uth Africa is “satisfied” that the recently signed Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union (EU) will lead to improved market access for some additional South African agricultural products, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said at the weekend, reporting that Cabinet had, therefore, “transmitted” the deal to Parliament for ratification. The EU remains South Africa's main trading partner with total trade of R536-billion in 2015. In addition, a significant portion of South Africa's R216-billion in exports to the bloc last year were value-added products. It is our preference that if you wish to share this article with others you should please use the following link: Speaking in Cape Town a week after six Southern African Development Community (SADC) members  – Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland – signed the so-called EU-SADC EPA trade deal in Botswana, Davies highlighted particular improvements in the areas of fisheries and agriculture. Under the current Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement, which came into force in 2000, South Africa receives preferential access to the 500-million consumer, 28-country EU on 65% of its agricultural products. Under the EPA, however, there would be increased access for South African seafood, wine, canned fruit, sugar and ethanol. The current yearly tariff-free quota of 50-million litres of South African wine would be increased to 110-million litres, while 150 000 t/y of South African sugar and 80 000 t/y of ethanol could also be exported to the EU tariff free. There had also been improvements in market access...

THE 12-hour train journey from Kenya’s capital Nairobi to the port city of Mombasa, 483km away, has taken on a different feel in recent months. Construction crews are hard at work to complete a new standard-gauge line which runs alongside the colonial-era metre-gauge railway and is promising to reduce the same journey by eight hours from June 2017. The new 472km line is a sight and development to behold. The Chinese-funded link is the largest single infrastructure project since Kenya gained its independence in 1963, and features eight underpasses where it crosses the world-famous Tsavo National Park. It also has 98 bridges, including two large structures at points where it traverses the existing line, which is part of a 1918km network linking Kenya with Uganda operated by concessionaire Rift Valley Railways (RVR) since 2005. Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) managing director Mr Atanas Maina said on April 28 that work on the $US 3.8bn project is now 75% complete. Specifically the engineering, procurement and construction management contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has completed 75% of the civil works which constitute 92% of earthworks, 81% of concrete works, 30% of stations and nearly 30% of track laying. Maina says of the 472.3km line, 442.6km runs at grade and the total bridge length is 29.7km. “There are 33 stations along the line, of which two will be traffic hubs at both ends and eight will be intermediate stations while 23 will be passing stations,” Maina told IRJ. The line has been...

On June 17, Germany and Poland celebrate the 25th anniversary of the German-Polish Treaty on good neighbourly and friendly relations. The close partnership that characterises the relations between our countries is not self-evident. During more than 1,000 years of neighbourship, relations between Poland and Germany were often difficult and marred by conflict. The worst episode in the history of the two countries started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939. This resulted in millions of people being killed, the destruction of Warsaw and other major cities. As a consequence, a dramatic shifting of borders occurred with more millions of people forced to emigrate and abandon their homelands. Despite the division of the European continent after 1945 and the Cold War, 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. Crucial for its success was the German 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 which Poland joined in 2004. Both countries benefit from the level of integration the European Union, of which both are members, has brought about. 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 a set...

The share of intra-EAC trade to the total trade declined to 10.1 per cent from 11.1 per cent between 2013 and 2014. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania continue to dominate intra-East African Community trade even though its value fell from $5.8 billion to $5.63 billion in the same period. Kenya’s total exports to Uganda over the 2011-2015 period stood at $3.28 billion, followed by Tanzania ($1.98 billion), Rwanda ($734.93 million) and Burundi ($303.83 million). Exports to South Sudan, which was admitted to the EAC in March this year stood at $71 million. Intra-EAC trade is mainly dominated by agricultural commodities such as coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, rice, maize, and wheat flour and manufactured goods such as, cement, petroleum products, textiles, sugar, beer and salt. Uganda remains a key market for Kenya’s exports, according to Kenya’s Economic Survey (2016). Similarly Kenya imported the most goods from Uganda at Ksh81.57 billion ($815 million) in the same period, followed by Tanzania ($748.64 million) and Rwanda ($36.45 million). But major imports came from South Africa, totalling $3.19 billion. Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that Kenya’s combined exports to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda  dropped from $69.9 million   in January to $1.56 million in February, before rising to $88.8 million n March. Last year, a study by Kenya’s Ministry of East Africa Community revealed that  the volume of Kenya’s exports to the EAC had fallen sharply largely due to unfair competition from Chinese traders and the country’s unfavourable taxation regime. Unfavourable taxation measures such as...

