Kenya is racing to reverse a drop in visitor arrivals from Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda with a Sh150 million marketing campaign following last year’s success with travellers from Nigeria and South Africa. Tourism data shows that visitors from Tanzania dropped from 17.3 per cent to 17,752 last year, Ugandan travellers to Kenya reduced by eight per cent to 29,038 while those from Rwanda narrowed 1.3 per cent to 11,242. This has jolted the Ministry of Tourism to conduct consumer research in the three countries, which are among top five tourist source markets for Kenya in order to align their preferences with local attractions. “In terms of investment, we have taken Tanzania and Uganda for granted. But this is going to change,” Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said at a press briefing in Nairobi on Monday, but cautioned against the rising political heat. Kenya is renowned for its warm weather in the palm-fringed sandy beaches, resorts and game park rides. Officials look to market Nairobi as a regional hub for shopping and hospitality as they eye neighbouring travellers. Tourist arrivals from South Africa, which is Kenya’s largest source market, jumped by 17.6 per cent last year to 30,476 while Nigerian visitors increased by six per cent to 14,065. The growth was attributed to increased promotion in Nigeria and South Africa — the largest and second largest economies in Africa respectively. The government seeks to replicate similar success in East Africa with the Sh150 million campaign, which takes up 60 per cent...

As a Kenyan, I am happy to hear that Rwanda is not walking away from Northern Corridor SGR, but working on a plan that will concurrently rely on its good relations with both Kenya and Tanzania to advance not only its interests but also the collective interests of the whole region through the railroads. However, I would urge the Rwandan Government to broadcast this position much more loudly to the world. The reason is because media outlets from various parts of the world, based on the earlier misreporting on the topic, are spreading all sorts of innuendo about the impact of the decision by Rwanda to use the Tanzanian route on the existing cordial relations among the members of the East African Community. In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to urge the peoples of East Africa not to lose sight of the vision and mission that originally created the East African Community that is currently powering the economic renaissance of the region. Let us hold hands and march forward together in unity and fraternity. We stand to gain more from collaboratively confronting our problems than from working separately. Who knows? In the future, we could evolve into a super state out of our collaboration. We could come up with something really ingenious with which to represent ourselves to the world – something like “The United Republic of Swahili Speakers”. Imagine how incredibly beautiful that would be. We would have everything within our borders – oil, coal, diamonds,...

This was revealed by the Chairman of Board of Directors Ali Mufuruki who said EAC still needs the support of his organisation especially when it comes to Infrastructure development. He said without well-developed infrastructure the EAC may fail to attract more international investors. “We are committed to raise the funds from our development partner’s because 80% of them are willing to offer their support after we proved capacity in effectively utilising the little resources they have given us,” said Mukuruki. This was during the TMA -2014/2015   Annual performing report release in Kampala. The $1billion will be used to support identified projects in the EAC countries Namely Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and the newly incorporated South Sudan. Without naming the projects TMA will finance in the upcoming five years, Mufuruki said the projects will be developed by the member’s states and must be in line with supporting trade and improving social services in the region. Some of the development partner’s TMA hopes to raise the $1billion funds to finance the projects in the EAC Economic block includes   Sweden Embassies, United Kingdom’s DFID, Canada and USIAD among other financiers. The above mentioned partners have been Influential in supporting TMA in the last five years.  “The results  are  truly  impressive .TMA,s support  for the Modernisation  of ports  in Mombasa and Dare Salam  and its  one stop  border posts  are  transforming  trade  and  driving  integration across the region. The time it takes to move goods from Mombasa to Kampala has been...

