A fall in import tax collections in the last nine months has raised eyebrows in East Africa, pushing national revenue agencies to the overdrive as they seek to seal leakage loopholes and increase efficiency. All the East African Community (EAC) states have missed their import duty collection targets in the nine months to March with Kenya, the biggest of the economies, recording Sh65.8 billion against an expectation of Sh70 billion. Official data shows that both the dry and wet cargo import volumes fell in the nine months, causing a cumulative effect even on consumption taxes. Following a meeting in Burundi last week, tax bosses from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan have agreed to implement a uniform system for valuing imports. This means that the customs authorities in the EAC would use the same formula in determining the value of goods coming into the bloc and by extension impose similar duties. “… the [commissioner generals] directed the establishment of a common valuation approach in order to ensure maximisation of revenue mobilisation opportunities through sealing loopholes that permit cargo undervaluation,” said a communiqué released after the meeting. Common valuation is a requirement of effective operation of a Customs Union. However, despite the existence of a Common External Tariff, member states are yet to implement it. This means the EAC members are currently playing into the hands of tax evaders by levying different absolute amounts. The countries also agreed to harmonise cargo scanning mechanisms to align them with the Kenyan...

The 2nd East African Manufacturing Business Summit was held in Kigali, Rwanda at Kigali, Serena Hotel on 23-25 May 2017. The Business summit was officially opened by Rt. Hon Anastase Murekezi Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda.  The Summit was attended by Rt. Hon. Dr. Ali M. Kirunda Kivejinja, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Republic of Uganda who is also Chairperson of the East African Community Council of Ministers; H.E. Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary General; Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko, Secretary General of the EAC; Hon François Kanimba, Minister of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs, Republic of Rwanda; Mr. Patrick Nduati Mwangi, representing Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization and Enterprise Development, Republic of Kenya; Mrs. Edith Mwanje, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of East African Community Affairs, Republic of Uganda; Amb. Dr. Aziz Ponary Mlima, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, the United Republic of Tanzania; Ms. Betty Maina, EBS, Principal Secretary, Ministry of East African Community (EAC), Labour and Social Protection, Republic of Kenya; Ms. Rosemary Mbabazi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs, Republic of Rwanda; Hon. Jesca Eriyo, Deputy Secretary General, in charge of Finance and Administration, East African Community; Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, Deputy Secretary General, in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, East African Community; Mr. Denis Karera, EABC Vice Chairman; Ms. Lilian Awinja, Executive Director of the East African Business Council; private sector foundations; manufacturers from across East Africa and beyond; EAC Institutions; Development Partners; Regional Economic Communities...

Experts attending the second high-level East African Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition (EAMBS) held in Rwanda’s capital city Kigali said Wednesday that innovation is key for the East Africa manufacturing sector to compete globally. “We have to understand that our industries are operating in a global context, in an open globalized market place, and that is not going to change. We have to be innovative and work on our efficiencies. We should be able to produce high quality products that are competitive at international markets,” said Ali Mafuruki, board chair of Trade Mark East Africa. He added that regional economies should strategically position themselves in the global business environment through producing locally made products that are price competitive. Rwanda hosts the forum from May 23 to 25, 2017 dubbed “harnessing the Manufacturing Potential for Sustainable Economic Growth”. The three-day meeting includes an exhibition where investors, enterprises, researchers and academia will collectively showcase new products and services as well as exhibit the latest advances in manufacturing technology and innovation, particularly those with relevance to Small Medium Enterprises. Lilian Awinja, executive director of East African Business Council (EABC), called for innovative strategies that will raise competitiveness levels and expand the region’s manufacturing and export base. “Innovations are now shaping the business environment. We need to add value to products produced in EAC. Our regional industries can now begin to raise manufacturing output and increase its share of global trade and production,” she added. Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary-general of United Nations Conference on Trade...