Rwandan traders are pushing for the removal of all Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) along routes connecting Kigali to the East African coast to ease trade. This was highlighted on Thursday as East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) members met hoteliers, tour operators and transporters in an attempt to grasp the problems the latter face while doing business in the region. NTBs are restrictions that result from prohibitions, conditions, or market requirements that make importation or exportation of products difficult or costly. Transporters said about seven weighbridges exist on the northern corridor – creating unfavorable competition – and are calling for further advocacy. Fred Seka, a transporter, said the central corridor route from Kigali to Dar is still preferred, though longer, as it has only one weighbridge. From Gatuna to Busia, in Uganda, there are four weigh bridges. “A truck from Kigali takes three to four days to reach Dar,” Seka said.  Accessing Dar port an issue Meanwhile, when the chairperson of EALA Rwanda Chapter, MP Patricia Hajabakiga, prodded for details on the situation at the two main EAC ports, Seka also reported challenges regarding Rwandan clearing and forwarding agents getting access. In 2013, Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya agreed to implement a Single Customs Territory (SCT). The SCT agreement was to remove multiple weighbridges, police and customs checks along the Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali route. It would also usher in computerised clearance and electronic tracking and other innovations that would overturn hurdles to free trade. Rwanda may now be in the SCT, Seka...

Famous for mountain gorilla and spectacular mountain scenery, Rwanda is set to host the annual Africa Travel Association (ATA) Congress to be taking place in Rwanda’s sprawling city of Kigali November this year. Bearing a theme of “Destination Africa: The Future of African Tourism”, the the ATA’s 41st Congress will be held in Kigali from November 14 to 17, bringing delegates from Africa, United States, Europe and other parts of the world. To be taking place in East Africa for three consecutive years, the ATA 41st Congress is set to focus the East African region as the single tourist destination in Africa and best for combined African safari. ATA 39th Congress was held in Kampala, Uganda in November 2014 and the ATA 40th Congress held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November last year. It will be the first time for Rwanda to host the ATA Congress and where the delegates will get a unique chance to observe Rwanda’s hospitality with a visit to a selected tourist hotspot in this fast growing African safari destination. Kenya is the first African and the East African state to host the first ATA Congress in 1976 just a year after the association was launched in New York the previous year, 1975, by a group of travel and airline executives. Other ATA Congress events which took place in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi were the ATA's 10th Annual Congress in 1985, ATA's 20th Annual Congress in 1995, ATA's 30th Annual Congress in 2005 and...

The East African Community Competition Authority (EACCA) will be operational from July with a mandate to curb unfair trade practices in the region and protect consumers from substandard goods. The authority will restrict trade practices and transactions that unduly limit fair competition. “The EACCA will commence operations in the 2016/2017 financial year and will act as a one-stop-centre in the enforcement of its provisions,” said Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Co-operation Susan Kolimba. Dr Kolimba said the Council of Ministers has appointed commissioners and a secretariat who are working on the modalities of EACCA operations. The East African Legislative Assembly approved $587,565 for the authority. In 2015, the EAC Council of Ministers adopted the East African Community Competition (Amendment) Bill, which provided for the establishment of the EACCA. The authority has jurisdiction in all the five partner states, while South Sudan will be covered at a later stage, as it is not fully integrated into the EAC. The EAC Competition Act, 2006, among other things, seeks to allow consumers to take class action against goods or services providers. It also seeks to seal loopholes that enable trade associations and firms operating across the region to engage in exclusive agreements, or form cartels, forcing consumers to pay higher prices for goods and services. Trade specialists say that while some EAC partner states have enacted national competition acts, these laws have proved inadequate to deal with cross-border and multi-jurisdictional competition cases. National competition laws and regulations are limited to political boundaries because they do...

