2016 was “annus horribilis” for the East African Community (EAC) to borrow a Latin phrase made famous by Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom and Great Britain. The highs of 2015 appear to be distant memories today; the easier movement of citizens using IDs, the single tourist visa, the single customs territory, and the common market protocol were all exciting milestones along the way. The momentum then was such that any obstacle was overcome with pragmatism. When then Tanzanian president JM Kikwete seemed flat footed, the three heads of state from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda conjured up what the media later called the “Coalition of the Willing” in a bid to further expedite projects which they viewed as helpful to the EAC integration cause. As if by divine intervention, at the end of 2015 Tanzania got a new president in the name of JP Magufuli. Almost immediately he seemed to gel with the other EAC leaders. He made quick reforms at home and simultaneously reached out with open arms to neighbouring countries in an obvious effort to mend any broken fences. Then 2016 happened. First was the summit in March that rather than bring good news, saw a conflict riddled South Sudan approved as the sixth member of the EAC. The heads of state then went on to lament the financial burden of the EAC Secretariat. Particularly, President Magufuli vowed to clean it up by reviewing its expenditure. These same sentiments were echoed by President Kagame...

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni is pushing for enhanced intra-regional trade as the next growth area for the six States integrating their markets under the East African Community. Speaking last week when he opened the East African Legislative Assembly’s fourth meeting in Kampala, Mr Museveni said these governments must champion the ‘Make-EAC-Buy-EAC’ to boost employment and expand value addition opportunities. “We (EAC) cannot continue to be a market for imports and must come up with policy instruments to ensure local industrial production runs at full steam in order to protect jobs and stimulate investments,” he said. President Museveni said East Africa’s high population, now estimated at 150 million people, and well-developed infrastructure portend a good future for the region. Joint projects “If there is wealth it is this 162 million people that are a wealth creator since they produce raw materials, related services and eventually consume the same goods and services,” he said. Speaker of the Eala Daniel Kidega said the assembly had made progress in enacting Bills and adopting resolutions that enhance EAC’s vision of a cohesive political, social and economic bloc. Developments in Kenya including roads upgrade, the Sh327billion railway and as Mombasa Port’s berth expansion served to enhance efficiency while reducing transport costs, he said. This should egg on Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan to pursue joint projects. Governments should work on conservation strategies while strengthening irrigation, early warning systems, research, extension and training, he said. Source: Business Daily

Finland has granted 9.8 million Euros to TradeMark Africa (TMA) to support its work in enhancing trade across the East African Community to increase prosperity in the region. The agreement will advance common goals of increasing trade within East Africa by reducing the time and cost of transiting and transporting goods. The partnership will also support East African Community (EAC) regional trade integration. This grant is also expected to broaden TMAs regional integration program at the Port of Dar es Salaam and key border posts along the Central Corridors, and will work with EAC Member States to remove barriers to trade. The agreement was signed by the Finnish Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Tarja Fernández and Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark Africa. Finland’s strategy for development cooperation and action plan for aid for trade put more emphasis on the development of trade and regional economic integration. The Finnish government believes that supporting increased trade in the region in combination with assistance to the private sector will accelerate economic growth and jobs, with the ultimate goal of poverty reduction. Finnish Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Tarja Fernández said: “We know that the new strategy will move the region beyond the accomplishments of the past, creating job opportunities, and opening up, until now, marginalised areas to development through interventions at various nodes of East Africa Trade Network from ports to the hinterlands. That is why we are committed to supporting the second phase of TMA’s programme.” TMA aims to contribute to increased trade in Eastern...

THE quest to bring standard-gauge rail to Africa has gained traction following an announcement from the Tanzanian government that it is seeking bidders for the construction of the final portion of the new line that it plans to build between Dar es Salaam and Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The railway is to be built in four phases and will give the landlocked central African countries their first through rail link to the Indian Ocean. Tanzania is the latest African country to embark on building a new standard-gauge railway. A brand new standard-gauge line running parallel to the old colonial-era railway in Kenya is well-advanced, while a Chinese-built electrified line linking Djibouti with Addis Ababa in Ethiopia was opened in October.The 2190km line, which is part of the East African Railways Master Plan to link Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, will run from Dar es Salaam to the lake port of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, following roughly the same route as the metre-gauge Tanganyika Railway built by the German colonial authorities at the beginning of the 20th century. Known after Tanzanian independence as the Central Line, the railway has suffered from a lack of maintenance in recent decades, leaving the country without reliable rail transport between its lake ports and the sea. Construction of the new railway, currently known as the SGR, will be partly financed by a $US 7.6bn loan from China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim) secured last July. The final section of the railway is...

