Kenya is Tanzania’s leading trade partner in East Africa. This is according to Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. During his address to the joint Parliamentary sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate on Tuesday, Kikwete said figures put trade between East African countries at 80 to 90 per cent, with Kenyan investments hitting USD 1.6 billion in 518 projects. Kikwete further stated that he will join the ranks of former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Benjamin Mkapa as a distinguished citizen after the elections set for October 25th, 2015. The Tanzanian Head of State reaffirmed confidence in the ties between Kenya and Tanzania saying trade between the two countries has increased by 40 per cent in the last 5 years. “Kenya is our largest trading partner with an investment of USD 1.65 billion. In that regard, Kenya is not a competition but a strategic partner,” said Kikwete. He further stated that Tanzania is building a power transmission line from Tanzania to Namanga in Kenya among other joint infrastructural projects to promote interconnectivity. He also stated that his country has supported Kenya’s efforts against terror, narcotics and cross-border crime saying such cooperation will continue even after he leaves office. Kikwete, who became Tanzania’s President in 2005, before winning a re-election in 2010 said he has been accorded perfect opportunity to bid farewell to the Parliament and the people of Kenya. “I will leave office a happy man knowing that the relation between Kenya and Tanzania is cordial.” Kikwete was also...

PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete and his Kenyan counterpart, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, have launched a grand road project involving construction of the Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Mwatate Road to unlock the Northern Corridor. At a ceremony held here yesterday, the two presidents expressed their optimism for the accelerated economic development of the area as the road will help transport goods to and from the port of Mombasa and create employment to more people in the process. In his speech, President Kikwete said the project, which is supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB), will see less time spent on the road, while vehicles would be assured of less damage. AfDB agreed to release US$ 120 million to Tanzania while Kenya gets US$ 113.12 million. The project will comprise civil works for the construction of the 42.4km Arusha bypass and dual carriageway linking the Sakina-Tengeru section of 14.1 kilometres as well as the construction of two roadside amenities at Tengeru, one on either side of the dual carriageway in Tanzania. President Kikwete said this is a second major road construction to link the two countries after the Arusha- Namanga-Athi River Road project. He said more plans are to join Lamu-Mombasa-Lungalunga-Tanga- Bagamoyo-Dar es Salaam sections. He assured Kenyans, who turned in great numbers at the ceremony, of continued cooperation and friendship with Tanzania. President Kenyatta hailed the achievement, saying it was a beginning of economic prosperity as the project would highly improve lives of people from the two countries. “Our people are one; we intermarry and do business...

China is targeting Kenya's ports of Mombasa and Lamu in expanding its global influence through trade and connectivity.The Chinese government lists the two ports as important to its One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative, an ambitious programme meant to create "a community of common destiny" from among 63 countries around the world with about 4.5 billion people. The Port of Mombasa is the busiest in East Africa, serving Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lamu port, whose construction is underway, is part of the larger transportation corridor between Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda. When completed the corridor, also known as LAPSET, will make it easier to ferry crude oil, transport goods and people across these countries. "It is an important initiative that we could tap into. But first, we will have to assess it, domesticate it, and hopefully make our people see its value," Mr Michael Kinyanjui, Kenya's ambassador to Beijing said of OBOR. VERY BENEFICIAL "If it works as planned, it could be very beneficial." The Chinese believe it will eventually benefit everyone among the group of 63 countries by 2030, even though the initial target is countries in the Far East. "This is a common opportunity for all of us. Trading will be very critical, and we insist on going global while building resources from within," Mr Qian Keming, Chinese Vice-Minister for Commerce told a conference on the Initiative last week in Beijing. "We have to talk with our partners to unleash...

