Just before the December festive season got underway last year, East African Community (EAC) Secretary General, Amb. Richard Sezibera and Arancha González, the International Trade Centre Executive Director announced a joint project to boost intra-Africa trade. Note that intra-Africa trade is less than 15% of overall African trade, which makes this project important and worthy of strong support. Dr. Sezibera said the deal will contribute to improving the global competitiveness of the EAC region and to trigger sustainable economic growth. Implementation of the five-year $8.5 million TRIP for EAC project is set to begin this month. The government of Finland has also pledged to provide initial funding. According to the EAC Secretariat, the new initiative aims to strengthen existing efforts by East African countries for closer economic integration, including the East African Customs Union, and the 2010 establishment of the EAC Common Market. ITC is the joint agency of the WTO and the United Nations. ITC assists small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the UN Global Goals. The TRIP for EAC project also sets out to support the African Union's Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade and the recently agreed tripartite free-trade agreement among the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the EAC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). ITC and the EAC will intervene at three levels to provide integrated solutions to...

Waturi Matu is a Kenyan and serves presently as director, business environment at TradeMark Africa but has before now served in different capacities in different organizations within the travel industry and is popular for her strong views and advocacy for united Africa front when it comes to developing and promoting the travel industry. She speaks with ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA on her life’s trajectory and engagement with the industry What attracted you to the travel industry? The universe conspired. I returned from a year’s stay in South Africa, and a board member of the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) reached out to me as they were looking at hiring a chief executive officer. At that time, I knew nothing about the travel and tourism industry apart from being a ‘traveller and tourist.’ However, business issues are largely the same. So, I decided to give it a shot and to learn the particulars with regards to policy and regulatory matters in travel and tourism, governance and business support services for membership organizations. I worked at KATA for four years before joining the East Africa Tourism Platform where I did three years. Both bodies left me richer (not money wise of course) than they will ever know. However, I left the organizations with stronger revenue bases, policies and financial systems to ensure their long-term sustainability. What was the motivation for all the years you worked in the various organizations where you have left indelible prints especially at EATP? The travel and tourism...

The end of one year and the beginning of another always induce mixed feelings. On the one hand, one is glad to have crossed into the new year. On the other, even for the most irrepressible of optimists, as the new year begins, questions arise as to what the next 12 months will bring. Within my local community, the passing of the previous year is celebrated as though it was a virulent disease, as implied in the greeting “Gukulike, omwaka!” (Congratulations; you survived it!) For me, as 2016 kicked in, existential pre-occupations were far from what was on my mind. It was firmly fixed on matters political, and kept shifting from national to regional to continental issues. What did they mean? In what has for long qualified as one of Africa’s violence “hotspots,” the Great Lakes region of East Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, traditionally its “islands of stability,” remained pretty much off the headlines. Beneath the surface, however, in Tanzania questions continued to loom large over the “Magufuli effect,” one of them being whether the path the country’s new president had chosen, of literally turning things upside-down in pursuit of a clean government, represented a permanent turning point or a mere blip before sleaze returns in full force. For Kenya, only a few years ago, many East Africans were worried sick about the country imploding and pulling the rest of us down with it. You need to live in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan to appreciate the importance of...

Rwanda's nascent manufacturing sector has been hit hard by the nine-month crisis in Burundi that has narrowed the export market. The government has said that the crisis could further bring down export revenues, while at the same time hampering the expansion of old and the setting-up of new industries at the newly-established Kigali Free Trade Zone. “Our exports to Burundi have reduced to between 10 to 20 per cent; they were worth about $20 million a year,” said Trade and Industry Minister Francois Kanimba, adding that the crisis has affected all the trade links that had been set up to help Rwandan manufacturers expand into the neighbouring country’s markets. “Burundians don’t have money to buy goods, and due to security fears our people no longer go there with ease,” Mr Kanimba said. According to Mr Kanimba, Rwandan manufacturers have competitive advantage over regional rivals in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A number of regional companies use Rwanda as a strategic entry and export point into the two markets, as they plan to create subsidiaries in Bujumbura and eastern DRC. The firms include Bakhresa Grain Milling and Matelas Dodoma. However, uncertainty over the Burundi crisis means that firms that had expansion plans are shelving them. Local businesses and manufacturers who were already established in Burundi have also had to stop trading due to the on-going insecurity that has resulted in properties being looted or destroyed in the violence. The situation worsened further when the two countries traded accusations that...

Kenya and Rwanda will replicate Uganda’s Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) this year, to reduce the cost of transporting cargo on the Northern Corridor. This follows a directive by the Northern Corridor Heads of State Summit in Kigali that the procurement process of the ECTS be finalised to address the issue of cash deposits and overstayed cargo in Mombasa. The new system is expected to lower the cost and time of doing business and curb theft and diversion of goods destined for its market through the port of Mombasa. According to Uganda Revenue Authority commissioner for Customs Richard Kamajugo, the system will improve the efficiency of Customs processes resulting in higher revenue collections. “There will be a pre-arrival clearance of goods way before the ship arrives at the port of Mombasa and the containers, which will save time,” said Mr Kamajugo, adding that the system will also provide realtime information on the location and status of the cargo in transit. Before the introduction of the technology, one could only know the location of transiting cargo by calling the driver. “ECTS triggers an alarm whenever there is diversion from the designated route, an unusually long stopover or when someone attempts to open a container,” said Mr Kamajugo. The system also helps to seal loopholes that cause the country losses in revenue through suspected under-declaration of the value of exports or theft of cargo. He said that the electronic tracking system had helped traders in Uganda cut the cost  and time of doing...

