Four Burundi citizens and a similar number of Kenyans are in the race to succeed Dr Richard Sezibera when his term as Secretary-General of the East African Community ends early next year. Although it is Burundi’s turn to nominate a citizen to the position, the insecurity in the country could prove a hindrance, hence the Kenyans’ decision to wait in the wings. The SG’s post is rotational and the occupant of the seat is chosen by the head of state of the appointing country. Burundi’s contestants are Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Nyamitwe; former EAC deputy SG - productive and social sector Jean Claude Nsengiyumva; EAC Deputy SG - Finance and Administration Libérat Mfumukeko; and the country’s East African Legislative Assembly MP Hafsa Mossi, a former journalist. The Kenyans said to be lobbying for the position are Abdirahin Abdi, the former EALA speaker; Peter Kiguta, the EAC Director-General of Customs & Trade; EAC Deputy SG Charles Njoroge; and Joseph Nyagah, national co-ordinator for the Northern Corridor Integration Project and a former Cabinet minister. It is expected that the new secretary-general will be sworn in at the EAC Ordinary Heads of State Summit in Dar es Salaam in February and not in April as earlier thought. “The summit that was to be held this month (November 30) has been pushed to February next year to allow Tanzania’s new government under the new president John Magufuli to settle into office,” said a source privy to the arrangements. “Thus it is better for the presidents to have a new secretary-general sworn...

IMPORTS shipped into the country from next month will be required to be inspected for quality in the country of origin as government moves to mitigate loss of tax revenues and proliferation of counterfeits. The Kenya Revenue Authority and the Kenya Bureau of Standards said on Friday the measure, which expands the goods under pre-shipment requirements, will be enforced from December 1. The move is guided by the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity [PvoC] to Standards for Imports rules of 2005, the two said. It is aimed at mitigating mis-declaration and under-valuation of cargo at the port of Mombasa. “This updated requirement has been found necessary in order to protect the safety and health of Kenyans in addition to securing tax revenues,” the two agencies said in a joint-notice on Friday. “Presentation of Certificate of Conformity shall be a mandatory requirement to facilitate clearance of imports by both Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Bureau Standards.” Cargo shipped before end of this month will accorded appropriate treatment to achieve smooth transition, the statement by KRA commissioner general John Njiraini and Kebs managing director Charles Ongwae said. Used motor vehicles [other than duty free], used tyres, refrigerators, refrigeration equipment, air conditioners, used clothing and footwear are some of the imports whose inspection is currently done at the point of origin. Others are pharmaceutical, medical, dental and veterinary consumables as well as fertilisers. The move by the KRA and Kebs follows a directive by Industrialisation and Enterprise Development CS Adan Mohamed, on October 14,...

The tourism sector received a major boost Thursday when a luxury cruise ship docked at the port of Mombasa with more than 1,000 tourists and crew.MS Nautica, which is operated by Oceania Cruises, arrived in Mombasa for the second time this year from Seychelles with 684 passengers and 386 crew members. The ship's arrival pushed the number of cruise tourists this year to more than 1,800 up from 900 in 2014. The majority of the holidaymakers were from the US while others came from UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Poland Netherlands, Hong Kong and Thailand. Others were from South Africa, Portugal, Norway, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. Upon arrival, some tourists flew over to the world famous Maasai Mara reserve for game drives while others travelled to Amboseli and Tsavo East and West national parks. Other wildlife lovers went to Shimba Hills Game Reserve and Mwalughanje Elephant Sanctuary while some toured Mombasa town and Bombolulu workshop cultural centre. A couple from the US, Mary Williamson and her husband George said they were excited to be in Mombasa for a tour of the port city. "We were looking forward to visiting Mombasa so that we could tour the town as well as visit the cultural and historical sites," Mrs Williamson said. "We are planning to come back for a long holiday so that we can sample the tourist facilities and relaxation on the alluring beaches," she added. DREAM COME TRUE A German tourist Jan Haul from Hamburg said he was...

