Adan Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary Industrialisation. PHOTO/ANTHONY OMUYA (NAIROBI)  Parliament unanimously endorsed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), sending yet another strong signal of Kenya’s resolve to conclude the decade-old negotiations with Europe. A copy of the EPA that MPs ratified Tuesday will be submitted to the European Union as proof of Kenya’s commitment to boost free trade with the 27-member bloc. “The minister will have 10 days to notify the EU council of the ratified agreement to save our exports from duties once we hit the October deadline,” National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said. The East African Community (EAC) states have negotiated EPAs in the last 10 years without conclusion. On September 1, Kenya teamed up with Rwanda to sign the pact that MPs ratified Tuesday. The move by Kenyan Industrialisation Secretary Adan Mohamed and Rwandan Trade counterpart Francis Kanimba took the EAC by surprise. The regional bloc’s presidents who met in Dar es Salaam a few days ago asked for up to January to review the EPA’s legal text. On Tuesday, Mr Mohamed hailed Parliament for ratifying the agreement saying that Kenya’s interests are were now safeguarded. He said Kenya could not risk its EU markets and face a Sh10 billion-a-year tax on exports. “This is the best deal for Kenya because if we failed to sign we would have been subjected to other conditions which the rest of our neighbours are not subject to. We had to do it before October 1 to enjoy access to the European markets,”...

The National Assembly on Tuesday will hold a special sitting to discuss a Trade Agreement known as Economic Partnership Trade Agreement between the East African Community and the European Union (EU). In an announcement published in the national gazette, the MPs will debate the way forward for Kenya in regards to the Trade Agreement after some countries in the East African Community declined to sign the deal. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were given until the October 1, this year, to sign the Economic Partnership Trade Agreement with the European Union (EU) to allow ease of products from the East African community to the EU market. However, Tanzania and Uganda through their Trade Ministers announced during the 6-day of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Nairobi, that they would not be bullied or coerced into signing an agreement they know little about. Reports indicate that Burundi has as well declined to sign the deal, leaving Kenya on its own. In the special sitting, MPs will help Kenya find the way forward over the deal, given that the EA community only has eleven days to sign the Trade Agreement with the European Union. Tanzania wants the Community to first welcome the European Union to explain in details the terms of service in the deal, before signing the pact. The deal, according to Tanzania, is a long-term agreement that may end up having negative impacts in the East Africa community's product- exportation, thus the need to extensive knowledge....

MOMBASA: Kenya has the potential of becoming a great maritime economy on the East African coast, the Government has said. Transport and Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said yesterday that various reasons, including the location of Mombasa Port, put Kenya on the road to achieving this status. "The location of Mombasa Port, which is the largest sea port in the East African region handling much of the cargo coming into the region, and the development of the Lamu Port, which has also commenced with three berths at advanced stages of development, are some of the maritime milestones," he said. In a speech read on his behalf by his Special Adviser, Philip Charo, at the Pride Inn Paradise Convention Centre during the World Maritime Day celebrations, the CS said that Kenya, through maritime education and training, has been encouraging youths to consider seafaring careers. "Here, institutions have been accredited in line with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping  regulations to offer maritime training from artisan to degree levels," the CS said. He added that the country was also on the International Maritime Organisation Whitelist of Countries and was focused on an aggressive programme aimed at creating widespread awareness of the seafaring profession among young Kenyans. "The National Maritime Training Curriculum incorporates seafaring as a career of choice to young people from an early school-going age," he said. Dr Macharia added that Kenya had recently developed a shore-based Maritime Training Curriculum to enhance the efficiency of maritime service...

