Kenya is mulling terminating the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Naivasha or Kisumu after Rwanda pulled out of the flagship infrastructure project on the Northern Corridor. Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia played down the impact of Rwanda’s exit even as he acknowledged that extension of the line to Malaba may no longer be necessary if landlocked states opt out. “The decision has not been reached but we have a number of options at our disposal. We can decide to end the SGR at Naivasha or Kisumu but it will still be a viable venture due to the presence of Lake Victoria,” said Mr Macharia. Rwanda last week announced plans to build a railway through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean noting that the route is cheaper and would take shorter time to complete. The country’s last-minute pullout from the SGR came as a surprise to Kenya which has build almost 80 per cent of the first phase running from Mombasa to Nairobi. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan have been keen on connecting their economies via the fast-speed SGR running along the northern corridor. Speculation has been rife that China — which is financing the Mombasa-Nairobi section of the railway — is keen on taking up the whole project. Uganda, which is the top transit destination of Mombasa port cargo, has not build even as single inch of its section of SGR, putting pressure on Rwanda instead. The Kenya Ports Authority sees an efficient railway link from Mombasa as a sure...

As traders rue missed opportunities relating to Uganda choosing Tanzania over Kenya on the pipeline route, other initiatives are going on to spur intra-trade in East African. Hopefully, the recent initiative by Kenya and Uganda supported by a number of global and regional bodies to create a common platform for facilitating cross-border trade in fish and fishery products, using Busia Border point will succeed. Many times, the cumbersome and punitive inspection protocols for animal, human and plant products across the countries, which have different requirements and standards, has made it difficult for intra trade between the two countries. Uganda has a bigger supply for fish products, which on many occasions go to waste, while traders in Kenya face a huge domestic demand for fish products for local and export consumption cannot access because of stringent standards and different trade regimes within the two countries. To ease the cross border trade in fish and fish products, that will allow increased intra trade within the two countries, and by extension, export to other countries, a number of activities and facilities are to be established at the Busia border point that will provide quick inspection of human, animal and plant products health both at and behind borders. The pilot is among the several initiatives being implemented by partners in the business community as a way of increasing the level of intra trade volumes in Africa including: the EAC has developed the regional sanitary and phytosanitary standards, (SPS) the Inspectors’ guide; standard Operating Procedures;...

KIGALI—Rwanda has announced plans to develop rail links to Indian Ocean ports through Tanzania because they were cheaper and shorter than the route transiting Kenya, says Claver Gatete, Rwanda minister of finance and economic planning. Gatete told reporters on Sunday that the Tanzania route was cheaper and would not take long to be completed compared to the Kenya route. In 2013, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda agreed to link up to the Kenyan port of Mombasa along a standard-gauge railway estimated to cost $13 billion. Studies done by member states in the six-nation East African Community (EAC) showed that the Tanzanian option would cost Rwanda about $800 to $900 million dollars while the Kenyan one would go for $1 billion, according to the Rwanda ministry of East African Community Affairs report. “We opted for the route transiting to Tanzania during the construction of our railway line because the Kenyan route would be expensive and time consuming,” said Gatete. The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati (DIKKM) standard gauge railway (SGR) project is expected to be completed by March 2018 and is estimated to cost three countries $5.2 billion. Eng. Jules Ndenga, acting special project implementation unit coordinator at the Rwanda ministry of Infrastructure, said that Rwanda and Tanzania had already held joint technical monitoring committee meeting to fast-track the project implementation. “We are conducting a joint development of the standard gauge railway with our counterparts from Burundi and Tanzania. We have agreed contract terms and conditions and the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA), will...

