Radosław Domagalski will lead a delegation of entrepreneurs from an array of sectors, ranging from renewable energy, agriculture and trade. The envoys will also include representatives of the Foreign Affairs and Finance Ministries, alongside the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ), the National Economy Bank (BGK) and the Polish-Tanzanian parliamentary group, Domagalski announced on Wednesday. A series of bilateral talks with representatives of the Tanzanian and Kenyan finance, industry, trade and agriculture ministries are on the agenda. The key topic of the talks are aid credits the Polish government has granted to Kenya and Tanzania. Poland hopes that Polish companies will be able to tap into the resources lent to the two countries, reaching up to USD 110 mln for Kenya and USD 100 for Tanzania. “I hope that with this development aid we will see new Polish investment projects on the African continent,” Domagalski told news agency PAP. The trip coincides with the 14th UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to be held in Nairobi next week. The visit begins on Monday, 18 July, and will last until Friday, 22 July. Trade between Kenya and Poland reached USD 109.8 million in 2015. In the case of Tanzania, last year’s trade figures amounted to USD 69.5 million. Source: Radio Poland

PREVAILING infrastructure and energy gaps across the continent can be bridged fast if African countries pursued joint projects, the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Dr Elham Ibrahim, has said. Ibrahim made the remarks while speaking to The New Times on the sidelines of the ongoing 27th African Union summit in Kigali. She noted that with most of the African countries being emerging economies, teaming up for major projects would ease the burden on individual countries as well as improve their chances of securing funding. “This is what can enable us undertake huge projects, as well as alternative projects. It is important to work together since resources in some countries are not adequate enough for large projects. That is why we are devising a strategy of joint infrastructure projects,” Ibrahim said. The continent continues to suffer from inadequate infrastructure such as road network, railway access and pipeline which experts say has slowed integration and limited intra-Africa trade. Ibrahim said regions that had jointly implemented infrastructure projects such as east Africa had experienced rapid growth in recent years and could easily mobilise funding. “If you look at countries in the East African region, they have improved very fast in recent years in terms of infrastructure due to cooperation. This is true in the areas of roads network, railway and pipeline. Cooperation speeds things up and makes it possible to get funding,” she said. By teaming up, the commissioner added, financing, a factor considered “elusive” by most governments implementing infrastructure projects, would...

The misleading reporting that has recently appeared in the press regarding Qalaa Holdings and its investment in Rift Valley Railways (RVR) has compelled us to respond to the blatant inaccuracies and to clarify any misunderstanding that may have occurred as a result of these false accusations. We clearly and unequivocally state that Qalaa Holdings is committed to adhering to the highest international business standards and to ensuring the success of the project in question. Furthermore, the company has repeatedly demonstrated that it is a staunch advocate of investing in the region as a whole. Qalaa Holdings was, therefore, deeply dismayed by the story that was reported online by Finance Uncovered and published on June 22nd in The Observer. Since 2011, Qalaa Holdings has proudly overseen the renaissance of a strategic infrastructure asset in East Africa which was previously in a state of disrepair. For the past five years, despite significant challenges, Qalaa Holdings has supported RVR's management and its local partners to implement a comprehensive and complex turnaround program. By assembling and leading a consortium of experienced infrastructure financiers, including the IFC, AfDB, KfW, FMO and BIO, Qalaa Holdings has enabled RVR to achieve the following:- 1. Reduce incidents (calculated by million train kilometers) by 40%; 2. Increase its haulage capacity through the acquisition of 20 locomotives and up to 240 high-capacity wagons; 3. Reduce transit time between Mombasa and Kampala (one way) by 29.8%; 4. Introduce the most advanced train operating technologies; 5. Pay $66 million in concession fees...

