East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 27th February, 2016: The East African Community officially launched the first One Stop Border Post (OSBP) in Holili/Taveta towns on the Kenya/Tanzania border. The facility was built at a cost of approximately US$12 million donated through TradeMark Africa (TMA) by United Kingdom’s DFID, Canada and USAID. [caption id="attachment_12157" align="alignleft" width="640"] From left: TMA OSBP Director, Theo Lyimo;EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera; Amb. Dr. Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation; Kenya’s Labour and East African Affairs Minister, Ms. Phyllis Kandie[/caption] Amb. Dr. Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, and Kenya’s Labour and East African Affairs Minister, Ms. Phyllis Kandie jointly launched the One Stop Border Post (OSBP). Dr. Mahiga said the OSBP will ease the movement of people and goods from and to the two Partner States. “It’s a demonstration of the trust between the two countries and that the One People One Destiny dream is slowly being realized through various East Africa Community initiatives,” said Dr. Mahiga. The Minister reaffirmed Tanzania’s commitment to the integration process by assenting to the OSBP Bill and concluding agreements for management of OSBPs with all Partner States. Dr. Mahiga said the OSBP will increase efficiency by reducing time and transport costs incurred by businesses, farmers and transporters while crossing from one Partner State to the other. The Minister further said that the Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi road which was currently under construction would boost...

The government has conceded that the existence of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) is costing the country dearly on the economic front. According to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional East African and International Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga (pictured), NTBs have also not helped Tanzania’s image if frequent complaints from neighbouring countries on the cost of doing business in the country are anything to go by. Speaking at the launch of the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Holili and Taveta on the Tanzania-Kenya border, Dr Mahiga said the multiplicity of checkpoints and other obstacles were serious issues that ought to have been resolved long ago. “I must admit that Tanzania had become an obstacle in getting certain goods and services to other neighbouring countries. For instance, the port of Dar es Salaam was one of the biggest NTBs,” Mahiga said. Flanked by East African Community secretary general Richard Sezibera, the minister described the Dar es Salaam port - which serves as an entry and exit point for imports and exports from countries like Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Zimbabwe - as being overstretched. This, he said, had compelled the current (Tanzanian) government to address issues of corruption and inefficiency that had become the order of the day at the port. “Our aim is to reform and revamp the Dar es Salaam port so that it regains its lost glory,” said Mahiga. He assured Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for EAC Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Phyllis Kandie, that the government of Dr John Magufuli...

Kenya and Tanzania officially opened the Holili-Taveta One Stop Border Post (OSBP) on Saturday in efforts to enhance trade facilitation; by speeding up movement of people and goods across the border. A survey by the East African Community (EAC) and Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) reveals that time of clearing goods has drastically gone down by 30 per cent, from two to three weeks to about three days—while clearance of pedestrians has been cut from two hours to about five minutes. The OSBP, a concept that reduces the number of stops incurred in a cross-border trade transaction combines activities of both countries’ border organisations at a single location, with simplified exit and entry procedures and joint processing, where possible, with each border post controlling only the traffic entering the country. Strenuous customs clearance procedures in which goods are separately inspected by officers on either side of the border—leading to massive delays—is now expected to end. East African Affairs and Labour Cabinet secretary Phyllis Kandie and Tanzanian minister for Foreign Affairs, East Africa Regional and International CooperationAugustine Mahiga presided over the joint opening of the OSBP at Holili on the Tanzanian side of the OSBP. The facility was funded by TMA at a cost of $12 million (Sh1.2 billion). Kandie said non-tariff barriers (NTBs) remain a big challenge, inhibiting trade and regional integration and leading to prolonged clearance procedures. She lauded the opening of the OSBP as one way of reducing the NTBs. “The official launch of the OSBP demonstrates the...