The top African trade show - which was held from May 7 to 9 - at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre (Durban ICC), exploded with originality and creativity of the Africa’s wealth of cultural appeal, tourism natural attractions, services and products. In the media talk facilitated by the CNN New York based news anchor Richard Quest, African tourism ministers acknowledged the need to consult and engage one another to work on the bulk of issues which hinder tourism penetration. African ministers led by Hanekom added a strong voice on how Africa countries can come together to position themselves as tourism business collaborators and promote inbound tourism in which huge opportunities have largely not been exploited. “If one quarter of African countries were to implement the open skies for Africa decision  and facilitate great air connectivity between our countries - additional jobs (job creation) and an added GDP that could be generated with obvious numerous benefits for tourism in many countries, said Derek Hanekom, South African’s tourism minister. Hanekom said that many major airlines fly to Africa from North America, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. However, once visitors reach this continent they encounter difficulties in connectivity as well as exorbitant air fares from country to country. He said that air transport services in Africa remained a critical constraint. Hanekom, who was one of the three panelist’ tourism experts who attended the media talk including ministers from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Seychelles, Swaziland, Burkina Faso and Ghana. “Africa’s...

This was revealed here on the side-lines of the Indaba, Africa’s largest tourism trade show by the CEO’s of Tourism Board from Tanzania Ms. Devota Mdachi and Kenya’s Acting CEO, Ms. Jacinta Nzioka, and Uganda’s UTB Acting Marketing Manager, Ms. Sylvia Kalembe. “While we expect a significant growth of International arrivals this year, regional markets remains a potential segment that we are happy with the response of the Indaba trade show”, said  Devota Mdachi, Tanzania Tourist Board’s Managing Director. Tanzania was represented by nearly 40 exhibitors showcasing different tourism services and products from travel agents, tour operators and hospitality industry stakeholders.  Devota said the show exposed the growth of interest for Tanzania destination from different stakeholders including hosted buyers. Intra-Africa tourism business, according to Devota, is rising with many visitors visiting Tanzania from the African continent, particularly from South Africa. Some of key investments in the lodges and hotels in Tanzania are run and managed by South African companies, one of the pull factors, according to her. Zanzibar, the Serengeti national park Mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro crater dominated most of the enquiries while some shown interest in the Ruaha and Katavi national parks in the Southern Tanzania. Of interest to some enquiries, Devota said was the Kigamboni new bridge which opens up tourism beaches in the administrative and commercial capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania stand was graced with visits by different media houses based in and out of Africa including Richard Quest, the CNN news anchor who...

Trade fairs and exhibitions have the marketing impact to reverse the trade imbalance that has seen Kenya import more than it exports. Solomon Kinyanjui, the executive chairman of Exhibition Events Organisers, said this during the unveiling of the 10th African International Export and Import Fair at the company’s conference hall at the agricultural show ground in Jamhuri Park, Nairobi. The launch was a precursor of an event to be held later this year at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), on September 21-23. “Kenya has not utilised its potential to woo more foreign investors and grow its export capacity. It is time the country made use of exhibitions and events to attract foreign investors,” Dr Kinyanjui said. He added that while devolution has many benefits, foreign direct investment in counties remains low because these regions lack regulations and structures that would attract investors. Instead, foreign investors find increased costs of doing business due to heavy taxation. “The inception of county governments was a great idea to market Kenya from all fronts to the larger global market. The county governments should, therefore, create attractive environments for business,” he said. Charles Mbuthia, an assistant manager at the Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF), added that expos and trade fairs would encourage foreign investments, increase business co-ordination, improve knowledge transfer between businesses, promote agribusiness, enhance innovation, and improve the country’s image abroad. “Kenya is known world over as the logistics hub for East Africa, and a significant player in regional trade, investment and infrastructure...

The Kenyan and Ugandan currencies have gained against the dollar in the past five months, buoyed by tighter monetary policies and higher earnings. However, the Tanzanian shilling and the Rwandan franc are still depreciating. In the past week, the Kenya shilling hit 100.60 to the dollar for the first time in eight months. At the start of the year it was at 102.80, and has so far gained 1.75 per cent to the dollar. The Uganda shilling gained against the dollar on the back of a peaceful election that led to increased investor confidence, with the currency gaining 1.55 per cent since the start of the year. Prior to the election, the currency had shed close to 5 per cent as investors adopted a cautious stance. The Ugandan unit is currently trading at 3,325 to the dollar, from 3,480 in mid-January. The Rwanda franc failed to beat negative predictions that the effects of the country’s poor export earnings and a stronger dollar last year would spill over into 2016. The franc, which shed 7.6 per cent to the dollar last year, is currently trading at 774.35, down from the 747.98 to the dollar at the start of the year. Offshore investors Wilson Kibe, a treasury dealer at ECB Bank, said the Kenya shilling is expected to dip below the 100 unit mark in a few weeks, when proceeds from the sale of a nine-year infrastructure bond draw in dollars from offshore investors. “For the past month, we have seen a...

