South Sudan's strategic importance in East Africa has added a sense of urgency to regional efforts to end the ongoing conflict. There are growing fears that the war could put joint infrastructural projects at risk. Despite two ceasefires, thousands of lives lost and over a million and a half civilians displaced, fighting continues in South Sudan, pitting government troops against opposition forces. The latest ceasefire – the second since violence erupted in December last year - was signed in May between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar. Flagging commitment by the two leaders to resolving their political differences peacefully is putting to the test the ability of mediators to broker an effective ceasefire. Ever since the fighting started, it has become clear that the world's newest nation was born with many internal institutional weaknesses. If left unaddressed, political analysts say, it could lead to a complete rewrite of the political and economic landscape of the entire region. The spark for the current fighting can be traced back to July 2013, when President Kiir fired Machar and his entire cabinet after a protracted power struggle within the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). Upon his dismissal from the government, Machar announced he would run for the presidency in elections then scheduled for 2015. On 15 December 2013, after days of rising tension over political issues, various elements of the Presidential Guard started fighting in their barracks in the capital Juba. The fighting quickly spread to the general headquarters...

VENTURES AFRICA – TradeMark Africa (TMA), which works closely with East African Community (EAC) institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil society organizations to increase trade by unlocking economic potential, has recently unveiled a web-portal to serve as a one stop shop on information in trade, markets and integration for the entire region. “For the last four years that we have been in operation, a lot has been achieved. Various projects and measures have been undertaken to improve and enhance trade in East Africa region. We have documented some of the best practices in form of case studies which we have shared on our new website,” said Frank Matsaert, TradeMark Africa (TMA)’s CEO. TradeMark Africa (TMA) has a track record for executing strategic projects aimed at boosting regional integration and trading. One of such past projects is the construction of One Stop Border Posts (OSPBs) at the Kenya-Tanzania border which saves both time and money for traders. Also, it recently, in partnership with key stakeholders drawn from government agencies, private sector and the third sector, established a Northern Corridor Performance Dashboard to capture and transmit live data that show the quality of intra-regional trading. Examples of the sort of data covered by the dashboard includes ship waiting time, vessel turnaround time, and cargo dwell time. The information, which can be readily accessed by anyone, helps the relevant agencies in pinpointing possible barriers to trade. Overall, TradeMark Africa (TMA) has injected $53 million in the port corridor rehabilitation so as...

President Yoweri Museveni has launched the construction of the $8b Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), revealing that the Chinese contractor will source for funding, which Uganda will pay back. This was at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala. Museveni was joined by his regional counterparts: Paul Kagame of Rwanda and South Sudan President Salva Kiir to launch the project that is intended to reduce the cost of transport in the region and spur economic development. Kenya was represented by Engineer Michael Kamau, the cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure, while the Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn, sent a special envoy. he SGR is part of the Northern Corridor Integration Project which runs from Mombasa through Nairobi in Kenya to Kampala in Uganda, Kigali in Rwanda and Juba in South Sudan. Explaining how the SGR would reduce the cost of transport, Museveni noted that transportation of an 18-tonne goods container from the port of Mombasa to Kampala presently costs $4,000 (about sh10.4m). However, using the railway, transportation of the same container to Kampala will cost $2,300 (about sh6m). “We have linked up with China Harbor Engneering (CHE). They have good experience in building railways, harbours and bridges and it will be their job to source for the money in terms of a loan which we shall pay back, to build the railway with our engineering brigade of the army.” Museveni said. “We are going to discuss more details with our partners in China. I thank China for being ready to give these huge...

