After a year of uncertainty since protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office began, the East African Community has now declared Burundi safe to host its activities. The EAC suspended its activities in Bujumbura in the run-up to the June 2015 elections at the height of protests by activists who insisted that Nkurunziza's candidacy violated the Constitution, even though the country's highest court had cleared him to run for the presidency. Last week, an EAC security mission comprising representatives from the other four partner states was in Burundi for four days to assess the situation. The team released a report showing that they were satisfied that the security in Burundi "is satisfactory for continuation of activities with minimal risk to staff and delegates." The mission comprised the assistant director in Tanzania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EAC, Aman Mwatonoka, Uganda's director of strategic intelligence at the military headquarters, Lt-Col David Lumumba, advisor on EAC Affairs in Burundi's Ministry of Public Security, Emmanuel Niyonizigiye, and the director of political affairs in Kenya's State Department for EAC Ministry, David Njoka. According to the delegation, Burundi has returned to normalcy especially in the capital which has been a hotspot for violence that claimed more than 500 lives and led to thousands fleeing the country. Kenya's ambassador to Burundi Ken Vitisia, asked the East African countries to support the country end the political crisis. "Burundi has a lot to give back to the Community especially in the...

Tanzania has said it will not sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) between East Africa Community (EAC) and European Union (EU) following Brexit. The announcement caused anguish and shock at the EAC headquarters in Arusha. A number of officials at the Secretariat were apparently at a loss on Friday on learning of the country's U-turn as announced in Dar es Salaam by Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Aziz Mlima. "Has the Tanzania government withdrawn?" inquired a surprised official who said if it was true, the move would be a setback to the negotiations which have been going on for years between EAC and EU. On Friday, Dr Mlima told reporters in Dar es Salaam that Tanzania had decided to halt the signing because of “turmoil” that the EU is experiencing following Britain’s exit. The agreement between the EU and EAC was scheduled to be signed on July 18. Dr Mlima said signing the pact would risk exposing young EAC countries to harsh economic conditions given the prevailing conditions in Europe. The official said Tanzania’s Parliament would first peruse and advise the government before committing to the deal. “Our experts have established that the way it has been crafted, the EPA will not benefit local industries in East Africa. Instead it will lead to their destruction as developed countries are likely to dominate the market,” Dr Mlima said. Dr Mlima's remarks echoed strong criticism of the pact by former president Mkapa who warned EAC not to rush to sign the pact because...

Partnerships, Unions, Associations and such other groupings (including marriage) which are formed for a common purpose, have key ingredients for success some of which include commitment and perseverance. Even when things do not seem to be working well and when difficulties arise, the option should not be to leave but rather find solutions to deal with the difficulties. In some circumstances, however, this is not an option. The United Kingdom decided by majority vote to leave the European Union (EU) as a sign of disgruntlement regarding a number of difficulties arising from their membership. I will not comment on options that could have been pursued but rather lessons that the EU could learn from the East African Community. While the EU has been around for four decades and has provided experiences that the EAC has learnt from, this time round, the EAC has something to teach the EU. The main issue for UK's departure from the EU was immigration. Their membership to the EU led to large migration of various EU nationals into the UK. It was felt that this was putting a strain on their economy and services such as health including job scarcity for UK citizens. In my research, l found various unofficial statistics regarding numbers of migrants with conservative estimates of about 5 per cent of the population constituting of migrants. Migration on its own should not be a problem because migrants bring benefits to the economy. By their membership to the EU, the UK should have...

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta urged African nations to re-engage with Israel as its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, tours the continent pursuing business deals and support in world forums. In turn, Netanyahu exhorted a group of some 80 Israeli executives in his entourage to explore new business ventures in Kenyatta’s country and help strengthen political alliances in Africa. The Israeli leader later told reporters that part of his Africa strategy is to pressure Palestinians to resume peace negotiations by demonstrating that Israel is breaking out of its political isolation. “Come closer, come and invest in Kenya,” Netanyahu told the Israelis in Nairobi who mixed with hundreds of Kenyan executives at a business forum to explore potential deals. “We have strategic interest, we have national and international interests, but I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if I didn’t think that you would benefit.” As the first Israeli prime minister in 29 years to visit sub-Saharan Africa, Netanyahu said he’s asking for political support from countries that have largely sided with Arab nations on resolutions critical of Israel in the United Nations and African Union. “My goal is to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table for direct talks and prevent them from automatically turning to the international community to gain support to pressure Israel to reach peace on their terms, without negotiations,” Netanyahu, 66, told reporters traveling with him on the four-country tour. ‘Head in Sand’ Kenyatta, 54, made his own trip to Jerusalem in February. He said on...

Regional governments have been urged to invest in capacity building of technocrats involved in international trade negotiations to enhance their skills and ensure they bargain for deals that will benefit citizens. According to Henry Kimera of Consumer Food Education Trust (Uganda), with commercial oil and gas deposits being confirmed in almost all the six East African Community (EAC) countries, government must sharpen negotiation skills of technocrats so that they are able to negotiate better deals to ensure maximum benefit for countries. Kimera added that most regional technocrats negotiate from a point of weakness since they are not well-versed with international trade negotiation and other economic agreements, including oil deals. He was speaking during a two-day regional conference on how EAC can achieve structural transformation and sustainable development that was organised by Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI-Uganda) in Kampala last week. The conference, under the theme “Achieving Structural Transformation in the context of Regional Integration and the EU-EAC EPA: Implications and way forward for the EAC” attracted government officials and the private sector players, as well as East African Legislative Assembly MPs, and academia from across the region. Commenting on the EPAs, Kimera said EAC governments alone cannot guarantee the success of the deals, the reason why other stakeholders should be involved in the negotiation process. “We are the consumers, we work with the citizens, and know what’s best for them and the challenges they face mostly. This is why the signing and the ratification of...