Trade is a basic economic commodity that activates and improves people’s socio-economic livelihoods. To increase competitiveness and spur regional economic growth, quality control and checking are pivotal. Standards, testing, conformity and assessment processes have been frequently mentioned as barriers to trade. East African countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and now the rookie member, South Sudan — are addressing these barriers with the aim of increasing intra-EAC trade. Proper testing and certification increases the speed at which goods are traded across borders, ensures conformity assessment certificates are accepted, reduces rejection of goods and minimises costs. This is where the TradeMark Africa-supported Standards Harmonisation and Conformity Testing Programme comes in. The programme was launched in 2011 to help the East African National Standards Bureaus achieve regional harmonisation of standards and improve testing capacities, thereby improve trade competitiveness. So far, there are 70 new harmonised standards. Also, a 59 per cent testing cost reduction and 74 per cent average testing time reduction have been achieved across the East Africa Community bureaus of standards respectively. An analysis of volumes and values of intra- and extra-EAC trade of sampled products that the programme supported, indicates a growth trajectory — a 144 per cent increase in intra and extra EAC trade (from $857,997 in 2010 to $2,094,748 in 2014). The programme has also achieved clear results on market access requirements and certification of locally manufactured products by small and medium enterprises, particularly in Kenya. There has been a 194 per cent increase in the...

Making access to visas easy or scrapping the requirement entirely is an important way governments can help promote tourism and trade among the nations of the continent, according to the African Development Bank (ADB). The ADB has developed the Africa Visa Openness Index to assess which countries have the most open and efficient visa access. The bank says cumbersome visa procedures undermine doing business across borders on the continent. On average, travel within the continent is often difficult because African nations are “more closed off to each other than open” the ADB said in its 2016 report (pdf) on visa access. “Free movement of people is not a reality across Africa.” Most require visas in advance The report said only 20 percent of the 55 countries in the index do not require visas and only 15 percent offer visas on arrival, meaning more than half require visitors to obtain visas in advance. To make matters worse, the report said, many of Africa’s strategic hubs have restrictive visa policies while the continent’s small, landlocked and island states tend to be more open to promote trade links with neighboring countries. The report said countries in West and East Africa tend to be more open than in other regions. The top 10 nations for openness stand out, with an average score of 0.86 (out of 1) on the ADB index, more than double the overall average of 4.25. Seychelles is first for openness The top 10 countries are Seychelles, Mali, Uganda, Cape Verde,...

East African Community member states have failed to reach a deal on a common tax rate as the bloc’s smaller economies worry about significant revenue losses. The failure to harmonise value added tax, income tax and excise tax rates has left the regional bloc deliberating on how to harmonise legislation and regulatory frameworks governing the operations of these taxes in each country. A three-day meeting — convened by the EAC’s Sectoral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs in Arusha Tanzania from May 5-7 — to deliberate on the issue failed to agree on a policy framework to guide the process and instead sent the document to a consortium of experts. The draft EAC Domestic Taxes Policy Framework, which is under consideration, is critical for the harmonisation of VAT, income tax and excise duty. The Committee on Fiscal Affairs said the process of producing the domestic taxes harmonisation policy was taking too long and directed the EAC Secretariat to convene a meeting for the tax policy and tax administration subcommittee to look into the draft document and develop an EAC policy on tax harmonisation by August. Kenya’s National Treasury said while harmonisation of domestic taxes is a priority for the bloc, some countries are reluctant to go that route because of the fear of loss of  revenue. “This issue came up as part of the discussions during the meeting in Arusha last week. VAT has not been harmonised because it is an important source of revenue so countries are reluctant to lose out,” said Geoffrey...