DURING THE just concluded Rwanda-Uganda Business Forum, the key theme was exhausting the regional resources before focusing on external markets. President Paul Kagame, who attended the meeting alongside his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, pointed to the need for the private sector to partner with governments in promoting intra-regional trade. According to latest statistics, intra-East Africa trade volumes grew by 22 per cent in the last three years, an indication that private-public partnerships hold the key to more growth. The elimination of trade barriers and instituting conducive business environments was a result of the partnership, even though more needs to be done. Having uniform tariffs; whether in state levies or data charges among mobile operators, is one step towards regional integration. But as long as some member states of the East African Community are still playing catch up, total integration will remain on the drawing board. The delays and hesitations in implementing some of the regional projects and policies are usually informed by political interests. The private sector’s interests are not factored in. That is why Kagame’s call for partnership with all stakeholders should be a wake-up call for private entrepreneurs to take up the challenges and turn them into opportunities. It is up to the private sector in each member country to come up with clear strategies to influence positive change in the trade arena; after all, they are the engines that run their economies. Source:: The New Times

On the second day of his visit to Uganda, President Paul Kagame attended the launch of the Uganda section of the standard gauge railway that will connect Malaba to Kampala. The launch marked the beginning of the 7th Summit of the Heads of State of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects. The Summit, hosted by President Museveni, was also attended by President Salva Kiir of Sudan, Eng. Michael Kamau, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for transport and infrastructure, and Dr Fassil Hahom, minister and legal advisor of Ethiopia. The Summit was attended by representatives of Burundi and Tanzania, as well as the East African Community. Launching the railroad, President Museveni pointed to the unprecedented investment in infrastructure and development that the railroad represents. “We are moving into the real business of developing our country. We are here to launch our region into a new era of cheaper transport and cheaper electricity,” he said. The railway will join South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo and will enable trains travel at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour. It is estimated that the railway will reduce the number of days it takes to transport goods from Mombasa to Kampala to only two days. President Kagame thanked all involved for the progress and urged the Summit to keep up the momentum. “We have made good progress but I believe we can do more and even faster. Where there are difficulties, we can form a joint mobilisation campaign and work together to solve challenges,” Kagame...

Traders are losing millions of francs through non-tarrif barriers (NTBs) along the Northern and Central corridors, a new survey has revealed. According to a survey by the National Monitoring Committee on NTBs and East African Community, some partner states have not done much to eliminate NTBs, which is hurting business growth. "The slow pace at which some of the member states are removing non-tariff barriers has resulted into a profound effect with 39 per cent of imports and exports paying a heavy price," the study, "The Current Status of NTBs in East Africa" that was released last week in Kigali shows. In fact, according to the report, 24 per cent of manufactured goods are being affected by NTBs, 7 per cent rice, 7 per cent tea, and 5 per cent beverages. Also, 3 per cent of dairy products and sugar are affected, as well as 1 per cent of beef and 3 per cent of agricultural processed products. Over all, Tanzania still has the highest number of NTBs at 26 per cent), followed by Kenya with 24 per cent, Uganda 22 per cent and Rwanda with 14 per cent, the report indicates. According to Vincent Safari, the national co-ordinator in charge of NTBs at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, up to 72 per cent of NTBs have been resolved, while work is ongoing to remove 22 per cent of the barriers to trade. However, traders have recently reported up to 8 per cent NTBs to have been introduced by...

Kampala: The 7th Northern Corridor Integration projects kicked off in Kampala, Uganda, with the aim of reviewing the implementation progress of Northern Corridor Integration Projects discussed and agreed during previous meetings and Summits and to provide direction on deepening regional integration. The Summit has started on Monday with the meeting of senior officials, followed by a Ministerial meeting on this Tuesday and then the Summit of Heads of State which will take place on Wednesday 08 October. The Northern Corridor Integration Projects is an initiative aimed at fast tracking regional development through regional infrastructure, trade and political and economic integration. The inaugural Summit of Northern Corridor nations was held in Entebbe in June 2013, bringing together Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. Since the first Summit held in Entebbe in June 2013, a lot has been done in terms of infrastructure, ICT, trade, political and economic integration to list the few. The second Summit was held in Mombasa and marked by the commissioning of Berth 19, a project anticipated to increase capacity of the Kenyan port to serve the entire region. The 3rd Summit which welcomed South Sudan to the initiative was held in Kigali on 20 October 2013 and launched the single customs territory. The 4th Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects was held in Kampala on 20 February 2014 and the 5th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit was held in Nairobi, Kenya on the 2nd May 2014. The 5th Summit launched the Kenya National Electronic Single Window System aimed...