African countries should unite and form their own common market to bolster preferential trade required to drive economic growth and development, an official has said. African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said this while officially opening the 32nd Ordinary Session of the AU Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) in Kigali, Rwanda on Sunday.Dr Dhlamini-Zuma said opening up of markets, liberalization of economies and facilitating free movement of people across the continent were key elements in driving Africa’s economic growth and development. To further Africa’s economic growth and development agenda, the AU is pursuing various initiatives including creating a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) to boost intra-African trade. Another initiative is the launch of the AU Passport, a flagship project of Africa’s Agenda 2063 aimed at facilitating free movement of persons, goods and services around the continent -in order to foster intra-Africa trade, integration and socio-economic development. “The world is moving towards mega trading blocks, that all exclude us, and the Doha development round of negotiations have failed to even start. Unless we unite to form our African common market, the little bit of preferential trade we have at the moment, will be further eroded,” said Dhlaminin-Zuma. “If we continue building momentum on the continental free movement of people and on the Continental Free Trade Area it will create better conditions for our traders, farmers, business, entrepreneurs and innovators to invest trade with each other and build Pan African companies and brand.” The PRC meeting kicked off the mid-term African Union summit which...

Hotels in Nairobi are expected to reap big from the estimated 6,000 delegates attending the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development meeting which begins from Sunday to Friday next week. The 14th session of the UNCTAD will be a major boost to the recovering tourism sector, Tourism Cabinet secretary Najib Balala said yesterday. The sector has rebounded from a four-year slump to post a 12.1 per cent in the first quarter of the year, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data on June 30. Balala and his Foreign Affairs counterpart Amina Mohammed said they expect some of the delegates to visit other tourist attractions, especially the Masai Mara National Reserve where the annual historic wildebeest migration has started. “After the conference, we all migrate to Masai Mara to enjoy the wildebeest migration. Take advantage of your visit to sample other Kenyan tourism products,” Balala said during the handing over of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, the venue for the global meet, to the UNCTAD secretariat. He reassured visitors of security and the country's ability to host global forums under her meetings, incentives, conferencing and events facilities. UNCTAD secretary general Mukhisa Kituyi said the forum will be used to address current global downturn in commodity markets. It will also be used to review and put across measures that will strengthen commodity production in commodity-dependent developing countries, Kituyi said. The move is expected to improve food security and export competitiveness in light of UNCTAD’s post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, to...

The excitement of Nairobi hosting the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 14) starting this Friday is catching up with the nation, delegates and other participants of the conference. The session that will bring together heads of state and government ministers and other prominent player from the business world, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and development issues is only a few days away. While the week-long conference will feature ministerial debates, high level round tables, thematic events, a world investment forum, a civil society forum and a youth forum, little is known of the latter event. It is laudable that for the first time in history, the youth will obtain the opportunity to deliberate and discuss on issues pertinent to them in a global platform. Of great concern to the millennial generation are topics identified by world leaders in September 2015 while adopting the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development namely education, more and better jobs and government accountability. The UNCTAD youth forum will provide the over 250 participants a chance in ‘shaping the world we want’ which is the theme of the forum. It is also important to note that the global youth leaders have been carefully selected after a rigorous selection process that involved thousands of applications from all over the world. This therefore means that they have the requisite ability and capacity in a bid to share their views with global leaders. The main conference will see the global leaders agree on concrete...

The military clash in South Sudan has hit a number of Kenya-based cargo firms, forcing them to suspend their operations to the world’s youngest nation. A day after the national carrier Kenya Airways announced cancellation of its flights to Juba, Astral Aviation and Siginon have both suspended their operations to South Sudan citing concerns over safety of their staff. Astral operates three weekly flights to Juba while Siginon has a number of trucks that transport cargo by road to South Sudan. Astral chief executive officer Sunjeev Gadhia said they cancelled operation on Sunday after the airport in Juba was closed but anticipated that they woud resume flights today depending on the security situation. “We had to suspend our cargo flights to Juba because of the ongoing war between the two factions that led to closure of the airport in Juba,” said Mr Gadhia. He said that they started evacuation of passengers from Juba to Nairobi on Tuesday. South Sudan envoy to Kenya Chol Ajongo said that the airport was reopened yesterday, allowing aircraft to fly in and out of the facility. Mr Gadhia noted that the war in South Sudan and the subsequent closure of the airport had created a backlog of 100 tonnes of cargo as of yesterday. The firm normally ferries 50 tonnes of cargo in a week. Meshack Kipturgo, the managing director of Siginon Group said shippers had started cancelling transportation of their goods to the war-torn State. “Customers who regularly send goods to South Sudan have...