The East African Community (EAC), comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda has been urged to ensure full integration for inclusive growth in the region. Addressing East African Trade Union Confederation Youth Camp in Kisumu on Monday, Central Organization of Trade Union (Cotu) Secretary General Francis Atwoli said the integration is still very weak. Atwoli said while progress towards regional integration has been significant, the agenda is far from finished, pointing at many barriers. “We need free movement of people, goods and other services within East African countries. These barriers should be removed,” Atwoli said. He challenged Tanzania to remain optimistic and embrace the integration process to allow EAC to move in one direction. Atwoli said EAC was strong before it went down in 1977. He said the community was stronger in the past, noting that the new process started in the year 2000 and must ensure full integration to spur growth within the member states. The Cotu boss said no East African citizen should be denied work in the member states and opposed the quota system within the region. He said the system is discriminating and violates the rights of young people seeking employment opportunities within the region. “This quota system should be scrapped to allow young people to move freely and look for jobs anywhere they can find them within the region,” he said. Source: Hivisasa.com

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 05 October 2015 / PRN Africa / — The 6th African Grain Trade Summit with a clear agenda for regional grain trade in Africa, and with renewed commitments for creating an enabling environment for structured trade concluded in Kigali,Rwanda. The outcomes of the three-day summit reaffirms the regional grain sector actors' commitment to structured grain trade in Africa and sets out a clear agenda on different priority areas to be achieved within the next two years, when the next summit will be held.
 In a major push to create an enabling environment for the grain sector in Africa, His Excellency Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, pledged to continue to support the operationalization of the single customs territory through the Northern and Central Corridor Initiatives. The President's remarks were delivered on his behalf by the Right Honourable Prime Minister, Anastase Murekezi.
 Over 200 delegates from 14 countries including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, The Netherlands, Singapore, USA and Philippines attended the summit. The delegates, who represented the Government officials, private sector, traders, farmers, processors, financial institutions, civil society and development partners all committed to work together through Private-Public Partnership models to reduce the billions of dollars that get out of Africa through food imports. 
In his remarks, the Hon. Kanimba, Minister of Trade and Industry, appreciated the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) for organizing such a high level summit, noting that, “The 6th African Grain Trade summit that we are...

Kenya is set to stop new investments in its Export Processing Zones before the end of this year after years of official frustration that their operations have failed to add value to the economy despite numerous tax incentives. Faced with revenue collection target of Ksh1.3 trillion ($12.13 billion) to finance the government’s ballooning expenditure requirements in the 2015/2016 financial year, the Kenya Revenue Authority is looking for means to seal loopholes for revenue leakages while at the same time enforcing tax compliance. The EastAfrican has established that the EPZ will be replaced by Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which have been created to attract foreign direct investments in the country’s key urban centres. The latest follows the signing into law of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Bill. “We came up with SEZs as an instrument to attract foreign direct investment,” said James Ojee, Deputy Commissioner of the Domestic Taxes Department at KRA. SEZs are currently undergoing a pilot programme in Mombasa, Lamu and Kisumu. At the expiry of their contractual period, existing investors in the EPZs will be required to start paying taxes in line with Kenya’s taxation laws. They will also have a choice to either relocate or reapply afresh to be considered for investments in the SEZs under stringent conditions. “We will allow tax exemptions at SEZs but under controlled conditions being very careful not to lose out like EPZ,” Mr Ojee said.
The Export Processing Zones Authority will be abolished and replaced with Special Economic Zones Authority under the proposed arrangements....

The East African Community Secretariat has asked the International Monetary Fund for advice on how to harmonise its taxation policies as part of the ongoing regional integration programme. East African countries are seeking to harmonise their tax procedures in line with the EAC Treaty and the Common Market Protocol in order to boost investments and ensure free movement of goods, capital and labour in the region. So far, only Customs duties have been harmonised by setting a common external tariff (CET) in respect of imports into Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Under the Customs Union Protocol, which came into force on January 1, importation of raw materials, capital goods, agricultural inputs and some medical equipment into the EAC attracts zero duty. Importers of intermediate goods and other essential industrial inputs pay a tax of 25 per cent while finished products attract 30 per cent duty. “We are asking for input from the IMF, which has experience and is able to give us advice on how best we can achieve tax harmonisation,” said Peter Njoroge, director of economics at Kenya’s Ministry of EAC Affairs. “It is a complex issue, because even the European Union has never fully harmonised its taxes.” In the EU, plans to harmonise VAT and excise duty date back to 1967 and the early ’70s, respectively, but member states are still free to agree on their own tax systems as long as they comply with the bloc’s rules. The structure of taxation in the EU differs significantly...