The implementation of the East African multi-entry single tourist visa is being hampered by the differences in national visa policies and regimes in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. Speaking at a recent stakeholder forum in Kigali, a senior tourism development officer from Uganda Anne Awori, said that member states are forcing tourists holding the pass to pay extra upon entry into their countries. “We have come across many cases of officials asking tourists who have obtained the single entry visa from Uganda to pay entry fees in Rwanda or Kenya,” said Ms Awori. “A recent case is when Rwanda charged a 13-year-old tourist who was issued a regional visa from Uganda an additional $60.” Earlier, Uganda had blamed Kenya and Rwanda for breaching the visa agreement by issuing their own local visas to tourists instead of the single EAC tourist visa. At one time, Ugandan tourism officials were quoted by the local media as threatening to pull out from the visa project. “A visa is supposed to be issued by the first country of entry. For a Congolese for instance, Rwanda is their first entry country. But when we issue the visa, Uganda raises questions and makes them pay again for the pass,” said a Rwandan official. The heads of state from the three countries launched the single tourism visa in February 2014 under the Northern Corridor Infrastructure Projects. The idea is to allow tourists to move freely within Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda without applying or paying for another visa. Tourism...

KILOSA, Tanzania (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The huge stock of maize Jumanne Masele put aside last year was enough to spare his family from hunger and earn him cash to repay his debts - or so he thought. A short while after Masele had finished stuffing the grain into a traditional storage cocoon, he realized much of it had been infested by fungus as ground moisture from heavy rain seeped in through the bottom of his store made of dried soil, sticks and grass. “There was nothing I could do to salvage my grains - it was a total loss,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Despite a bumper harvest, the farmer, 44, from Mbumi village in the east Tanzania district of Kilosa lost most of his crops, threatening his family’s food supply.  “I still don’t know how to store my harvests - traditional techniques are no longer effective as the grain easily rots when we get unexpected extra rains,” Masele said. Agriculture is the backbone of Tanzania’s economy, providing work for more than four fifths of the population. The rural sector accounts for over half the country’s gross domestic product and export earnings, according to national statistics. Yet as Tanzanian farmers struggle to market their crops, nearly 40 percent of grains are lost to poor storage and extreme weather, costing the nation $332 million every year, the government says. Efforts are underway to curb these losses. Since 2013, smallholder farmers in nine African countries have been getting help to...

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta held a joint press conference in Nairobi, the second stop on Turkey's two-nation East African tour, and Erdoğan said that Turkey and Kenya aim to raise the volume of trade from the outstanding $144 million to $1 billion a year. Erdoğan said the two countries have the potential to achieve this target. Erdoğan is accompanied by a committee of 135 business people who came to Kenya ready to hold meetings on a sectoral basis with counterparts in the Business Forum, organized for the evening. Erdoğan said that to achieve the new trade volume target and achieve strategic partnerships in many fields including trade, energy, healthcare, education, infrastructure and superstructure projects, Turkey has given full support to eliminating all the barriers that prevent the fostering of business relations between the two countries. Erdoğan said the agreements on double taxation and preferential trade, which aims to eliminate the biggest hardships in conducting business, will be concluded in August through the visit of Kenyatta to Turkey. During the business forum, Erdoğan invited Kenyan businessmen to visit Turkey with their president.Erdoğan said Turkey will make efforts to further strengthen business ties, by creating opportunities for Turkish business people to invest in Kenya, such as the Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) business model, which will result in the increase and sustainability of investments. He added that the Turkish Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) will provide business people with the necessary credit and incentives to invest, in the East...

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Turkey counterpart Tayyip Erdogan signed the deals at State House Nairobi yesterday. President Kenyatta said he would travel to Turkey in August to ensure the trade deals are implemented. The two Presidents led their delegations in bilateral talks that sought to deepen ties and boost trade. "Our talks seek to improve the relations between the two countries that span over a century. More than 10 co-operation instruments have been signed between our two countries," Uhuru said. "We import many Turkish goods and support the Government of Turkey on a number of initiatives. The ties bonding the two nations have increased from $41 million (Sh4.1 billion) in 2009 to $148 million (Sh14.9 billion) in 2015." Erdogan said: "We are trading at $144 million (Sh14.5 million). This is insignificant. As soon as possible, the figure should shoot to $1 billion. This is the threshold set." The Turkish President, who was accompanied by 135 businesspersons, underscored the need for the two countries to sign deals on preferential trade that would cater for double taxation. "We agreed as a matter of priority to remove any barriers that would prevent our private sector from doing business and as such hasten the signing of double taxation between the two countries and this to be done before my next visit to Turkey in August," Uhuru said. On the fight against terrorism, Erdogan accused the West of double standards. Firm stand President Erdogan said developing countries were struggling with refugee crises as a result...

