ARUSHA, Tanzania, 8 March 2015 / PRN Africa / — The EAC Secretariat celebrated International Women's Day as part of its strategy to increase the participation of women in the EAC's regional integration process. Under this year's theme ‘Make it Happen,' the Deputy Secretary General, together with the Arusha City Council, Women Organisations, Staff members of the EAC and other invited guests, took part in a ‘Walk for Gender Equality' around designated areas in Arusha town, visited the Maternity Unit of Mt. Meru Regional Hospital, launched the EAC International Women's website, and benefitted from various presentations and key note addresses on women's rights and gender equality. “International Women's Day is a time to reflect on the achievements that women in the EAC have attained in the last 20 years, as well as to identify the challenges that still impede their full potential,” said Hon. Jesca Eriyo, EAC's Deputy Secretary General, Productive and Social Sectors. “We recognise that women make a significant contribution towards the process of economic transformation and sustainable growth, and that is why we want to emphasise the importance of their effective participation, empowerment and development in EAC's integration process,” she said. ‘Make it Happen' stands as a global call for women and men to concretize Gender Equality, which is a follow up to the prepositions from the 20th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. Gender equality can only be attained when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities...

The United States Federal government has given business people and exporters in the East African Community (EAC) a first crack at imposing their will on the US market as part of Trade Africa Initiative. This is a chance for the EAC to show off what it can do. After all, the US chose East Africa first, probably because compared to other regions in sub-Saharan Africa, it is making far faster progress towards economic integration. We should play this card constantly to drum up large investment from the US in the future. As a key aspect of President Barack Obama’s Africa policy, the Trade Africa Initiative is supposed to be a partnership between the US and sub-Saharan Africa to increase internal and regional trade within Africa, and expand trade and economic ties among Africa, the United States, and other global markets. A notable sentiment said by Michael Froman, during the formal siging of the agreement with EAC representatives in Washington, was that the deal will the streamline customs process. It will also help African exporters meet global standards on food protections and reduce other technical barriers to trade. During its initial phase, Trade Africa aims to double intra-regional trade in the EAC, increase EAC exports to the US by 40%, reduce by 15% the average time needed to import or export a container from the ports of Mombasa or Dar es Salaam to land-locked Burundi and Rwanda in the EAC’s interior, and decrease by 30% the average time a truck takes...

NAIROBI, Kenya – Sitting in truck laden with parts of an oil rig, driver Opira Robinson, 45, rests his head on the steering wheel patiently waiting for customs clearing at Lungalunga, a Kenya-Tanzania border post in Kwale, about 101 kilometres south of Mombasa on the East African coast. He is moving the big rig from Pakwach in Northern Uganda heading for Tanzania’s coast. “I can’t wait to get out of here,” Opira says. “It took me a few hours to cross Malaba, but now I have been here two days already and it might take me two more weeks,” Opira said. At least 50 trucks cross through daily, according to Patrick Omare, the Kenya Customs station officer. The main commodities are Kenyan fruits and wheat exports – timber and maize imports from Tanzania. There is also Malawian tea headed for the Mombasa Tea Auction and some Zambian copper also going through the crossing. It is among 35 One-Stop-Border- Posts (OSBPs) that are under construction across the East African Community. The intention is to reduce delays and ensure faster cargo movement across the region. Money is being provided by the World Bank, African Development Bank and the Japan International Co-operation Agency. According to trade facilitation agency, Trademark East Africa (TMA) which is overseeing the posts. “They are aimed at reducing delays by allowing struck carrying goods to stop once, not twice,” said Frank Matsaert, the TMA Chief Executive Officer in an e-mail response to questions said. “Officials will share facilities on...

