While the U.S. and China are trying to outdo each other with import tariffs and the U.K. wants to break away from the European Union, African leaders are working on a free-trade agreement that will cover a whole continent. Talks to establish the African Continental Free Trade Area started in 2015 and while many signatures of the 55-member African Union are still outstanding, Ghana and Kenya on May 10 became the first countries to ratify the deal. Supporters dream that every nation on the continent will eventually join and create a trade bloc with a combined gross domestic product of more than $3 trillion. 1. What’s the African Continental Free Trade Area? It’s a project driven by the AU to eliminate tariffs on intra-Africa trade of goods and services and create a single continental market with free movement of business people. Intra-Africa trade currently stands at about 16 percent of the continent’s total, compared with 19 percent in Latin America and 51 percent in Asia. The agreement could increase this by half, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates. Joined together, the continent’s combined GDP would be almost the size of the Germany’s, which would give Africans a stronger voice in global trade negotiations, according to AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. 2. What would the trade agreement do? Once implemented, the agreement would remove tariffs on 90 percent of goods. It will also pave the way for the establishment of a continental customs union. 3. Are there any...

Construction of Port Reitz and Moi International Airport access road, Thursday 10th May 2018. [Photo/KeNHA] Construction of Port Reitz and Moi International Airport access road has enhanced access, efficiency, and reduced congestion, as well as operating costs and improved the turnaround time at the Port of Mombasa, Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has said. Port Reitz road provides access to the Moi International Airport and a link to the 2nd container terminal at the Port of Mombasa to the Northern Corridor. The Government of Kenya and UK’s Department of International Development (DFID) through Trademark East Africa (TMA) jointly financed the road project at a cost of Sh5.2 billion. Traffic congestion at the area was identified as one of the key non-tariff trade barriers affecting businesses in the East Africa region, hence need to construct and expand the road. Construction of the road entailed expansion of the road to a dual carriageway in order to improve the existing Port Reitz and Moi International Airport access roads covering 6.4km in length. Improvement of traffic movement at intersections, construction of grade separated junctions at Magongo/Airport access road interchange and Airport access road/Port Reitz road interchange, providing Mombasa County with its first two grade separated interchange traffic intersections. Additional works undertaken entailed installation of road drainage facilities and sidewalks along Port Reitz road and Moi Airport access roads. The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) contracted China Wu Yi Co. Limited in JV with Howard Humphreys (EA) Limited and MultiScope Consulting Engineers Limited to undertake...

As the euphoria on the conclusion of the African Continental Free Trade Area ebbs, it is back to work for the negotiators, to complete unfinished business. The existential question now is: can the African Continental Free Trade Area actually happen? Can trade ever be done under this regime? There is still quite some work to complete before this can happen, which will require tact, foresight and good management. Africa’s presidents will next meet this July in Mali, just two months away, and expect to receive and adopt the outstanding instruments needed to complete the Agreement, namely, annexes setting out the details for trading in goods and services. The first priority of priorities is to complete these annexes, through legal scrubbing, which usually turns out not to be as easy as it might sound. The annexes cover the following areas: rules of origin, customs cooperation, trade facilitation, non-tariff barriers, technical standards, health standards, transit trade, trade remedies, and schedules of tariff concessions. There are three short annexes also for dispute settlement, which can be completed quickly: on panel working procedures, expert review and code of conduct for arbitrators and panellists. Should the law experts fail to complete the scrubbing at the ongoing long meetings, the African Ministers of Justice and Attorneys-General who will meet in the first week of June this year, should prepare to do the heavy lifting. They will need to keep away from the hair-splitting that sometimes bogs down meetings between two or more lawyers, worse between lawyers...

South Sudan's private sector has formally started the process of integration into the East African Business Council (EABC), a senior trade official said on Friday. Mou Mou Athian, the Secretary General of South Sudan Secretariat for the East African Community, said the integration process was a good opportunity for the business community in the country. "This is a good beginning to rejuvenating the business community in the country," Athian said in Juba. The EABC members concluded meeting with the South Sudan private sector and government officials on Thursday in Juba. Athian cited that given the weak capacity of the private sector in the country, the EABC should play a big role in raising the capacity of the business men and women. Moses Hassen, the minister of Trade, Industry and East African Affairs, said his ministry would input the necessary requirement to fast-track the integration process. "As the government we will always be there to support the private sector," he said, adding that the government would put the necessary resources available to strengthen the private sector in order to also compete in the regional bloc. Lillian Awinja, the executive director of the EABC, said the regional body is aimed at interacting with the business community after which they would report back to employers in the bloc. South Sudan joined the regional trade bloc (EAC) in April 2016 that includes neighboring countries like Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The EABC is the apex body of the private sector associations and corporates...

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has dismissed a petition seeking the reinstatement of an appeal of the case on the Economic Partnership Agreement between the regional bloc and European Union. A Tanzanian, Mr. Castro Pius Shirima, filed the re-appeal on March 5 this year and hearing was scheduled for May 9. However, Mr. Shirima or his lawyer failed to appear before the court, forcing the judges to throw out the petition for abuse of court processes. Mr. Shirima moved to court in 2016 seeking EACJ to bar four East African Community member states from signing the EPA trade deal and the two that already had, stopped from proceeding with subsequent procedures. He argued that the deal contravened the EAC Treaty. Kenya and Rwanda had signed the EPA on September 1, 2016 deal but Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan declined. In July 2017, EACJ dismissed the case saying it did not find evidence that the EPA would cause irreparable economic loss or violation of the regional treaty. Mr. Shirima filed an appeal which was dismissed on February 15, 2018. He was not in court then. While dismissing the application to reinstate the appeal, the five-judge bench said the petition was misconceived. The court said the dismissal of the appeal in February was not because he failed to show up but because Mr. Shirima had amended documents contrary to court rules. Further, the judges said, he had failed to serve the respondents -- EAC member states and the Secretariat...

