East African Community states have endorsed Kenya’s plans for the electrification of the standard gauge railway operations. Before then, however, trains in the immediate term will be powered by diesel. Ministers drawn from Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan who met in Kampala to discuss implementation of projects under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects Initiative, said electrifying operations will result in benefits of reduced journey times and increased capacity for the new rail network, spurring the region’s economic growth. “The meeting recommended the adoption of Kenya’s proposal to convert Mombasa–Nairobi–Malaba to electric traction by the time all other sections in partner States commence construction,” Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said in a statement after the meeting. Mr Macharia said following the endorsement, Kenya will move ahead with its plans to include the provision for electric traction in the engineering and construction contracts for all other sections including the Nairobi-Malaba route. Even then, Mr Macharia said, once the rail project is complete, passenger trains will do just over four hours, at 120km per hour, between Mombasa and Nairobi with about 1,000 passengers on board. “It is the fastest ever on land transport in that sector. Reduction of trucks on our roads means less accidents, lower pollution, less destruction of our roads, hence releasing resources to be expended in other sectors of the economy,” the Cabinet secretary told regional ministers. The railway will run from Nairobi to Mombasa and eventually snake its way to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. As...

KIGALI, RWANDA - The Rules of Origin, which determine whether a product is produced within a particular trading partner, are pivotal to any preferential trade arrangement. “These rules of origin that we set for ourselves have the power to render the preferences useless or to actually promote industrial growth of the continent,” Emmanuel Hategeka, the Permanent Secretary in the Rwanda Ministry of Trade and Industry said last week. Hategeka was speaking at the at the recently concluded First Tripartite Private Sector Regional Dialogue on the theme ‘Towards a Private Sector position on TFTA Rules of Origin for increased Market Access’, in Kigali last week. The meeting focused more on a private sector position that is common and harmonized with respect to the tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) Rules of Origin for increased market access. “Exporters from the different countries can only benefit from simplified rules of origin as opposed to stringent regimes of rules of origin. Such meetings therefore help discuss the crucial role of rules of origin in the implementation of the TFTA agreement,” Hategeka said. Rules of Origin are in this case intended to retain and promote production capacities in the region but not to reduce or undermine them. This is why simple and transparent rules which are easier to administer and with which it is easier to prove compliance are needed. Hategeka said, “We need Rules of origin that are going to help stimulate regional integration and facilitate the growth of companies that can compete not only...

There are still several bottlenecks preventing the East African Common Market becoming a reality. “Common market, open space can only be achieved if the environment is open. If we are going to have free flow of goods and services, mutual recognition agreements all the non tariff barriers have to be eliminated,” Stephen Ruzibiza the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation (PSF) said last week. He was speaking during a dialogue organised by the East African Trade and Investment Hub (EATIH) together with PSF in Kigali. Ruzibiza said, “This is when we shall say we have a vibrant common market. The private sector here has a role in my opinion” The focus was on reviewing the implementation status of the EAC common market and customs union and explore opportunities for stronger private sector participation in rule making, implementation and monitoring of trade facilitation. Participants shared viwes on how the EATIH can cooperate with the PSF and other partners in respect to getting the EAC Common Market Protocol implemented much faster than at present. The Common Market Protocol has been in force since 2010, in line with the provisions of the EAC Treaty. It follows the Customs Union, which became fully-fledged in January 2010. Basic ingredients of the Protocol are Free Movement of Goods; Free Movement of Persons; Free Movement of Labour / Workers; Right of Establishment; Right of Residence; Free Movement of Services; Free and Movement of Capital. Ruzibiza said, “It is good that now the private sector together...

Someone once asked me what I know about Angola, and I excitedly started to list all the things I had seen, read and watched on television about this country. When I was done, she asked me if I had been to Angola and if I know these things to be true. I said I hadn't. She then remarked that it was a pity we Africans only know about each other from what we are told. I grasped the gravity of the issue at hand: That what we hear and see about our trading partners are things that may be far from reality when we visit and trade together. The visit a fortnight ago by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a year after that of his predecessor, shows the increasing realisation by African leaders of the need for intra-Africa trade and investment. While Kenya is a member of the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Tripartite Free Trade Area, Nigeria is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Both the Tripartite and Ecowas regional trading blocs constitute a market opportunity of about 950 million people out of Africa's population of 1.1 billion. Source: All Africa

The traders accuse the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) of subjecting their goods to verification of cargo at the Container Freight Stations (CFS). They said this verification should be done at the port instead of transferring the burden to the CFS, such as Portside Container Terminal where KRA has ordered a 100 per cent physical inspection of all cargo. The traders say they do not understand why customs officials cannot inspect the goods inside the port using scanning machines. Yesterday, they said transferring inspection to CFS causes delays. Source: Standard Digital

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - Lead consultants on stronger East African integration, TradeMark Africa (TMA), are keen on continuing their support during the 2016-2022 period. “We are very keen on continuing supporting the Integration Agenda,” Frank Matsaert (pictured right), the TMA CEO told Amb. Richard Sezibera, the East African Community Secretary General in talks last week. He said: “With strong commitment and guidance from the Secretary General and his team, we will be able to carve out key priority activities to carry out in the next phase.” The meeting took place at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha and was attended by Dr. Enos Bukuku, EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, David Stanton, TMA Director General, and ministerial representatives from the five Partner States. Amb. Sezibera said, “I wish to express my gratitude to TMA for supporting the Integration Agenda.” “As we move more towards monetary and fiscal integration, we need to strengthen institutional capacities, nurture vibrant trade and enhance financial markets within the region,” he said. With funding from bilateral donors, especially from the European Union, TMA has been helping the EAC improve the quality of life of East Africans through competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments. TMA support, has improved the infrastructure at Mombasa Port; constructed road network between Ntungamo to Mirama Hill in Uganda and Port Reitz to Kipevu West in Kenya; improved on the customs clearance time along the borders and carried out several sensitization campaigns to small cross border traders on the opportunities...

