise vessels docking at the port. The KPA said it hopes visitor...