President Kenyatta said better infrastructure would also boost competitiveness and attractiveness of the economies and countries in the region. The President spoke in Kigali, Rwanda during the 9th Northern Corridor Integration Summit that brought together the host President Paul Kagame, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Salva Kiir of South Sudan. EAC chair and Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, Burundi 2nd Vice President Dr. Gervais Rufyikiri and Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Tedros Adhanom attended as observers. President Kenyatta won personal praise from Presidents Museveni, Kagame and Kiir for his reforms at the Mombasa port, which has fuelled faster movement of goods through the vital Mombasa regional lifeblood. President Kenyatta said EAC member countries’ efforts in eliminating congestion and delays in movement of goods and people will enable sharing of surplus milk and energy produced in Uganda and Tanzania respectively for regional prosperity. “The impact of better infrastructure on all sectors of EAC nations’ economies is substantial and positive. There is no need for outside import for goods and services produced locally within the EAC region,” The President said. He lauded the consistency, commitment and determination and deepening of commitment of the heads of state not only to the Northern Corridor Integration Projects and EAC integration, but also the regular meetings. “Every meeting we hold now takes our deliberation smoothly further ahead without need to reacquaint any of us with previous developments,” the President said. President Kenyatta said negotiations are at an advanced stage on the central corridor and others that link all the...

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has re-emphasised the benefits of integration and observed that for over 50 years East African leaders have been working towards the integration of the region in particular and the African continent in general because of the numerous advantages for Africans.Museveni was addressing the 9th Northern Corridor Integration Summit at Serena Hotel in the Rwandan Capital of Kigali on Saturday. Member countries of the Northern Corridor Integration include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan while Tanzania and Burundi are observers. The Kigali Summit was convened to fast-track the implementation of the 14 projects launched under the Northern Corridor Infrastructural Projects Framework. Museveni also saluted the Kenyan leader, Uhuru Kenyatta for waving off taxes levied on goods entering Uganda at the customs which, he said has reduced the delay of goods entering the country. Host President Paul Kagame thanked the private sector in East Africa for their participation in the Northern Corridor Integration Project Summit saying this had added value to their work as the East African Community members. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, who is the current Chairman of the East African Community, wished Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit success in their endeavours. South Sudan President, Salva Kiir asked regional leaders to keep supporting the two sides in South Sudan to ensure that they are brought further together in order to ensure that peace returns to his country. Source: Star Africa

NAKURU, Kenya, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Thursday called on the East Africa Community (EAC) governments to harmonize their taxes to ease regulatory barriers to spur regional trade. Principal Secretary for Kenya's State Department of East African Affairs, John Konchellah, said Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) have hampered trade, increased costs of doing business and stifled free movement of goods. "The EAC is focused on eliminating barriers to trade, increasing free movement of persons, labor, goods and capital," Konchellah said. He said the regional bloc has taken several measures including strengthening of national and regional committees as well as monitoring tools. "The challenges that come with elimination of NTBs are in their mutative nature. They can be imposed and withdrawn at will," Konchellah said. "Their (NTBs) imposition can attract retaliatory measures from affected partner states, which add costs and transit time for goods traded across boarders," the official said. The EAC is targeting the creation of a political federation, and a borderless single state made up of the five countries, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, exercising a single foreign policy. To get the vision of a single state in motion, the Arusha-based EAC Secretariat has been working towards a foreign policy, a common defense policy, a customs union, which is currently in place and the Monetary Union, which aims at a single currency. Efforts to create a single state in East Africa have been ongoing since 2004 when the leaders of the region met in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi...

