I had read and heard about the One Stop Border Post from East Africanists, but was frustrated because no one was putting out a photograph or graphic illustration of how it works. So I decided to check it out, driving from Kisumu into Uganda through the Busia border point. There were surprises aplenty. Something radical is happening with this one-stop thing. When you are entering Uganda from Kenya, you go to a single immigration hall. At one window, a Kenyan immigration official stamps your travel document to log your exit. And you step right over to the next window, hand over your passport and a Ugandan official stamps your entry. If you are a law-abiding citizen, you are through in about two to three minutes. You walk through a short corridor, and you are in Uganda. On the return leg, you head to the opposite immigration complex, and the process happens in reverse. The same thing happens for Customs clearance. This exercise used to take travellers at least 30 minutes, and sometimes clearing your car could run into an hour! If you don’t have a passport, you also get an interstate pass, which is issued simultaneous by Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. On average, the one-stop posts have cut the time travellers spend at the border by at least 90 per cent. This is truly remarkable, because it was all but impossible to think of an African government acting alone or collectively with others achieving those levels of efficiency. But politically,...

The 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will today come to an end in Nairobi, Kenya. It is one of the most important events for the global investment community, providing an opportunity and platform to interact trade-wise. The conference brings together Heads of State and Government, ministers and other prominent players from the business world, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and economic development challenges. Among the key issues the meeting tackled is the need to strengthen the evolution and management of globalisation, interdependence of trade, finance, investment and technology, and ways of advancing growth and development prospects, especially for developing countries. One feature during this high-level trade conference is calling off the scheduled signing of Economic Partnership Agreement between East African Community (EAC) and European Union (EU). Members of the EAC were split down the middle, with Uganda reportedly joining Tanzania in pulling out of the pact that would have guaranteed continued access to the European Union market without paying duty. Of course, this arises from the recent Brexit. It stood out that regional trade agreements are too difficult to negotiate, may be for defensive reasons, fear of individual interest being locked out or protection of existing preferential agreements in other areas. Such reservations may ultimately slow down the higher ambitions and results sought by the crucial integration agenda. Trade gains from regional integration are one of the key economic objectives behind the creation of any trading bloc. Turns out that member states’ decision...

JUBA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Despite once experiencing an oil boom, South Sudan needs to invest more in trade facilitation, production and building access to external markets to create jobs and reduce on imports, experts have observed. Oil exports dominate the economy and government revenue. They generated large revenues of about 20 billion U.S. dollars from 2005 to 2014, equivalent to 98 percent of the annual government budget, but weak governance has meant that these have not been used to invest in building productive capacity. The country's trade surplus is largely a result of its oil exports, and increased from 3.99 million dollars in 2009 to 6.93 million dollars in 2012, reflecting the increase in oil exports. However, since outbreak of the December 2013 conflict and the recent renewed clashes, South Sudan imports have been greater than exports resulting in trade deficit. Oil production plummeted from 350,000 barrels a day to less than 160,000 bpd due to conflict and drop in global oil prices. The undersecretary Ministry of Trade, Industry and Commerce Biel Jock Thich told Xinhua in Juba on Tuesday that the country has for the past three years been having a trade deficit and that it is incumbent upon them to diversify the economy. "For all this time we have a trade deficit because we import everything from outside," he explained. He added that to facilitate trade, they plan to eliminate the persistent Non-Tarrif Barriers (NTBs) despite having joined the East African Community in April and even set...

NOMSA NKANA, Lusaka A financial analyst says the newly-launched African Union passport will accelerate trade in Africa and open up new trade opportunities for African entrepreneurs. Noel Nkhoma said the passport will break down trade barriers that the continent has been grappling with for a long time. According to news monitored on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Mr Nkhoma said trade barriers such as visas have made it difficult for some countries to freely conduct business within the continent and yet those nations are major investors. “For instance, Dangote will require a travel visa to come to Zambia and yet he is a major investor in Zambia. “I also see no reason why Kenya being probably the largest single market in the East African trading bloc would require a visa to go to Johannesburg, which is equally a single largest trading economy,” he said. Source: Zambia Daily Mail

The East African Community member states have been asked to harmonise taxes on agricultural products to promote free trade. “Despite the high cost of production on food crops in countries like Kenya where farm inputs such as fertilisers are expensive, free trade is good for the market and business. VAT of food items, however, remains a challenge,” the EAC customs and trade director general Peter Kiguta said, adding farmers stand to benefit more. He was speaking during the launch of the G-Soko grain trade directory which seeks to facilitate information sharing amongst grain traders in the region. Kiguta said although EAC has zero-rated taxes on grains and some goods, some countries are still levying taxes on food items, making imports more expensive. Eastern Africa Grain Council chairman Dr Bernard Otim said taxation of agriculture products is hindering free trade across the East Africa region. “There is need to harmonise excess and import duties on some commodities within the region. Taxation on inputs should also be considered so that farmers, traders and suppliers can get inputs such as tractors and processing equipment like driers to enhance productivity,” Otim said. Source: The Star