The hash-tag, 'What Would Magufuli Do,' was among 2015's most trending topics on Twitter but there's one more question for Tanzania's new President John Pombe Magufuli; what will he do on learning that Rwandan miners are abandoning using Port of Dar for Mombasa, over theft? Following allegations of repeated theft of Rwandan minerals while in transit to overseas customers, the affected traders have now resorted to using the Kenyan Port of Mombasa to avoid further losses, The New Times has learned. Among the firms that have made the shift to Port of Mombasa is Mineral Supply African Ltd (MSA), arguably Rwanda's leading exporter of precious stones. The firm confirmed that it is now shipping some of the cargo through Port of Mombasa, albeit being a longer route and definitely more expensive. It takes seven to 10 days transporting a vessel through Mombasa, at an extra cost of $500 (about Rwf370,000). "It is a precautionary measure. For instance, if we have three containers to ship, we move two through Mombasa and the other through Dar es Salaam," Fabrice Kayihura, MSA's deputy chief executive, said last week. Kayihura explained that by shipping through the two ports, they hope to avoid the possibility of losing all cargo incase thieves strike again at Dar es Salaam, where they have been victims of multiple thefts on several occasions in recent years. The most recent theft the exporter suffered was about four months ago when MSA and another shipper, Trading Services Logistics (TSL), lost minerals worth...

History was made in recent days. Top trade and development officials from all across the globe gathered December 15-18 to discuss economic growth opportunities and international commerce — the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Conference — and that meeting took place … in Kenya. It was the first time that this biennial meeting of the world’s key trade decision makers has ever been held in East Africa. That’s not a coincidence. While much of the world is battling economic uncertainty and tepid growth, the nations of the East Africa Community (EAC) — Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda — are quietly putting into place the building blocks for substantial growth, productivity increases and profitable trade opportunities. East Africa’s aggressive steps have not gone unnoticed, as evidenced by the WTO’s decision to convene its all-important Ministerial Conference in Nairobi.While the WTO Ministers negotiated programs, rules and agreements for the global marketplace, key private sector representatives, thought leaders and economic development officials from around the world were also in Nairobi going about the equally important task of actually making trade, investment and growth a reality. This included Canadian officials who have made clear their interest in doing business in and with East Africa, particularly in the energy and mining sectors. This conference, the annual Trade and Development Symposium (TDS), is where critical stakeholders have an opportunity to confer and share ideas for creating greater opportunities for enhanced trade and sustainable growth; it offers a unique and vital platform for wider discussions that...

East African Community (EAC) said it is about to fulfill one of its mandates as EAC citizens will soon acquire EAC e-passports that will help ease their movement in the EAC bloc, Footprint to Africa reports. According to a statement from the secretariat, EAC Secretary General Mr Richard Sezibera said the launch of the New Generation e-East African Passport early in the New Year will be a major milestone towards achieving a harmonization in the region. The EAC e-passport, Footprint to Africa gathered had been scheduled for launch in November last year but was postponed to allow more time to airbrush pending issues on the travel document. EACs Chair of the Council of Ministers Abdallah Sadaala Abdallah said during last year’s budget presentation to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), that the immigration sub-sector had prioritised the need to enhance the capacity of the Immigration Directorates and Departments to develop integrated e-immigration management systems, create enhanced e-immigration services for the public. “This is by adopting advanced Technology and improving processes and to put in place a secure e-immigration network, through the adoption of biometric technology at all borders to reinforce the national security systems,” Abdallah added. The secretariat also allotted funds for study into a regional e-Passport that would be used by the regional citizens for international travel. EAC states also plan to use common passport for global travel and the assembly approved Sh5, 096,364 ($49,840) for an assessment of the needs and preparedness of partner states to execute the...

Senior officials from the East African Community (EAC) have confirmed that the grouping will launch a joint ePassport project. Secretary General, Richard Sezibera disclosed on Wednesday that citizens of the five-member community bloc will soon be in a position to develop the regional travel document. Sezibera said he is looking forward to the launch of the New Generation e-East African Passport early in 2016, a statement from the secretariat issued in Nairobi disclosed. “This is the time for creating a truly African market – in goods, and services including financial services. This is the time for shared industrialization, creating value chains across countries and regions”, he said. “I am glad East African continues to be at the forefront of integration, and growth. The Single Customs Territory continues to deliver benefits to East Africans both on the central corridor, as well as the another corridor,” he added. The EAC countries include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. Source: Security Document World

The maize trade in Eastern and Southern Africa is set to rise following a roadmap to address bottlenecks caused by differences in standards and regulations. It was launched by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in Kampala, and is known as the Comesa Mutual Recognition Framework (C-MRF). The aim is to provide equivalence of analytical results and recognition of certificates of analysis that are issued by the participating countries. This will eliminate the need for multiple testing by both the exporting and importing countries. C-MRF was developed by the Comesa Secretariat in partnership with six countries that have significant maize trade in the region. They are Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which will also pilot the framework. The key components are common grading criteria, proficiency testing for aflatoxins and a risk-based sampling protocol. Varied capacities At the launch, Thierry Mutombo Kalonji, the director for agriculture and industry, said the lack of mutual recognition of technical standards and conformity assessment (testing and certification) was a persistent non-tariff barrier. "Comesa Secretariat initiated the framework in recognition of the fact that regulatory barriers are sometimes a result of varied technical capacities in the public and private sector entities across the region," he said. "Without mutual recognition of standards and certificates of analysis, regulatory barriers persist; causing an unpredictable regulatory environment that comes at a high cost to traders and contributes to the growing informal trade, now estimated at over 80 per cent in some countries." Further still, countries with...