East African heads of state have jointly agreed that the EAC members who have not signed the European Union-EAC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) should not do so pending clarification of contentious issues that have been highlighted in the agreement. In a joint communique of the EAC Heads of Summit in Dar es Salaam last weekend, the presidents said the new chair Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been mandated to reach out to the EU within one month to communicate the EAC’s decision. If an acceptable solution is not reached with the EU within the next six months, the chairperson, working with the Council of Ministers, is expected to explore the use of variable geometry in the implementation of the EPA by EAC member states. “I have been mandated to harmonise the vision of the EPA within the EAC,” said President Museveni while addressing the Summit. He added that an agreement will only be reached with all members of the EAC on board, and not a few countries. He said there is no way the EAC can move forward until the issue of sanctions against Burundi, is resolved. Only Kenya and Rwanda have signed the EPA agreement while Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda are yet to sign. The summit also agreed that the EU sanctions on Burundi should be discussed alongside the EPA discussions. READ: EU woos Tanzania to sign trade deal “Burundi is a member of the EAC. How can they sign the EPA with the European Union when they are...

South Sudan’s warring parties on Friday signed an undertaking to work on a roadmap for the implementation of the 2015 Arusha Agreement and end the war. The deal was struck in a meeting chaired by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe. The meeting was attended by the acting SPLM secretary-general Jena Nunu Kumba, SPLM-IO foreign secretary Ezekiel Lol Gatkhouth, the head of former detainees Pagan Amum Okietch, Juba’s ambassador to Kampala Samuel Luate Leminsuk and Betty Bigombe. The deal came as the South Sudan National Dialogue finally started on May 22 with the swearing-in of the steering committee. However, there are concerns about whether the team will achieve its objective because some areas in the country are inaccessible due to the ongoing civil war. Armed groups opposed to President Salva Kiir’s government, former detainees, and a few opposition parties have cast doubts on the success of the Dialogue, saying it is not all-inclusive and terming it a “monologue.” But Abel Alier, the co-chair of the 94-member National Dialogue Steering Committee, is confident that the team will reach out to the armed opposition and other stakeholders in and outside the country, despite President Salva Kiir having declared that rebel leader Riek Machar should return to the country for the talks. Mr Alier said the team will adopt a bottom-up approach that will involve starting from the grassroots, then the constituency level where intra and inter-communal grievances will be addressed. The exercise will end at the National Conference in Juba to discuss and...

Clothing and shoe traders could face a steep tax increase on imports in new proposals that are aimed at reviving the East African Community’s ailing textile and leather sectors. The proposals to raise taxes by up to 50 per cent are included in a report that was commissioned on the two sectors by the EAC, and whose findings were presented to the region’s heads of state last week.  They seek to limit cheap imports that have undercut once vibrant local industries. “… over the years, the clothing and shoe manufacturing industries have collapsed due to the emergence of informal sector trade in used clothes and shoes (UCS) and the impact of trade liberalization,” reads a policy brief  on the report that was submitted to the EAC heads of state. East Africans spend an estimated Sh36.1 billion ($350 million) on second-hand clothes and shoes (mitumba) annually. While the report endorses an existing proposal to ban mitumba, it also proposes a 40 per cent tax on “readymade garments or $5 per kg whichever is cheaper”. This implies that importers of new clothes would also be affected. The report, authored by the EAC secretariat, proposes increasing the common external tariff (CET) on new shoes from 25 per cent to 50 per cent or $20 per pair (for leather shoes) and $5 per pair (for plastic shoes), whichever is higher. A three-year tax waiver for textiles inputs and shoe manufacturing equipment that are not available locally has been proposed as is a ban on...

East Africa’s leading tourism exhibition, the Karibu Travel and Tourism Fair (KTTF) kicked off today in Tanzania’s sprawling northern tourist city of Arusha. The KTTF 2017 is the premier East African regional tourism show and one of the top two “must visit” events of its kind in Africa with a superb, secure, and more convenient venue in a natural setting with an ideally-designed layout – the biggest and only outdoor tourism fair in Africa. Standing as the most competitive and dedicated travel market that brings the Eastern and Central African region and the world under one roof, providing overseas tour agents with an ideal platform to maximizing their networking opportunities, KTTF is taking off this Friday and will close on Sunday. Organizers said the event has attracted exhibitors who area regional in-bound tour operators and tourist boards, as well as camping and safari companies. Others are service providers for wildlife lodges and hotels, local and regional airlines, as well as supporting travel trade services providers, manufacturers, and suppliers of tourist equipment. KTTF represents a major business platform and contracting opportunity for long-established businesses in Tanzania and across East Africa, reflecting the ongoing growth in the tourism industry and in the global and domestic sphere. According to organizers, delegates and international buyers will enjoy the benefit of exclusive access on the “Trade Only Day,” which also includes a private, corporate cocktail on the first day of the event. KTTF has become “the place to meet,” for the African travel industry partners...

