Kampala. With about six weeks left for Kenyans to go to the polls, businesses in neighbouring states are beginning to look at the Dar es Salaam Port as an alternative route to import and export goods. Kenya’s main port of Mombasa, which according latest reports, registered 11 per cent cargo growth in the first quarter of 2017, serves Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and DR Congo. Although much preferred by the business community, the effects of the post-election violence of 2007-08 are still fresh because of its adverse effect on regional economies. Uganda’s private sector is not taking chances, saying it should resume using Dar es Salaam Port. Mr Gideon Badagawa, the executive director of the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda, hopes the elections will be peaceful -- that Kenyan leaders and voters must have learnt their lessons from the 2007 experience. “We have seen both the [main contenders] Raila [Odinga] and Uhuru [Kenyatta] commit to peaceful elections and calling on their supporters to avoid violence. Of course it’s easier said than done! We, nevertheless, are hopeful that the environment for business shall not be much distorted,” he said. Mr Badagawa added Uganda needs to have ‘a plan B’. “It might be a good idea to begin opening up and using the route through Dar es Salaam,” he said. Kampala City Traders Association spokesman Issa Sekitto said goods should go through the Central Corridor during this period. Uganda’s leading export commodity, coffee, is transited through Mombasa Port and many exporters...

Kenya has made remarkable strides since the official launch of the National Electronic Single Window System (Kenya TradeNet System) in May 2, 2014, with documentation of cargo clearance across its borders now much easier, faster and convenient. The adoption of the System has enabled centralized lodgment of international trade documentations for both import and export including trans-shipment. KenTrade the implementing Agency has stepped up efforts to ensure the System users and other stakeholders properly understand the System through several awareness and sensitization workshops, conferences and walk-ins which have increased uptake in System usage, enhanced user experience and notable innovations geared at improving international and cross border trade facilitation in Kenya. The number of Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) processing permits through Kenya TradeNet System has increased from 22 in 2015 to 30 in 2016 with  5 more PGAs  at various stages of implementation( development, User Acceptance Testing, and piloting). In some cases, the average number of documents required for processing applications has reduced by about 50 per cent while time taken to process clients’ requests has reduced by over 50 per cent. It is worth noting that among the first PGAs to adopt the System such the Kenya Dairy Board and Port Health have reported tremendous improvement in processing of Permits ,compliance and increase in revenue. Among the new innovations that KenTrade hope to leverage on to boost trade facilitation through the Kenya TradeNet System is the ongoing integration with the  Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) being implemented by one of our ...

By all standards, the passenger business of the recently launched Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) has become an instant success. If the enthusiasm with which Kenyans have embraced the train is anything to go by, then the country could start getting value for the billions of shillings sank into the project. The focus now shifts to cargo transport scheduled to start later in the year. SGR was meant to lower the cost of all aspects of transport but mainly cargo. Analysts have pointed to the high cost of transport as one of the impediments to a thriving business climate. The new SGR transport figures then raise question whether it will deliver on the dream of cheaper transport. In fact, analysts are beginning to wonder if the SGR will be able to compete favourably with trucks that are levying lower charges looking at the released SGR figures. A comparison between the new railway and road transport in ferrying cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi shows that SGR costs are more by Sh10,000. Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) said the SGR will charge Sh100,000 ($1,000) for a 40 foot container. This compared to cargo being transported by road whose costs range between Sh70,000 ($700) and 90,000 ($900) depending on the logistics firm. It is also worth noting that cargo on the train will be offloaded at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Embakasi, which will require an additional cost on the last mile connection at an average charge of Sh15,000 within Nairobi, pushing the total...

The government has identified Voi as the next location for a publicly owned export processing zone (EPZ). Export Processing Zone Authority has issued a public notice seeking a parcel of land for EPZ enterprises keen on establishing bases closer to the Mombasa port. “The required land should be in parcels covering at least 200 acres and located no more than 20 kilometres from Voi town on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway or Voi-Mwatate Road and no more than 10 kilometres from a market centre or populated area,” it said. The notice published in the dailies also said the parcel of land should be within a five-kilometre radius of Mzima Springs water pipeline and that it should be in an area served by the national power grid as well as not have any encumbrances or charges title. The new offer follows numerous complaints by some EPZ enterprises that getting land for expansion is nearly impossible due to cost. The enterprises, mostly operating in the apparels and clothes sector, blamed low production on the high cost of facility establishment and called on the government to intervene. The law has been amended to allow private entities to establish EPZs, prompting several multinationals to move into Tatu City and Tilisi Light Industries, both in Kiambu County. Other licensed EPZs currently under construction are in Nairobi, Mombasa, Uasin and Nakuru counties, targeting exports to the rest of Africa and beyond while reserving 20 per cent of their goods for the local market. For the apparels products, the...