Clearing your closet of last season’s gently worn clothes and donating them to an aid group probably makes you feel pretty good. After all, you may be helping someone in need and breathing life into items that might otherwise decompose in a landfill. But a number of countries in East Africa are fed up with the onslaught of secondhand items they receive from Western nonprofits and wholesalers, and want to ban such imports altogether. In 2014, a handful of East African countries imported more than $300 million worth of secondhand clothing from the United States and other wealthy countries. The used items have created a robust market in East Africa and thereby a decent amount of jobs. But experts say the vast amount of these imports have devastated local clothing industries and led the region to rely far too heavily on the West. In March, the East African Community, which is made up of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, proposed banning all imported used clothing and shoes by 2019. The goal is to stop relying on imports from rich nations, boost local manufacturing and create new jobs. However, the law is unlikely to pass. There is resistance from the U.S., which unloads hordes of secondhand clothes all over the world, and from sellers in East Africa whose livelihood depends on these shipments, as well as from experts who think an outright ban won’t be enough for these countries to restore production at home. Proponents of the ban say it...

President John Magufuli. MPs yesterday put aside their political differences to ratify a trade agreement that will allow Kenyan traders free access to the European market. In a special parliamentary sitting, the lawmakers unanimously voted for the ratification of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the East African Community (EAC). This decision offers a ray of hope to Kenyan traders, especially those exporting flowers, fruits, fish and livestock products to the 28-member market. The decision to hold a special sitting to ratify the agreement is said to have been pushed by the Executive, which has been burning the mid-night oil to have the agreement ratified ahead of the October 1, deadline. Now Kenya has until September 30, to rally its four EAC peers Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to sign the deal, or risk having its exports to the EU slapped with punitive taxes of up to 22 per cent. Kenya being the only middle-income economy in the region has found itself isolated, fighting alone for the ratification of the trade deal that has a huge bearing on the country’s employment and economy. Other countries do not stand to lose anything considering they automatically qualify given their position as least developed countries. However, the Kenyan Government was challenged to put in place necessary environment for traders to take advantage of the agreement including in the areas of leather, cement, horticulture, livestock and meat. Emurua Dikirr MP, Yohana Ng’eno said there was need for the East African...

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Cargo traffic through Kenya's biggest port, Mombasa, increased by 1.4 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, the port's managing director said on Monday. The Indian Ocean port serves as the main trade gateway for East Africa, handling fuel and consumer goods imports as well as exports of tea and coffee from landlocked nations like Uganda. Managing Director Catherine Mturi said cargo volume rose to 13.4 million tonnes from 13.2 million handled a year earlier. Total volume rose despite container traffic falling by 0.6 percent to 527,523 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) thanks to an increase in loose cargo not shipped by container such as grains and railway steel bars. "This is below the expected global average growth rate of four percent per annum, but with the expansion and improved efficiency currently, we should do much better by end of the year and beyond," Mturi said in the statement. Early this month Kenya inaugurated the first part of a new container terminal at the port, which is expected to boost capacity by 50 percent. The port's management says it has reduced the time it takes to evacuate a container from the port by a day to 4.3 days, and the time it takes to load and offload a ship to three days from 3.7 days previously. The east African nation plans to build a second port in Lamu, north of Mombasa, with a capacity of 23 million tonnes...

The first significant summit of the European Union without Britain, that was held in Bratislava last week, raised concerns about the preparedness of the bloc to handle its post-Brexit future ‘European leaders did not mince words on the state of the European Union [EU] as they headed into a meeting in Bratislava to chart the union’s future after the British vote in June to leave the EU,” said theNew York Times in an editorial. The paper went on to examine the reasons behind the disappointing turn of events. “Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany warned that Europe was in a critical situation, or what the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, called an existential crisis. Reeling from terrorist attacks, an influx of refugees from Africa and the Middle East, and persistent high unemployment and low economic growth, millions of Europeans are coming to the conclusion that the EU has let them down. And they are turning in increasing numbers to populist movements and nationalist politicians who promise to protect their jobs, their way of life and their security by closing national borders and rejecting Pan-European solutions,” it said. It added: “If the European Union is to survive, European leaders must restore people’s faith in its ability to address Europe’s problems. As the European Council President, Donald Tusk, put it, “History has taught us that this can lead to a massive turn away from freedom and the other fundamental values that the European Union is founded upon.” The Guardian took a...