Kigali — The Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda, Rt. Hon. Anastase Murekezi today officiated the 7th East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition (EAPCE'15) taking place 4 to 6 March 2015 at Serena Kigali Hotel in Rwanda. Addressing the over 500 delegates attending the Conference, Rt. Hon. Prime Minister said the Community was committed to the provision of sufficient, reliable and affordable electricity to the citizenry and that the Partner States were in the process of linking each other with high voltage transmission lines and developing the necessary framework for power exchange and trade amongst themselves. The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister disclosed that last year alone, the region commissioned over five hundred megawatts of new generation capacity and noted that by 2018, the EAC is projected to have installed capacity growth from the current 4,000 megawatts to more than 12,000 megawatts. "I therefore invite the Private Sector, Development Partners and all stakeholders in the energy and gas sectors to partner with EAC Governments in these efforts" affirmed the Rwandan official and assured the international oil companies and related service companies attending the Conference of the region's commitment to support the oil and gas exploration, development, as well as production. Speaking on behalf of the Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe, the Deputy Minister of East African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Abdullah Saadalla noted that the confirmation of commercial petroleum reserves of approximately 6.5 billion barrels in Uganda, an estimated over...

Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Rwanda ministries are set to address power sector and shape regional infrastructure planning at the summit in Nairobi. Ministers and senior representatives from the four East African countries have recently pledged their support in solving the region’s crippling power deficit. Key speakers from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), IFC, Barclays, Symbion Power, KenGen, KPLC, UMEME and EEP will address game-changing actions for the power sector. Some of the topics set to be addressed include the critical role transmission must play in East Africa’s industrialisation, the role of power utilities, how best to overcome financing obstacles and how the cost of regional borrowing can be lessened by unlocking the transmission deadlock. EnergyNet’s Ppogramme manager Veronica Bolton-Smith said, "When one considers that Powering East Africa is a targeted meeting for a small number of participants, the presence of four of the most powerful people in the region’s energy sector highlights the need for such focused talks." The private power sector decision makers are also expected to participate at the Powering East Africa meeting that is meant to highlight the urgency of the region’s transmission crisis. Source: CNBC Africa

In order for Africa to compete in a developing global bio-economy, the continent must embrace agricultural innovations. This was highlighted during a two-day forum recently held in Nairobi organised by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the German government. “One of the key ingredients to growth in the agriculture sector is attributable to development of technology that fails to be aligned to the needs of the client and effectively fails to compliment national and institutional goals aspirations,” Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Felix Koskei said. “In particular innovations should be self-perpetuated or be taken up by commercial entities and business the innovations are expected to yield immense socioeconomic benefits and impact productivity income and sustainability of the environment for the small holders.” During the forum, attended by key dignitaries and agricultural policy makers it was also established that Africa needs to not only improve food security but also ensure sustainable value chain development. Rhoda Tumusiime, Commissioner for Agriculture at the Africa Union said, “Africa must feed itself and in fact this initiative of scaling up innovation is very critical. One world no hunger Africa should have no hunger because we have the capability, the land the people but as you have also heard only 50 per cent of agriculture productivity is contributed to by innovation.” With 60 per cent of uncultivated arable land untapped in Africa, agriculture is earmarked as an economic engine for the continent. However, several hurdles are still hindering the continent from achieving its...

NAIROBI: East African Community ( EAC) countries have been asked to co-operate in the development of the region's nascent oil and gas sector. Rwandan Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi said co-operation between the Partner States was the surest way to develop the region's enormous energy and natural resources. He said collaboration should focus on petroleum exploration, production, refining, storage and pipeline development for product transportation. "It is only through taking up a bold regional approach that EAC can develop the infrastructure that a single country cannot afford as they require lots of money," said Murekezi. "Our dream is seeing in East Africa, a vibrant economy that will eventually be exporting refined petroleum products to the world market, not just raw crude, and we must be motivated to achieve this," he added. Murekezi was speaking at the Seventh East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Kigali, Rwanda. The three-day conference is held biennially. The premier said the EAC's dream of developing the oil and gas sector can be efficiently realised if partner states adopt new technologies that will produce energy in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable way. Murekezi singled out the enabling environment for business and investment that EAC has set up as one of the tools that would facilitate the growth of the oil and gas business in the region. He said EAC has established a Customs Union and Common Market to facilitate free movement of goods among the Partner States. Rationalisation and technological improvements in cargo weigh bridges, reduction...