The East African Community has, over the past decade, been undergoing an integration process to open up opportunities for its over 146 million citizens by creating a larger market for business players in the region. The initiative also seeks to reduce the cost of trade and improving intra-regional trade that is still low compared to other trading blocs across the world. These efforts have already started to bear fruit with a recent World Bank report, “Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy” showing that the bloc had registered improvement in the movement of goods across borders. The survey ranked trade logistics performance of 160 countries globally. Interestingly, administrative as well as trade and transport reforms in the EAC region have had the greatest impact on logistics compared to infrastructure investments. This has translated into faster transit times and shorter dwell times, according to the report. It indicates that the average dwell time at Mombasa port reduced from 13 days in 2006 to about three days, while the Malaba border crossing point between Kenya and Uganda registered a decrease in border clearance times from 24 hours to six hours. The average time taken to move cargo from Mombasa to Kampala dropped to three days from 18 days, while Mombasa to Kigali now takes about six days compared to 21 days previously. All these developments have helped reduce the cost of doing business by 50 per cent. So, it is crucial that while regional governments promote hard infrastructure development,...

Efforts to advance the East African Community have often veered between halfhearted and impractical. The regional grouping must adapt – via strong yet achievable economic steps – in order to progress. For some, the 1977 dissolution of the East African Community (EAC) finally marked the forlorn end of Africa’s decades-long flirtation with Pan-Africanism. For others, it represented the triumph of sovereignty and nationalism over unrealistic infatuations with asymmetric economic marriages. The last fifteen years of the organization’s newest iteration have fallen somewhere in between the two – with ambitious pronouncements foreshadowing economic and even political integration coexisting withregional rivalries that have threatened to scupper the entire project. However, what is most needed is not wasted political capital nor governments looking inward, but a balanced solution: concrete steps to solidify the existing union and increase free flows of capital and labor, while giving each of the EAC’s member states the ability to craft domestic policies to suit their own domestic environments. How to achieve this? First, focus on improving the EAC’s economic mainstay – the customs union that binds together Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and, very soon, South Sudan. It all starts with the Customs Union Since 2005, EAC member states have been able to trade goods and some services with each other free of tariffs, in most cases. They have also synchronized and often reduced most of their external tariffs, reducing the transaction costs of international trade for foreign exporters and reducing the likelihood of one East African state...

By Anitha Kirezi East African exchanges should fast-track integration initiatives like the capital markets infrastructure (CMI) project, and create a pool of skilled personnel. This is essential to position the regional stock market as a platform of choice for raising long-term funding for governments and business community, Celestin Rwabukumba, the East African Securities Exchange Association (EASEA) chairman, has said. Speaking at the 27th consultative meeting in Dar es Salaam recently, Rwabukumba said the CMI project that is nearing completion presents new possibilities for investors seeking cross-border trade opportunities. With capital markets across the world becoming increasingly automated and integrated, regional stock exchanges require a modern system that meets different market needs. This will also make it possible for EAC capital markets to attract global capital flows and participate in international capital markets. Meanwhile, EASEA has agreed to increase product offerings at each stock market, train market intermediaries, carry out public awareness drives and support integration of market infrastructure as they plan to draft a five-year strategic plan. According to a statement from the EASEA secretariat, these initiatives are aimed at increasing market liquidity and depth. Rwabukumba, who is also the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) chief executive, has commended the Securities Industry Training Institute - East Africa, noting that the institute will help market players improve skills and technical capacity to meet global standards. "The institute is at the forefront of driving capital market training to meet the growing demand for relevant expertise in the market," he added during the summit...

