KIGALI, June 21(Xinhua) -- As Africa looks forward to continental integration, the Chinese government announced plans to roll out major joint ventures that will enable the continent to achieve integration agenda. Last year, the Chinese government announced that it will roll out 10 cooperation plans that will strengthen cooperation with Africa within the next three years. The programs cover the areas of agriculture modernization, infrastructure, industrialization, financial services, trade and investment facilitation, green development, peace and security, poverty reduction and public welfare, public health and people-to-people exchanges. China will also offer 60 billion U.S. dollars to ensure the smooth implementation of the cooperation initiatives. Speaking to Xinhua on Tuesday, Claver Gatete, Rwanda minister of finance and economic planning, said that China's major economic cooperation arrangements with Africa will play a crucial role towards boosting economic integration on the continent. "These economic initiatives and other efforts toward Africa regional integration hold the promise of boosting intra-regional trade and improving investment prospects in the continent, as well as African competitiveness," he said. Africa trade integration has long been a strategic objective for Africa policy makers and economists, despite the continent's market remains highly fragmented. On June 10, 2015 in Cairo, the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) was officially launched which seeks to boost economic growth in Africa. TFTA brings together three of Africa's major regional economic communities -- the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). According to Dr....

Involvement of East African women in the region’s integration agenda is very important and must be enhanced, regional lawmakers have said. Rwanda’s representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), who are currently on a countrywide sensitisation tour, say Rwandan women should make the most of the integration agenda. Last Friday, the lawmakers interacted with women groups’ representatives in various parts of the country. The chairperson of EALA Rwanda Chapter, MP Patricia Hajabakiga, told The New Times, yesterday, that they traversed Gatsibo, Kayonza and Nyagatare districts where they met and talked to the leadership of women councils, cooperatives and civil society. Discussion topics included the historical background, the objectives, components of the EAC Treaty, and the negotiated protocols and laws. “We urged them to harness the benefits of Easct African Community integration and to increase production to take advantage of the bigger market.Women in EAC are more than 50 per cent of the total population and therefore their participation is critical,” Hajabakiga said. “However, it was noted that few women are involved in cross-border trade and most of those involved are still in the informal sector. We also noticed a lack of information on EAC matters on their part, and most of them acknowledged that they know that Rwanda is a member of EAC but had never been sensitised about it.” According to Hajabakiga, some of the women expressed concern that free movement of goods across EAC would make Rwanda a dumping place and a market for others. “Some raised...

Last Friday, yet another meeting of the East Africa Tourism Platform (EATP) took place, this time in Arusha, as a follow-up of the Kigali meeting in early February. EATP promotes East Africa as a single destination founded on growth, dynamism and investment. Regional integration calls for expansion of horizons be it size, scale, competitiveness or partnerships, resulting in an environment for tourism to thrive. By understanding that common challenges need to be solved by agreeable strategic solutions and in line with its mission and vision, EATP hosted this latest forum geared to offer a platform for open discussions on the vision of East Africa as a single tourism destination and the feasibility and viability thereof. Participants in Arusha were once again drawn from key companies and private sector tourism associations in the five East African Community member states of Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, as well as tourism boards of Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. The Arusha forum was a follow-up one where this time the stakeholders invited were the key business and tourism stakeholders, in other words those individuals considered the industry's movers and shakers. As key players and influencers, the participants were gathered in the same room to discuss challenges and opportunities to development of tourism in the EAC and promoting the region as a single destination. The stakeholders invited from the 5 countries of the EAC must have a say in shaping the future of tourism and are already working in the EAC and doing cross-border business....

