Parliament has approved a Sh27.3 billion loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for construction of the second phase of the new Mombasa Port container terminal. Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Catherine Mturi-Wairi Thursday said work on the project will begin in June next year. She spoke during the annual KPA stakeholders’ business forum at a Nairobi hotel. President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned the first phase of the mega project two weeks ago and it is now operational. Ms Mturi-Wairi said the new terminal is capable of handling 6,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). “Upon completion of phase two, four ships of up to 100,000 tonnes will be able to be handled by the entire terminal instead of the maximum one ship of not more than 80,000 tonnes that can currently be accommodated at a time,” she explained. During the briefing, KPA also released the port’s half-year performance results that showed 13.406 million tonnes of cargo were handled in the first-half of this year, compared with 13.218 million tonnes handled during a similar period last year, representing a 1.4 per cent growth. Container traffic, however, registered a slight drop of 0.6 per cent with 527,523 TEUs being accommodated by the port, compared with 530,608 TEUs that were handled in a similar period last year. “The drop in container traffic is below the expectations of the global average growth rate of four per cent per annum,” said Ms Mturi-Wairi. The new MD expressed disappointment at the port’s inability to attract transshipment...

Containers at the Port of Mombasa .Photo Elkana Jacob Containers traffic at the Port of Mombasa dropped by 0.6 per cent in the first half of the year, registering 527,523 twenty-foot equivalent units. This is a drop from 530,608 TEUs in a similar period last year, Kenya Ports Authority announced yesterday, blaming the drop on China's economic slowdowncombined with a dip in commodity prices, which have hit the global markets. “I wish to note that this is below the expectations of the global average growth rate of four per cent per annum,” managing director Catherine Mturi-Wairi told port stakeholders during the annual business luncheon in Nairobi yesterday. The facility was hit by a slow transshipment traffic which dropped to 260,444 tonnes in the period under review, compared to 287,952 tonnes last year. Mturi said KPA is addressing the decline and a multi-agency taskforce has been formed to look into ways of revamping transshipment traffic. “I am reliably informed that the taskforce has developed an action plan on the activities to be undertaken to recapture this market niche. We expect to see a positive trend by the close of this year,” she said. The MD, however, noted that East Africa's leading port witnessed an “overall positive performance” in the first half of the year compared to last year. Total cargo throughput registered a 1.4 per cent growth having handled 13.406 million tonnes, up from 13.218 million tonnes in 2015. The ship turnaround time at the port also improved from 3.7 days...

Kenya Ports Authority annoucend: Kipevu Oil Terminal at Mombasa Port will be relocated early next year, to Dongo Kundu area, as a result of the ongoing capacity expansion programme. New, upgraded modern oil terminal is expected to have a capacity to accommodate four vessels of up to 200 000 DWT. The project also involves building new cargo handling facilities with both, subsea and land based pipelines and four berths capable of loading/discharging crude oil, HFO, DPK-aviation, AGO-Diesel and PMS-Petrol. The other element is the Top side, whose initial implementation will be for three berths but layout will recognize the need for implementation of the fourth berth at a later date. There will also be a Sub-Sea Pipeline corridor and associated number of pipelines that will have an element of pre-investment to accommodate all the four berths. Others are on shore pipeline to a designated tie-in location and a SCADA and Control System. More than 31 bidders from more than 15 countries were participating in the international tender for leading and supervising construction works that was advertised on  March 23, 2016. The pre-qualification exercise enabled the Authority to shortlist qualified firms to be invited to bid.  Tenders for construction went out on July 2016 ahead of actual construction early next year. The construction period is pegged at 30 Months. The short-listed companies for the planned offshore jetty at the Port of Mombasa are China Gezhouuba Group, Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation, Boskalis Dredging & Marine Experts, CPECC & Power China JV,...