Kenya’s second largest city, Mombasa occupies a special place in the national economy. As the host to the country’s leading seaport, the city plays the critical role of being the gateway, not just to Kenya but the hinterland that includes Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and parts of northern Tanzania and eastern DR Congo. A huge proportion of the imports into the region and the exports that go out of it transit through the Port of Mombasa, making it a key player in the overall performance of the regional economies. Increasingly, the city is also on ascendancy as a tourist hub. This is due to a number of factors, the key one being the fact that it hosts or is in close proximity to some of the best tourist facilities on the eastern seaboard of Africa. Mombasa has thus evolved into a tourism hub, with most visitors including the Kenyan coast as part of their itineraries. We saw this trend with the many cruise ships and air charters that the city has played host to recently. It is for this reason that the Jubilee Government, under the leadership of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, has fast-tracked an impressive portfolio of infrastructure projects throughout the country aimed at improving the overall quality of the road network in the region. Central to this strategy is the Mombasa Port Area Development Project (MPARD). As the name suggests, the project, which is already well under way, will substantially ease traffic congestion...

Africa is set to become the second fastest growing continent by 2025, with GDP set to touch US$4.5 trillion Rapid urbanisation could lead to several Africans living and working in large cities. (Image source: PaulSaad/Flickr) A Frost and Sullivan report, in the form of a video titled Mega Trends in Africa, states that urbanisation, mobility, infrastructure, natural resources, telecom and inter-regional trade could make Africa the last growth frontier. According to the analysts at Frost & Sullivan, Africa is the only continent poised to achieve double-digit economic growth within the next decade and close to half the population will live in large cities. The report also said that 58 per cent of the working population will thrive in 2025 and will be mostly within the ages of 15-64. If this trend spills over into the next two decades, Africa could have a working population higher than India and China combined.Frost & Sullivan Africa operations director Hendrik Malan said, “The growth rates promised by Africa are second to that of Southeast Asia at the moment. The big advantage that Africa does have is the lack of infrastructure and the lack of legacy systems because our ability to leapfrog technologies and get access to that growth much sooner than Southeast Asia.” The analysis has also singled out certain sectors that are poised to register maximum growth and are already showing potential to ring in big numbers. Firms operating in the digital currency space, for one, are among the big gainers. By the...

The one-stop border posts at Malaba and Busia are set to open this month, paving the way for speedy clearances of goods moving within the main trade corridor between Uganda and Kenya. Richard Kamajugo, a senior managing director, Trade Mark East Africa (TMA), the institution that facilitated the construction of the border post, said a lot of work had been done, and that by the middle of February, the two posts should be ready. “I am committing that by around February 15, both countries will be connected and this will increase efficiency. The post will have officials from both countries that will clear the goods at one centre,” he said during a guided tour at the two posts in Busia and Malaba. Currently, traders in the region are hampered by a tedious clearance procedure at the two customs points, which require inspection at both sides of the border. This process creates a lot of delays and congestion at the border posts. Initially, it took two weeks for goods to move from the Kenyan coast of Mombasa into Uganda, with much of the delays taking place at the clearing posts. It will take roughly two days with one clearing post. Dickson Kateshumbwa, the commissioner for customs at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), said the initiative was long overdue, and that it was a waste of time and resources to have separate offices in one location. “Why should we have two offices? Our offices are complete and the space for officials from Kenya...

Although there have challenges since the re-establishment of the EAC, there is no doubt that partner states have made considerable progress in their efforts to integrate. Integration has played a key role in growing East Africa (EA) as a region even more rapidly after the re-establishment of the East African Community (EAC). Such development in the region has been made possible through support from Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) which has particularly helped EAC reduce the transport transfer time of containers from Dar es Salaam-Mombasa port to Bujumbura, Kigali by 12%. To further discuss the way forward between the two organizations, EAC Secretary General, Amb Richard Sezibera, held discussions with TMA CEO, Mr Frank Matsaert to plan for TMA’s support for the next phase, 2016-2022. Noting the role played by TMA in developing the region, Dr Sezibera said in appreciation: “I wish to express my gratitude to TMA for supporting the Integration Agenda.” He added: “As we move more towards monetary and fiscal integration, we need to strengthen institutional capacities, nurture vibrant trade and enhance financial markets within the region.” With the aim of improving the quality of life of East Africans through competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments, the EAC, through TMA support, has improved the infrastructure at Mombasa Port; constructed road network between Ntungamo to Mirama Hill in Uganda and Port Reitz to Kipevu West in Kenya; improved on the customs clearance time along the borders and carried out several sensitization campaigns to small cross border traders...