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania continue to dominate intra-East African Community trade even though its value fell from $5.8 billion in 2013 to $5.63 billion in 2014. The share of intra-EAC trade to the total trade declined to 10.1 per cent from 11.1 per cent in the same period. Intra-EAC trade is mainly dominated by agricultural commodities such as coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, rice, maize, and wheat flour and manufactured goods such as, cement, petroleum products, textiles, sugar, beer and salt. Uganda remains a key market for Kenya’s exports, according to Kenya’s Economic Survey (2016). Kenya’s total exports to Uganda over the 2011-2015 period stood at $3.28 billion, followed by Tanzania ($1.98 billion), Rwanda ($734.93 million) and Burundi ($303.83 million). Exports to South Sudan, which was admitted to the EAC in March this year stood at $71 million. Similarly Kenya imported the most goods from Uganda at Ksh81.57 billion ($815 million) in the same period, followed by Tanzania ($748.64 million) and Rwanda ($36.45 million). But major imports came from South Africa, totalling $3.19 billion. Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that Kenya’s combined exports to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda  dropped from $69.9 million   in January to $1.56 million in February, before rising to $88.8 million n March. Last year, a study by Kenya’s Ministry of East Africa Community revealed that  the volume of Kenya’s exports to the EAC had fallen sharply largely due to unfair competition from Chinese traders and the country’s unfavourable taxation regime. Unfavourable taxation measures such...

Brazil is exploring ways of deepening its bilateral ties with Kenya and other African countries. As a strategy to boost the relationship between the two countries, the South American economic giant has organised an international agriculture forum that aims to boost growth in the sector in both countries. The Fourth Brazil Africa Forum, will be held in early November in the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu. During the two-day conference from November 3, development strategies for the sector will be discussed, according to Brazilian Ambassador to Kenya Marcela Maria Nicodemos. Speaking in Nairobi during a meeting convened by Brazil-Africa Institute, the main body organising the conference, Nicodemos said they are keen on growing the value of exports and imports between the two countries. “The major Kenyan products exported to Brazil are cut flowers, tea and vegetables, sheep and goat leather and milk. Kenya on the other hand mainly imports heavy machinery for agriculture and other agricultural equipment’s from Brazil,” she said at the press briefing. “We expect a strong delegation from Kenya to participate in the conference. The forum will be an opportunity for them to learn more about Brazil and the potential it offers in terms of trade and investment in all the key sectors,” explained the ambassador. João Bosco Ponte, president of the Brazil-Africa Institute, said the forum will be an avenue for delegates from the country, especially those in the agriculture sector to benchmark and take advantage of emerging business opportunities. “There has been less focus...

With reports indicating that the Northern Corridor has registered a slight increase in efficiency, it is envisioned that the Mombasa port dwell time can be reduced further if cargo processors meet performance targets. The dwell time in April ranged between 59.6 hours to 65.51 hours against a target of 72 hours, according to a report released by the Shipper’s Council. Cargo delays after release is estimated to be at an average of 36.96 hours to 54.74 against a target of 36 hours. The report indicates that ship turnaround time at the facility averaged at 71.42 to 82.93 hours. “The time varied based on the quantity and type of cargo a vessel has to discharge or load, the type and characteristics of a vessel, and the type of equipment and other resources used at the berth. The fluctuating performance was attributed to availability of equipment, improved productivity of the gangs and the implementation of fixed berthing window from August 2015 to date. Ship waiting time before berth was between 3.53 to 29.82 hours against a set target of 24 hours,” the report says. Lowest average clearance time at the one-stop-centre iwas 44.55 hours and the highest 49.01 hours. “Factors that contributed to this disparity include last-minute changes to import documents, several agencies not working round the clock and delays in physical verification or joint inspection of cargo.” Customs clearance at the document processing centre averaged between 2.03 and 2.89 hours against a recommended target of two hours. “This process has over...