The Coalition of the Willing was billed as a better alternative to the snail’s pace push to integrate the East Africa Community. But the events of last week indicate that the new alternative — bringing together Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya — could be just another show of all talk and no action. On Wednesday, the stage was set for what would have been the first visible achievement of the talks by the Coalition of the Willing (CoW) to fast-track integration — rolling out of the One Network Area aimed at lowering roaming charges within three East African countries. It was to be a culmination of months of talks. Rwanda, however, had other ideas. “Cartels connected to the government of Rwanda, which are benefiting from the business, frustrated all attempts by the Rwandan regulator and telecommunications operators to launch the EAC One Network Area just a day before the launch,” sources close to the Rwandan government’s operations disclosed. FRANTIC EFFORTS Rwanda’s Information Ministry ordered MTN Rwanda to halt all processes towards roll-out of the One Network Area. On Tuesday, MTN Rwanda and Safaricom had announced a partnership that would have seen the cost of calls falling by up to 60 per cent. “These are the early wins of the joint lobbying between operators in both countries and their respective governments over the past one year. We believe that by having affordable regional calling rates, we will be playing a crucial role in boosting regional commerce and social integration within the EAC,”...

It is now emerging that Kenya lost out in the trade talks with the European Union mainly due to lack of support from its partners in the East African Community. As time was running out for the EAC to conclude the talks last month, the five EAC countries were summoned for a crisis meeting in Arusha, Tanzania. The five — Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi — were expected to take a common position to take to Brussels, Belgium, to unlock the stalemate in the negotiations to allow Kenya to access the European market duty-free. Tanzania seemed to be particularly disinterested, not even bothering to send a representative to the meeting held on its territory. The lack of commitment from most members of the EAC to attend scheduled meetings, Smart Company has learnt, is one of the reasons the negotiations took long and failed to yield results before the 1 October deadline. NOT URGENT Over the past five years, Kenya has been negotiating the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) deal that would have seen exports from the region enjoy duty-free, quota-free access to the EU together with other EAC members. The expiry of the deadline has hit Kenya hardest because the other EAC member states are classified as Least Developed Countries (LCD) and, thus, continue to enjoy the privileged EU market access even without the EPAs deal. This presents the worst indictment of the frosty relations between the EAC countries, leading Kenya to express frustration at its failed efforts to convince...

Egypt will participate in the Tenth Meeting of the Trade Negotiations Forum with three African blocs scheduled to take place in Burundi this October. The announcement was made by Saeed Abdullah, Chairman of the Trade Agreements and Foreign Trade Sector at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. It will see Egypt talk to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and East African Community (EAC). The Forum’s goals include finalising negotiations on the draft free trade agreement items which will come into force for these blocs. It will also include adopting technical work group reports in the fields of customs cooperation, trade, dispute settlement, and rule of origin. The Forum is also intended to research developments in negotiations among member states on tariff reductions and adopting an executive roadmap after signing the draft free trade agreement. The announcement of the first stage negotiations results is also set to be adopted during the Forum. Abdullah said that the results of the meeting will be sent to senior officials and then onto a ministerial committee for approval. He added that a meeting was also held surrounding non-tariff barriers for COMESA last week in Kenya. A presentation was given by UNCTAD on non-tariff barriers and non-tariff measures, while another focused on classifying non-tariff barriers in COMESA. A third presentation discussed the impact of non-tariff barriers on COMESA, and a study of the minimum criteria necessary cross-border trade was also presented. He said the meeting produced many...