PSCU President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday  said relations between Africa and Europe are set for a better future based on trade and investment. He said with the increasing economic progress in Africa, its relations with the European Union (EU) is set on a route that will deliver mutual benefits. President Uhuru made the statement when he delivered a keynote address at the 10th Edition of the European Union Development Days (EDD) held in Brussels, Belgium. The President said the last two decades have seen an exponential expansion of scope for increased trade and investment driven by the young middle class, which is growing in number, affluence as well as influence. He noted that the amount of goods reaching European markets from Africa and other countries in the Caribbean and Pacific region has dramatically increased both in value and volume. He, however, called for the removal of trade restrictions that limit the movement of goods from ACP countries to the EU. President Uhuru urged the European Union to increase its support for the efforts by Kenya and other African countries to stabilise Somalia. He said significant gains have been realised in state building through the African Mission in Somalia (Amisom) but Kenya and other troop contributing countries still require support from partners including the EU. “The Somalia crisis has not only resulted in security challenges to Kenya but also led to a huge burden of hosting large populations of refugees uprooted from their communities by the conflict for a period of more...

Running battles between the opposition and Kenyan authorities on the streets of Nairobi, which is sort of a rehearsal for what could happen before the country goes to the polls next year, a panicky government in Kinshasa that continues to jail dissidents ahead of the general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a fragile coalition government in South Sudan that has still kept many traders on tenterhooks, could all hurt Uganda's economic prospects, writes ALON MWESIGWA. Uganda's growth projections for 2016/17 are already looking bleak as events playing out in the region, the country's biggest export market, seem unfavorable. Kenya, where most of Uganda's imports pass through the port of Mombasa, and takes the biggest chunk of our exports, will go to the polls next year. Already, skirmishes between the opposition and police in the last two months over the impartiality of the electoral commission have raised concerns in the region over whether the country will have peaceful elections or not. If the events in the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya are anything to go by, there are fears there could be major disruptions for Uganda next year. "These events are already sending shivers in the [Ugandan] economy," said Dr Adam Mugume, the executive director for research at Bank of Uganda. He was speaking at the Stanbic bank post-budget breakfast held at Serena hotel last week. Trade with Kenya is heavily tilted in favour of East Africa's largest economy, but Uganda exported there goods worth $427m in 2015,...

Arusha — In an apparent political will to spur intraregional trade, Tanzania and Kenya have assented to the East African Community (EAC) Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade Bill, 2015. Tabling the EAC Budget, the Tanzania's deputy minister for Foreign Affairs, East Africa, and Regional and international Co-operation, Dr Susan Kolimba, said Dar and Nairobi had assented to the Bill and that the duo was waiting for other three heads of state to also append their signatures to it. These are Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Salvar Kiir of South Sudan will not assent to it, as his country is not yet fully integrated into the bloc. The means both Dar and Nairobi have formally committed themselves to implement the will-be binding legislation to eliminate NTBs to trade among the five EAC partner states. However, the East African Business Council (EABC) says though it would like the other EAC heads of states to assent to the Bill, the will-be Act should be returned to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) for it to amend and make it more effective. The apex body of business associations of the private sector and corporates from the five East African countries said the Bill was strictly dependent on the political will to eliminate reported NTBs among parties involved, with neither consequences for non-elimination nor retribution for aggrieved parties. The EABC trade economist, Mr Adrian Njau, proposes that the Eala should amend the NTBs Bill to address the fault...

During the recent East Africa and Dubai Agribusiness Roundtable meeting, representatives from the East African Community (EAC) joined Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Ethiopian International Office to discuss opportunities for cooperation and investment. In attendance at the meeting were Abdul Razak Mohammed Hadi, UAE Ambassador to Kenya, and representatives of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce, East African Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the Private Sector Federation Rwanda and the Chambers of Burundi, Tanzania Zanzibar and Uganda. The roundtable focused on the agribusiness industry, an industry of the utmost importance to the UAE, which imports 85 percent of its food from overseas markets. “The UAE is fully committed to increasing trade and economic development in the region and we have done this by offering excellent logistical and export/import free zones while helping African companies to carry out their trading activities with global traders through the country,” Hadi said. Omar Khan, director of the international offices of Dubai Chamber, was also in attendance and talked about the importance of the African continent as a strategic partner for Dubai’s business community. The chamber will open international offices in the continent to support private sector growth. Source: Gulf News

Expensive maize in Tanzania and Uganda contributed in sparking a sharp rise in the price of flour in Kenya as local millers cut reliance on grains from the neighbouring countries. The latest food security report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries indicates that imports from neighbouring countries dropped to 205,350 bags in quarter one, down from 1.8 million in the same period last year. This came as Kenyan farmers stepped up maize exports to Tanzania, worsening the cereal shortage locally that has seen flour prices rise by Sh15 for the two kilogram packet since February. Data prepared by the Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network (Ratin) shows that a 90-kg bag of maize retailed at Sh4,898 in Dar es Salaam, the highest unit price in East Africa. The same quantity of maize currently fetches about 2,700 in Nairobi, an average of Sh2,661 in Kampala and Sh4,597 in Burundi. “The supplies of maize have been tight in the market and millers are unable to get enough stocks, this situation is behind the rise in flour prices,” said an official of the Cereal Millers Association. The government notes that the reduced imports of the various major food commodities signify relative adequacy of stocks. “The cross-border imports decreased by 80 in the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year,” says the report. Millers have been complaining of decreased supply of local stocks in the market and are banking on stocks from Tanzania, whose harvest season has...

