The currencies of five member states, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, showed minute fluctuation in either sides raging between -2 and 11 units. Uganda currency firm The best currency was Uganda’s shilling that appreciated by 11/- to 3,605/- up from 3,616/- at August 1st. The shilling held its position firmly yesterday since it was underpinned by low dollar demand from commercial banks and importers in the manufacturing and telecommunications sectors. The second best was Kenyan that gained by 1/- yesterday to 103/- from 104/- the first day of last month. Tanzania shilling loses On other hand the Tanzania shilling, in a month under review, depreciated more compared to its peer units. The shilling opened last month at 2,242/- a greenback but slipped to 2,246/- yesterday to start a month in slightly bad foot. “The impact for the fluctuation of two or five shillings is insignificant, but is something,” Leonard Joseph, an economist said. Kenya shilling upbeat Kenyan shilling yesterday opened the trading floor at a stable note and traders said it may start to strengthen. However, the shilling of the biggest economy in the bloc—depreciated last Friday after the Supreme Court nullified August 8th presidential election—on month basis marginally gained by 1/- to 103/- from 104/- of August first. The shilling and alongside Kenyan shares and dollar bonds had plunged on Friday after the court backed a petition brought by opposition leader Raila Odinga and declared President Uhuru Kenyatta’s election victory invalid. But traders said the shilling could start...

The EAC Secretary General, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko said during the opening of the conference in Arusha recently that the Pre-Budget Conference is happening at a time when EAC is finalizing preparations for the 5th EAC Development Strategy 2016/17 – 2020/21. “I am glad that priorities and development objectives as well as strategic interventions therein stipulated have been validated by Stakeholders’’ The six key areas to be considered in the formulation of the next budget are further liberalisation of the free movement of labour, goods and services, improved cross-border infrastructure to ease the cost of doing business and enhanced regional industrial development. Others include agricultural productivity and transformation through investment in key priority areas, implementation of the roadmap for the attainment of the EAC Monetary Union, strengthen peace, security and good governance and institutional framework for the EAC Political Confederation. Moreover, improve socio-cultural welfare of the people in the region and institutional transformation are among the crucial areas that will be considered in guiding the budget formulation as well as corresponding activities for 2018/19 FY. Amb Mfumukeko urged the participants to appreciate the role of the Organs and Institutions of the Community, as well as the Partner States in moving the integration process forward as they discuss the priority areas, strategic interventions and activities to be implemented over the financial year 2018/19. Source: Daily News

A team of 26 cycling volunteers from six East African community member countries are on a 45-day cycling tour campaigning to raise more public awareness about the East African integration. Dubbed, ‘East African Community Bicycle Tour’, the non-competitive cycling race was for the second time organised under the ‘Campfire Logs Guild’, an initiative that brings together different East African youth communities mainly to create Unity, Peace and togetherness to strengthen the awareness of the EAC integration among member countries’ communities through cycling. John Bosco Balongo, the Tour Team Leader, said the tour has helped the team members experience the current image of EAC country members’ cooperation and took an opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of the community’s cooperation. “We have been able to ride together, struggle together and chill together to signal that the community members can share successes, risks and opportunities towards the same destiny by building a perfect regional integration, all through our cycling shared passion, we expect more youth to join us since the tour is free and open to all,” he said. Seraphine Flavia, the Acting Director General, Coordination of East African Community Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, praised the team’s spirit in raising awareness of the regional integration among the member countries. “Our country is behind this encouraging and inspiring initiative and we will push for advocacy in different EAC forums to get it supported,” she said. The team is comprised of 21 males and five females, including three...