Chief justices from the East African Community have resolved to speed up cases involving trade disputes in order to support the regional process. The judicial bosses from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zanzibar met in Nairobi last week to draft a framework where judiciaries in the region will cooperate, share experiences and expertise, harmonise jurisprudence and jointly confront challenges to the administration of justice in the region. “The process of regional integration, by its very nature, generates disputes between states, states and citizens and the judiciaries have stepped in to solve these peacefully and amicably,” said Uganda Chief Justice, Bert Katureebe. Whereas trade disputes take long to settle, the EAC summit of the Heads of State has recognised the problem and signed a protocol on extended jurisdiction. This allows the EACJ to receive and decide cases involving trade and investment matters emanating from the implementation of the Customs Union Protocol and the Common Market Protocol. The protocol is at various levels of ratifications in the partner states. “As judiciaries in East Africa, we are making interventions in our court processes that would also improve our countries’ ranking in the Ease of Doing Business Index,” said Kenyan Chief Justice, David Maraga Among the bottlenecks to the administration of justice in the region are limited access to justice; limited resources for expanding courts which limits access to justice; lack of understanding on the workings of courts, which sometimes erodes public faith and confidence. Others are heavy case backlog; poverty in...

One of the agenda discussed by Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed during his state visits to Sudan and Kenya were integration of the countries with railway routes. Indeed the issue of linking coutries of the region with railway line is a vital issue as it plays an all rounded role in socio-economic and political development of the region. Railway transport has a history of more than a century in the Horn of Africa. Among the oldest railway lines of the region is the Ethio-djibouti railway line built during the colonial period. The old age train lines become shifting and expanding currently by the sovereign countries of the horn aiming at mutual economic development based on win-win strategy. Ethiopian Railways Corporation Communication Service Head Dereje Tefera stated that "Railway transport is the back bone of developed countries economy. It is the main source of development for the developed world and it carries their economy even at this time. The newly developed countries are also busy in expanding railway transport nationally and regionally, such as china and Brazil." According to Dereje railway transport is incomparable with other transports for economic development and for regional integration since it carries bulk of freight and passengers with in short period and low price. It is cost effective, cheap and fast. It facilitates people-to-people relations within and beyond borders of nations. It also strengthens both import and export trades nationally and regionally. Even though, it is costly in building, it delivers indispensable service for a long...

On November 30, 2013, the heads of the East African Community (EAC) member states signed the Monetary Union (EAMU) Protocol in Kampala. This is the third pillar of the EAC integration. According to Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the EAC, the integration is anchored on four major pillars: customs union, common market, monetary union, and political federation. The Customs Union Protocol was signed in 2004, and came into effect on July 1, 2005. The Common Market Protocol came into effect on July 1, 2010 having been signed on November 30, 2009. Following the signing of the EAMU protocol, we have been inundated with questions from stakeholders about its implications and when the EAC shall fully realize its provisions. To begin with, a monetary union is a group of two or more states sharing a common currency and with common fiscal and monetary policies. An example of a monetary union is the European Union where several countries use the Euro and monetary policies are conducted by the European Central Bank. A monetary union can have different currencies, but with a fixed mutual exchange rate monitored and controlled by one central bank (or several central banks with closely coordinated monetary policies). In the African context, we have examples of other regional economic communities in advanced stages of implementing monetary unions as part of their broader integration agenda. One example is the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) - comprising Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo...

At least 350,000 women in East Africa are set to be supported to become import and export traders to take advantage of the region's common market, top official of the implementing agency Trade Mark East Africa said in Nairobi on Wednesday. Frank Matsaert, the CEO of Trade Mark East Africa, said the support has been motivated by the fact that 5,000 women targeted in the phase one of the project and another 25,000 in phase two since 2010 had doubled their income. "This is a commitment we are making today to ensure that women of East Africa fully benefit from the common market," he said during the launch of a report in Nairobi on accessing how women have fared in trade within the regional bloc. "Women play a crucial role in growing trade and therefore economies within East Africa. We therefore need to find ways of supporting women in business. It is about partnerships with various organizations," Matsaert added. Trade Mark East Africa is a non-profit body that works with various partners to grow potential or intra-East Africa and the region's potential to export. Its various activities indicate that it has been active and instrumental in reforming border point entries to ease business environment especially for the small-scale traders selling across borders. The organization said its flagship project has been One Stop Border Post Program, which facilitates joint processing to reduce transit costs incurred in cross border movement by combining the activities of both country's border organizations and agencies at...

Arusha. The East African Community (EAC) is expected to lay the carpet for its investment needs during a forum slated for Berlin next week. "There will be a high level discussions in which investment proposals will be laid bare", said the secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko. Speaking here on Friday after hosting the German Foreign minister Haiko Mass, the SG said EAC has ample opportunities for private sector investment from the European economic power house. Major German companies and potential investors with foothold in Africa will be at the May 15th forum in Berlin, the capital city. The event will be coordinated by the German-African Business Association (Verein der Deutschen Wirtschaft) and the East African Business Council (EABC). "The forum will define new areas of cooperation between Germany and EAC, specifically to enhance private sector investment in our region", he said. According to Amb. Mfumukeko, Germany had supported the EAC to the tune of 290 million Euros in the last two decades. The support include the construction of the EAC headquarters in Arusha and capacity building for EABC, the apex body of the private sector associations in the region. The forum will be taking place as the EAC and German were finalizing an agreement of 5m Euros to support the small and micro enterprises sector in EA. "The aim of the project is to improve opportunities for growth for SMEs in the region", the Community boss explained as he met the German delegation. On April 9th this year, the two sides...