TradeMark Africa says it supports upgrading of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports, not for them to compete against each other, but to serve the region better in the wake of booming trade. The TMA Board of Directors Chairman, Mr Ali Mufuruki, said last week that their support to improve physical capacity and efficiency at the two ports was not focused on competition but to help them optimise their potential as “they operate far below their capabilities.” “I don’t think the ports are in competition I don’t understand the logic of one port competing with the other,” he told reporters in Nairobi during the inauguration of TMA’s new board in Nairobi. He said they do not see the two ports competing but rather complementing each other with the Dar port serving Tanzania and other landlocked neighbouring countries through the Central Corridor and Mombasa serving Nairobi and the neighbours through the Northern corridor. TMA, DFID and World Bank are supporting upgrading of the Dar port in a 565 million US dollars project started last year to improve infrastructure, productivity, dialogue processes and to roll out an electronic single window system. It is expected the project will boost cargo handling capacity from 14.6 million tonnes in 2013/14 to 28 million by 2020. TMA is also working with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to implement a proposed Mombasa port development programme to improve productivity and optimize supply chains for the different cargo trades. Jointly with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it organized a...

East Africa’s economic powerhouse Kenya is aiming to increase its influence in the Japanese markets, this is according to KenInvest’s Moses Ikiara. Estimates suggest that trade between Kenya and Japan was above 1.5 billion US dollars in 2014. Experts lament trade imbalance between the two economies. KenInvest's managing director Moses Ikiara told CNBC Africa that the mooted direct flights between Japan and Kenya would see the volume of trade improving. “The establishment of direct routes will also cut flying hours that can best be invested in trade,” added Ikiara. He also called for direct trade transactions between the two countries saying this would be an advantage to Kenya’s horticulture industry. “If we start selling directly to Japan, flowers will get there quicker and will be cost effective,” he said “There are products Japanese markets require from us like cashew nuts, macandamia nuts, Sesame and flowers.” Ikiara warned that Japanese market were very conscious of quality and also good diet hence Kenyan producers needed to up the standard of their produce. “If we follow the market requirement we can produce the on demand products and close the trade imbalance gap,” he said. Ikiara called for value addition of Kenyan products that will see job promotion within the country. “We could add value to our products through joint venture investments which will help service the market more effectively.” He also called for improved focus when preparing to meet potential markets. “The time we invest in preparation for meeting potential markets is very...

Even as recent trade wars in the East African Community have mostly featured Kenya and Uganda over sugar exports, Kampala has for the past two months been locked in a dispute with Tanzania over an 18 per cent value added tax on the latter's rice. The EastAfrican has learnt that tens of thousands of tonnes of rice grown and produced in Tanzania are either lying at Mutukula and Port Bell or in other border towns on the Tanzanian side. Uganda says it is invoking its internal law as opposed to the EAC laws. Article 15 (1) and (2) of the EAC Customs Union Protocol prevents discrimination and imposition of internal tax on products of partner states. The five EAC partner states have not yet harmonised domestic tax laws and as such, Uganda's VAT Act applies in this case, according to Moses Egwapu, a tax policy officer at the Ministry of Finance. "Why should rice from Tanzania not pay VAT? The VAT Act states that rice from outside Uganda attracts VAT... VAT is a domestic tax," Mr Egwapu told The EastAfrican. Mr Egwapu added that the VAT Act applies to all rice imports so as to protect the local industry and give incentive to Ugandan millers to add value to their rice. This, however, plays into the same nationalistic and protectionist motives that Kenya was using to block Ugandan sugar millers from exporting their excess sugar to Kenya to which Kampala responded by blocking beef imports from Kenya, until Presidents Yoweri...

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 31 August 2015 / PRN Africa / — Strong regional economic communities (RECs) are the key to Africa's long term goal of creating a vibrant, united and prosperous continent. South Africa's High Commissioner to Tanzania and the East African Community, His Excellency Thamsanqa D. Mseleku, said his country was committed to the creation of strong and viable RECs across the entire continent, adding that RECs were the surest way to achieve the founding fathers' dream of Pan-Africanism. RECs are the first step to the African Union's ultimate goal of creating an African Economic Community. Amb. Mseleku said South Africa was keen to ensure that African countries build on the gains made in regional integration, democratisation, economic growth, good governance, security and political stability. He noted that while Africa had made significant gains in these areas, there were still major challenges to be surmounted citing the situations in Burundi, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Somalia. "On the economic front, there are sudden problems emerging in the world which have a negative impact on African economies most of which are mainly resource based," he said. The envoy said his country was open to increased cooperation and partnerships with the EAC, which he described as Africa's fastest growing economic bloc. Amb. Mseleku was speaking when he presented his credentials to the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera, at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The High Commissioner was accompanied by Mr Manqoba Mdluli, the Third Secretary Political Affairs...

Though East Africa’s garment manufacturing potential is hindered by poor infrastructure and cumbersome Customs processes, exports are expected to grow as Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda attract more investment. According to consulting firm McKinsey, East Africa will remain a niche market for garment makers over the next decade but its success will depend on the existence of free trade agreements with the US and the European Union. With $700 million in annual exports over the next 10 years, East Africa will capture only a small slice of the global sourcing market but the industry’s impact will still be important for the region. Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda account for 0.07 per cent of global exports, earning $337 million. East Africa may be a new alternative for selected large players in basic categories with investment rising, leading annual exports to grow to $1 billion in five years and $1.7 billion annually in the next decade. “East Africa could move beyond cut, make, and trim (CMT) facilities, but this process could take several years before significant numbers of vertically integrated, domestic players appear in the region,” said Saskia Hedrich, who is based in McKinsey Munich office. She said the industry base in the region will attract funds to upgrade facilities and skilled workers to become a major force in the apparel sector over the next decade. Duty-free access to the United States provided by Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) is one of the drivers, but the region’s garment manufacturers are looking...

