Uganda’s High Commissioner and Permanent Representative to UN-Habitat Angelina Wapakhabulo (left), Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala (centre) and Belisa Kariza, Rwanda Development Board Chief Tourism Officer show solidarity during the opening of the East Africa Tourism Expo at KICC, Nairobi. [Photo: Elvis Ogina/Standard]Tanzania has dealt Kenya another blow by distancing itself from the common visa launched between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. The common visa is meant to, among other things, enable the members states to jointly market their tourism as a single product. Tanzania also wants nothing to do with the joint marketing strategies pushed by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and will not participate in the East African tourism platform events being pushed for by the neighbours. The joint visa has been issued to 4,000 tourists who will be visiting the three countries, now dubbed ‘the coalition of the willing’. In a media briefing Wednesday, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said Tanzania was wary of competition from Kenya. “Tourists who will be moving between the three countries that form the coalition will now be using a common visa that will be charged at $100 (Sh10,122) instead of $150 (Sh15,183) that each country charged before,” Mr Balala said. “The coalition of the willing has also agreed to have a common East Africa stand at the world Travel Market to be held in London on November 7. The stand has been dubbed ‘borderless East Africa’, but Tanzania will not be part of it,” he added. However, Balala asserted that if the...

The Port of Mombasa is the gateway to East and Central Africa,and is one of the busiest Ports along the East African coastline. The Port provides direct connectivity to over 80 Ports worldwide and is linked to a vast hinterland comprising Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia by road. Muhamad J. Jezan who heads the KPA Liaison Office in Kampala gives some insights into their operations.  Six states in Eastern Africa are implementing a common market protocol, providing for free movement of goods and services. What is the role being played by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in facilitating trade in the EAC? The basic role played by the Port Authority is connecting the hinterland to the overseas market. We offer economies of scale to move bigger volumes of cargo at lower costs with optimal utilization of ICT innovations to create efficiency and provide an environment where all Partner Agencies interact to effectively clear cargo both in and out of the port to their final destinations. What kind of infrastructure is in place at the Port of Mombasa to handle the growing volumes of trade along the Northern Corridor? The Port of Mombasa as a multi-purpose port, has great infrastructure to handle the growing volumes along the Northern Corridor and this includes an excellent natural harbour with good shelter, a maximum draft of 15 metres and the capacity to handle approximately 23.7 million tonnes  of cargo per year. It has 13 general...

The new East African Community (EAC) secretary general, Mr Liberat Mfumukeko, has reiterated his determination to cut down expenditure in the regional organisation. He has so far managed to save substantially from travel expenses and he says he is now targeting procurement as another area in which the EAC can cut down cost immensely. The new EAC boss' dream is to save $6 million in the current financial year, which is commendable thing, given that the regional body's budget is largely dependent on donors. Being cost conscious would impress donors and they would for sure be more committed, for they would see that what they give is well spent. While austerity at the EAC secretariat is laudable, we hasten to add that it would have been more praiseworthy if this would be translated into more profitable EAC entailing people-centred undertakings. The regional body was established to serve as a vehicle to bring together East African people. In that regard, any initiative taken by the secretariat or other EAC organ should aim to ensure this goal is achieved. Therefore, as Mr Mfumukeko and his team at the secretariat work hard to run a cost conscious EAC, they should also focus their efforts to making the regional body effectively save this region's citizens. Making the EAC people-centred is the best way to ensure we have a strong and vibrant regional bloc. If the EAC citizen feel attached to their organisation, it won't require much effort wooing them to wholly support it. There...