Manufacturers are now calling for the plastic bag ban to be lifted on products from export processing zone (EPZ) factories, saying it is crippling sales. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has written to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) arguing that the ban should not apply to EPZ firms since the destination countries have their own environmental management policies. “EPZ firms have made complaints that their exports (garments) are affected by the plastic bag ban because packaging is regarded as secondary packaging,” said KAM sector manager Samuel Matonda. “The plastic bag packaging for a shirt for example — the see-through paper — that enables you to see what you are buying is banned, so exports have stalled.” The EPZ firms say this is resulting in loss of export revenue and foreign exchange income across many industries. Sales of EPZ firms in the country hit Sh63.1 billion last year compared to Sh60.8 billion in 2015, according to the Economic Survey 2017. Some 62 zones are privately-owned while three are publicly owned. The petition by KAM to Nema on the EPZ products is among a host of other requests for exemptions made by the manufacturers to the environmental watchdog. Source: Business Daily

Lack of a compensation plan for land owners has held back bid to build the Nairobi-Naivasha standard gauge railway, four months after Kenya secured funding. The Kenya Railways was supposed to prepare and submit the plan to the National Land Commission (NLC) to set in motion the process of acquiring wayleaves for the wider railroad. The 120-kilometre Nairobi-Naivasha line will cost Sh150 billion, and connects to the recently completed stretch from Mombasa port to the capital city Nairobi. The contractor, China Road and Bridge Construction, was to move to site in July. “Our hands are tied. We were expecting a resettlement action plan from Kenya Railways weeks ago. We can’t go to the ground to clear the way without the plan,” NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri said in an interview. Kenya Railways managing director Atanas Maina did not answer our phone queries. The railroad will cut through the Nairobi National Park, town centres and agricultural zones like Maai Mahiu, according to Dr Swazuri, highlighting the heavy compensation burden awaiting taxpayers. Environmental conservationists have challenged the plan to have the project traverse through the wildlife park. The government has fashioned the planned line as a key link to Kenya’s industrial drive through movement of goods and inputs connecting to proposed special economic zones in geothermal energy-rich Naivasha. Land compensation bill for the completed Mombasa-Nairobi line, covering 609km, stood at Sh33 billion, equivalent to 10 per cent of the total project cost of Sh327 billion. An internal audit report by Kenya Railways last...

Regional integration and co-operation between sovereign states has a long history especially in Africa. According to the World Bank, the first generation regional integration schemes were partly motivated by the political vision of African unity, but also as a means for providing sufficient scale to import substitution industrialisation policies. One of the most compelling arguments for regional integration in Africa is usually made on the basis of the fragmentation of sub-Saharan Africa, which has 47 small economies, with an average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $4 billion (Sh400 billion), and a combined GDP equal to that of Belgium or 50 per cent of the GDP of Spain. The implication is that with the per capita growth rate being between zero and two per cent per annum, there is limited progress in poverty reduction and the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seems to be elusive. Regional tourism is driving the world over. For example, it is estimated that four out of five international arrivals are visitors travelling within their region (UNWTO Tourism Barometer 2014). Leading destinations in Europe, USA and southern Africa have domestic and regional tourists accounting for between 60 and 70 per cent, which therefore acts as the foundation for their industry thereby cushioning them from international shocks whenever these occur, as they are bound to. In Kenya, arrivals from Africa by air in 2015 were estimated at 26 per cent of the total arrivals. However for the year 2014, when cross border numbers are...

NEGOTIATIONS for the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) will be concluded by the end of next month to provide a single trade regime covering three regional blocs to accelerate trade. Speaking at the fourth regional sensitisation workshop, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) director of trade and customs, Francis Mangeni said 20 countries have signed all annexes on key areas such as standards, non-tariff barriers and interim arrangements for rules of origin. Trade remedies and tariff offers were also agreed upon. “At the moment some countries are saying they want things done properly and when everything is finished then they will sign the agreements. One of these countries was South Africa and a few others. So in about two months, when we have finally finished all the outstanding issues, then South Africa will sign. This is what has delayed, but countries are saying about the same argument on ratification that after all these issues then there can also sign and then ratify. When all these outstanding issues are finally resolved we will see more progress,” he said. “Currently, we are left with only six countries to sign the agreements and that’s not a problem and ratification now is the problem. “When the ministers met in Kampala in July they set a deadline for October 30, 2017.” The TFTA is a proposed African free trade agreement between the Comesa, East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (Sadc). Mangeni said countries have set three deadlines to complete the...