Cargo at a Kenya Ports Authority yard in Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE  By KIARIE NJOROGE Overall cargo cleared at the Mombasa port for the six months to June rose marginally by 1.4 per cent even as the container traffic handled dropped. Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director Catherine Mturi-Wairi said a total of 13.4 million tonnes were handled at the port, up from 13.2 million tonnes in the six months to June 2015. But the container traffic dropped by 0.6 per cent bucking a growth trend that has seen Kenya pour billions of shillings to expand the capacity. A total of 527,523 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) was registered in the six months compared to 530,608 TEUs for a similar period last year. One TEU is the equivalent of a twenty foot container. “I wish to note that this is below the expectations of the global average growth rate of four per cent per annum,” said Ms Mturi-Wairi at a KPA luncheon in Nairobi yesterday. Container traffic growth The growth in total cargo throughput and decline in container numbers indicate that there was an increase in the amount of loose cargo handled. This includes items such as steel bars and grains which are not packed in containers. The Mombasa port has been recording annual container traffic growth and hit one million TEUs in 2014 with the government investing billions of shillings in expansion of the terminals. President Uhuru Kenyatta last month commissioned the first phase of the second container terminal...

Cargo transporters from the port of Mombasa have received a boost to speed up evacuation of goods through road, increase performance and competitiveness of the Northern Corridor. The move comes after Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) committed Sh53 million to support Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) in a partnership agreement that will boost interventions expected to improve safety and service delivery. This will be done through improved compliance with transport laws and industry standards, enhanced legal protection of transport business and structural improvements. CEO Frank Matsaert said the project set to run for three years is expected to contribute to enhanced road-freight transport productivity, performance and competitiveness. This came as an impact assessment study of the Northern Corridor attributed poor truck turn-around to poor cargo off-take and delivery infrastructure, delays by transporters to pick cargo after release from the port, delays within transporters facilities, and high frequency of stoppages along the Northern Corridor by drivers. The study says on average, Kenyan trucks are presently doing between 60,000-96,000 kms/truck/year driving transport costs to an estimated 30 per cent of the value of traded goods. In the most efficient trade corridors, the average kms/truck/year is between 120,000 to 150,000. The post Sh53m to speed up clearance of cargo in Mombasa appeared first on Mediamax Network Limited. Source: Daily Post

NAIROBI (HAN) September 14.2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. By Allan Olingo and Fred Oluoch. You have just finalised your travel plans: Done your budget, reserved the tickets and accommodation and confirmed your passport is up to date. Then it hits you: You don’t have any information on a visa for the African country you are visiting. You assume it will be easy to get a visa as everything has been taken care of. But should you? Have you been to the embassy, filled out the forms, paid the fee and waited for the visa to be processed? Take visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo or Nigeria, for instance. If you have journalist under “Occupation,” you must get a written approval from the Ministry of Information in Kinshasa or Abuja, before the embassy in Nairobi issues you with a visa. This will cost you $200, on top of the $50 visa fee. While Mauritius, Rwanda and recently Benin are the leading examples of visa-free countries for Africans, Ghana from July introduced a visa-on-arrival policy for citizens of African Union member states. But national sovereignty, irregular immigration flows, xenophobia, terrorism and refugees still make African countries hesitant to adopt a visa-free Africa or even adopt the African Union passport. Cristiano D’Orsi, a lecturer in international legal protection for asylum-seekers at the University of Pretoria said that most countries on the continent have shown visa barriers for other African nationals. “The best reason put forward for this has been the economic burden...

FUNDING of entrepreneurial ventures will feature prominently in the maiden East African Business and Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition, which is slated for October 10 in Nairobi, Kenya. The three-day event, organised by the East African Business Council, in partnership with national investment agencies in the East African Community, will also throw a special look on women entrepreneurs, according to Angelika Farhan, EABC’s business development manager. “There are numerous programmes that  promote women entrepreneurs. Many women have an extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit but with limited access to financing,” Farhan said last week. “We want to show their power, energy and opportunities by inviting many female speakers who can report on their success stories. I was impressed by how many women entrepreneurs are active and successful in the ICT sector.” Organisers expect up to 300 participants from the infrastructure, manufacturing, and energy sectors, as well as from the ICT and leather and textile industries, and financing institutions. Policy-makers and top representatives of relevant international organisations will participate. “We expect Kenyan First Lady Margaret Kenyatta to host a special ladies dinner to encourage women to participate in this important networking event,” he said. Ladies showing the bedspread they make in Kitenge clothe at Cocoki Design Sewing. Christine Rukera, owner of Premium Cayenne Pepper, a Rwandan pepper producing firm, told The New Times that women entrepreneurs “for a long time had been dogged by financial constraints, not only loans from banks but also in accessing family funds.” “What took them so long to figure out...