On the evening of August 3, as I left my office in the centre of the capital city Bujumbura, I barely saw the motorbike in front of me before the bullets shattered my windscreen and I was shot directly in the face. Less than two weeks before the attempt on my life, the incumbent President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, claimed victory in an election that was marred by violence and intimidation of the opposition, rights activists, journalists and voters themselves. I am no stranger to the peculiarities of Burundian democracy. As an active citizen, over the past 20 years, I have been harassed, threatened, arrested, imprisoned and beaten by the authorities. In Burundi, the exercise of democracy often means these things. As a human-rights activist, I openly condemned the electoral process, the president and the result. The United Nations and the African Union also declared that the ballot was neither free nor fair! Still, the bullet was my reward for exercising my democratic duty. When Nkurunzinza announced that he would seek a third term in office — violating both the Constitution and the Arusha Peace Accords that brought peace to my country after a decade of conflict — widespread protests prompted new levels of government repression, human-rights abuses and a crackdown on civil society. The violence forced many members of Burundi’s political opposition, independent journalists and human-rights defenders to flee the country. They fled for good reason. It is a miracle that my own decision to remain in Burundi did...

THE volume of cross-border trade between Kenya and Tanzania will increase by 50 per cent once the Arusha-Mwatate road is complete, outgoing Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete has said. The 90km road is being constructed by China City Construction Group. It is co-funded by the African Development Bank and the Kenya and Tanzania governments. Kikwete launched the Sh8.4 million road at Taveta town yesterday at the start of his three-day state visit to Kenya. Present were President Uhuru Kenyatta, Mining CS Najib Balala, Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu. “This is one of the missing links aimed at enhancing the East Africa Integration objectives, and a crucial link between Kenya and Tanzania,” Uhuru said. He said once the road is complete, it will attract large-scale investors in Kenya and Tanzania. So far, 34km of the road from Taveta has been upgraded to bitumen status. “Free trade and non-tariff trade barriers will improve business in the region,” he said. Uhuru said Kenya will soon tap gas from Tanzania to improve its energy supply at affordable prices. He said the road’s construction has come at the right time during the construction of the standard gauge railway line. The President said goods from the Mombasa port will now be easily transported to Tanzania. Uhuru said the Isiolo-Moyale road connecting Kenya to Ethiopia will be opened by the end of this year. Source: The Star

I recently met Hassan Ahmed (not his real name), a resident of Wajir County who is married and has seven children. All of them have dropped out of school for lack of school fees. The furthest any of them has gone is Form Two. He has had to sell everything to get by in life. His ageing parents depend on him for their livelihood and medication. He has been left with no assets other than the one emaciated camel in his homestead. He stares bleakly at the blue sky in the sweltering heat of North Eastern Kenya; a statistic of poverty and want. I am sure he cares nothing about last week’s proclamation that through the Millennium Development Goals, poverty has been halved in the world. He cares less because he and his animal still cannot access clean, reliable water. Last week, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) met in New York. I almost thought they were giving us maize meal as a way of tackling poverty in the developing countries. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) team has increased the number achievable goals from 8 as per the millennium development goals to 17 in the SDG. I don’t really know about the details of the status report from the Millennium Development Goals. But at least the MDGs had a lifespan and much clearer targets. SDG is much broader and even more complicated with 169 targets grouped into 17 goals with a 15-year time frame. I wonder whether UNGA considered the...