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will boost cargo handling capacity at the Port of Mombasa as the region anticipates a rise in cargo volumes. KPA Managing Director Gichiri Ndua revealed plans to construct and equip the four berths which will provide an additional 600,000 Twenty Equivalent Units (Teus), a measurement of container capacity. KPA is also constructing the $900 million second container terminal at the port which will provide an additional capacity of 1.5 TEUs. Currently, the port has the capacity to handle 1.1 million Teus. “Increasingly, the container business is taking centre stage as a more preferred mode of ship transport. At the Port of Mombasa our strategy is to focus on growing this segment.” “In order to create additional container handling capacity, the authority considers the conversion of current conventional cargo berths 11-14, constructed between 1956 and 1959 into modern berths,” said Ndua yesterday. Shipping & Logistics (EA) Ltd managing director Sylvester Kututa said expansion of the Suez Canal and Panamal Canal would create efficiency along the sea trade along Africa’s eastern seaboard trade and Mombasa, like other ports, should expand their capacities. “Volume of cargo to Mombasa will definitely be on the rise. The expansion of the Suez Canal will lead to more traffic passing which is a good thing but our concern about the canal has been the rates charged there,” said Kututa. He said cargo volumes to Mombasa will increase by 12 per cent and he also lauded the ongoing huge infrastructure expansion at the...

(Seychelles News Agency) - In spite of being small in size compared to other African countries, Seychelles an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean is aiming to become the hub for trade between African countries. The island nation wants to emulate countries like Singapore which is today the centre in Asia for trading in commodities globally. After taking steps to promote the blue economy concept on the international scene, Seychelles is now looking at bringing African nations together through trade. Speaking to the press at a meeting dubbed the ‘African Prosperity conference’ that is being hosted by the island nation since Tuesday, the Chairman of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (SCCI) Marco Francis called for greater partnership between African nations. "I have travelled to many parts of Africa. Africa has some very good structures to do business. African businessmen have the same vision as we do, they want to do business and they want to expand. Let’s partner together.” Francis noted that today trade between African countries stands at only 16 percent while the majority of the continent’s imports are from European and Asian countries. As part of efforts to boost regional trade, leaders from 26 African countries joined together in June this year to sign an ambitious declaration in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to establish a wide-reaching free-trade zone across almost the entire eastern half of the African continent. The Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA), which incorporates member countries from the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for...

In preparation for the 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which is scheduled to take place in Nairobi-Kenya from 15-18 December 2015, the African Union held a Meeting of Trade Ministers on 20th July 2015 in Nairobi-Kenya. During the deliberations, the AU Ministers were unanimous in reaffirming the strategic objectives for an African Trade Policy, which should be based on Africa’s industrialization in order to achieve the structural transformation of African economies. The Conference was addressed by a distinguished cadre of personalities including H.E. Mrs. Fatima Haram Acyl, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, H.E. Mr. Mukhisa Khituyi, the UNCTAD Secretary General, Mr. David Shark, WTO Deputy Director General and, Mrs. Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Exeutive Director of the International Trade Center. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Ambassador (Dr.) Amina C. Mohamed, the Kenya Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade. During the meeting, the Ghana Minister for Trade and Industry, Hon. Dr. Ekwow Spio –Garbrah as is customary with his reputed leadership demeanor which excels on clear strategic vision, advocated the setting up of an unprecedented “African Trade Information Sharing Portal to boost trade and investment ties between African countries”. For a full decade and for most of the time as his Chairman, I have witnessed Minister Dr. Spio-Garbrah’s highly acclaimed professional work in the area of ICT and telecommunications during his term of office as the CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization. It was, therefore, of no surprise that he has opted to tap his...