Kenya’s iShamba, an award winning mobile subscription agriculture service has been selected to pitch at the WTO Public Forum, Geneva on 29th September 2016, in line with the focus of this year’s forum, “Inclusive Trade”. iShamba is a phone based farmers club that provides agricultural information on weather, market price and farm inputs. According to David Campbell, the brains behind the concept, “We must get inclusive, focusing on reaching out to all and interact with far more people (especially young and women farmers ). The only way forward for this is through using and linking media – radio, TV , mobile services, social media, video on demand, call centres, and the internet.” TradeMark Africa through its Challenge Fund TRAC funded the development of the platform through a matching grant of US$ 347,060. iShamba initially targeted 20000 subscribed farmers, but has 350,000 subscribers today. Recent research that tracked iShamba subscribers against non-subscribers shows that over a six month period iShamba farmers had potato yields 50 percent greater than non-iShamba farmers; that iShamba farmers are more likely to grow a new crop than non-iShamba farmers; and that 65 percent of iShamba farmers change a farming practice as a result of a message received, with 80 percent of those increasing their output as a result. iShamba has won two awards at the Mobile Innovation Awards which include Effective Integration of Mobile in an Omni Channel Strategy& Regional Award (Africa). Source: Uncova

Kenya’s iShamba, an award winning mobile subscription agriculture service has been selected to pitch at the WTO Public Forum, Geneva on 29th September 2016, in line with the focus of this year’s forum, “Inclusive Trade”. iShamba is a phone based farmers club that provides agricultural information on weather, market price and farm inputs. According to David Campbell, the brains behind the concept, “We must get inclusive, focusing on reaching out to all and interact with far more people (especially young and women farmers ). The only way forward for this is through using and linking media – radio, TV , mobile services, social media, video on demand, call centres, and the internet.” TradeMark Africa through its Challenge Fund TRAC funded the development of the platform through a matching grant of US$ 347,060. iShambainitially targeted 20000 subscribed farmers, but has 350,000 subscribers today. Recent research that tracked iShamba subscribers against non-subscribers shows that over a six month period iShamba farmers had potato yields 50 percent greater than non-iShamba farmers; that iShamba farmers are more likely to grow a new crop than non-iShamba farmers; and that 65 percent of iShamba farmers change a farming practice as a result of a message received, with 80 percent of those increasing their output as a result. iShamba has won two awards at the Mobile Innovation Awards which include Effective Integration of Mobile in an Omni Channel Strategy& Regional Award (Africa). Source: Tech Moran

IN SUMMARY Kenya and Rwanda signed the EPA on September 1 in Brussels, Belgium, while Uganda and Burundi have indicated a willingness to sign. The deal is expected to be ratified by each country’s legislature for it to come into force. The National Assembly is Tuesday set to hold a special sitting to consider the ratification of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union as the deadline for the key deal looms. Speaker Justin Muturi said the House, which has been on recess since September 1, will also discuss Senate amendments to the Physical Planning Bill and deliberate on the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Failure to sign and ratify the EPA by all the East African Community (EAC) states by September 30 will put about 200 Kenyan firms and four million jobs at stake. “…two special sittings shall be held in the National Assembly chamber on September 20, 2016 at 9:30am and 2:30pm for purposes of consideration of the proposal to ratify the Economic  Partnership Agreement under the Cotonou Protocol between the Republic of Kenya and the European Union,” Mr Muturi said. Kenya and Rwanda signed the EPA on September 1 in Brussels, Belgium, while Uganda and Burundi have indicated a willingness to sign. The deal is expected to be ratified by each country’s legislature for it to come into force. Two weeks ago the EAC asked the EU to defer the September 30 deadline for three months to allow for more discussions with Tanzania which is yet...