Farmers in Zanzibar and manufacturers will sigh with relief after a pledge by TradeMark Africa to facilitate entry of their products to the East Africa regional market. The multi-donor funded trade agency pledged to help Zanzibar exports become competitive in the region and form part of Tanzania's exports to the East African Community (EAC) market. The TMA Country Director, Mr John Ulanga, made the promise to the Zanzibar Minister for Trade, Industry and Marketing, Ms Amina Salum Ally, who visited TMA offices in Dar es Salaam over the weekend. Mr Ulanga said TMA would work on the request from the Zanzibar government to help products from Isles get access to the regional market. She asked TMA to promote Zanzibar products to Tanzania Mainland and other East African countries. She said Zanzibar products must be consumed as products from Tanzania once they enter into East African and International markets. The TMA boss said his office would work on the matter and make sure Zanzibar participates in various trade and business activities in East Africa. This would entail among other things building capacity of entrepreneurs. Recently TMA offered 200bn/- to Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) and Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (ZNCCIA) for building capacity among its people. We hail this new development as an important step in the right direction as it will help Zanzibar enjoy the benefit of the regional organisation by eventually make optimal use of opportunities availed in the regional market for...

Tankers at Busia border. Cases of highway robbers targeting transporters are on the rise. PHOTO | FILE  Inspector- General Joseph Boinnet has deployed at least 200 police officers to work with the Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) in escorting cargo along the Northern Corridor. KTA chief executive Alfayo Otuke said the lobby group would next week meet the security agencies to plan on how to provide security for cargo. “This follows rampant cases of cargo theft and incidents hitting a notch higher...sometimes turning fatal besides losing cargo to highway criminals. “This situation has seen some transporters re-routing to Tanzania,” he said. Mr Boinnet’s move comes in the wake of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order last month that he sets up a unit that will secure cargo along the corridor. The President, concerned about theft of cargo along the trade route, said the government would not tolerate theft of transit goods and asked the Inspector General to create a police unit charged with the responsibility of ensuring that cargo reached the borders safely. “Our neighbours are complaining that Kenyans are stealing their goods and we cannot accept this to be the status quo. “Action will be taken against those who think that Mombasa port and the Northern Corridor will be a place where our neighbour’s goods are going to be stolen,” he said at the commissioning of Mombasa port’s phase one of the second container terminal. Yesterday, Mr Otuke said lobby group would work closely with the police to ensure that cargo reached...

Mr Liberat Mfumukeko, the East African Community secretary- general. PHOTO | COURTESY IN SUMMARY EAC secretary-general Liberat Mfumukeko on Monday said that the free movement of people, goods, services and capital will continue to be a top priority during his tenure. Integration of East Africa Community member states is set to make considerable progress over the next five years following renewed push by the secretariat to a create borderless regional market. EAC secretary-general Liberat Mfumukeko on Monday said that the free movement of people, goods, services and capital will continue to be a top priority during his tenure. “You are aware that in three out of the five countries in EAC, their respective citizens can enter and exit their territories using their IDs. I am sure that shortly this will be the norm in all the countries after the process of ensuring this is complete. I also wish to inform you that come 2017, the international East African electronic passport will be in use,” he said. Kenyan, Uganda and Rwanda governments provide free work permit to all East Africans, Mr Mfumukeko said, adding that he will continue pushing Tanzania and Rwanda to adopt the East African Common Market Protocol which was ratified in 2010 and provides for free movement of workers. The cost of a work permit in Tanzania ranges between Sh525 and Sh262,500 ($6 and $3,000) and in Burundi from Sh5,250 and Sh7,350 ($60 and $84). Free movement of labour across member States will open-up new job opportunities for...

A ship docks at Mombasa port. KPA says now has room to handle more cargo and become a transshipment hub. PHOTO | FILE   The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is upbeat about the growth of its trans-shipment segment after the taxman scrapped security bond and allowed shipping lines to lodge their own entries. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has from last week scrapped security bond on transshipment containers. The changes are part of the wider campaign by port users to ensure that at least 70 per cent of cargo are pre-cleared by the time of arrival at Mombasa, a move aimed at avoiding demurrage charges. “The removal of the security bond and related paperwork is a major milestone.” Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) spokesperson Bernard Osero told the Business Daily.  “It will play a key role in attracting customers. We now have ample capacity to handle the cargo.” Transshipment involves large vessels docking at the port and redistributing their cargo to smaller ships that serve regional ports. The bond, initially collected at the rate of Sh100,000 per vessel — before it was revised to Sh1,000 per container following months of intense lobbying among shipping agents — is meant to ensure that such goods are not diverted into the local market duty-free. While the KRA initially argued that it only collects the minimal sum to boost customs compliance, logistics sector maintains that together with the time-consuming paperwork, the bond has played a key role in driving large ships away from Kenya’s coast....