Imports to South Sudan through Kenya’s main port have fallen to the lowest-ever level as resurgent violence in the world’s youngest nation hurt the fledgling economy and sent traders and citizens fleeing. Only 525 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo were cleared at the Mombasa port in July, compared with a monthly average of 4,000 TEUs in 2013, just before the nation descended into fresh fighting, according to Ayuel Mathach Deng, the government’s representative at the Indian Ocean port city. While landlocked South Sudan, which holds Africa’s third-biggest crude reserves, brings in most of its imports through Mombasa, it exports oil through its northern neighbor Sudan, from which it seceded in 2011 after decades of fighting. Close Shop A civil war that began in December 2013 has driven up consumer prices — with the nation’s inflation rate soaring to 661.3 per cent in July -- while falling crude prices have dried up a key source of foreign exchange. “There are no dollars anywhere; at the central bank, in forex bureaus, anywhere,” Deng said in an interview on August 12. “It is a matter of struggling if you need to import something.” South Sudan, which depends on commodity imports including wheat, oil, rice and sugar, was the second-largest destination for transit goods through Mombasa after Uganda in 2015, according to Kenya Ports Authority data. The war between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, which has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than two...

“Brexit means Brexit”, according to Theresa May, the UK’s newly appointed prime minister. Though what this means for trade still remains speculative, experts watching the African oil and gas industry believe that Brexit will not significantly affect the sector. Yann Alix, a partner in leading global law firm Ashurst, who has a focus on deals and projects in the African oil, gas and mining sector, said that while currencies and stocks tumbled in a number of African jurisdictions immediately after the referendum result, “Brexit is unlikely to have a significant impact on the African oil and gas industry”. Stuart Carter, partner and head of oil and gas at European law firm Fieldfisher, agrees, but argues that in the longer term some effects may be felt. “The UK could be subject to some tariffs on oil and gas from the EU, so may be more likely to import petroleum from Africa”. However, Carter stresses that this is still highly unlikely. Speculation over the prospect of a second Scottish independence referendum brought about by the Brexit result might also prove to have an effect on the African oil and gas industry. Carter believes that projects could be delayed in the Scottish area of UKCS (United Kingdom Continental Shelf) and Africa could “potentially be one beneficiary” from a slowdown in the UKCS as teams become available for other projects”. Leaving the European Union has implications of fewer trade restrictions for UK business from the EU, and this could make working with African trading...

East African Community states need to develop rural infrastructure (especially electricity and ICT) to enhance mobile phone penetration and facilitate its use. The call was made by experts in reaction to the 2016 Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project Report, which, despite showing substantial progress toward advancing financial inclusion in regional countries, indicates there is room for improvement. The report, released last week, evaluates commitment to and progress toward financial inclusion across 26 countries. It says Kenya retained its position as the highest-ranked country in the study by a five percentage point margin. Of four East African Community (EAC) countries in the study, Kenya scored an overall 84 per cent followed by Uganda and Rwanda at 78 per cent and 76 per cent, respectively, with Tanzania trailing at 68 per cent. Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, and Uganda held their places in the top five-ranked countries between 2015 and 2016. Country scores are hinged on four dimensions: country commitment, mobile capacity, regulatory environment, and adoption. The lowest income economy among the countries ranked at the top of the FDIP scorecard was Uganda driven in part by its strong levels of mobile money adoption. Rwanda, which ranked among the top 10 countries overall, is the other low-income country that demonstrated “a particularly strong performance” on the FDIP scorecard “Rwanda provides an effective example of how country commitment to advancing financial inclusion and the promotion of digital financial services can lead to a more inclusive financial ecosystem,” the report says. Rwanda jointly topped...

NAKURU, KENYA: The East African Grain Council (EAGC) has asked leaders in East African Community to incorporate private sector in promoting inter-regional trade. sector in EAC integration By Mercy Kahenda Updated Mon, August 15th 2016 at 12:13 GMT +3 SHARE THIS ARTICLE NAKURU, KENYA: The East African Grain Council (EAGC) has asked leaders in East African Community to incorporate private sector in promoting inter-regional trade. EAGC executive director Gerald Masila said policy to include private sector should be in line with EAC integration policy. Masila said there is huge investment gap in EAC member countries that should support cereal and grain value chain addition to boost food security and economy of farmers. "EAGC is working close with governments to ensure there are more private sectors investing in farming to boost production and inter-regional trade," said Masila. Masila said EAGC is engaging the EAC governments not to put barriers to regional trade for instance restriction of trading licenses to farmers that lock potentials. He said limiting trade barriers will see farmers sell their produce freely in EAC a move that will boost food security and economy among the states. Source: Standard Media

