ARUSHA, Tanzania - Relations between India and the East African Community are set to be revitalized especially in the areas of trade, cultural exchange and development cooperation.  India’s High Commissioner to Tanzania and Representative to the EAC, Mr. Sandeep Arya, said his country was keen on strengthening trade and cultural ties with the EAC which date back several centuries. Mr. Arya said India already had bilateral projects in most of the EAC Partner States particularly health and agriculture, adding that they wanted to partner with the EAC to boost trade volumes and promoting industrial growth in East Africa. Mr. Arya said he would work closely with the Confederation of Indian Industries and the Indian Exim Bank in these initiatives, noting that these partnerships should for a start be between these two institutions and the East African Development Bank and the East African Business Council. Mr. Arya was speaking after presenting his credentials to the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha, Tanzania. Dr. Sezibera thanked India for its support to the Partner States singling out the scholarships granted to students from the Partner States to study in India. Dr. Sezibera also cited the support granted to the Community by India in the preparation of the East African Railways Master Plan the implementation of which he said would revolutionize the transport sector in the region. He disclosed that  one of the challenges faced by the EAC in relation to the free movement of goods across...

The cost of importing goods into the East African Community through the Single Customs Territory (SCT) will go down under a new, reduced import insurance rate. Under the amended EAC Customs Management Act 2010, all partner states will charge a cost insurance freight rate of one per cent on all imported goods under SCT, down from the initial 1.5 per cent and above. “For purposes of computing the Customs value, where no insurance is ascertainable, the price paid is to be increased by the national charge for insurance, which should be taken as 1 per cent of CIF for imported goods,” said the EAC ministers. The EAC partner states charge different import declaration fees. In Kenya, it is 2.25 per cent of the CIF value; in Rwanda it is 5 per cent and Uganda 6 per cent. The East African Legislative Assembly recently adopted an amendment to the EAC Customs Management Act that will enable persons intending to import goods to write to the commissioner for advance rulings on either tariff classification, rules of origin or Customs valuation. In the past, EAC importers and revenue authorities have disagreed on the tariff code under which an item should be classified and the Customs value that an item should be accorded. Import insurance rate “The Customs valuation should be based on the actual price of the goods being imported, which is indicated on the invoice, especially on goods like cars,” said Kenya Shippers Council chief executive Gilbert Langat. Mr Langat said that...

Rwandan clearing and forwarding agents are protesting high port costs and delays by Tanzania in issuing work permits. Tanzania charges $2,000 for work permits while Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have scrapped the fees. Without the permits, Rwandan firms cannot do business at Tanzanian ports. Only five Rwandan clearing firms have unlimited access to Dar es Salaam port out of 200 registered. “There is a need for a physical presence at the port. But for a long time, most Rwanda clearing agents have not been facilitated to have such a presence,” said a Rwanda Customs official. By comparison, Rwandans say it has been easy for them to establish a presence in Kenya and Uganda. Rwanda Revenue Authority Commissioner General Richard Tusabe said he appreciated the challenges but was optimistic they are being addressed, “though at a slow pace.” Recently, the EAC Council of Ministers directed that member states waive work permit requirement and fees for the staff implementing the Single Customs Territory. Tanzania maintains that EAC citizens employed in the country must pay for work permits until the EAC Common Market Protocol is full implemented. Deputy Minister for EAC Co-operation Abdallah Saadala asked the Rwandan clearing and forwarding agents to pay for their work permits until the EAC partner states harmonise their labour laws. “This is not Tanzania’s fault,” Dr Saadala noted. However, the EAC Single Customs Territory Protocol, of which Tanzania is a signatory, requires each partner state to facilitate free movement of goods and services in the region. Source:...