Kenya is one of the countries at a high risk of being hit by economic shocks associated with Britain's plebiscite tomorrow on whether to dump or keep its membership in the European Union, economists said. The Central Bank of Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge, who is a former IMF economist, said East Africa's largest economy would "feel the shock wave" alongside other global economies should Britain vote to leave the EU. Dr Njoroge's pronouncement was seen as expressing concerns that Kenya's economic policy makers have over the outcome of Thursday's vote, whose impact some economists have said could equal that of the 2008 global financial crisis. Kenya is particularly seen as vulnerable to possible loss of trade, exchange rate pressure and capital outflows should Britons vote to leave the bloc. Nairobi is seen as being at risk of massive capital outflows arising from the strong wave of anxiety in global markets, which is expected to follow an exit vote. Increased capital outflows would, for instance, hurt trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, whose activity has more recently been anchored on strong foreign participation. Listed companies that export goods and services to the UK also face the risk of a prolonged slowdown or even decline should Britain exit the EU and its economy suffers a downturn as a result. Standard Chartered head of research for Africa Razia Khan said the shilling was likely to come under pressure if Britain exits and subsequent investor capital flight to relative safe havens such as US...

The African Union (AU) is set to launch an electronic passport (e-passport) in the next two weeks in part of measures to boost movement of people across the continent. The e-passport, to be launched during the African Union's 27th Summit which kicks off in Rwanda from July 10, is part of efforts to boost intra-regional trade. The AU, however, says member countries will have to adopt and ratify necessary protocols and laws to prepare the way for use of the passport. Heads of state and government, ministers of foreign affairs and the permanent representatives of AU member states based at the headquarters in Addis Ababa will be the first group to get the e-passports during the summit. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), termed the move a "steady step toward the objective of creating a strong, prosperous and integrated Africa." The Rwanda summit will talk about Africa's integration and the introduction of a common passport. Countries like the Seychelles, Mauritius, Rwanda, and Ghana have taken the lead in ensuring easier intra-Africa travel by relaxing visa restrictions and in some cases lifting visa requirements altogether. The East Africa Community in March launched an the document. A phase out programme for the current East African and national passports will go on for two years staring January next year. Source: All Africa

During the 2016 presidential primaries, while the United States media has been obsessed with who said what to Megyn Kelly, the world has looked on with amusement at Republican Party infighting. Those of us in Africa, however, have been wondering what the outcome of this election might mean for the continent. Will Trump put up trade barriers to shore up jobs at home? Will he reduce foreign aid? What about his approach to climate change? Will Clinton approach foreign affairs differently as president than she did as secretary of state? Trump has been quoted on record as saying, “It is necessary that we invest in our infrastructure, and stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us.” This is perhaps good news for Africa, as these countries don’t have a reputation of hating America. Trump clearly has strong views on China and continues to flip-flop on policy issues such as sending aid to the Middle East. From an African perspective, this may be perhaps a case of “no news is good news,” as the region often stays below the political radar. U.S.-African relations are complex and mutually beneficial, a reality that has not gone unnoticed by the Republican Party. In February, President Obama signed the Electrify Africa Act of 2015, which establishes a comprehensive U.S. policy to improve access to affordable and reliable electricity in sub-Saharan Africa for at least 50 million people by 2020. Why is this important? Whoever enters the White House in 2017 will quickly come to...

A recent agribusiness conference in Nairobi highlighted the desire of United Arab Emirates officials to expand trade with African nations and how leaders from Dubai are looking closely at continuing to expand trade with East African nations, including Ethiopia. Dubai imports 85 percent of its food from beyond its borders, and much of that comes from Ethiopia, according to Informa Middle East. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Ethiopian International Office-organized roundtable in June was attended by Abdul Razak Mohammed Hadi, UAE's ambassador to Kenya, and Omar Khan, director of International Offices at the Dubai Chamber. In an interview with the Gulf News Journal last week, Khan expounded on the prospects for trade between the UAE and East African nations. “Dubai Chamber considers Africa, particularly East Africa, to be an important trading partner.” Khan said. “Dubai’s 2015 non-oil revenue with the members of the East African community was almost $3.5 billion, a nearly 10 percent increase from 2014. We want to sustain and encourage this growth.” Khan said that with a rapidly growing population, the UAE stands to gain by enhancing trade partnerships with other nations. The UAE, he said, will need an increasing supply of fresh food, especially in the Dubai area. Khan cited forecasts expecting food sales to increase by nearly 30 percent by 2019, and the retail value of packaged food sales to rise from approximately $4.4 billion in 2015 to approximately $6.3 billion by 2019. “Dubai Chamber seeks to promote bilateral ties and work with...

