The vision of free cross-border movement within the 19-member Comesa bloc has drawn closer to reality after three more states scrapped the visa requirement for travellers. Mauritius, Rwanda and Seychelles have scrapped visas on nationals of Comesa member states while Zambia has issued a circular waiving visas for the region’s citizens who travel for official business only. The decisions are part of efforts to implement the bloc’s Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Services, Labour and Rights of Establishment and Residence in the region. “Although, we have not recorded new signatures and ratifications, a number of member states have showed strong commitment and promised to speed-up the process of signing and ratifying the protocol. The government of the Republic of Zambia has sent an official letter which states that the Protocol will soon be signed,” Mr Houssein Guedi Absieh, the Immigration Officer at Comesa, said. So far four countries; Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe have signed the protocol on free movement of persons. Only Burundi has fully ratified it. Kenya and Rwanda are, however, already fully complying with most of the provisions of the protocol before it is fully implemented by the bloc. The two countries have promised to ratify the protocol soon. The ease of movement within the 19-member Comesa bloc is set to be received positively in Kenya which has made the bloc its single-most important destination for export. Official data indicates that the region accounted for 33 per cent of the Sh502 billion worth of exports that...

NAIROBI: Kenya is rated as the worst mining destination in Africa and only slightly better than Hungary and Malaysia in terms of global rankings, according to the 2014 Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies. The survey, which canvasses the views of mining executives from around the world, has placed Kenya at 120 out of 122 jurisdictions worldwide. Kenya's performance was dismal in terms of its policy perception index and best practice mining potential. The finding by the Canadian firm that Kenya's attractiveness as a mining investment destination is worsening comes at a time when the Senate is about to debate amendments to the Mining Bill, before it is enacted into law. There are also numerous cases still pending that involve cancellation of mining licences of various firms by authorities. According to the report, when considering both policy and mineral potential in the Investment Attractiveness Index, Malaysia ranks as the least attractive jurisdiction in the world for mining investment. This is a significant drop for Malaysia which ranked 70 out of 112 in 2013. In the bottom 10 (beginning with the worst) are Hungary, Kenya, Honduras, Solomon Islands, Egypt, Guatemala, Bulgaria, Nigeria and Sudan. Kenya and Bulgaria experienced large drops from position 79 and 57 (of 112 overall) in 2013, respectively. The Investment Attractiveness Index is a composite index that combines both the Policy Perception Index and results from the Best Practices Mineral Potential Index. The report, however, notes that while it is useful to measure the attractiveness of a...

Aviation experts from the Northern Corridor countries have converged in Kigali to discuss a concrete legal framework as the region prepares to fully liberalise the airspace among partner states. The two-day meeting has attracted civil aviation experts from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan to prepare a workplan and budget for the implementation and management of the Northern Corridor airspace, accordning to Tony Barigye, the Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA) communication manager. “They are also expected to prepare a memorandum of understanding on search and rescue, as well as aircraft accident investigation,” Barigye told Business Times in a telephone interview yesterday. “This meeting is yet another step to the liberalisation of the airspace among the Northern Corridor states. It will also help deepen the EAC integration process.” It comes on the backdrop of agreements that have been signed between states to relinquish ‘Fifth freedom rights’ as one of the ways of liberalising the regional airspace,” he added. Last year, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan signed an agreement establishing a legal framework paving way for negotiations that will see local airlines attain ‘Fifth freedom rights” on the Juba-Nairobi, Nairobi-Juba routes. Under the agreement, local airlines, including RwandAir, have the right to carry passengers from one country to another and from that country to a third country. Monique Mukaruliza, Rwanda’s co-ordinator for the Northern Corridor integration projects, said the initiatives will enhance competition in the aviation industry and, ultimately, make air transport in the region affordable. Alex Buterere, the RwandAir senior manager...

KAMPALA, Uganda – Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI-Uganda) is asking the Uganda government to go slow on revising the work permit system in light of dispensing the requirement for Kenyans and Rwandans. Recent news reports have been awash with reports about Uganda’s scrapping work permit fees for Kenyans and Rwandans. This move is in line with the commitments made by the East African Community(EAC) partner states; Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania in the signing and launch of the EAC Common Market Protocol on July 1, 2010 to promote the free movement of labour across the region. It is expected that this process will enable movement of labour from areas of surplus to areas of scarcity where it is better paid. Since the launch of the Protocol high work permit fees have been fronted as a major challenge to realization of the free movement of workers, and activists have been agitating for their removal. The move by Uganda is therefore timely and an achievement in promoting regional integration especially since both Rwanda and Kenya scrapped these fees five years ago. However in order for Ugandans to benefit from the free movement of workers, there is need to tread carefully especially given the skills gaps in the market and focus on addressing internal productivity challenges. The recent launch of the labour information system is a strong achievement for Uganda in this regard and should be expedited. There is need to expedite curriculum reforms on skilling. Presently...

WASHINGTON, USA - The United States Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman, last week announced new moves to ease trade between the US and the East African Community. “This agreement will help us lift the burdens that trade barriers impose, unlocking opportunity on both our continents,” he said in Washington. According to the USTR, trade of goods between the US and the five countries totaled $2.8 billion in 2014. The agreement also establishes a new five-year, $64 million trade and investment hub in East Africa focused on broadly increasing exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), while expanding and diversifying regional agricultural trade and food security. Froman said , “Today’s agreement is an important milestone for deepening what has already proven itself to be a promising and impactful partnership." Thursday’s deal will help the African nations further streamline the customs process, meet global standards on food protections and reduce other technical barriers to trade. According to a release from the Office of the Trade Representative, during a summer 2013 trip to Africa, President Obama announced the Trade Africa initiative to promote US.-Africa trade and investment, with the starting point in East Africa. With strides made there, the Obama administration wants to deepen that relationship by knocking down additional trade barriers in the region while expanding the U.S. reach to other African nations. “We see this agreement and all our work with the EAC to date as an important steppingstone, not the final destination,” Froman said. The EAC has been...