THE tourist town of Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt is battling to keep the doors of its hotels and restaurants open. The millions of tourists who normally patronise this picturesque town, which sits between the Red Sea and the Sinai Desert, have dwindled to a trickle after the crash of a Russian airliner with 224 people on board shortly after take-off from this popular holiday resort in October. Not only are jobs and businesses at stake, the plunge in tourist dollars has exacerbated a serious foreign currency crisis. Tourism contributes about 13% to Egypt’s gross domestic product, and at its peak in 2010, the industry hosted nearly 15-million visitors. The ailing town was given a boost earlier this month by the arrival of up to a thousand visitors for the Africa 2016 conference, an Egyptian government event designed to revitalise ties with the rest of Africa. Its secondary role was presumably to show the world, or Africans at least, that it is safe to travel there, with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi hosting four African presidents (from Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sudan) and Ethiopia’s prime minister. The event was incident free but security was tight. Sisi, battling with the economic legacy of political upheaval, wants to increase trade and investment with African countries. This month’s event follows the launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Area, linking three major regional economic trade blocs, at the same venue last year, signalling a real determination to exploit the African market. While Sisi...

The new digitalised and machine- readable East African Passport replaces the old EAC travel document, which was restricted to just the five member states. Apparently, the proposed new one is going to be as international as the current Tanzanian booklet passport, which means it will be accepted all over the globe. Arusha will be hosting five Presidents from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania who are set to converge here for their Heads of State Summit on Wednesday the 2nd of March 2016. According to the Head of Communications at the East African Community Secretariat, Mr Richard Owora Othieno, the five East African presidents are converging here for their 17th Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit. The five presidents, including for the first time at the summit, Dr John Magufuli, will have several items on the agenda, including the launching of the new electronic East African Passport and discussion of the possibilities of adding new members, including South-Sudan into the Arusha-based, community. The Summit will also address the consideration of reports by the preceding EAC Council of Ministers on: the negotiations on the admission of the Republic of South Sudan into the Community. The Head of State will also be addressing Sustainable Financing Mechanisms for the EAC; and the EAC Institutional Review. Tanzania will be handing over the Summit Chair to the next country, possibly Burundi despite conflicts in the country. The meeting will also consider the council’s reports on the Model, Structure and Action Plan of...

TANZANIA and Kenya opened one-stop border posts at Holili and Taveta border to facilitate trade across the border of the two countries marking another key milestone in the integration process in the East African region. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, Ambassador Augustine Mahiga, and Kenya’s, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and East African Affairs, Phyllis J. Kandie, opened two state-of-the-art border posts at Holili and Taveta set up by TradeMark Africa to ease customs procedures between Tanzania and Kenya and boost trade in the Eastern African region. The East African Community Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, also graced the occasion which was also attended by top government officers from Tanzania and Kenya including the Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Amos Makala and Taveta County Commissioner, Oningoi Ole Sosio. Speaking at the event, Ambassador Mahiga said the opening of the Holili and Taveta border post reflected the determination of Tanzania and Kenya to boost regional integration through trade facilitation. “It’s a demonstration of trust between the two countries and that the One People, One Destiny dream is slowly being realized through various East Africa Community initiatives,” he said. Dr Mahiga said the OSBP is set to increase efficiency by reducing time and transport costs incurred by businesses, farmers and transporters in crossing the border. The Minister further said that the Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi road which was currently under construction would boost cross border trade and foster good neighbourliness between Kenya and Tanzania. He added that the two countries had...

Mogadishu (HAN) February 27, 2016 – Public Diplomacy and Regional Stability Initiatives News. Tanzania has disregarded calls by the East African Business Council and assented to the EAC Non-Tariff Barriers Bill. The business lobby had petitioned the EAC heads of state not to assent to the Bill until the clause on dispute resolution was amended. The business community in the region is concerned that the Bill gives powers to the governments to identify NTBs and at the same time resolve them. “This clause has to be changed; the private sector should be given the mandate of identifying NTBs and pushing governments to resolve them,” said an EABC official. “NTBs are usually imposed by government bodies and thus it makes no sense for the same governments to resolve them,” the official told The EastAfrican. The East African Community Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Act 2015, passed recently by the East African Legislative Assembly is to be enacted into law in March after being assented to by the presidents ahead of the EAC heads of state summit scheduled for March 2. Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has already assented to the law and it has been taken to Kenya for assent before being passed on to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Once enacted, the NTB law is expected to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade among the EAC partner states by compelling them to eliminate the numerous NTBs that hinder smooth movement of goods and services within the economic bloc. NTBs are partly to blame for...