East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 13 September 2016:The officials from the Departments of Trade, Customs and Infrastructure of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by Transport Facilitation  and Policy Expert, Mr. Appiah Christian  and Trademark East Africa led by Director General, David Stanton  today paid a working visit to the EAC Headquarters and held discussions with the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko and other EAC Senior officials. The purpose of their visit was to gain insight on major developments realized as well as challenges experienced within the EAC especially on areas of Trade and Customs, Investment, and infrastructure  as well as sharing  experience of the same from ECOWAS. In his welcoming remarks, the Secretary General hailed the good relationship  between EAC and ECOWAS  as well as the increasing opportunities for  inter-regional trade brought about by the establishment of regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa. Amb. Mfumukeko, emphasised the increasing collaboration between the EAC and ECOWAS. He said the EAC was keen on what ECOWAS has attained in the area of financial integration and movements of people. Noting the establishment of a tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) between the East African Community (EAC), South African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Secretary General said he looked forward to the FTA linking up with ECOWAS and other RECs to form an African Continental FTA (CFTA). Accompanying the Secretary General, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning...

The Minister for Natural Resources, Dr Vincent Biruta (L), and Dr Josua Dione, senior advisor to the African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, sign the 'Kigali Declaration' that paves way for the establishment of the Climate Application and Prediction Centre for Central Africa in Kigali on Monday. / Timothy Kisambira Rwanda has become the first country to sign up to a framework that paves the way for the establishment of the Climate Application and Prediction Centre for Central Africa, which will serve the 11 member states of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). The centre, whose creation was agreed upon during the last ECCAS Heads of State and Government Summit held in Chad in May, last year, will provide much needed support to the bloc’s member states in terms of recording data, as well as forecasting and sharing information related to weather and climatic conditions. The centre, which will be hosted in Cameroon, is expected to start operations next year. Rwanda on Monday signed up to the Kigali Declaration on the Establishment of the Climate Application and Prediction Centre for Central Africa on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation for Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) User Forum in Africa, a gathering of global climate specialists and meteorologists. Participants follow proceedings at the EUMETSAT meeting in Kigali. / Timothy Kisambira The declaration represents the strongest commitment to date to make the centre a reality, officials said. Other member states are expected to sign the document...

Heads of two leading travel agencies in Kigali say they have sustained major financial losses due to the border closure between Burundi and Rwanda. In late July, the Burundi government suspended food exports to Rwanda – allegedly due to drought – and Burundian security officers have since prevented passengers’ buses from crossing the border. Relations between Burundi and Rwanda have soured since Burundi’s President Nkurunziza, who was elected for a controversial third term in July 2015, accused Rwanda of supporting rebels in Burundi. Volcano Express and Yahoo car Express, which carry passengers between Burundi and Rwanda, and Uganda and Kenya, have seen a sharp decline in business. Movement is virtually at a standstill; there are no passengers, some bus routes in Burundi have stopped, and businesses are no longer making cross border transactions. Olivier Nizeyimana is the Managing Director of Volcano Express. Some of his buses registered in Burundi are simply waiting inside the country, doing nothing. “Our buses are locked there. Some escaped by other borders, but they were empty. The government should respect our business, as we are paying taxes”, he says. On July 30th, Burundian Vice President, Joseph Butore ordered the Police to prevent all traders from taking products into Rwanda. Previously, many passengers were businessmen from the region, as well as relatives of families that have fled to Rwanda and Uganda due to crisis. No more fruits on Rwandan market Since the closure of border, Rwanda is experiencing significant shortages of food imported from Burundi, including...