President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday pressed Kenya's case in trade and health in a round of events in London on the sidelines of the Commonwealth meeting. Kenya has had a rocky relationship with key Commonwealth countries and President Kenyatta's administration says it is keen to recast those relations, and especially with Britain. Britain's decision to leave the European Union is seen in Nairobi as an opportunity to renew trade and investment relations. After Jubilee won the 2013 election despite threats of "consequences" and "essential contact" by Western capitals, President Kenyatta went round the world courting unlikely allies to spur Jubilee's economic agenda. Amid misgivings in the West that the country's diplomacy has turned East, the President insisted that is not the case, and that his government is looking for friends and partners irrespective of geography and persuasion to confront economic challenges and global threats like terrorism. PARTNERSHIPS Still, the reality belied this as one mega contract after another went East, and western countries and the institutions of capitalism suspended one project after another over governance concerns. In diplomatic circles, it was clear that something had to give and the West blinked first, hosting him and rewarding Kenya with high profile global meetings. "We are not looking East or West. We are looking for friends and partners," he said, a message similar to the one he opened with in his visit to the UK to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). The meeting's theme is 'Partnerships in building democracy,...

NAIROBI, April 19 (Xinhua) -- East African countries said Thursday they have started developing a harmonized forest policy and strategy to increase forest cover and contain drought. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries who met in Nairobi said the initiative is aimed at improved contributions of forests resources to national economies for poverty reduction, environmental sustainability and development of the IGAD member states. "The initiative will contribute to the increment of forest cover to help contain drought that has been a major problem in the Horn of Africa," said Debalkew Berhe, IGAD's Program Manager for Environmental Protection during a forum in Nairobi. Berhe noted that the regional bloc was mandated with the responsibility of managing drought and desertification but over a period of time changed to sustainable development but drought continued to worsen productivity in the region. "Our solution is to develop a harmonized forest policy and strategy to help increase forest cover to improve rainfall pattern, increase food security, address water problem and help address climate change," he added. Berhe said that once the forest policy and strategy becomes effective, it will help address issues on socio-economic benefits of the forestry. According to Gabriel Rugalema, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Representative in Kenya, with the rising population in the region, there is need for forest policy and strategy to help reduce pressure on natural resources. Rugalema said that given the livelihood opportunities provided by forests and woodlands, it is not surprising that over the past few...

Nairobi — The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will soon start handling conventional cargo after the extension of the rail line to cover 10 berths at the Port of Mombasa. SGR Project Manager Engineer Maxwell Mengich said completion of the extension line will make it possible for cargo discharged from a ship loaded directly into the SGR.The line will be completed by August according to the Kenya Railways officials. Its completion will enable SGR to handle non-containerised (conventional) cargo such as clinker, fertiliser, grains, and steels.The extension of the Sh327 billion Mombasa-Nairobi SGR which will cover 10 berths at the Port of Mombasa will be complete by August. (NMG) Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina said the construction work is more than 50 per cent complete. "The bridge is intended to connect SGR to berth number one to 10, which largely handles bulk and other conventional cargo," Mr Maina said.He said the SGR line is currently connected to berths number 11 to 21, which mostly handle containerised cargo discharged at the port by a ship. "We are also targeting conventional cargo since we have wagons that can handle this too. On the Nairobi side, such cargo will be handled at the Nairobi Freight Terminal (NFT), which is next to the terminus," Mr Maina told Business Daily during an interview. He said the reason for linking all berths to the SGR line is to ensure efficiency at the port and utilise effectiveness of the facility to generate revenue. "The focus is to...

A Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train fully laden with 108 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of Maersk Line Through Bill of Lading (TBL) containers arrived in Nairobi from Mombasa last 13 April. Compared to the Meter Gauge Railway, the 472-km journey through the SGR is expected to reduce the cargo transport time from an average of 48 hours to 8 hours. Mombasa is one of the main gateways to the landlocked countries in Eastern Africa. The Kenya Ports Authority reported approximately 676,921 TEU full containers came through the port of Mombasa in 2017. Of this, about 80 percent are imports and 20 percent exports. According to Mads Skov-Hansen, Maersk Line Eastern Africa Managing Director, the direct link between the port in Mombasa and the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Nairobi offers alternative solutions to transport cargo from Kenya’s international trade partners to key inland markets. “Moving goods shipped by Maersk Line, to Mombasa, onward through inland corridors in a timely and efficient manner is crucial to our customers. Solutions to transport massive cargo volumes quickly, safely, and efficiently to delivery destinations from outside Kenya give our customers the ability to better control their supply chain,” says Skov-Hansen. He added that this is a crucial process to Kenya as a trading nation and investment destination. Introducing efficiencies into the import and export processes, by putting in place infrastructure and clearer processes to support this results in reduced costs, faster delivery to market, and ultimately gives local businesses a boost. “We work with...

President Paul Kagame has said that even with the recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), African leaders must work to improve the business environment for citizens to fully benefit from the trade deal. Kagame was yesterday speaking in the United Kingdom at the Commonwealth Business Forum organised on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Yesterday’s business forum convened government and business leaders to deliberate on whether Africa’s growth story is still alive and well, with a special focus on intra-African trade and attracting investment into Africa. In a panel session that also featured South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Kagame said that leaders have to continuously improve their business environment to reap the full benefits of opening up the continent. “African Continental Free Trade Area was adopted last month by African leaders. Trade and investment are set to grow across the continent, creating opportunities for manufacturing and value addition. “We as leaders still have to make sure that the business environment keeps improving, so that citizens can fully benefit from trade and free movement,” he said. The agreement could go into force by the end of this year following the signing of the deal by 44 AU member states in March at an extraordinary African Union Summit held in Kigali. More countries are set to sign the agreement during the next African Union Summit slated for July in Mauritania. Kagame said that what has been done so far was a...

Economic growth in Africa rebounded, but “not fast enough” in recent past, according to Africa’s Pulse, a bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies conducted by the World Bank, released on Wednesday in Washington. The report, which was released during the World Bank Spring Meetings, however shows that, “Growth prospects have strengthened in most of East Africa, owing to improving agriculture sector growth following droughts and a rebound in private sector credit growth. In Ethiopia, growth will remain high, as government-led infrastructure investment continues.” The report suggests that Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth is projected to reach 3.1 per cent in 2018, and to average 3.6 percent in the 2019–20 period. The growth forecasts are based on expectations that oil and metal prices will remain stable, and that governments in the region will implement reforms to address macroeconomic imbalances and boost investment. “Growth has rebounded in Sub-Saharan Africa, but not fast enough. We are still far from pre-crisis growth levels,” said Albert G. Zeufack, World Bank Chief Economist for the Africa Region. To achieve high and sustained levels of growth, Zeufack says, African governments must speed up and deepen macroeconomic and structural reforms. The moderate pace of economic expansion reflects the gradual pick-up in growth in the region’s three largest economies, Nigeria, Angola and South Africa. Elsewhere, economic activity will pick up in some metals exporters, as mining production and investment rise. Among non-resource intensive countries, solid growth, supported by infrastructure investment, will continue in the West African Economic and Monetary...

Construction of the Northern Corridor transit transport route has been boosted with US$1.05m from Trademark East Africa. The funding will enable the agency to collect and analyze data related to transport of goods and persons. This follows the signing of a finance agreement between Trademark East Africa (TMA) and the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) on Tuesday. The money will be channeled from TMA through NCTTCA. The agreement was signed by NCTTCA acting executive Secretary, Fred Tumwebaze and Ahmed Farah from TMA. The Northern Corridor is East Africa’s main transport corridor that begins at the port of Mombasa with two routes; one through Uganda to South Sudan and the second one through Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi to DRC. NCTTCA member countries include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Democratic republic of Congo, adds a press statement from TMA. NCTTCA oversees the corridor monitoring framework known as Northern Corridor Transport Observatory, which is a performance monitoring tool that informs interventions geared towards reducing costs and delays of transportation and other related logistics challenges. With the new financing, the Authority will improve monitoring of the Northern Corridor performance with regards to movement of people and goods. The statement adds that the authority will adopt modern technologies, including mobile based and online systems to enhance its capability to monitor trade and transport flows, bottlenecks and impact of interventions. Information from TMA indicates that data collected will support evidence-based advocacy and decision-making, resulting to fit for purpose interventions in reducing...