East African Community members have pulled out of a proposed regional power sharing pool to avoid duplicating the intentions of a bigger initiative. The five EAC countries have since 2003 been interconnecting their power lines to improve supply, stabilise access and foster trading in electricity across national borders. The EAC’s senior energy officer Peter Kinuthia said the EAC member states also belonged to the wider Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) under which the EAC Power Pool falls. EAPP is meant to link up nine countries by 2018. The overlap would not make investment sense as member states are required to contribute to each initiative. This means that the five countries will have their power lines connected to the larger power pool, whose headquarters will be in Addis Ababa. Four other countries —Egypt, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan — are members of the wider pool. Mr Kinuthia said the experience of EAPP has shown that contributions from member states and member utilities are not sufficient to cover the recurrent and development budget.  As a result, resources have to be mobilised from development partners. EACPP would face a similar scenario; besides, it would be approaching the same development partners currently supporting EAPP. Under the Tripartite Free Trade arrangement, a regional power market linking EAPP and the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) is envisaged. It is estimated that about a quarter of electricity generated in EAPP countries comes from hydropower with future investments creating a greater dependence on the resource. “Linking up...

Relations between the East African Community (EAC) and India are set to get better especially in the areas of trade, cultural exchange and development cooperation, following a new commitment. The India High Commissioner to Tanzania and representative to the EAC, Sandeep Arya, said his country was keen on strengthening trade and cultural ties with the five-member regional bloc which date back several centuries. Arya was speaking after presenting his credentials to the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Richard Sezibera, at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha, on Tuesday. In a statement, the Indian envoy said his country already had bilateral projects in most of the EAC Partner States particularly in health and agriculture, adding that they wanted to partner with the EAC to boost trade volumes and promote industrial growth in East Africa. Arya promised to work closely with the Confederation of Indian Industries and the Indian Exim Bank in these initiatives, noting that these partnerships should for a start be between these two institutions and the East African Development Bank (EADB) and the East African Business Council (EABC). Dr Sezibera thanked the vast South Asian country for its support to the Partner States, singling out the scholarships granted to students from the Partner States to study in India. He also cited the support granted to the Community by India in the preparation of the East African Railways Master Plan the implementation of which he said would revolutionise the transport sector in the region. India's Exim Bank has extended Lines of Credit...

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 22 September 2015 / PRN Africa / — Relations between India and the East African Community are set to be revitalized especially in the areas of trade, cultural exchange and development cooperation. India's High Commissioner to Tanzania and Representative to the EAC, Mr. Sandeep Arya, said his country was keen on strengthening trade and cultural ties with the EAC which date back several centuries. Mr. Arya said India already had bilateral projects in most of the EAC Partner States particularly health and agriculture, adding that they wanted to partner with the EAC to boost trade volumes and promoting industrial growth in East Africa. Mr. Arya said he would work closely with the Confederation of Indian Industries and the Indian Exim Bank in these initiatives, noting that these partnerships should for a start be between these two institutions and the East African Development Bank and the East African Business Council. Mr. Arya was speaking after presenting his credentials to the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha, Tanzania. Dr. Sezibera thanked India for its support to the Partner States singling out the scholarships granted to students from the Partner States to study in India. Dr. Sezibera also cited the support granted to the Community by India in the preparation of the East African Railways Master Plan the implementation of which he said would revolutionize the transport sector in the region. He disclosed that that one of the challenges faced by the EAC in...

The first week of September saw Kampala inundated with pomp and colour as road show trucks criss-crossed the city, promoting awareness of the East African Community (EAC). We were puzzled. Puzzled because either are two parallel initiatives at EAC integration awareness, or a duplication of effort and resources. This is because we had just entered the city from the western axis, having completed the first leg of the Uganda Component in the on-going Integration for Development campaign across the five Partner States of the EAC. Spearheaded by the East African Business Council, the campaign is the exploratory phase of the implementation strategy for the East African Agriculture and Rural Development Programme. The focus of the programme is organic agriculture, based on the smallholder farmer as the unit of production. And so it was that in Uganda, over the month of August, this initiative had been piloted with two projects in western region. These are among the hundreds already mapped across the country, with target of each rural home earning a minimum of Shs3,000,000 per month through exporting high quality organic foodstuffs and related natural resources. We grew up knowing the Nyakagyera Wonder Water by its strange genesis, namely the water of the Bachwezi. This is a natural ‘stream’ hidden in a wooded gulley between two hills below Katooma Primary School, in Rugaaga Sub-county, Isingiro District. And for decades, it has been one of the sources of domestic water during the dry season. However, since March 2015, this ‘drip’ of a...