Britain referundum decision to exit the European Union under the so-called Brexit has no long-term consequences on East African Community, Robert Mathu, the executive director of Capital Market Authority in Rwanda, has said. Before and after the voting, the Pound Sterling continued to lose value compared to the last 30 years. The capital markets in UK also incurred losses and have lost value that has made the future of EU uncertain thus the departure of the UK. Mathu said some of the effects might reach the regions that have an economic relation with Britain and the British investment. “Brexit is a problem for the whole world since the reason as to why most countries come together for economic purposes, is to allow investment and businesses to freely operate in the member countries,” he said. Mathu and other analysists worldwide, confirm that the first worry of the Brexit is capitalist countries will spread the ideas of exit making globalisation a major priority while other countries want to put extra security on the immigrants and control the movement. “It will affect the globalisation and the citizens and investors who have been travelling to the UK will encounter problems. Normally, you would find people traveling to UK and other countries with ease,” Mathu said. He added that Brexit will not affect the payment of the $400 million that Rwanda got on the Eurobond market since it got the loan in Dollar currency and not a Pound currency. EAC remains uncertain Mathu said the...

The reduction of data roaming rates by the Northern Corridor countries will help spur trade, the private sector players have said. Telecom firms operating in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and South Sudan implemented a directive by the Heads of State to cut the data roaming rates by July 1 under the One Area Network initiative. The development, where data roaming rates have been cut by up to 80 per cent, means that Rwandans will roam in Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya at much lower charges, local telecom firms have said. Tigo subscribers and roaming visitors on the Tigo network are now browsing at Rwf90/MB down from Rwf440 previously, a development private sector players say will ease business between member states and deepen integration. The rates will apply when the telecom’s subscribers are visiting Uganda or Kenya. Tigo’s local data tariff is Rwf51/MB, while an SMS from Rwanda to Uganda, Kenya or South Sudan is now at Rwf45 per from Rwf75. Voice calls to Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan will cost Rwf68, Rwf60, and 60, down from Rwf128, Rwf256 and Rwf245 respectively. MTN customers roaming in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan will now browse at Rwf88/MB under a new tariff, down from Rwf408, Teta Mpyisi, the telecom firm’s senior manager for brand and sponsorship, said over the weekend. The Northern Corridor Heads of State summit held in Kampala, Uganda last year directed telecom operators and regulators to fast-track reduction of data charges and review taxes downward, setting July 1 as the implementation...

Windhoek – It may be too early to calculate the potential damage to SADC, and Africa, from the unprecedented earthquake that ripped through the European Union – following the exit of the United Kingdom – and the seismic waves of political and economic uncertainty that are unfolding. Until now the EU has been widely held as the world’s best functioning political economic union model, to which even SADC and other African regional blocs had looked up, as they embark on regional integration. What is becoming clear though is the fact that just like with many US companies who found themselves with no contingency plans for an EU without the UK, the 15 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, as well as the rest of Africa, are now scrambling to assess the post-shocks and establish contingency plans. And there are serious implications for SADC and the rest of the continent. To start with, this past week Professor Ian Scoones penned an opinion paper that the European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with SADC that was inked on 10 June in Kasane, Botswana, has to be renegotiated, especially for SADC countries to eventually have free trade access to the United Kingdom, or Great Britain, that is no longer a member of the                      EU. “Now, all these arrangements have to be renegotiated bilaterally with each of the other 162 World Trade Organisation members. It will be a slow and costly readjustment,...

Today’s indicator figure is 8,481,740,000  8,481,740,000 of what? 8,481,740,000 ($8.5 billion USD) is the total amount in current US dollars that is provided as Official Development Assistance to countries in the East African Community (EAC) in the most recent year reported.  What do you mean by Official Development Assistance? According to the World Bank, Official Development Assistance (ODA) consists of “disbursements of loans made on concessional terms and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients”. In other words this money is grants and low interest rate loans from donor countries and institutions (think UN, World Bank, GIZ in Germany, USAID in the US, African Development Bank, and so on) to less developed countries like those in the EAC. This figure does not include personal or religious charitable donations which would certainly increase the figure of financial support to EAC nations. How does this compare to other regions of the world? In the history of ODA tracking, the most a single country ever received was Iraq in 2005 taking in $22.0 billion USD with the next highest being Nigeria in 2006 with $11.4 billion USD in support. Beyond that, recent years show that Sub-Saharan African countries receive the most aid assistance of any region and three EAC countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were listed as the top ten recipients of foreign aid...

East African countries have been asked to reject the impending trade deal with the European Union. Kenya and the four other nations of the EAC are required to ratify the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) before the end of the month, gradually grating unlimited market access for exports from the EU. While Kenya reluctantly signed the accord in 2014, the agreement, which the civil society and the United Nations have cited as dangerous, is yet to be approved by Parliament. “We must critically analyse what this agreement means for the EAC, it is dangerous for our trade,” said Nathan Irumba, the executive director of the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (Seatini). He was speaking at the close of a trade conference seeking to examine the impact of the EPA on the East African countries. EAC has been negotiating with the EU as a trading bloc. Failure to sign up would mean steep taxes on commodities such as flowers produced in Kenya, which is classified as a lower-middle-income economy. Kenyan flower exports were heavily impacted when the EU slapped heavy taxes of up to 12 per cent some two years ago after the lapse of the preceding agreement, forcing President Uhuru Kenyatta to sign the agreement. Other EAC nations are classified as Least Developed Countries and would still qualify for preferential treatment in trading with the rest of the richer World. The impending exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, commonly cited as Brexit, has already reduced...