The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will soon start handling conventional cargo after the extension of the rail line to cover 10 berths at the Port of Mombasa. SGR Project Manager Engineer Maxwell Mengich said completion of the extension line will make it possible for cargo discharged from a ship loaded directly into the SGR.The line will be completed by August according to the Kenya Railways officials. Its completion will enable SGR to handle non-containerised (conventional) cargo such as clinker, fertiliser, grains, and steels.The extension of the Sh327 billion Mombasa-Nairobi SGR which will cover 10 berths at the Port of Mombasa will be complete by August. Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina said the construction work is more than 50 per cent complete. The project is expected to be completed in four months. “The bridge is intended to connect SGR to berth number one to 10, which largely handles bulk and other conventional cargo,” Mr Maina said.He said the SGR line is currently connected to berths number 11 to 21, which mostly handle containerised cargo discharged at the port by a ship. “We are also targeting conventional cargo since we have wagons that can handle this too. On the Nairobi side, such cargo will be handled at the Nairobi Freight Terminal (NFT), which is next to the terminus,” Mr Maina told Business Daily during an interview. He said the reason for linking all berths to the SGR line is to ensure efficiency at the port and utilise effectiveness of the facility...

Kenya could triple export revenues if the newly signed continental trade agreement is fully embraced. This will bring Sh1.53 trillion in revenues from trade, with the signing of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, Kenya Association of Manufacturers has said. “Local manufacturers are open to the possibilities. Our exports are more than Sh510 billion and this can be tripled,” KAM chief executive Phyllis Wakiaga told the Star. Last month, President Uhuru Kenyatta joined 43 other African heads of state to sign a new trade agreement aimed at absolving tariff and non-tariff barriers that have hindered intra-Africa trade for  years. The trade pact includes Protocol on Trade in Goods, Protocol on Trade in Services and Protocol on Dispute Settlement. Signatory states will commit to absolving tariffs on 90 per cent of goods with 10 per cent of “sensitive items” to be phased out after further deliberations. It will also address licensing rules and quotas presented in non-tariff barriers. “If we want to develop through trade as a continent this is one of the issues we must address. We must abolish tariff and non-tariff barriers that hinder successful trading between our countries,” Wakiaga said. Kenya is already a member of COMESA free trade area as well as the EAC customs union where originating goods, which certify the rules of origin, are already being traded at zero tariffs. Trade PS Chris Kiptoo earlier told the Star that the country had already removed 37 per cent of total tariffs under the EAC Common External...

Creating sufficient capacity ahead of demand at the Mombasa port and proactive investment in expansion and upgrade of roads and rail linking the facility to hinterland will grow Kenya’s economy by at least two per cent. This is according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The report says the increase in investment in the port and landside regional transport system will also redirect global cargo flows into East and Central Africa, attracting more giant shipping lines. Currently, container ships deployed to Mombasa are smaller compared to those handled by Durban in South Africa and ports in West Africa such as Lagos-Apapa and Abidjan. The capacity of container ships to East African Coast is 2900-5000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) compared with West Africa where the average container capacity is 5,500 TEUs, peaking at 13,000 TEUs, according to the PwC’s report on port development in sub-Saharan Africa. “Ports that can accommodate larger vessels generally have a higher capacity than comparable ports that can only handle smaller vessels,” PwC says in the report titled Strengthening Africa’s Gateways to Trade, launched in Nairobi  on Thursday last week. “Even if ports can accommodate larger vessels, the quality of port equipment and operations needs to be sufficient to process a sufficient number of containers to make it economical for such ships to call at a port,” the report says. Mombasa port’s capacity rose to nearly 1.7 million TEUs from 1.08 million TEUs following completion of the first phase of the Sh30 billion second container...