The State’s subsidised maize flour programme will continue until there are sufficient stocks of the commodity, the Agriculture ministry has said. Agriculture secretary Willy Bett said the programme will be extended beyond September as earlier planned because of ongoing heavy rains that have hampered maize harvest in the main breadbasket areas of the North Rift. Under the subsidy, a two-kilogramme packet retails at Sh90 while the one-kilogramme one sells for Sh47. “North Rift has experienced a lot of rains in the recent past and this has delayed the prospects of early harvest,” he said. The new maize stocks from the North Rift region is now expected to enter the market at the end of October. Sufficient maize “It is the government’s desire that the subsidy remains until that time when there will be sufficient maize in the market to sustain lower prices,” Mr Bett said in an interview Wednesday. The country requires an average 36-40 million bags of maize annually to satisfy demand, estimates by the Agriculture ministry showed. Treasury secretary Henry Rotich last week said ministries, State agencies, the Judiciary and Parliament faced cuts in spending to help raise cash to finance the October 17 repeat presidential election and extend the food subsidy programme. Independent commissions and the 47 counties would also be affected by the action that will help cover for the unforeseen expenditure that was not factored in the Sh2.29 trillion 2017/18 budget approved by Parliament, the minister further said. Mr Rotich disclosed that the Treasury had...

Traders and manufacturers of plastic bags have been dealt another blow after the government rejected their appeal to continue servicing export markets. A high-level meeting between Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Environment ministry representatives failed to reach a consensus after officials cited the ban on imports of raw materials. KAM had earlier sought guidelines on re-opening of factories producing plastic products to help sustain hundreds of jobs and dissuade the companies from relocating operations to other countries while safeguarding Kenya’s market share in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). “Take back scheme/extended producer responsibility has been suspended pending further directions and in the meantime, manufacturers shall not be subjected to the take back scheme/extended producer responsibility. Labelling of industrial packaging has been put on hold and the planned penalties imposed by the National Environmental Management Authority on discarded plastic packaging material stands waived until further notice,” a resolution by the parties said in part. Source: Business Daily

WALTER Rodney, a prominent Guyanese historian, political activist and scholar once wrote details in his book 'How Europe underdeveloped Africa' and many scholars took hats off to him while others saw his shortfalls in his school of thought and labelled it one sided, but perhaps, former Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo overruled it all in 1994 while burying Kenya doyen politician Jaramogi Oginga Odinga by saying: "Thank God Africa has been saved from many earthquakes and Tsunami, but the only earthquakes and Tsunami we have are in form of bad leaders." To be precise he was of the opinion that Africa is going back to the oblivion as a result of bad leadership and expects outsiders to develop it as if there has been a binding contract that they must develop the continent. To bring the point home again, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere every now and again talked of the continent fighting three common enemies he named as poverty, diseases and ignorance/ illiteracy, but after five decades from independence the enemies are still eating the continent to its bones including East Africa member states in this context. Leaders (think-tanks in this vein) have thought of coming together to form joint blocs to help them address the challenges, but a prominent Nigerian ScholarChinua Achebe has begged to know if the war would be won if individual member states still treat each other with suspicion through a character he calls Okwonkwo asking his brothers a question that 'how can we fight a common enemy...

The East Africa Trade and Investment Hub is partnering with a new business-to-business platform operated by global shipping and logistics giant Maersk Group in a bid to simplify trade with and within Africa. The Hub, an initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) earlier this month with business-to-business platform Fromtu. As part of the agreement, the Hub will provide Fromtu with market intelligence on trade and business opportunities specific to the platform, including information on East African companies seeking trade and export opportunities and on international trade regulations and standards. The facilitation of business linkages is integral in the Hub's work in promoting intra-regional and international trade, particularly under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). "While traditionally the development community engages with private firms to take on subsidised programmes and make them sustainable, in this particular case the Hub is merely providing technical support to a private sector led initiative, simply strengthening an already sustainable innovation," explains Juan Estrada, the Hub's chief of party. In addition, the Hub will support Fromtu in facilitating and setting up meetings with companies looking to utilise the platform. The partnership is in line with the Hub's goal of connecting East African and US businesses to attract investment that drives economic growth and transforms the East African private sector into vibrant global trading partners. Source: Just Style

The link between India and Africa is a long ancient one. From centuries there has been a constant stream of people and business between the two land masses separated by the Arabian Sea. Yet in the last century, as Indian and other African countries overthrew the yolk of colonialism and moved forth, the bonds to a great extent seem to have weakened. The trade between India and Africa waned, even as China made a big foray into the African continent. It was only in the past two decade or so, when there was a realisation that the ties between the two need to be strengthened. Having realised it, the government of India took significant steps to boost trade ties, signing up MoUs with various African nations, extending line of credit, providing technological know-how, etc. The result is that the bilateral trade with the continent is up five fold in the last decades from about $12 billion in 2005-06 to $56.7 billion. India’s exports to Africa have increased from $7 billion in the same period to about $25 billion in 2015-16 and that accounts of about 9.5% of India’s total exports. Indian Imports from Africa have increased from $4.9 billion in 2005-06 to $31.7 billion in 2015-16 accounting for about 8.3% of total Indian imports. Today, India is the fifth largest country investing in Africa. The bilateral trade between Africa and India is expected to reach $117 billion by 2021. Some 34 African countries enjoy duty-free access to the Indian market....