Kampala- The founding First Ladies of the East African Community (EAC) have called for fast-tracking of the integration plans by the member countries. This call was made during a special sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) in Arusha, Tanzania, on Tuesday. Ms Ngina Kenyatta, the widow of Kenya’s first president Jomo Kenyatta, and Ms Miria Obote, the widow of former president Milton Obote, reminisced over the memories of the first EAC and challenged Eala members to ensure the future of integration is both guaranteed and realised. Ms Maria Nyerere, widow of Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania, did not attend the function and was represented by Makongoro Nyerere, an Eala member. Ms Obote called for the prioritisation of economic investment projects, including oil refineries, the Standard Gauge Railway, agricultural research, food security and climate change. She urged the region to move faster to have an integrated syllabus and curriculum to stabilise the labour market within EAC. “For instance, a majority of Ugandans have never learnt proper Swahili. We are now learning proper Swahili in schools and in the public engagement. This is the best way towards integration,” she said. Ms Kenyatta informed the regional MPs that EAC’s founding fathers had “walked and worked tirelessly” in anticipation of unity of the region. “In 1967, all three of us were witnesses to the establishment of a community that spoke to that shared sentiment. The East African Community was built on the understanding that our nations and our people were...

President Uhuru Kenyatta was on Saturday told that the construction of Sh420 billion Standard Gauge Railway which runs from the coastal city of Mombasa to Nairobi will be completed ahead of the schedule. President Kenyatta, who visited a section of the 472-km Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project which is more than three-quarters done, said once completed, the project will enhance Kenya's position as a regional business hub. Speaking during the inspection tour, Uhuru said the government is in talks with investors to put up industrial parks along the SGR line to create jobs. "We have discussed on how to set up industrial parks at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa, Voi, Mtito Andei, Nairobi and Naivasha, which will help us create jobs for our young people," he said. More than 75 percent civil works have been completed on the first phase of the project, with over 235 km trackline laid between Voi and Sultan Hamud. The second phase will cover 487km from Nairobi-Kisumu-Malaba. It is divided into three subphases. These phases include 2A, which is 120km from Nairobi to Naivasha. Phase 2B, which is 262 km, will stretch from Naivasha-Narok-Bomet-Ahero-Kisumu while phase 2C will cover 107 km from Kisumu-Yala-Mumias-Malaba in western Kenya. The President said the construction of SGR will not only boost the transport development but also promote integration and industrialisation in East and Central Africa. The SGR is also expected to ease movement and reduce transportation cost of goods from the Mombasa port to Nairobi, and other destinations, projecting Kenya’s...

The six East African States are set to replicate a new driving curriculum recently launched in Kenya as the region moves to harmonise its roads' instruction manual. East African Community (EAC) secretary-general Liberat Mfumukeko said Kenya's curriculum meets the standards of the proposed regional one that would be launched soon and adopted by all member states. The bloc's members include South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Mr Mfumukeko said EAC would use the syllabus to test the implementation of the regional training manual. "The curriculum that you have launched meets the requirements of the regional standards. We at the community will use the implementation modalities for the Kenyan curriculum to test the implementation of our manual guide," said Mr Mfumukeko. Last week, Kenya launched a new curriculum to replace the one that is currently on use as the country seeks to curb increasing cases of road accidents that have largely been attributed to human error. TradeMark Africa has developed the regional curriculum and training material for drivers of large commercial vehicles in EAC. The syllabus comprises the EAC standardised curriculum for drivers of large commercial vehicles for both passengers and freight. The curriculum was developed with input from Kenya's National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). The country's Transport Cabinet secretary James Macharia said it is important for the region to harmonise the driving curriculum for the benefit of member states. "It is good to note that we are heading towards harmonisation of the regional curriculum for drivers, this...