Africa, it is often said, is a continent that leapfrogs various intermediary stages of technology. From fixed to mobile telephony, Africa leapfrogged the usual phases of technological advancement. It does not come as a surprise, therefore, that on a global level, the East African Community is one of few regional blocs that have scrapped mobile roaming charges. And this is just the beginning. Introduced in October 2014, the One Network Area aims to harmonise tariffs on mobile voice calls, SMS and data transmission within the EAC. Today, roaming charges between Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda have been removed, making all mobile calls between the three countries local. This has led to a minimum 400 per cent increase in the volume of calls — a direct benefit to EAC citizens and African businesses operating across the region’s borders. Previously, making calls across the EAC was more expensive than calling Europe, America or Asia. The second phase of the ONA initiative is underway, with telecom operators revising SMS and data charges downwards. Rwanda began this process in August 2015, and the idea is to have a truly integrated regional bloc with all mobile telephony barriers removed. Compare this with older and more advanced regional blocs in the West or in Asia. The European Union for example, only recently voted new rules that will scrap mobile roaming charges — a reality that will happen in 2017. This has taken the EU almost a decade of negotiations and an interim cap on roaming charges is...

Kenya will start building a new offshore crude oil and refined fuel jetty in October. The jetty is expected to increase efficiency in delivery of imported refined fuel for Kenya’s domestic use and export to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) plans to build the jetty near Dongo Kundu from October to December 2019 to handle larger tankers and relocate existing Kipevu Oil Terminal from Port Reitz. KPA head of procurement Yobesh Oyaro said Denmark-based Niras will supervise building of the new terminal to replace the existing facility near berth 19 container terminal. He said relocation from Port Reitz to an offshore site will to allow offloading of tankers with a capacity of 170,000 tonnes to improve port efficiency and meet the region’s growing demand for refined oil products. The new island terminal will have four berths capable of facilitating import as well as export of crude oil, heavy fuel oil, dual purpose kerosene, diesel and petrol. The terminal is expected to make Mombasa sea port a major trading hub. The terminal will have a crude oil pipeline connecting it with the Changamwe-based Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL). Early production of waxy oil found in South Lokichar basin, is set to start in June 2017, entails use of the road to Eldoret and rail transport to KPRL in Mombasa for storage ready for export. The new island terminal will have four other pipelines to pump heavy fuel oil, dual purpose kerosene, diesel...

The East African Community is leading in regional integration and free movement of goods and people on the continent. A new report unveiled at the ongoing African Development Week meeting at Addis Ababa indicated the cross-border movements were easiest between Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. EAC's leadership in integration, which identified various matrices including roaming costs and volume of trade, is a major indicator towards achieving the dream of a unified Africa by 2063. "Deeper regional integration means larger markets and industrialisation and productivity as part of value chains," said Erastus Mwencha, the deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, adding: "It means talent mobility thanks to greater visa openness." Kenyan citizens, for instance, only need to produce their national identification documents to enter any of the countries in the bloc, while work permit requirements are minimal as the region works towards the dream of a common currency. A regional parliament made of 54 members, which has been sitting since November 2001, is charged with streamlining the respective country laws with the vision of the five-member community. Several firms have had their shares cross-listed at the various stock exchanges. Integration in the EAC was ranked ahead of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc where Tanzania has a cross-membership. South Africa is the most developed economy in the trading bloc, and is naturally the biggest exporter into the 15-member community. Africa's largest bloc, the Community of Sahel–Saharan States (Cen-Sad), which draws membership from 27 countries in the northern part...

By Marc Nkwame Arusha — AS the new Secretary General for the East African Community is set to report at the Secretariat this month, the East African Employers' Organization already has some tasks ready for him. "We want the new EAC Secretary General, Mr Liberat Mfumukeko, to push the five governments of the member states in fast-tracking free movement of workers, persons and labour," stated the chairperson of the East African Employers' Organization (EAEO), Ms Rosemary Ssenabulya, who is also the Executive Director of Uganda Employers' Association. Ms Ssenabulya was delivering a joint statement from heads of employers' associations from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi who gathered here under their EAEO umbrella to discuss the implementation of the East African Community's Common Market Protocol, launched back in July 2010 but until now, many figure that the CMP remains a far-fetched theory. Free movement of people, capital and labour were among the things stipulated in the East African Common Market Protocol. However the EAC stated earlier that, free movement of people will only be viable once each member state issued machine-readable Identity Cards. "We are however happy that, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have waivered work permit fees in their respective borders, which by itself is great achievement of the East African Community under the outgoing Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera," added the Executive Director of the Association of Tanzania Employees (ATE), Dr Aggrey Mlimuka, the Secretary General of EAEO. They were of view that, it is high time Tanzania and...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US$228mn loan to the government of Kenya. The financing will go towards rehabilitating a 172 km road between Kenya and Tanzania. The renovation of this route, to be undertaken between 2016 and 2019, will facilitate trade between the two neighbouring countries, halving the travel time and transports costs between the border towns of Isebania (Tanzania) and Ahero (Kenya), southeast of Lake Victoria. The road forms part of the Sirari corridor, a major trade and transit route linking Tanzania, Kenya and South Sudan’s major ports. Once completed, the road in expected to facilitate local and international trade, opening up new markets particularly for the agri-business and fishing industries. “Lower transport costs will ensure that a greater share of the price of exported goods accrues to producers, thereby increasing incomes and reducing poverty,” says Amadou Oumarou, director of the transport and information and communications technology department at the AfDB. The strengthening of public transport is also part of the project, with the AfDB also financing the construction of three bus stations to further facilitate the movement of people in the region. Kenya and Tanzania are both part of the East African Community (EAC), of which they represent the biggest countries by geographic and economic size. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and President John Magufuli of Tanzania have pledged their commitment to reducing barriers to trade and integration in the EAC. The countries are working on a series of infrastructure projects to increase the ease of...