 How can central banks in the East African Community boost private sector credit that has since last year slowed down?   That was one of the issues that the Central Bank Governors in the region deliberated on during the 21st Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Monetary Affairs Committee held in Kampala on Aug. 25. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, the Governor of Bank of Uganda and the current chairperson of the Monetary Affairs Committee told his guests that they have attained a lot of progress towards the operationalisation of the East African Common Market protocol but there have been a number of emerging issues which pose serious challenges to our integration efforts. “Some partner states have faced a slowdown in economic growth, both in the growth of private sector credit and the economic activities coupled with an increase in the non-performing loans,” Mutebile said. He said further reduction in private sector credit could weaken aggregate demand going forward and threaten the continent’s fastest-growing region. As such, he said, central governments in the region should do whatever it takes to encourage private sector access credit. But while the Governors said they do not have immediate plans to stir private sector credit uptake and improve economies of their respective countries, outgoing governor, Bank of Tanzania, Prof. Benno Ndulu, tried to offer a solution. He said at the time he assumed the job in 2008, the Tanzanian economy was in turmoil characterised by low private sector credit as business firms were unable to either access or repay...

Nairobi – The Port of Mombasa got a major boost following the arrival of two ultra-modern diesel electric cranes. According to the Kenya Ports Authority’s (KPA), the acquisition of the equipment funded by TradeMark Africa (TMA) through the UK government’s International Climate Fund (ICF) facility. The two $8.7 million portal harbour cranes are part of a comprehensive programme in supporting the port’s resilient port infrastructure initiatives, KPA added. “These cranes are aimed at mitigating the negative effects on the environment,” the port authority said in the statement. “The cranes will provide dust and spillage-free unloading through a dust control system that minimises escape of dust during discharge and reduces running expenses on average by 30 per cent,” KPA said last week. “The Eco Hoppers will complement mobile harbour cranes for dry bulk cargo handling,” it added. Unlike the Mobile Harbor Cranes currently used at the Port which handle one vessel at a time, the new cranes will handle two vessels simultaneously. KPA general managers for engineering services, Eng Joseph Atonga, Sudi Mwasinago, the in-charge of operations, and TMA Kenya country director Ahmed Farah, witnessed the arrival of the equipment at the port’s Berth number 10. The Government of Kenya has made it a priority to continually invest in infrastructural development of the Port of Mombasa and made progress in the modernisation of the port. Some of the key projects include the construction of the phase one of the second container terminal which increased the port’s annual capacity by 550,000 TEUs,...

The business meet set for October 5 and 6 is projected to bring together over 2500 investors from Kenya, France and other African countries. Dubbed ‘The Encounters Africa 2017’, the event is already attracting strong interest from French companies, as well as from Francophone countries. Event Coordinator Annemijn Perrin says they expect to connect businesses with the aim of closing deals at the summit. “Most companies are coming here to find partners to work together with Kenyan companies, either to set up in these countries, or to find a partnership to develop their business. Over 100 French companies have already signed up to come, dealing with agriculture, manufacturing, energy, education among others,” Perrin told Capital FM Business. The first edition was launched in 2016 in Paris, bringing together 2700 decision makers from 30 countries. Bilateral trade between Kenya and France remains heavily skewed in favour of France as it’s the is the third largest source market for Kenya’s imports in Western Europe, and the sixth largest market for Kenya’s exports in the bloc. Official data shows that Kenya’s exports to France grew 12 per cent to Sh5.6 billion between 2010 and 2014, while imports rose 20.4 per cent to Sh22.4 billion in the same period. Business France opened its office in Nairobi in 2013 to assist French firms interested in investing in Kenya and neighboring East African nations. Over 70 firms have invested in the country. Source: Capital Business