Kenya have come together to sell the country as the preferred trade and commerce hub for Africa. Through a campaign dubbed ‘WHY THE FUTURE IS KENYA’, business leaders celebrated Kenya’s status as an investment hub with the premiere of a short film and campaign launch at Nairobi’s Coca-Cola Auditorium. Brand Kenya Chairman, Chris Kirubi said Kenya is ahead of its peers, thanks to factors including rapid innovation, thriving business environment, as well a rising middle class. Business leaders participating in the campaign include Ahmed Rady, GM Coca-Cola Central, East and West Africa, Jeremy Awori, CEO Barclays Bank Kenya; Bob Collymore, CEO Safaricom; Charles Murito, Country Manager, Kenya, Google; James Mworia, CEO Centum; Corine Nana, CEO Oracle Kenya and Adil Popat, CEO Simba Corporation. The leaders narrated their personal accounts on the ease of doing business in Kenya to promote the campaign. Source: Standard Media

Agriculture will now be placed as number one engine of economic growth in the East African Community (EAC) integration process. This follows last week's signing of the EAC Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact. "The Compact is designed to facilitate coordination of regional and cross cutting programmes that complement agricultural programmes and projects at national and regional levels," said the EAC deputy secretary general (Productive and Social Sectors) Christophe Bazivamo. He said after the signing ceremony at the EAC headquarters that the process of developing the EAC-CAADP Compact has been lengthy, inclusive and consultative and that the partner states should embrace it. The programme details regional development priorities and defines actions, commitments and partnerships required to achieve agricultural transformation in line with the CAADP goals and targets. Uganda's Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Mr Ssempijja Bamulangaki, reaffirmed the EAC Partner States' commitment to transforming agriculture for inclusive economic growth in the region. "Over the years, efforts have been put in different sectors of integration such as infrastructure. It is now time that we assert ourselves, move with greater speed and ensure we take agriculture to the lead," the minister said. CAADP's overall goal is to use agriculture to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty in Africa. Through the CAADP agenda, African governments have agreed to increase public investment in agriculture to ten per cent of national budgets per year and to raise and maintain agricultural productivity and annual growth by at least six per cent. With the vision...

Kampala- With about six weeks left for Kenyans to go to the polls, the private sector in neighbouring states are now beginning to look at the Dar es Salaam port as an alternative route to import and export goods. Kenya’s main port of Mombasa, which according latest reports, registered 11 per cent cargo growth in the first quarter of 2017, serves Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and DR Congo. Although much preferred by the business community, the abrasions of the post-election violence of 2007/8 are still fresh because of its adverse effect on regional economies. Uganda’s private sector is not taking chances saying Dar es Salaam Port should permanently resume its use Private Sector Foundation of Uganda Gideon Badagawa executive director hopes the elections will be calm and peaceful- Kenyan leaders and voters must have learnt their lessons from the 2007 experiences. “We have seen both Raila and Uhuru commit to peaceful elections and calling on their supporters to avoid violence. Of course better said than done! We, nevertheless, are hopeful that the environment for business shall not be much distorted,” he said. Mr Badagawa added Uganda needs to have ‘a plan B’. “It might be a good idea to begin opening up and using the route through Dar es Salaam,” he said. Kampala City Traders Association spokesperson Issa Sekitto said goods, during this period, should go through the Central corridor. Uganda’s leading export commodity, coffee, is transited through Mombasa Port and many exporters saw their stocks pile in 2007....

Dodoma. Two days after the US Trade Representative announced that Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda risk losing access to the American market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) following plans by the East African member states to ban imports of second-hand clothes and shoes, a former Cabinet minister has asked the government to take the issue seriously. The US Trade Representative announced on Tuesday the initiation of an out-of-cycle review of the eligibility of Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to receive benefits under the act after concerns that the planned ban will impose significant economic hardship on the US used clothing industry. The launch of the review is in response to a petition filed by the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (Smart), which asserts that a March 2016 decision by the East African Community, which includes Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing and footwear is imposing significant economic hardship on the US used clothing industry. Having read the article in The Citizen on Thursday, Dr Diodorus Kamala (CCM - Nkenge), said the government needs to take the issue seriously and come up with necessary plan of action. “There is a story in The Citizen today which shows how serious this issue might be. The government needs to come up with relevant measures to protect the economy from the negative outcomes of what might be reached under Agoa,” he told the House yesterday during a debate on the 2017 Finance Bill. Dr...

Kenya plans to accelerate business reforms in order to boost the private sector, a senior government official said on Monday. Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Adan Mohamed told a media briefing that the government has already undertaken reforms under ten key indicators including property transactions, getting electricity, paying taxes and enforcing contracts. “The aim of the reforms is to make it easier for businesses to open and expand their services in Kenya,” Mohamed said during a private sector forum on business reforms in Kenya. The 2017 World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranked Kenya at 92 out of 190 countries surveyed and also showed that Kenya was the third most improved country in the world in terms of business reforms. Mohamed said that Kenya’s target is to be in the top 50 countries in the world in the ease of doing business. He said that Kenya’s journey for business reforms has been fruitful but a lot more needs to be done. Mohamed noted that the country is committed to the removal of bottle necks that made it difficult for the private sector to undertake transactions. He said that the government has also rolled out alternative dispute resolution mechanisms which are more effective and efficient as compared to the normal judicial processes. “At no cost, parties who have a commercial dispute can reach an agreement within 30 days,” he added. The CS said that as part of the reforms, businesses can now use movable assets such...

The Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) joint technical committee for the development of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is meeting in Kampala to review progress. The meeting, attended by Ministers in charge of Works and Transport from all partner states, comes in the wake of Kenya’s successful completion and launch of its first section of the SGR network from Mombasa to Nairobi. It is expected to eventually extend to Malaba on the border with Uganda through Naivasha and Kisumu. The Northern Corridor Integration Projects brings together Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Southern Sudan. The two day meeting will track progress and review performance of each countries’ implementation of the SGR regional Protocol. The meeting also discussed strategies for faster implementation of the Standard Gauge Railway. The countries, through the SGR Protocol, agreed to jointly develop and operate a modern, fast, reliable, efficient and high capacity railway transport system as a seamless single railway operation that will connect the countries to international markets through the sea at Mombasa port. Source: Independent