Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated Amina Mohamed for the position of African Union Commission chair. PHOTO | FILE  IN SUMMARY Rwanda is supporting Kenya’s nominee for the African Union Commission chair — Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed — but it remains to be seen which way Tanzania and Uganda will lean. Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo told The EastAfrican that her country would support Ms Mohamed, ruling out speculation that they would front the former president of the African Development Bank Donald Kaberuka or former EAC secretary general Richard Sezibera. Rwanda is supporting Kenya’s nominee for the African Union Commission chair — Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed — but it remains to be seen which way Tanzania and Uganda will lean. Ms Mohamed was proposed for the job by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, who cited her credentials in diplomacy and exemplary performance in her current docket. She has been Kenya’s ambassador/permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, and served as the assistant secretary general and deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi. READ: Kenya nominates Amina Mohamed for AU chair job Ms Mohamed, who will be standing against candidates from the other regional blocs, stands a better chance of election if she gets support from all EAC member states. Elections to replace Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is stepping down after one term to prepare for a stab at the South African presidency, will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January. On Friday, a committee to vet candidates met in Addis Ababa. Rwanda’s Minister of...

Cord leader Raila Odinga (centre), Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi (right) and Senator Stewart Madzayo listen during the official opening of the Kilifi County Investment Conference at Pwani University. PHOTO | SAMUEL KAZUNGU | NATION MEDIA GROUP  In Summary Research conducted by marine experts has established that the shoreline of Takaungu, near Kilifi Town, can be one of the biggest ports in East Africa. “It will be able to decongest the Mombasa port, giving investors and businessmen an opportunity due to its logistical location. “It will also harbour industrial parks processes zone and other components found in infrastructure,” said Mr Kingi said, while addressing investors at the conference. Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has said a feasibility study conducted in the county indicates the possibility of building a third port at Takaungu. He said research conducted by marine experts has established that the shoreline of Takaungu, near Kilifi Town, can be one of the biggest ports in East Africa. Addressing hundreds of investors and delegates at the start of the three-day Kilifi County International Investments Conference at Pwani University on Thursday afternoon, Mr Kingi said the port, if established, would open avenues for more investment opportunities in the region. “It will be able to decongest the Mombasa port, giving investors and businessmen an opportunity due to its logistical location. “It will also harbour industrial parks processes zone and other components found in infrastructure,” said Mr Kingi said, while addressing investors at the conference. Although the county has been hit by numerous challenges...

Standards are a vital element in trade, because they help business interaction and access to markets in the economy.  Standards and compliance can also encourage trade by providing valuable information about product requirements or consumer preferences which all add to competitiveness. A standards regime helps open-up markets. It allows customers to compare offers from different suppliers, making it easier for smaller and younger enterprises to compete with larger and stronger companies. They also give small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) a competitive advantage by enabling them to compete on a level playing field with bigger enterprises internationally and to increase market share. With a total population of about 146 million people, the East African Community (EAC) offers fertile ground for companies to do business.  By doing so, this leads to economic growth generated by higher levels of intra-East African trade. The EAC has developed East African Standards to harmonize requirements governing quality of products and services across the Community. Companies rely on these standards and their own conformance to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and boost sales of their products and services. Implementation of common standards has put the EAC at the fore front of competition policy in sub-Saharan Africa.  It is foreseen that through harmonized standardization and compliance, any trade barriers encountered during the exchange of goods and services within the EAC is limited or avoided altogether. On the other hand, compliance with strict standards of regulations can often be expensive for companies. However research points to the fact that...

Geneva — African countries are boosting intra-regional trade and deepening economic integration at a time when politicians in the global North are raising doubts about the benefits of trade, says the head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi told the World Trade Organization's annual public forum in Geneva: "Africa is widely noted for its low levels of intra-regional trade, but in fact the levels are much higher when North Africa is removed from the analysis." Speaking at a session on inclusive trade at the recent forum, he said economic integration will be key to Africa's long-term success and African nations must integrate more. "Africa has to know that there is no part of the world which has been successful in trading globally without learning first to trade with its neighbors," Dr. Kituyi said. UNCTAD says that in East Africa, intra-regional trade is closer to 26 percent, the same level as in Latin America. At the opening of the forum, Nigeria's Trade and Investment Minister, Okechukwu E. Enelamah, presented remarks for President Muhammadu Buhari which underlined the importance of an inclusive trade agenda. "This is a key question, particularly at this moment, when leaders are grappling with the challenge and consequences of inequality which has emerged as a major risk to peace and security," Enelamah said. 'Inclusive Trade' "Nigeria believes that a meaningful approach to inclusive trade will combine action by multilateral institutions for updated and more flexible rules, on the one hand, with...

Chinese employees of the new railway that links Addis Ababa to Djibouti take pictures in front of the Chinese-made Ethiopian trains in Addis Ababa on September 24, 2016. The construction of the 752.7-km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway adheres to China’s level-two electrified railway standards. PHOTO | AFP  In Summary As many African countries have been following different gauge standards of Western countries, they are not in a position to form an integrated African railway network. A consortium of the two Chinese contractors, CREC and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), beat their Western rivals to win the bid. ADDIS ABABA Ethiopia and Djibouti launched Africa’s first modern electrified railway connecting their respective capitals Thursday. It also marked the first time that the complete spectrum of an overseas railway industry chain is fully backed by Chinese standards. The construction of the 752.7-km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway adheres to China’s level-two electrified railway standards. It has a designed hourly speed of 120 kilometres and a total investment of $4 billion. As many African countries have been following different gauge standards of Western countries, they are not in a position to form an integrated African railway network. In January 2004, African countries proposed an integrated railway network on the continent. With support from regional organisations like the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community, construction projects at transnational and intra-regional levels have been put on agenda. Before official planning was set for the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway...