By Aggrey Mutambo The East African Community could soon admit South Sudan into its fold despite reports of war crimes and violence in the world's youngest country. The five heads of state and government of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda will on Wednesday next week deliberate on formally admitting South Sudan into the regional bloc. A statement from EAC headquarters in Arusha said the leaders would decide "on the negotiations on the admission of South Sudan into the community" among other issues. Juba's step towards joining the EAC now depends on whether the leaders would endorse a report by the council of ministers, which has recommended the country's admission though citing certain areas that member states may have to assist. If it happens, it would be a sweet end to a five-year wait for Juba and a potentially expanded market for traders in the region. CONTRADICTION But it could also contradict one of the tenets under which EAC was established. According to the treaty establishing the EAC, new members are admitted if they respect the principles of democracy, rule of law, accountability, transparency and social justice. The treaty also says the countries must, besides being geographically near any of the existing members, practise "equal opportunities, gender equality as well as the recognise, promote and protect rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights." South Sudan applied to join the EAC soon after it gained independence in July 2011. That year, the community...

By Jonathan Adengo Kampala — Rift Valley Railways (RVR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian Export Council to attract exports through Mombasa port, Kenya and Uganda. The MoU recently signed in Cairo, Egypt by Qalaa Holdings, the parent company of RVR, will make RVR the official inland transportation carrier for Egyptian exporters of chemicals and fertilisers and also promote its services at local and international trade exhibitions. Commenting on the agreement, RVR chairman Titus Naikuni said becoming the Egyptian export council official inland transportation carrier is a significant step that will help lead the way to broadening and deepening trade and investment between Egypt and East Africa. "We are also pleased to be entering into a cooperation with a company like Expo One to develop larger volumes of trade and highlight the benefits of rail transport," he said. In a statement, Qalaa Holdingsmanaging director transportation and logistics Karim Sadek said: "RVR's move into a contract-based revenue model, with incentives to clients based on higher volumes, will set a precedent that can be applied to other countries that trade with Kenya and Uganda." At the moment, RVR is a cost-effective friendly mode of transporting goods in East Africa. The railway offers a door-to-door transportation and customs-clearance service through its subsidiary East Africa Rail and Handling that can help exporters tap into new markets and grow the volume of intra-regional trade. RVR and qaala RVR is Qalaa Holdings' primary investment in the African transportation sector, with a 25-year...

TEL AVIV, Kenya, Feb 26 – Kenya and Israel have to develop a better framework for economic cooperation to boost trade between the two countries, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said. He said the two countries have not exploited their enormous trade potential because of the absence of a framework to facilitate mutual engagement. President Kenyatta spoke Thursday when he addressed an Israeli-Kenya business forum in the commercial city of Tel Aviv that was attended by representatives of major Israeli companies, Kenyan business leaders and government officials. He made five proposals for improving trade and investment to strengthen existing relations and to open up new areas of cooperation. The first is that a framework of cooperation between Kenya and Israeli private sectors be established, and a Joint Trade Committee be convened, to look into ways of expediting the growth of our trade and investment. The second is that a pending bilateral trade agreement between our nations be reviewed and effected. The third is that a Kenyan trade mission to Israel be organised as a follow-up to the 2014 Israeli trade mission to Kenya, so that Kenyan businesses can talk directly to their Israeli counterparts. The fourth is that a market survey be carried out to identify potential export products for both countries. The fifth is that respective private sectors in Kenya and Israel formalise their engagements through a Memorandum of Understanding that will enable the monitoring and evaluation of their activities. President Kenyatta said Kenya is one of the easiest countries...