Importers using the port of Mombasa have expressed fear that Kenya and its neighbours might miss a global deadline requiring them to weigh all cargo at the port of loading before it is shipped. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) imposed the regulation three years ago to improve maritime safety and integrity of cargo by tracking its weight on transit and set July 1 this year as the deadline for shippers to comply. Cargo owners in the region have indicated it would take urgent preparations and further sensitisation for the country to meet the July 1 deadline. East African Shippers Council (EASC) chief executive officer Gilbert Langat said although the global rule was agreed upon three years ago, Kenya might be forced to negotiate for extension of time because it was not yet ready less than a month when the new rule enters into force. Mr Langat said it was not yet clear what percentage cost would be factored as weighing charge and exactly where the exercise will take place; at the port of Mombasa or container depots. “There is need to identify third parties with well calibrated weighing equipment to avoid any hitches. It is also important for the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) as the industry regulator to determine the percentage cost of weighing the containers and ensure there is no exploitation in the process,” Langat said. KMA has said it would be mandatory in Kenya to determine the weight of packed shipping containers before they are loaded onto ships....

MOMBASA, KENYA: The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Tuesday began auctioning un-taxed goods that have stayed at the Port of Mombasa for long and warned cartels to keep off the exercise. During the auction at the Kilindini Customs Warehouse within Mombasa port , an assortment of goods ranging from motor vehicle tyres, building and house construction material, vegetable cooking oil, citric acid , ladies footwear , Pakistani white rice were being offered for sale. KRA Manager in charge of Port Operations, Mr Joseph Kaguru said they have put in place logistics to auction unclaimed containers. '' Adequate time was given to potential buyers who at the fall of the hammer and upon payment of a 25 per cent of total auction price on offer starts the process of taking over the goods on offer,'' Kaguru said. He announced that the auction for a range of motor vehicle units will be conducted next week on Tuesday. Kaguru said that some of the conditions of sale at the Custom Public auction include a non-refundable deposit of 25 per cent of purchase money which is to be paid at the fall of the hammer with the balance paid by guaranteed or bankers cheque within 48 hours after sale. ''Whereas the balance is not paid as specified, the bid shall lapse and the lot in respect of which such balance is outstanding shall be re –offered for sale at the next auction,'' Kaguru said. Earlier on , KRA Regional Manager Nicholas Kinoti noted that...

Project analysts have asked the government to allocate money and set timelines on its plan to build industrial parks along the standard gauge railway (SGR) corridor. Financial consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says the faster such projects gets off the ground the sooner they can add to the overall economic performance. “Despite this being a progressive initiative on the government’s part, it was conspicuously notable that the plans to develop the parks do not provide for specific incentives. “Another obvious gap is on the approach the government will take to finance these parks and the timelines when the parks become a reality on the ground,” PwC analysts say in their post budget review. Queries have of late arisen over the economic viability of SGR, being constructed at a cost of Sh327 billion financed by a Chinese loan, after key landlocked states indicated intention to connect to Indian Ocean through Tanzania. In his Budget statement, Treasury secretary Henry Rotich said the government plans to establish green industrial parks under the special economic zones along the SGR line from Mombasa to western Kenya. The government says the construction of SGR to Nairobi is already 80 per cent complete ahead of its launch in June 2017. “With the completion of the new rail, there will be developments of industrial parks along the SGR line at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa, Voi, Mtito Andei, Nairobi and Naivasha which will help boost our manufacturing sector and its contribution to GDP and help create jobs for our Youth,” he...

Following the loss of the Uganda oil pipeline deal to Tanzania, Kenya has a golden opportunity to gain a competitive edge in the region, but analysts argue that it must fast-track the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project. Moreover, they contend that the country can compete effectively with its rivals by boosting its infrastructure efficiency. The government maintains that it is committed to seeing the Lapsset project through, but analysts said it needs to put money where its mouth is, noting that the Sh10 billion allocated to the Lapsset this year is too little and may ultimately affect timelines for the completion of the project. Mr Gabriel Ouko, associate director Deloitte East Africa said the budget raises more questions than answers in the infrastructure space. “Given the $30 billion capital expenditure that is required for the Lapsset project, is Sh10 billion not a drop in the ocean? Are we really serious about getting this project going? The government says it is, the budget it is giving is not reflective,” Mr Ouko said. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) pointed out that although infrastructure continues to receive a considerable budgetary attention from successive ministers, it remains the least performing sector in terms of implementing projects. The 2016/17 Budget Summary shows the standard gauge railway will get a whopping Sh154 billion roads (Sh148 billion), Mombasa Port (Sh5 billion) and Lapsset (Sh10 billion). “Absorption in infrastructure sector has been consistently 50 per cent on average for over a decade due...

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his host José Eduardo dos Santos held talks in the Angolan capital Luanda on Tuesday, focused on the rapidly growing trade and bilateral cooperation between the two nations, both ranked among Africa's strongest economies. The bilateral talks came on the margins of the 6th International Conference on the Great Lakes region (ICGLR). Angola is chair of the ICGLR. On the agenda was the easing of barriers to trade and business between Kenya and Angola, one of Africa's fastest growing economies, and which has a keen eye to diversify away from oil. The two leaders considered easing the visa regime to ensure that Kenyans have improved access to Angola's markets, and, in return, that Angola's private sector can make the most of the opportunities that Kenya offers. Under Kenya's progressive visa regime, Angolans can already access visas on arrival at a Kenyan port of entry. At President Kenyatta's request, President Dos Santos said that Angola would look to allow national carrier Kenyan Airways to increase scheduled direct passenger flights, use larger aircraft to replace the current Embraer and Boeing 737 that ply the route thrice a week, and launch cargo flights. President Dos Santos said this would be possible when a new airport, currently under construction, was completed. Kenya also sought a review of the rules governing Angola's investor licenses and work permits, and requested that the wealthy Southwest African nation reconsider foreign exchange regulations which hamper business relations.  The leaders agreed that the matter be dealt...