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 28 February 2015 / PRN Africa / — Ministers from the East African Community (EAC) have signed a Cooperation Agreement on Trade Facilitation, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures, and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) with the U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Michael Froman on 26 February, 2015 in Washington, D.C. The Cooperation Agreement will increase trade-related capacity in the East African region, as well as deepen the economic ties between the EAC and the U.S. This partnership will build on to the EAC's work on customs reforms, which have already resulted in substantial reductions in the time and costs of moving goods across borders within the EAC Partner States. During the signing ceremony Ambassador Froman announced that the United States will look into expanding ‘Trade Africa' beyond the EAC boarders to the rest of Africa. ‘Trade Africa' is U.S. President Barack Obama's initiative to support greater U.S.-Africa trade and investment. “Today's Agreement is an important milestone for strengthening what has already proven itself to be a promising and impactful partnership,” said Ambassador Froman. “This Agreement will help us lift the burdens that trade barriers impose, unlocking opportunities for both our continents,” he said. While a majority of the region's people are involved in agricultural production or processing, the export potential of these products are currently limited. With this new Agreement in place, the EAC can now meet international standards by bringing in U.S. technological expertise to fully implement the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement on Sanitary and...

The East African Community (EAC) currently consists of 5 countries vis Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Of these, only two have direct access to the sea, whilst the rest of the three are landlocked and thus fully dependent on the other two to handle bulk imports and exports. As a result of these dependencies, the EAC has established groupings and protocols like the Northern Corridor and the Central Corridor transport routes to handle and advise on logistical issues surrounding the transportation of goods mainly to the ports of Mombasa and Tanzania. The major issue addressed in these groupings is infrastructure. The EAC are currently net importers of goods and the transportation of these from the ports of Mombasa and Tanzania has been the biggest preoccupation hence the regular infrastructure summits like the one held in Kampala and Kigali recently. Because of the bulk of the exports and imports passing through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, it is important for the road and rail network to be efficient and reliable. This has not been the case and there has been a lot of dependence on the road networks that have been problematic due to the poor condition of the roads, the problems associated with border crossings and dealings with different authorities. In order to address this, member states of the Northern Corridor; Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and Burundi have been pushing for the establishment of a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project to relieve the pressure on the dilapidated and often...

KIGALI, Rwanda – The East African Community (EAC) is looking at developing a regional capital markets infrastructure which is aimed at integrating the region’s capital markets. writes AGNES BATETA. “We will not have a single East African exchange but we do believe we can have an integrated EA capital market infrastructure working with our different regulators, the market participants and our capital markets,” Secretary General EAC Richard Sezibera said during a discussion held during the EAC capital markets conference held in Kigali recently. Sezibera said, “This is an important agenda and one of the areas in which East Africa has moved fast forward and is moving increasingly in the area of harmonization and integration”. “We believe to deepen the capital markets for EAC; we need to make sure that our standards are benchmarked against international standards. We might be developing the regional standards but these must be strongly benchmarked against international standards,” Sezibera said. EAC is aimed at widening and deepening integration among the five member states which include Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi. “For the widening part, EAC over the last few years has formed the Customs Union with the Single Customs Territory, it has a common market and the monetary union which was signed in 2013, and a 10-year road map that will introduce in a single currency,” Sezibera said. According to Sezibera, the deepening part of it especially in the common market and the capital markets integration agenda is based on six pillars. “EAC is engaged...

(Reuters) - The United States and five East African countries pledged on Thursday to ease trade flows and set the stage for more U.S. investment, a program that could be extended to other parts of Africa. The agreement commits Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to cooperate with the United States in customs issues, ease red tape at borders, reduce customs wait times and harmonize trade standards. As part of the deal, which has been in the works since 2013, Washington will provide training on food safety, animal and plant health standards and international regulations. "We see this agreement and all our work with (East Africa) to date as an important steppingstone, not the final destination," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said. China's rapid entry into Africa has fueled a rush to the continent by Western and other economies, including India and Brazil, and the region's economy has grown more than 6 percent in the last decade. Trade in goods between the United States and the East African bloc grew by 52 percent to $2.8 billion in 2014, according to federal data. Exports were at $2 billion, while imports totalled $743 million. All five countries currently take part in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a program that grants African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets. The program is set to expire later this year and the White House has already kicked off an early bid to raise congressional support for a renewal. The East African region could become even...

A cloud of uncertainly is hanging over the local sugar industry after a deal that has locked out cheap imports expired Sunday without a clear guideline from market regulators. The local firms said the expiry of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s (Comesa) safeguards on Sunday has left them exposed to cheap sugar smuggled from other parts of the world. “Our sugar can compete on equal footing with that from Comesa but we are concerned the opening of the market will inevitably result in increased dumping of illegal sugar,” Kenya Sugar Millers Association (KSMA) chairman Rai Tajveer told the Business Daily last Friday. The Ministry of Agriculture had applied for another two-year extension, the fourth it is seeking, on the imports quota despite, hoping to conclude pending reforms to boost competitiveness of the local sugar industry by 2017. On Friday, the millers played down concerns of a looming loss of market share to foreign sugar but warned of likelihood of increased dumping of the illicit commodity into the market in the absence of tight surveillance. Mr Tajveer raised the red flag over a lack of tight monitoring of imports, saying local millers were already facing competition from illicit sugar imports even with the safeguards in place. “This will compound the problem of dumping of sugar in the country, if left unchecked,” he said citing Madagascar and Somalia as popular source markets of illicit imports. But a decision by Kenya to maintain the ban on imports, on the basis...