Kenya and Uganda will hold talks with China Exim Bank officials October, which could unlock funding for the Malaba-Kampala standard gauge railway. Ministers of finance and transport from both countries will meet with China Exim Bank officials in Beijing in October, where Uganda is expected to receive the final funding approval. “The ministers for transport and finance of Kenya and Uganda are supposed to have engagements with China Exim Bank on the sections of Kisumu to Malaba to Kampala. “Uganda has already submitted their requests for funding for its route and is awaiting appraisals,” a source told The EastAfrican. It is also understood that executives from China Exim Bank will be in Kampala this month to carry out due diligence on the project’s proposal and contract application before negotiations are completed. “The officials will also visit Nairobi and hold key talks with Kenyan officials over the last connection of the Kenyan SGR, which is key to Uganda as its completion will give viability to the Ugandan project. “They will be considering granting Kenya more financing for to Kisumu only if there is a commitment to reach Malaba,” the source said. Kenya Railways managing director Atanas Maina said that Kenya is yet to submit its funding proposal for the section between Malaba and Kisumu as they need to finish the third phase first. “We recently had engagements with Uganda over this last phase. However, we are yet to submit the funding request for Section 2C, because we felt we needed to finish...

Speaking after receiving credentials from Ambassador Dr Detlef Waechter who starts his tour of duty for Tanzania and the EAC, Ambasador Mfumukeko noted that Germany had provided generous technical and financial support to the EAC for almost two decades. He informed Dr Waechter of the significant progress made by the EAC in the four pillars of integration, namely the Customs Union, Common Market, Monetary Union and Political Federation, adding that the Community had made great strides in the said pillars, thanks to political goodwill by the leaders of the partner states. The Secretary General said the EAC, together with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), were at an advanced stage in the negotiations for the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that brings together 26 countries with a market of over 600 million people. He reaffirmed EAC’s commitment to exploit its human and natural resources for the benefit of the entire region, saying that significant achievements had already been recorded in trade, customs and infrastructure development. He noted that East Africa had a big population of educated but unemployed youth, hence the way forward was for the Community to focus on modernising the agricultural sector through provision of agricultural inputs, value addition and technology. In his remarks, Dr Waechter assured the Secretary General of his country’s commitment to working closely with EAC, to enable the Community attain its objectives in the integration process. The Ambassador said Germany was keen to share with...

Trade among African countries is alive and growing, expanding to about 16 per cent in 2014 from 10 per cent in 2000, according to recent data from economists at the African Development Bank (AfDB). Despite this modest improvement, the volume of intra-Africa trade is a paltry $2 trillion when juxtaposed alongside trade between Africa and the rest of the world, which stands at a hefty $77 trillion. The reasons for this trade disequilibrium are obvious. Africa is largely disconnected from itself because of its poor infrastructure, restrictive immigration policies, corruption, failure to formalise informal trade, and unclear customs and immigration rules. Fresh facts emerging, however, suggest a slightly improving scenario. Data for 2003/14 shows that intra-African finance is a significant source of foreign investment in low-and-middle-income countries such as Burundi (79 per cent), Namibia (42 per cent), Rwanda (62 per cent), South Sudan (64 per cent) and Uganda (45 per cent). Intra-Africa tourism barely exists, but West Africa now accounts for 40 per cent of the total African, Caribbean and Pacific trade with the European Union. The 15-member nations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) account for about 45 per cent of Africa’s trade with the rest of the world. In East Africa, Kenya’s top 10 export markets are Uganda, Tanzania, Netherlands, US, United Kingdom, Pakistan, DR Congo, UAE, South Sudan and Egypt. The five African countries here account for over 30 per cent of Kenya’s total exports. Kenya’s tea makers are, however, yet to make a serious push...

The Ministry of Transport is in talks with Chinese contractors to undertake the dualling of the busy Eastern Bypass, which stretches from Mombasa Road to the Thika Superhighway. Transport and Infrastructure secretary James Macharia, in an interview on Monday, said his ministry is already processing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be shared with the shortlisted contractors by December. The multi-billion-shilling project is aimed at easing the growing traffic jam on the key road that links motorists from the busy Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Mombasa-Nairobi highway to Thika Superhighway, bypassing the congested central business district. The road, part of the Vision 2030 infrastructure projects, was designed and built during the term of the Grand Coalition government. “Dualling should have been done from day one. They should not have done that road without dualling it,” Mr Macharia said in a telephone interview. “We want to accelerate the dualling and have it done as soon as we arrange financing and that’s why we’re processing these MoUs.” Two years The MoUs, he said, will provide the roadmap for the design and costing of the project expected to take two years once it is commissioned. The dualling of the road was part of 11 infrastructure projects that the Kenyan government delegation showcased to global investors during the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Co-operation in Beijing, China, in May. Other projects included expansion of the Southern and Northern Bypasses. Mr Macharia did not disclose the firms that will be signing the MoU...

The business community has warned that the economy is in danger of total decline and urged politicians to strike a quick deal to end the stalemate over the repeat election. On Monday, three business associations said the country was experiencing slow growth, a sharp dip in profits, drop in employment rates and markets taking a beating since campaigns began in June. The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa), Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Kam) and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) warned that the political tension could lead to inflation and an unpredictable economy. INVESTORS Kepsa and KAM said most businesses are witnessing a wait-and-see approach by both local and foreign investors, a situation that could be worsened by the delayed decision-making process ahead of the election. Kepsa chief executive officer Caroline Kariuki said activities at the Mombasa port, lending, foreign exchange, employment and international trade could be the most hit by the extended campaigns. TRADING Early this month, the shilling fell by as much as 0.32 percent, as trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was temporarily halted because of panicky transactions mostly by foreign investors, barely an hour after the Supreme Court ruling that annulled the presidential election. The trading meltdown at the securities market extended to Monday with investors warning that the poor returns could spell a doom for markets. “Today’s turnover at NSE is about Sh400 million. Definitely the election and its uncertainties is affecting our securities market,” investment banker Jimnah Mbaru said. TOURISM Ms...