A record 147 per cent growth in April exports has restored Uganda as a top market for Kenya’s industrial merchandise, official statistics show. Provisional data produced by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that monthly exports to Uganda grew by a record Sh11.43 billion in the month of April, translating to four-month performance of Sh23.5 billion. The national statistics agency has also revised February export figures to Uganda, from Sh21.9 million that it has been reporting up to last month to Sh3.51 billion. The upward revision also affects February exports to Tanzania which have been adjusted from Sh115.37 million reported last month to Sh2.08 billion. The January to April cumulative export to Uganda represents a 34 growth compared to the same period last year and overtakes Netherlands which topped the list in the first quarter of the year. Kenya’s exports to Netherlands dropped 27 per cent in the month of April, translating to a four-month performance of Sh15.37 billion. Last month, the KNBS caused uproar when it reported a 35 per cent drop in exports to Uganda in the first quarter of the year, ending the landlocked state’s dominance as Kenya’s top market for industrial merchandise. The latest data suggest that the UK may well be on its way to finish the year at its traditional position as Kenya’s second largest market for exports. READ: Uganda loses top slot as buyer of Kenya's exports on 35pc fall The UK which has just voted to pull itself out of...

Summary Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his four-country trip to East Africa in Uganda on July 4 before heading to Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. It was the first visit by a sitting Israeli prime minister to the region since 1987. In a bid to bolster Israeli-East African ties, the prime minister held talks with his counterparts on increasing cooperation on security and economic matters. Official comments professing mutual dependence aside, the trip is unlikely to yield huge benefits given Israel's relatively small size. Analysis Israel's ambitions in East Africa are modest, with trade remaining low as a result: Israeli exports to all of Africa in 2015 amounted to $1 billion, or just 2 percent of its total exports. Business ties are informal, in most cases offshoots of direct personal relationships. For example, Ugandan officials, including longtime President Yoweri Museveni, made frequent trips to Israel in recent years. During these visits, friendships were forged with powerful Israeli figures, including former Mossad official Rafi Eitan, who is an advocate for more Israeli investment in Uganda. Yet despite these signs of warm relations, neither country has a diplomatic mission in the other. Symbolically, though, Netanyahu's first destination, Uganda, holds great emotional resonance for Israelis — and, most notably, for the prime minister himself. His visit coincided with the 40th anniversary of the famous Entebbe raid, when Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos freed 103 hostages held by Palestinian and Red Army Faction terrorists at the Entebbe International Airport. Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, commander of Sayeret Matkal,...

By Zephania Ubwani Arusha — East African Community (EAC) officials say they are shocked by renewed fighting in South Sudan which until yesterday had claimed hundreds of lives. "We don't know exactly what is happening in Juba and not aware of what's going on," remarked an official of the Secretariat when reached for comment. Nevertheless, he said, the deteriorating security in the country which was recently admitted into the bloc was a setback to the EAC and efforts underway to integrate it into the community. He hinted that senior executives at the Arusha-based secretariat are likely to consult today in order to assess the situation which has raised deep concerns across the entire bloc and possibly issue a statement. "What's happening in South Sudan is not good at all and we hope both sides will lay down arms," he said on condition of anonymity, noting he was encouraged by the televised overtures made by President Salva Kiir and his Vice President Riek Machar on the weekend to end the clashes. He added that renewed fighting had come at a time when EAC was contemplating to send its team of officials to assess the level of readiness of the strife-torn country to integrate with EAC after its admission into EAC on March 2 and signing of an Accession Protocol by President Kiir in Dar es Salaam in April. A business consultant based in Arusha, Mr Simon Mapolu, said the current deadly clashes in South Sudan were enough reflection of the deep...