Treasury CS Henry Rotich with KRA commissioner general John Njiraini at a press briefing in Nairobi on Monday /ENOS TECHE The Kenya Revenue Authority has begun the roll out of the Pre-arrival Cargo Clearance System, in a move aimed at easing congestion at the Port of Mombasa. Importers are now required to clear their cargo before the vessel docks at the port, an initiative that will speed up movement of cargo from the Port of Mombasa to the intended destinations. This will be a major boost to the region’s economy, especially the industrial sector which depends on imports for their raw materials and other goods, including essential supplies to the market. KRA commissioner general John Njiraini yesterday described the move as “a very important step” in the authority’s quest to make Mombasa Port more attractive, and reduce the cost of doing business for investors. “We want to take the process a couple of steps back so that the lodging of documents and the payment of duties and other levies are paid before cargo arrives. By the time the Cargo arrives at the Port, the importer is in a position to take charge and remove the cargo,” He said the move will help importers from paying demurrage charges, accurued when vessels dock for longer periods at the port. Njiraini said the authority is fully committed to the implementation of the 2014 Mombasa Port Charter. The charter requires 70 per cent of cargo imported through the port of Mombasa be cleared under...

Bulk import commodities are the dominant in the conventional cargo handling operations at the port of Mombasa. In a statement issued by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), vessel loads of cargo have been discharged and evacuated to various in-land destinations. A total of 16 general cargo vessels went alongside the berths to discharge and load cargo during the operational week ended on September 28. KPA reported that bulk clinker imports alone recorded 65,100 metric tonnes. This was followed by bulk wheat which registered 52,835 metric tonnes.  Other bulk imports included fertiliser and steel, which registered 16,549 metric tonnes and 16,278 metric tonnes, respectively. During the week under review, conventional cargo terminal handled a total of 163,415 metric tonnes at an average of 27,236 metric tonnes per day. A total of 1,799 units of motor vehicles landed at the port at the rate of 900 units per vessel. The cargo terminal also handled 9,230 metric tonnes of other general cargoes. Uganda, which is traditionally the leading port customer in the transit market recorded 2,547 TEUs or 72.23 per cent during the week followed at a distant by Tanzania with 306 TEUs. Source: Standard Media

A section of Kisumu port. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI  Kisumu port, once a vibrant cargo handling facility for the country and region, is a pale shadow of its former self due to the death of railway transport and neglect of vessels. The facility, which ought to be the gateway to East Africa Community member states, is now in a sorry state and only receives about three vessels per week. Its capacity is about 1,000 tonnes of cargo per day but the port handles a mere 300 tonnes, according to port manager Mwalimu Disi. Mr Disi told the Business Daily on Tuesday that Kenya Railways stopped operations on the Kisumu route in 2012, heavily affecting operations at the port. For the past four years the facility has been operating under capacity, a situation that has been compounded by lack of modern equipment. “The business at the port was competitive because of the railway line. The cost of doing business is too high at the moment, same as using the road which most businesses now prefer,” he said. “The handling and storage capacity of the port is also a challenge,” said Mr Disi. Mr Israel Agina, the chairman of the business community in Kisumu, said the port lost business because most hauliers prefer the Nakuru-Eldoret-Malaba highway owing to the dilapidated railway. “We are losing millions of shillings in revenue. The situation is no longer the same as it was six years ago when we had an active train transport system,” Mr Agina...

A ship delivers cargo at the port. New Insurance Act paves the way for more Kenyan firms to cover global vessels. PHOTO | FILE  IN SUMMARY Shippers say the government ought to apply the marine insurance policy to smaller cargo before graduating to bulk cargo such as petroleum and grain. Shippers are pushing for staggered implementation of a policy that requires importers to purchase marine insurance policy in Kenya amid concerns over the ability of local underwriters to cover high-profile sea risks. Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) chief executive Gilbert Langat said the government ought to apply the policy — which takes effect in January — to smaller cargo before graduating to bulk cargo such as petroleum and grain. “If they start with motor vehicles or containerised goods they will be able to deal with any arising problems before moving on to things like petroleum,” he told the Business Daily by phone on Tuesday. Ships that transport bulk cargo pose high risk for insurers. In comparison, a variety of products carried by a single vessel may be insured by several firms, thus spreading the associated risk. The proposal to stagger the implementation of the law is part of a list of demands that importers presented to the government yesterday at a meeting with Shipping and Maritime PS Nancy Karigithu, and the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI). Mr Langat said that importers want to be assured of the insurance sector’s capacity to handle their business efficiently. “We want a demonstration...

The revision of rules of origin for products manufactured within the East African Community (EAC) have encouraged investment and boosted manufacturing sector within the region, the business community and officials have said. In Article 1 of General Agreement on Tariff and Trade, rules of origin are defined as laws, regulations and administrative determinations of general application applied by any member to determine the country of origin of goods leading to the granting of tariff preferences. Different stakeholders were speaking during the 7th session between the Ministry of East African Community and the Rwandan private sector, last week. The meeting sought to learn from the private sector’s experience on the implementation of the revised EAC Rules of Origin, and to share updates ahead of another meeting later this month that is envisaged to carry out a comprehensive review of Common External Tariff (CET). The 25 revised EAC rules of Origin (RoO) came into effect on January 23, 2015. While expounding on the revised rules, Fred Nuwagaba, a senior customs officer at Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), said they are more flexible, clearer and more explanatory. “They encourage investment in manufacturing, encourage investment in agriculture and aim at boosting processing industry in the region.” He warned the business community that, recently, there have been problems with people from some EAC member states who export cooking oil to Rwanda after only purifying and packaging crude oil commonly imported from Asia, a practice he said does not qualify for the preferential treatment under the new...