The East African Community regional integration process has seen the region register improvement in logistics performance which had stagnated in previous years, a World Bank report has said. The bi-annual report, ‘Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy’, ranked 160 countries on their trade logistics performance as well as the region, identifying the challenges and opportunities. The report noted that the move by the East African Community nations to integrate into one bloc had elevated the region’s logistics performance, consequently making it more attractive for investments and reducing the cost of doing business. Among the most notable changes observed by the survey was the elimination of multiple barriers to trade and transport, such as cumbersome procedures. “The Northern Corridor was once known for multiple barriers to trade and transport, including lengthy dwell times at Mombasa port and cumbersome clearance procedures along the corridor. In 2012–13, the corridor countries started a series of reforms that significantly improved the logistics environment and drove down logistics costs,” the report’s authors observed. Integration, the report says, saw the establishment of a single customs territory, thereby tackling unbearable clearance procedures. “One of the reforms was to introduce Single Customs Territory clearance procedures within the East African Community, including Burundi and Tanzania. This means final customs clearances for free circulation can be made already at the port of entry in Mombasa. The system has significantly reduced administrative burden and shortened the time required for customs formalities,” the authors said. With the single customs...

IN SUMMARY The Burundian Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a lobby of 11 civil society organisations, is calling for an independent secretariat for the Benjamin Mkapa-led mediation team, saying East African Community Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko is not neutral in the Burundian dialogue talks. “We have written to the EAC Heads of State Summit and to Mr Mkapa himself. Mr Mfumukeko is just following the agenda of the Burundian government; this is not helping the process,” he said. The UN Committee Against Torture in a recent meeting in Switzerland, voiced concern about reported reprisals against Burundians and civil society leaders. The Burundian Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a lobby of 11 civil society organisations, is calling for an independent secretariat for the Benjamin Mkapa-led mediation team, saying East African Community Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko is not neutral in the Burundian dialogue talks. They claim that Mr Mfumukeko has sidelined key stakeholders who Bujumbura is uncomfortable with. “Mr Mkapa should have his own secretariat in this mediation. Mr Mfumukeko is from Burundi and continues to sideline the parties at the centre of the conflict, while inviting others,” said Lambert Nigarura, the chairperson and legal representative of the lobby group. “We have written to the EAC Heads of State Summit and to Mr Mkapa himself. Mr Mfumukeko is just following the agenda of the Burundian government; this is not helping the process,” he said. The government of Burundi issued arrest warrants for some of the parties to the talks whom...

AMMAN — The Trade Ministry is working to find new markets to promote Jordanian products in East African and Central Asian countries, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Jawad Anani said on Sunday. Chairing a meeting at the ministry, Anani, who is minister of industry, trade and supply, said that finding new markets would help increase the volume of national exports and make up for the losses caused by the closure of the Iraqi and Syrian markets. The ministry plans to increase exports of various goods, including pharmaceuticals, to Palestine by $1 billion, he said. An economic delegation is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan in September to discuss cooperation, he said, adding that the ministry hopes to open the Kazakh market to Jordanian products. The meeting, held to discuss challenges to the pharmaceutical industry, was attended by Health Minister Mahmoud Sheyyab and Amman Chamber of Industry President Ziad Homsi. Anani highlighted the importance of boosting the pharmaceutical sector through scientific research and the development of new products. A comprehensive policy on the challenges facing the sector will be developed in cooperation with the public and private sectors, in line with the Jordanian Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ recommendations, the minister added. Anani and Sheyyab also highlighted outcomes of talks with an Egyptian ministerial delegation that visited Jordan last week to register Jordanian medicines in Egypt. They said an agreement was reached on joint rules to register medicine, adding that other issues were resolved. Representatives of the association briefed the ministers on challenges...