Agriculture secretary Willy Bett has said Kenya will ratify the regional food quality and safety pact in the latest effort to boost cross-border trade. World Trade Organisation has recommended the pact — the East African Community (EAC) Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Protocol to guide handling of plant and animal materials. “The protocol will take care of food safety issues and standards that are currently affecting our animal and plant items. “The key for ratification, however, is that it will enhance trade in and across the region hence a matter of urgency for Kenya,” Mr Bett told a stakeholders’ meeting in Nairobi last week. The EAC faces threats such as larger grain borer and cypress Aphid, originally from Tanzania. Mr Bett said ratifying the protocol would ensure cross-border trade does not have negative impact on animal and plant health. The parliamentary Committee on Agriculture chairman Adan Nooru Mohamed said the ratification of the protocol would enhance cross-border trade in agricultural produce. “I urge stakeholders to work in urgency and ensure that the protocol is passed,” said Mr Mohamed. Rwanda and Uganda have already ratified the protocol. Source: Business Daily

Kenyans are being treated to a season of gloom and doom because Kenya is supposedly about to be eclipsed as the region’s dominant economy by Tanzania. Kenyans have “authoritatively” been informed by expert economic analysts that Tanzania is the new king of East Africa, and Kenya has lost out big time. What is behind this invitation to Kenyans to beat themselves? The first is the decision by Uganda to “abandon” its deal with Kenya to build a joint pipeline to the Port of Lamu in favour of one with Tanzania. The second is the decision by Rwanda to “abandon” Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in favour of the one proposed by Tanzania. Never mind that not even one kilometer of track or pipeline has been laid, or even one dollar of the necessary finance been mobilized for both projects. The truth is that when you compare Tanzania’s economy to Kenya, it’s almost laughable that anybody can actually state that it can supplant Kenya’s dominance in this region. This is just self-serving analysis meant to push a given political narrative. What are the facts about these two economies? Tanzania’s 2016 budget of $ 13.5 billion (Sh1.35 trillion) pales beside Kenya’s budget of $ 22.6 billion (Sh 2.26 trillion), almost double in size. Further, the size of Tanzania’s economy, measured through its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), at $ 48 billion, is almost 25 per cent smaller than Kenya’s at $ 61 billion. These gaps have only grown in the last decade, and...

On June 17, Germany and Poland celebrate the 25th anniversary of the German-Polish Treaty on Good Neighbourly and Friendly Relations. In the past, relations between the Polish and German nations were often difficult and marred by conflict. The worst episode started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, with loss of life and destruction that continued until 1945. The process of reconciliation between Germany and Poland began as early as 1965, with a letter of reconciliation by Polish Catholic bishops to their German counterparts. This was the beginning of a long process. Crucial for its success was Germany's willingness to acknowledge the crimes committed against the Polish people and the unequivocal acceptance of responsibility for the suffering caused during the Second World War. Today, Germany and Poland are friends and partners in the European Union. The example of German-Polish relations is relevant for the East African region because it demonstrates that enmity and rivalry can be overcome and replaced by a mutually beneficial relationship grounded in shared values, characterised by equality and respect for one another, and strengthened by economic cooperation and cultural exchange. There are three outstanding benefits that regional integration can bring about: First, it is an important building block in deterring violent conflicts between nations. There has not been a war between members of the European Union since it was created. Instead, the focus has been on creating a single market based on economic freedom and effective common political institutions to deal with issues...