It is no secret that donors finance the lion’s share of activities by the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and the regional organization’s other organs and institutions, a fact that we are nauseatingly reminded at every opportunity. One such occasion was during the Fourth High-Level Dialogue of the EAC Partnership Fund held on March 25th in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The dialogue was attended by Heads of Diplomatic Missions accredited to the EAC and members of the Partnership Fund. Since many people in the region are no doubt impressed by the millions of dollars spent by donor nations on various projects in their own countries, they tend to appreciate this help and fail to see the bigger picture created by donor dependency. And it is something that the current EAC chair, President John Magufuli of Tanzania, should look into more closely. In fact, many analysts have doubted the value of the aid given to the Third World. It is aid that is designed to maintain the economic status quo: Ensuring that developing countries do not rise up to utilize their full potential, and that they remain satellites of Western economies. But first, back to the Partnership Fund. Now, this Fund has 11 contributing members made up of the usual list of Western donors: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the European Union and the United Kingdom. It also gives observer status for development partners who are considering starting contributing to the fund: Australia, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey....

TRADE barriers and poor infrastructure are preventing sugar producers in sub-Saharan Africa from accessing under-supplied regions on the continent as an imminent end to import quotas in the European Union compels them to find new markets. A preferential-access deal with the EU for African, Caribbean and Pacific sugar producers ends in September 2017, potentially depriving the farmers further access to a duty-free market. Exports to the EU account for a fifth of the sub-Saharan region’s current annual output of about 7.5 million metric tons, according to Cooperatieve Rabobank UA. While sub-Saharan Africa consumes more sugar than it produces, growers may struggle to plug this shortfall because insufficient infrastructure makes deliveries between regions difficult and import duties lift the cost of sales, said Lindsay Jolly, a senior economist at the International Sugar Organisation. “The first question is—do you have the infrastructure in place, those highways of trade throughout Africa?” Jolly said Thursday on the sidelines of a conference in Maputo, Mozambique. “The answer is you haven’t got those. The less competitive players just may have to produce less.” Consumption forecast Sub-Saharan Africa will consume 10.2 million tons of the sweetener in 2016, creating supply shortfall of about 2.4 million tons in the region, according to the International Sugar Organisation. Sales to the EU account for the vast majority of exports from Mauritius and Mozambique, and about half of those from Swaziland, Gareth Forber, head of sugar research at LMC International Ltd., said at the conference. While EU sugar production is expected...

The government completed two shipping baths in Kilindini, Mombasa county in February this year, doubling the country's total handling capacity to 1.6 million twenty foot containers per year, down from 8,090 handling capacity of twenty foot containers. According to president Uhuru Kenyatta, this has moved the port of Mombasa down from position eight in Africa to position four in a period of three years, the Jubilee government has been in office. In his state of the nation address on Thursday, the president noted that his government has continued to invest largely at the Mombasa port, to continue serving Kenyans and the entire East Africa region since it is one of the most dependent port in Africa. Mombasa was the 8th busiest port in Africa before 2013, with a handling capacity of 8,090 twenty foot containers. "Indeed in February this year, my government completed the expansion of two additional shipping baths at Kilindini, doubling our handling capacity to 1.6 million twenty foot containers per year. Indeed, in three years, Mombasa has moved to becoming the fourth busiest port in Africa down from eighth, three years ago," said the president. To consolidate the country's positin as the region's transport hub, the govenment opened the newly completed passenger Air Terminal 2 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and in addition, it will be commisioning two new terminals which will increase terminals 1A and 1E by May this year. "This terminals will increase passenger handling capacity by 5.1 million new passengers, bringing our...

Recycling at work GIKOMBA market, just north of Nairobi’s downtown, is a place to buy just about anything. At its entrance, where ragged minibuses splash their way through rutted red mud, stalls sell piles of pillows, plastic toys, cutlery and soap. Source: The Economist

The government will not issue a blanket ban on the importation of second-hand clothes popularly known as mitumba. Industry and Enterprise Development Principal secretary Julius Koris said the government and the East African Community do not plan to ban the sale of mitumba without providing alternatives for consumers and traders. Korir told a national stakeholders' workshop on Thursday that the matter is sensitive and needs to be addressed seriously. The government plans to ban the importation of mitumba clothes in phases over the next three years. The plan is also being considered at the EAC level, with Uganda already crafting laws to stop mitumba imports. The PS said the industry needs interventions such as removing barriers and creating incentives for investors to make the trade more competitive, for competition with evolving markets. EAC states, Korir added, should develop an effective and sustainable implementation environment for policies formulated to address the issue. Tabled proposals, other than the ban, include raising the duty rates for finished clothes to above 50 per cent or a minimum specific duty of $10 (Sh1,013). Another option is setting up regional fall-back processing parks to produce clothes at cheaper rates for the domestic market. Source: The Star