THE winds that waft along the Swahili coast change direction with the seasons, a boon to traders in times past. Shifts in the political winds are harder to predict. Last July a proposed trade deal between five countries of the East African Community (EAC) and the EU was thrown into disarray when Tanzania backed out at the last minute. An EAC summit, scheduled for months ago, was meant to find a way forward. Held at last on May 20th in Dar es Salaam, after many postponements, only two presidents showed up. The deal is in the doldrums. The pact is one of seven “Economic Partnership Agreements” (EPAs) the EU wants to sign with regional groups in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The first was agreed with the Caribbean in 2008; southern Africa followed suit last year. But progress in west Africa has also stalled, with Nigeria raising objections. The EPAs were promoted as a new breed of trade deal, and were supposed to bring development and regional co-operation. So far they have brought neither. Negotiations on EPAs began in 2002. Under previous conventions, the EU gave favourable market access to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, most of them former colonies. That fell foul of World Trade Organisation rules. Hence the idea of EPAs: reciprocal deals, requiring both parties to open their markets. Two obstacles have to be surmounted. First, EPAs overlap with existing trade arrangements. The poorest countries, like Tanzania, already enjoy duty-free and quota-free access to the EU under...

Regional manufacturers have been urged to embrace electronic trading platforms (e-commerce) to widen their market reach and become more productive and competitive. The experts said embracing such innovations will help reduce the cost of production and enhance the sector profitability. According to Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General, e-commerce is an instrumental and innovative tool for promoting industrialisation and trade across the region. Kituyi was speaking during the ongoing EAC Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition in Kigali on Tuesday. The three-day summit brought together more than 500 participants, including business leaders, experts and policy-makers, to discuss mechanisms to bolster regional industrialisation. Kituyi said manufacturers should take advantage of the immense opportunities presented by e-commerce platforms to enter new markets, create awareness about their products and drive sales to improve profits. The UNCTAD official observed that the economy today is being driven by digitisation, which makes it imperative for regional manufacturers to embrace e-commerce and tap into the untapped markets. This way the sector will be able to create more jobs and foster inclusive economic growth, he added. Matthias Wachter, the in charge of the Federation of German Industries department of security and raw materials, encouraged industrial players to employ technology and e-commerce in all their processes to increase production and tap new customers. "This way, they will be able to easily penetrate markets and sell products at competitive prices," he added. Reducing cost of production Meanwhile, the business community has called on regional...

KIGALI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Experts attending the second high-level East African Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition (EAMBS) held in Rwanda's capital city Kigali said Wednesday that innovation is key for the East Africa manufacturing sector to compete globally. "We have to understand that our industries are operating in a global context, in an open globalized market place, and that is not going to change. We have to be innovative and work on our efficiencies. We should be able to produce high quality products that are competitive at international markets," said Ali Mafuruki, board chair of Trade Mark East Africa. He added that regional economies should strategically position themselves in the global business environment through producing locally made products that are price competitive. Rwanda hosts the forum from May 23 to 25, 2017 dubbed "harnessing the Manufacturing Potential for Sustainable Economic Growth". The three-day meeting includes an exhibition where investors, enterprises, researchers and academia will collectively showcase new products and services as well as exhibit the latest advances in manufacturing technology and innovation, particularly those with relevance to Small Medium Enterprises. Lilian Awinja, executive director of East African Business Council (EABC), called for innovative strategies that will raise competitiveness levels and expand the region's manufacturing and export base. "Innovations are now shaping the business environment. We need to add value to products produced in EAC. Our regional industries can now begin to raise manufacturing output and increase its share of global trade and production," she added. Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary-general of...