Rwanda's service sector has pushed the country’s first quarter GDP growth to 7.5 per cent, even as the manufacturing and agriculture sectors in the region, which registered a decline, pulled down the overall growth numbers of the bloc’s economies. The economies had predicted a rise in their growth rates but poor performance by several key sectors is putting this in doubt. Rwanda remains the only regional economy on course, with private sector–led growth being its biggest GDP contributor. Yusuf Murangwa, director-general of Rwanda’s National Institute of Statistics, said that the country’s GDP grew by 7.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year. “We have seen an average growth of 10 per cent in the trade, education, finance, insurance, transport and communications sectors,” said Mr Murangwa. The government has been keen on attracting investment in the tourism, ICT and insurance sectors. By 2014, ICT services exports had hit the $4 million mark and are expected to register $11 million by the end of this year. Rwanda is also investing in RwandAir to boost tourism earnings, its key foreign exchange earner. It aims to expand the sector’s annual turnover from the current $46 million to more than $350 million by 2018. Tanzania saw a negative performance in the agriculture, mining and manufacturing sectors slowing its economy. The economy grow by 6.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year from a high of 8.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2014. According to Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics,...

Intra-African trade increased by 50 per cent to $61 billion between 2010 and 2013, according to recent data released by the African Development Bank. The rise is attributed to improved market access and a strong growth in re-exports among African countries. The increase marks a strategic shift in internal trade on the continent, which was previously relatively low compared with trade flows from the European Union and China, observers say. Poor quality roads and highways connecting national borders; non-tariff barriers and insecurity are blamed for the weak growth posted by intra-African trade in the past. Recorded trade flows within the East African Community have grown by an average of less than 15 per cent per annum since 2005 compared with an average growth rate of 20-25 per cent per year in trade activity between the bloc and the Eurozone, research shows. Africa’s trade with Europe grew to $430 billion between 2010 and 2013 while the value of trade flows with China increased to $210 billion during the same period, AfDB data shows. The growth of intra-African trade has the potential to reduce unemployment, household poverty and increase tax revenues. Economists cite increased access to trade routes within economic blocs on the continent for the sharp growth in intra-African trade, with big economies such as Egypt posting bigger export volumes within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in recent times. Though latest data on the country’s exports was not available by press time, Egypt’s manufacturing sector is currently...

Regional business lobby TradeMark Africa has picked new board of directors and appointed former World Trade Organisation director Pascal Lamy as special advisor. The 11 member board will be chaired by Tanzania’s Ali Mufuruki. Others members are Kenya’s Patricia Ithau, Earl Gast and Matt Reitz of USA, Rwandese Rosette Chantal Rugamba, Jaqueline Lutaya of Uganda, Patrick Obath and Anthony Masozera from Burundi. The team was picked from more than 500 applicants from East Africa. TMA previously operated with a statutory board provided mostly by service organisations. The new team incorporates members from the EAC region and is expected to give unbiased feedback on performance of TMA to management. Source: The Star

KENYA: The city of Mombasa, the gateway to East Africa, is for a good reason taken as the starting point of transport logistics along the Northern Economic Transport Corridor that leads to the landlocked trade partners of Kenya; Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Thus, Mombasa plays a pivotal role in economic development across the East and Central African region. To boost this role, the Government has prioritised the development of key infrastructure in a bid to spur regional economic activity. Traffic congestion is one of the key non-monetary trade barriers affecting business. The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is one of the key partners in ensuring successful and lucrative economic integration between Kenya and her neighbouring countries. Kenha is in the process of implementing several key projects, both in Mombasa and along the Northern Corridor. Among them is Port Reitz and Moi International Airport access road, jointly financed by the Government of Kenya and Trademark East Africa. Then there is the dualling of the Mombasa-Mariakani highway. KeNHA will erect two new weighbridge stations on each side of the road at Mariakani and put up dedicated lanes for trucks approaching the weighbridge, thus eliminating the traffic snarl-ups sometimes associated with the weighbridge. Other projects funded by the World Bank Group include the rehabilitation of Bachuma Gate and Maji ya Chumvi along the Mombasa–Nairobi highway. Other planned projects include the Mombasa Northern Bypass, which will run from Miritini to Mtwapa. Also, KeNHA is executing a massive project that will change the...

That Mombasa is the gateway to East Africa has never been in doubt. It is an often-stated fact that the City of Mombasa is the starting point of transport logistics along the Northern Economic Transport Corridor that leads to the landlocked yet strategic trade partners of Kenya viz Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Thus, the coastal city plays a pivotal role in trade partnerships, syndication and development across the East and Central African countries. To achieve this, the government has prioritised development of key infrastructure in a bid to spur regional economic activity. This is because traffic congestion is one of the key non-monetary trade barriers affecting business in the region. The Kenya National Highways Authority is one of the key partners in ensuring successful and lucrative economic integration between Kenya and her neighbouring countries. Towards this end, the authority is in the process of implementing several key projects, both in Mombasa and along the Northern Corridor. Among them is the Port Reitz and Moi International Airport access road, jointly financed by the government and Trademark East Africa. Then there is the dualling of Mombasa-Mariakani highway implemented in two phases. Phase one, from Mombasa to Jomvu, jointly funded by the government and African Development Bank. Kenha has also purposed to erect two new weighbridge stations on each side of the road at Mariakani and dedicated lanes for trucks approaching the weighbridge, thus eliminating the traffic snarl-ups sometimes associated with the weighbridge. The World Bank funds this project. Rehabilitation of...