Kenya, the biggest economy in East Africa is considering trade deals with the European Union (EU) as a nation and not as part of the East African Community. This follows Tanzania’s absence from the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with EU, a trade pact that would give East African community members duty-free quota-free access for all exports to members of European Union. The ceremony was to be held on Monday, July 18, 2016 on the sidelines of the United Nations Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) that is ongoing in Nairobi, Kenya. The five East African Community members; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have until August 4, 2016 to sign the deal with EU. According to The Star, this will help Kenya avoid duties of as much as 22 percent on its exports to EU members. This comes following Britain’s decision to leave the EU after 40 years, which has left the much anticipated deal in serious doubt. Britain’s exit (Brexit) may reduce capital inflows into East Africa, weaken exchange rates and damage economic stability in the region. In June 2016, Tanzania expressed her reluctance to sign any deal and decided to wait and see what happens within EU following Brexit. Uganda also said it wants to delay signing the deal. This has left the three other members; Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi at a loss, prompting the Kenyan government to consider trading with EU as an individual nation. We would like to sign it together; the desire...

East African Business Council (EABC), a regional business lobby on Tuesday called for the speedy conclusion of the ongoing East African Community (EAC)-European Union (EU) trade talks. EABC Executive Director Lillian Awinja told Xinhua here that the delay in signing the agreement is causing anxiety among the EAC business community. "We are concerned that if the agreement is not reached before the Oct. 1 deadline, Kenyan exports into the EU will begin to pay import duty," Awinja said during the Financial Services Sector Forum that took place as part of the UNCTAD 14. If an agreement is not reached, Kenyan goods will be subjected to import duty in order to access the EU market while goods and services from the other EAC member states will still access the EU duty free because they are considered Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Awinja noted that lack of a trade deal will not only affect Kenyan goods because Kenyan exporters currently have working arrangements with the companies in the other EACs nation in order to meet quantity requirements. She noted that some of the EAC member states are reluctant to sign the EU-EAC trade deal because they will not get additional benefits from the agreement. "We therefore need to bring on the table, the contentious issues and renegotiate as soon as possible in the spirit of the EAC," Awinja said. She added that some of the EAC states will take about two years to graduate into becoming developing countries and will soon be in...

On 15th of July 2016, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved USD 12.4 million grant for a project called "50 million Women Speak" to create a networking platform dedicated to sub-Saharan women entrepreneurs. The grant will be spread between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The project is an innovative social media platform to enable women to start, grow and scale their business through the dynamic exchange of ideas. According to Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the AfDB's Special Envoy on Gender this digital/virtual marketplace will connect business-women to encourage peer-to-peer learning, mentoring, and information and knowledge sharing. The platform will cover 36 countries and will be accessible on mobile phones. It will enable women to access business training, mentorship, financial services and locally-relevant business information, while building their own networks of contacts. The project will be implemented within a period of three (3) years starting from 2017. The number of monthly platform user could reach 50,000 women in 2022, and by developing their businesses they expected to create 10% more jobs. In Africa like in many parts of the world, women business owners continue to face gender-specific barriers such as lower levels of education and business training, weak property rights that deprive them of collateral and tangible assets, legal barriers that impede their economic activities and cultural barriers that discourage women from thriving as entrepreneurs. The consequence is that women have challenges accessing financial and...

On July 18, the comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union (EU) was set to be signed, however, it did not go ahead as planned. Officials who spoke to The New Times over the weekend were non-committal on divulging details pertaining to the sudden change of heart that comes after Tanzania recently decided to halt signing, citing the "turmoil" that the EU is experiencing following Britain's exit. The East African Business Council (EABC) has been advising partner states to sign the deal earlier than previously agreed as further delay, it argued, would hamper EAC exports to the EU. "The signing has been called off so whatever issues are contentious should be brought to the table for renegotiation," EABC chief executive Lilian Awinja said. Emmanuel Hategeka, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, confirmed that both parties agreed to call off the signing. The five partner states previously proposed that the signing ceremony be held in the first week of August. Last month, however, the EABC recommended July 18 as the date of signing to coincide with the visit of the EU Commissioner for Trade, who is expected in Nairobi for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). It was thought that the recommended July 18 signing would give partner states ample time to ratify the agreement before October 1, the deadline earlier set by the EU. Failure to meet the EU deadline on ratification, it was noted,...

As guns went silent after the December 15, 2013, tensions between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir, of the Dinka ethnic group, and those aligned to Vice President, Riek Machar, of the Nuer ethnic group, traders in EAC and beyond had hoped that the return of peace to African’s youngest nation meant more trade and business activity could now take off in South Sudan, it being a leading market for EAC exports. However, to the dismay of many business men and women, the zest to harness long term business exploits from the South Sudan market has been cut short as the streets of Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, exploded into fighting last week, rending this vibrant market unproductive again.  This has therefore affected many traders, manufacturers and exporters within East Africa and beyond. Uganda is already feeling the pinch of the civil war in South Sudan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives in Uganda, Amelia Kyambadde said the war has affected Uganda’s trade balance sheet with South Sudan. Kyambadde said South Sudan had become Uganda’s leading export destination in 2008 following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005. She said total exports (formal + informal) had peaked at $ 1.18 bn in 2008. However, the fighting that broke out in December 2013 resulting to the then subsequent a civil war in South Sudan, caused a steady decrease in Uganda’s exports from $ 414m in 2013, to USD$ 385m in 2014 and USD$ 353m in 2015....