Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli yesterday described the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as a “form of colonialism”, dampening Tanzania’s possibility of signing the deal with the European Union (EU). “It is bad for our country,” Dr Magufuli affirmed. Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at the State House here, Dr Magufuli disfavoured EPAs, which are aimed at creating a free trade area between EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. His Ugandan counterpart warned African countries that EPA might break up their unity. “It’s better if the signing of the deal is shelved until further consultations are made.” President Museveni arrived in Dar es Salaam yesterday morning for a two-day state visit. Dr Magufuli noted that after studying EPA he had realised that African countries would not benefit from it economically as its architects touted. He noted that terms included in the agreement were not intended to help African countries to grow economically. “I believe that our neighbour, Uganda, will second us for the betterment of our countries. We have discussed EPA for a long time but to me it seems like another form of colonialism… it is bad for our country,” he said. There has been criticism in other quarters that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by EU are incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules. President Museveni noted that the fact that many African countries had not signed EPA shows that the proposal was meant to create...

Non-compliance of regional trade agreements by Rwanda’s neighbours is taking a heavy toll on the nation’s earnings from cross-border trade. Legislators are concerned that informal trade with Burundi, Tanzania as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, faces multiple barriers resulting in low export volumes to these strategic markets. A report tabled last week by parliament’s Standing Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs shows that while trade with DR Congo suffered as a result of the instability in the Kivu Province, Burundi and Tanzania have imposed restrictions intended to block Rwandan traders from accessing their markets. The highlighted practices are contrary to the provisions of the East African Community Customs Union as well as other trade agreements with regional trading blocs such as the Economic Community Great Lakes Region (CEPGL), which brings together Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. “We want the concerned authorities to address the issues we found,” said MP Adolph Bazatoha, who leads the committee that carried out an assessment at different borders. Mr Bazatoha said the issues had been forwarded to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs. Burundi is Rwanda’s second largest cross-border trade market after DR Congo, with agricultural and livestock products being the major commodities traded in informal transactions. However, trade with Burundi is carried out illegally after the government imposed trade restrictions with Rwanda. Worsening diplomatic relations with Burundi led to the closure of the border with Rwanda in July last year. Ties between the two countries deteriorated in 2015...

East African customs authorities have adopted an electronic system to track lorries travelling between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to speed up journeys. The trackers will allow officials and traders to monitor trucks travelling to and from the Kenyan port of Mombasa. A device will be attached to vehicles and is intended to help prevent hijacks and goods being tampered with. Uganda, which pioneered the project, says journey times could be cut from three-and-a-half days to just 36 hours. Detours detected The geo-mapping, known as the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking (RECT), will apply to the main road stretching from Mombasa port to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, known as the "Northern Corridor". Officials will be able to monitor journeys on a map and be able to immediately detect any detours. About 90% of goods through the region are transported by road with the risk of cargo being targeted by criminals. Customs officials say drivers have also been known to take diversions and siphon off freight, for example offloading coffee and adding stones to make up the missing weight. "There has always been that unpredictable aspect of not knowing whether your goods will reach or they won't reach and that in itself is a very serious discomfort, now this will resolve that problem," Kassim Omar, chairman of the Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents in Uganda, told the BBC at the launch in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. "The level of assurance guarantees the buyer abroad or the supplier from this end that what...

As the elections for the nine representatives to the East Africa regional body’s Parliament draw near, the candidates are spending most of the time at Parliament trying to solicit their support. There are six candidates from NRM, the ruling party, one from the Forum for the Democratic Change, one from UPC, one from DP and over 30 independents. As the elections EALA draw near, the candidates are spending most of the time at Parliament trying to solicit their support. As the elections for the nine representatives to the East Africa regional body’s Parliament draw near, the candidates are spending most of the time at Parliament trying to solicit their support. There are six candidates from NRM, the ruling party, one from the Forum for the Democratic Change, one from UPC, one from DP and over 30 independents. Janet Kenyangi Kikwaya (Independent) At 24, she is the youngest in the race Q: What motivated you to contest for the EALA seat? I have always been involved right from primary three at Margaret Preparatory School up to Senior Six at Kyeizooba Girls Secondary School. I look at politics as way of serving people.  Q: What do think has been lacking in EALA and which value would you intend to add there? EALA has signed a lot of protocols on peace and security, integration, non-tariff barriers; however, most of the protocols signed are not implemented. I will make sure that all the protocols and policies signed are implemented as well as deepening integration among...

GENEVA –An international agreement forecast to boost global trade by $1 trillion (£800bn) a year has come into force. The Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Roberto Azevedo, called it "the biggest reform of global trade in a generation". The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) involves streamlining customs procedures. Mr Azevedo said it would have a bigger impact than eliminating all existing taxes on imports, known as tariffs. It involves countries signing up to a long list of reforms, including easier access for businesses to information, reduced fees and simpler and faster procedures. WTO economists estimated it would cut the cost of trading by 14.3%, and that developing nations would gain the most. TFA is one of the few successes of a much wider set of negotiations that were launched in late 2001 in the Qatari capital and known as the Doha Round. It is not the only product of the Doha Round, but most of the negotiating agenda ran into the sand. The TFA was finally agreed at a meeting in Bali 2013, but could not come into force until 110 countries had ratified it. That is what has now happened. Mr Azevedo said the agreement would boost global trade by up to $1 trillion a year. This development comes at a time when there is increasing uncertainty about the outlook for the agenda of increasing trade liberalisation that the WTO embodies. The new US President Donald Trump wants to renegotiate the country's trade agreement with Canada and...

The WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) has entered into force, with supporters hailing it as the greatest single achievement in the organisation’s history. The ratification is a timely boost for free trade advocates, at a time when the populist protectionist rhetoric of US President Donald Trump has been dominating the debate. The TFA has been under discussion since 1996 and has been awaiting ratification since 2013. The process was slow, but at last, the WTO has a ratified agreement. The TFA standardises customs procedures among WTO member states, cutting costs and reducing the time it takes to export and import goods. The WTO forecasts that it will slash trade costs for members by 14.3% on average, boosting global trade by up to US$1tn per year. A 2015 study by the WTO estimates that the TFA would reduce time to market for imports by a day and a half, and two days for exports. This is a reduction of 47% and 91% for imports and exports, respectively. The study says that TFA will add 2.7% a year to world export growth up to 2030. This would equate to 0.5% of global GDP – a huge boost at a time when global trade growth is stagnating and the benefits of globalisation are under scrutiny. The TFA passed the required threshold of 110 members when Chad, Jordan, Oman and Rwanda submitted their instruments of acceptance, and the general consensus is that by streamlining trade facilitation, the developing world will be the biggest winner. “This would boost global trade by...

Juba — South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Tuesday regretted recent tense relations with both the United States and the United Nations and vowed to restore strong ties "We must admit our relation with the UN has not been smooth over the last three years. However, the new UN Secretary General is a pragmatic man and my government pledges to work with him very closely to improve our relationship with the UN system," Kiir UNtold parliament in Juba. "The new Head of UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is also someone I have confidence will work closely with the government to improve our relations," he added. Kiir disclosed that the UN and the international community had in the past bullied and treated his country with contempt and praised African countries like Egypt, Senegal and Angola which ensured that a U.S.-led proposal to impose arms embargo and sanctions against South Sudan failed at the UN Security Council. "While we are grateful for all the support we have received from the international community and the UN system, our main point of contention with the UN has been that South Sudan was not accorded the respect that it deserves as a member state of this world body. We were treated with contempt and largely bullied and we hope this treatment will be put to an end," Kiir said. The president said South Sudan is also prepared for an improved diplomatic relation with the United States. "It is no secret we had a strong...

Mombasa — The East African Community (EAC) has reminded election monitoring bodies and media organisations in partner states to use its treaty in line with their respective countries' legal frameworks when managing and covering elections to maintain free and fair polls. The regional bloc has principles for election observation and evaluation based on among others, its treaty. The principles are based on international standards, Union Charter on Human Peoples' Rights and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. The regional body made the statement during a three-day capacity building workshop for election monitoring bodies and other stakeholders to assess fairness of the political space and campaign playing field through media monitoring. Funded by the European Union (EU), the workshop is expected to equip stakeholders with full knowledge and skill in using media to get a firsthand and at glance assessment information in regard to political space and campaign playing field fairness. "Use the treaty as reference in the course of making the elections free and fair in the region," EAC's Deputy Secretary General (Political Federation), Mr Charles Njoroge, said yesterday. He pointed out that the media plays an indispensable role in the proper functioning of a democracy, and within an electoral context, the media is expected to play a transparency "watchdog" role. "If the media's role is vital in the normal course of events, exceptional periods such as elections can put its impartiality and objectivity to harsh test," he argued. Mr Gerard Guedegbe, media training expert based in Benin,...

The inefficiency of our public transport infrastructure, on which our neighbouring states of Uganda and Rwanda also depend, has long been a national embarrassment. For many years now, we have been told that it took a much shorter time to ship goods to the Port of Mombasa from manufacturing centres in the Far East, than to deliver these goods by road from Mombasa to Malaba on the Kenya-Uganda border. Now that “the trains have arrived”, which will run on the brand new standard gauge railway, all this embarrassment will supposedly soon end. This SGR project, however, is not universally celebrated. Eminent critics insist that there has never been a greater white elephant in all of East and Central Africa. And that it is something of an economic crime to burden the country with such massive debt, when there will be so little direct economic benefits to be received from this SGR. I have no strong opinion either way on this. But what I do know is that the ultimate value of giant infrastructure projects is to be found not so much in the project itself, but in the “multiplier effects” that should follow. The Kenya-Uganda railway, for example, was built back in 1900 primarily to “open up the interior” of East Africa: to facilitate the establishment of a modern agricultural economy through the arrival of “White Settlers” who would carve out of the African Savannah large plantations for growing the valuable cash crops of the day. This was very successful....

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has entered into a partnership agreement with the East Africa Trade and Investment Hub to ensure best-in-class manufacturing of goods destined for the US market from East Africa. Signed yesterday (21 February) in Las Vegas, the agreement launches the 'East Africa Cotton, Textile and Apparel Initiative' to establish sustainable workforce development programmes and institutionalise environmental, social, labour and worker safety best practices in the region. The aim is to work with East African governments to raise industry standards, promote job creation, and increase trade and investment. US retailers and East African businesses are expected to both benefit from the initiative. The Hub, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organisation, will work to help East African governments and private sector entities institutionalise the best practices and standards that US apparel, footwear, and travel goods sourcing companies require. It is hoping to support the creation of 45,000 jobs across Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda in the first three years of the initiative, as well as creating jobs and further growth in the US apparel, footwear, and travel goods sector. Meanwhile, the AAFA says it will actively engage in advocacy activities before country governments in East Africa and lead private sector engagement. It will also "strengthen US manufacturing and support US jobs and economic growth" for its brands while encouraging companies and their suppliers to develop sustainable operations in East Africa. East Africa is establishing itself as a key sourcing destination for global apparel,...