The East Africa Farmers Federation is urging East African Community member countries to harmonize laws on management of natural resources. The Federation’s CEO, Stephen Muchiri says deforestation is negatively affecting agriculture which is a key sector that supports the region’s economy. Forestry is viewed as one of the most important sectors globally. In the East African region about 22 percent of the total land area excluding water bodies, is under natural forest. In sub-Saharan Africa about 65% of the total land area is being degraded due to deforestation, which is affecting important sectors such as agriculture and tourism. It is in light of this that EAC member countries have been asked to harmonize relevant laws in the management of forests and natural resources. Muchiri however blamed farmers for not conserving forests around them in their pursuit for sources of fuel. The concerns were raised during a two day meeting organized by Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, Center for International Forestry Research and the East African Legislative Assembly to oversee amendments of some clauses in the EAC Forest Management and Protection Bill 2015. Source: KBC

This multi-stakeholder dialogue will engage some of the region’s most influential policymakers and private sector actors and we believe that your participation and insights will help us generate a meaningful and impactful discussion on the future opportunities for deeper and wider integration as a tool for enhancing economic development and fostering sustainable development. Today, East African countries integration efforts are at a crucial juncture. The region is facing a complex web of closely interlinked and overlapping trade integration opportunities at the multilateral, regional and bilateral level, with a variety of partners. On the one hand, efforts towards increased convergence among existing regional integration process such as EAC, SADC and COMESA in the context of the TFTA and subsequently the CFTA initiative, raise significant complexities but also an enormous potential to unleash major economic gains. On the other hand, East Africa is developing significant trade and investment relationships with rapidly growing emerging economies such as India or China. The region also maintains close links with large traditional trading partners albeit through somehow more asymmetrical relations. Finally, East Africa needs to position itself vis-à-vis recent trends towards the negotiations of so-called mega-regional initiatives outside the continent such as the TPP, TTIP or RCEP. This event will provide a space for an open and interactive dialogue among key stakeholders including policymakers, experts, private sector actors and representatives from IGOs and RECs on the opportunities that enhanced trade integration, at the regional, continental, and global levels, can bring in terms of achieving of sustainable...

The East African Business Council (EABC) and Innovation Norway have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) committing to work together on various priority areas on trade. The MoU was signed, yesterday, by Innovation Norway's chief executive Anita Krohn Traaseth and EABC chair Denis Karera, in a ceremony witnessed by the Norwegian Minister for Trade and Industry, Monica Maeland, and the Secretary General of the East African Community, Richard Sezibera, at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. Innovation Norway is the Norwegian government's instrument for innovation and development of Norwegian enterprises and industry. The agency supports companies in developing their competitive advantage and to enhance innovation. Under the five-year deal, EABC and Innovation Norway will work together on trade facilitation; joint activities that are beneficial to both institutions, including conferences, trade missions; and business to business engagement both in EAC, and Norway and other Nordic countries. According to a statement, some of the main areas of cooperation will be in the petroleum and education sectors with the latter focusing on the information and communication technology sector. The two parties further agreed to increase market access through information sharing; promote investment in both regions, as well as capacity building and technical assistance. Earlier on, Norwegian minister Maeland, and Sezibera held bilateral talks on possible areas of cooperation between Norway and the EAC. The talks focused on the upcoming negotiations between the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and the EAC. Sezibera informed Maeland that the EAC Council of Ministers was quite positive about...