An establishment of South Nyanza (Sony) Sugar Company. The company together with Nzoia Sugar Company in Western Kenya are hosting pilot projects on sucrose-based payment to cane farmers where Kenya Sugar Research Foundation (KESREF) are taking lead role. The system is expected to undergo tests before it is implemented. (PHOTO: COURTESY)The Government has been handed two more years to sort out its sugar mess. With this, Kenya is buying time to enable it privatise its struggling sugar millers before the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) safeguards are lifted. The Industrialisation and Trade ministry told The Standard yesterday that Kenya had received the extension after fruitful negotiations in Madagascar during the 36th Comesa Intergovernmental committee meeting. “I have just received information from my team there that we have gotten an extension of two years before the Comesa safeguards are lifted,” Trade Permanent Secretary Chris Kiptoo said. This was also confirmed by Kenya’s Ambassador to Zambia Sophie Kombe. “We have managed to get a two-year Sugar safeguard extension to take effect after the current one expiring in February 2017,” Ms Kombe said. She said this will guard sugar imports into the Kenyan market thus protecting farmers. The country has been unable to prepare its local sugar industry to compete against the sweetener from COMESA markets, thus asking for protection for almost a decade. In March last year, the Council of Ministers sitting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, extended Kenya’s sugar safeguard by one year subject to review and renewal for another...

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim came together on 7 October to argue that the benefits of trade must be spread more widely. They were taking part in a joint event entitled “Making Trade an Engine of Growth for All”, held at the IMF’s headquarters in Washington D.C. The three leaders also discussed the importance of making the credible and balanced case for trade. The Director-General said: “While I believe that trade is essential for economic growth and development around the world, I also believe that trade is imperfect. Despite the overall gains it delivers, it can have negative effects in some parts of the economy and those effects can have a big impact on some people’s lives. We have a responsibility to reflect on this and to respond. “We have to work harder to ensure that the benefits of trade are more widely shared. We also need a clearer analysis of the challenges before us so that we can tailor our response. The charge often levelled against trade is that it sends jobs overseas, particularly in manufacturing. Trade can indeed cause this kind of displacement, and we need to respond to it. But actually trade is a relatively minor cause of job losses. The evidence shows that well over 80% of job losses in advanced economies are not due to trade, but to increased productivity through technology and innovation. “So we need to be clear-eyed about the...

The newly installed gantry cranes off-loads some of the containers from the MV Busan Trader soon after she docked at the port of Mombasa's second container terminal on Tuesday, April 27, 2016. Operations at the new second container terminal started after first container vessel of over 2000 TEU capacity went alongside berth 21. This comes barely two months after the contractor handed over the 550,000 TEUs 1st phase of the Second Container Terminal project to Kenya Ports Authority. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].Insurance firms are set to meet this week after manufacturers raised concerns over their capacity to insure marine cargo. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) last week questioned local firms’ capacity to offer the product ahead of the new law that compels exporters and importers to get local marine cargo cover by January next year. KAM said local firms lack the capital and scope to cover terrorism and piracy, provide automated marine insurance services, and ensure adherence to regional and international legal instruments on free trade. The association added that implementation of Section 20 of the insurance law was done before configuring insurance services to the Kenya National Single Window System and Kenya Revenue Authority online portals that facilitate trade. They also pointed out that there are no regulatory systems in place to ensure premium and price controls, or timely settlements of claims. Insurance firms, however, insist they have the capacity to offer the product as they have been handling container cargo effectively. According to the Association of Kenya...