Plans to have a key laboratory to test imported goods for conformity with the Kenyan standards are at an advanced stage. Kenya Bureau of Standards Managing Director Charles Ongwae says the standards body is currently procuring an office in Mombasa to host the key laboratory that will mainly focus on testing goods shipped in through the Port of Mombasa. The Port of Mombasa is the busiest in the region given that a big number of goods imported into the country or other East and Central African Countries make their way through the facility. The Kenya Bureau of Standards had plans to construct a testing laboratory in Mombasa to test such goods especially the ones for the Kenyan market. However, the first tendering process for the 1.3 billion shillings facility had been marred by irregularities and controversies forcing its cancellation, with the former KEBS Managing Director Eve Oduor suspended in August 2013. Oduor was replaced several months later. Cancellation of the tender took a legal twist when the matter found itself in court. Despite this, KEBS moved on. According to the current KEBS Managing Director Charles Ongwae, the standards body is currently at an advanced stage of securing a premises to host the laboratory. Currently, most goods are taken to the KEBS headquarters in Nairobi for testing purposes. The revelations comes as the standards body plans to effect new secure import standardization marks by July next year. So far, 10 million such stamps have been issued to importers. Ongwae says an...

The East African Community (EAC) countries are leveraging on a single online visa to help increase tourist arrivals in the region, Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto has said. Ruto told a tourism conference in Nairobi that Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, which had launched a single visa initiative earlier this year, were leveraging on technology to remove hurdles in the promotion of tourism in the region. "We are leveraging on technology to market the region as a single destination with diverse tourist attractions, and I assure our visitors that we will make it worthy their while," he said when he officiated at the opening of the 40th Conference of the Africa Travel Association (ATA). Ruto noted that the decision to issue a single visa for visitors coming to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda was a milestone in promoting the three countries as a single tourism destination. The lack of a regional common visa has been a major drawback towards marketing East Africa as a single tourist destination. Foreign tour operators had complained of cumbersome immigration procedures at border entry points for those who wish to cover various circuits in East Africa. Sources said the five East African Community countries, which also include Burundi and Tanzania, are also in the final stages of implementing a single visa. Ruto said that efforts put into the promotion of tourism in Kenya were bearing fruit, with tourist arrivals in the country hitting 1.13 million last year, up 5 percent year on year. Source: Coast Week

Despite popular opinion, Africa has been very active on the international trading stage, though results have been disappointing. At the ministerial conference in Bali, Indonesia in 2013, African countries failed to push for their needs. After progress and losses, what is the place of Africa in the multilateral trading system as the continent heads into the WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi, Kenya?
 As the world is rushing towards regional and mega-regional trade agreements, it is necessary to review the place and role of the African continent in all of its evolutions. These have already transformed international trade relations and set the next boundaries of the global economic governance system. Africa’s place in the multilateral trading system has often received special attention, even though ithas mostly focused on the contextual and factual analysis of the weakness of the continent’s contribution to global commercial transactions or the vagaries of the participation of African states in trade negotiations. There has been more than enough criticism suggesting that Africa is not making sufficient effort to take part in international trade. On the contrary, African countries merit a spotlight on their significant progress to open up to trade. A continent that has come a long way Africa’s place in the international trading system has often been simplified to a single statistic: less than 2 percent of international trade. The analyses that support the theory that African countries barely participate in international trade are mostly based on a quantitative approach. However, such a static approach hides...

President Uhuru Kenyatta will on Thursday attend the closing ceremony of a regional conference by matatu operators who are pushing for more cross-border access for the sector. Owners want a flexible licensing regime across East Africa to allow them to operate freely. President Kenyatta is set to speak about Kenya’s commitment towards enhancing public sector transport in the region through public-private partnerships in the trade, investment and tourism sectors. The lobbies from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda have been meeting in Nairobi for the past two days to push for change in legal framework across East Africa to increase integration. Matatu Owners Association Chairman Samuel Kimutai said although free movement was advocated across East Africa, local laws made it difficult to cross borders. Source: Daily Nation