The Communications Authority of Kenya Director General Francis Wangusi said five East African Community (EAC) member states are currently holding talks in order to expand the One Area Mobile Network to cover all the member states. Wangusi told a regional internet forum in Nairobi that current members Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan are in talks for Tanzania and Burundi to join them, so that all calls amongst those countries are treated as domestic calls. Wangusi said during the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Capacity Building Workshop for Africa’s Governmental Advisory Committee Representatives that an enlarged One Area Mobile Network would reduce the cost of making calls across the trading bloc. He said the direct result is that the volume of inter-country calls will increase and this will help to promote EAC regional integration efforts. Wangusi said that in order for the six-member EAC bloc to become a single network, there are some hurdles that need to be overcome. The telecoms regulator noted that Tanzania and Burundi are ready to change their legislation in order to join the regional network, in view of the numerous benefits their citizens would receive. Source: Telecom Paper

IN SUMMARY TMA is funded by a range of development agencies with the aim of enhancing prosperity in the East African Community (EAC) through trade. Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) will today receive a grant of 9.8 million Euros (over Sh1 billion) from the government of Finland to enhance trade and economic integration in the region. TMA is funded by a range of development agencies with the aim of enhancing prosperity in the East African Community (EAC) through trade. “We believe that enhanced trade contributes to economic growth, a reduction in poverty and subsequently increased prosperity,” TMA said. The grant signatories will be Finland ambassador to Kenya Tarja Fernandez and TMA chief executive Frank Matsaert. TMA has been working with EAC institutions, governments, the private sector and civil society organisations to increase trade by unlocking economic potential through increased physical access to markets. In December last year, TMA signed a Sh150 million agreement with East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) to automate tea trading at the Mombasa auction. Source: Business Daily Africa

Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping took to the stage at the 43rd summit of the World Economic Forum, (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. He was the first Chinese president to ever address the annual conference. At an exclusive ski resort on the Swiss Alps, President Xi, flanked by some of China’s billionaires, made a spirited defence for globalisation. He started his 54-minute address by referencing the opening of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. “Today, we also live in a world of contradictions,” he said. “On the one hand, growing material wealth and advancements in science and technology have seen human civilisations develop as never before. On the other hand, however, frequent regional conflicts, global challenges like terrorism and refugees, as well as poverty, unemployment and the widening income gap have added to the uncertainties of the world.” Few countries understand the import of globalisation as clearly as China does since adopting more outward-looking market reforms in 1978. The reforms, dubbed gaige kai- fang, which loosely translates to “change the system, open the door”, saw China emerge as a strategic cog in the global value chain. Economic miracle Strategic sectors of China’s economy, including manufacturing and the financial sector, opened up to international trade and foreign direct investment. The country became a major assembly outpost for everything, from iPhones to nuclear reactors. For close to 25 years straight, China’s GDP growth averaged nearly 10 per cent annually. The country accomplished what the World Bank defines as a near economic...

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has urged the Council of Ministers to act decisively in checking what it called “fraudulent procurement processes” that are allegedly dogging the EAC Secretariat based in Arusha, Tanzania. Besides calling for the central decision-making and governing organ of the East African Community (EAC) to consider enacting a law on financial and procurement management as a necessity, the regional lawmakers also recommended strict compliance with the EAC financial rules and regulations and want punitive action taken against officials who violate rules and procedures. This came up as lawmakers debated a 27-page report of the Committee on Legal, Rules and Privileges on the matter of investigation of procurement of group life insurance Company for the Community. During debate, in Kampala, yesterday, there were mixed reactions although a majority lawmakers spoke strongly against alleged scams at the Secretariat, the executive organ of the Community, which is mandated to ensure that regulations and directives adopted by the Council are properly implemented. MP Abubakar Zein (Kenya) said what he read in the report was “akin to fraud, theft and defrauding the Community.” “Delay [in procurement as reported] was part of an orchestrated design. This is choreographed theft,” Zein said. “The management also ignored the legal advice of the Counsel to the Community and in so doing put the Community and those who serve it at risk.” The EAC Secretary-General, Amb. Libérat Mfumukeko, insisted that during his new term, since last year, he focused efforts on putting things right. Mfumukeko...

Since January 02, signs of bird flu were detected in Uganda where fishermen reported “mass death of wild birds” on the shores of Lake Victoria, near Entebbe, which lies near the capital Kampala. Burundi is on alert. The director in charge of animal health in the Burundian ministry of agriculture and livestock, Mr. Nsanganiyumwami Déogratias says they are aware of the presence of the disease in East African Community since Monday 16th January 2017. “We held a meeting with the minister and competent experts to impose measures to protect people against any contamination”, he says. “Uganda is not very far from Burundi and there are comings and goings of people and merchandises between the two countries. Our experts are working hard to adopt preventive measures against bird flu, which will be communicated soon”. According to Nsanganiyumwami, it is not easy to recognize the disease when it has attacked birds. He, however, advises people especially farmers, to inform immediately veterinarians in case there is a dead chicken. Bird flu also called avian flu/influenza is an infectious disease that spreads very fast among birds and can kill them. It can be transmitted to human beings, causing severe respiratory diseases that may result in death. Its symptoms in humans can vary and range from “typical” flu symptoms (fever, sore throat, muscle pain) to eye infections and pneumonia. The disease caused by the H5N1 virus is a particularly severe form of pneumonia that leads to viral pneumonia and multiorgan failure in many people who...

President Yoweri Museveni has urged the East African Legislative Assembly to force foreigners to develop the region by passing policies that will protect the region's markets. "We need to stop the importation of second hand clothes so that we can develop our textile industries," said Museveni. "When you buy second hand clothes, then you are promoting and improving the economy of the country that produces them." President Museveni urged the assembly and other organs working on the region's integration process to work, support and fast track the East African political integration because it is important for the region's strategic security and a guarantor of the future safety and security of the area. Addressing the 5th session of the 3rd Assembly of the East African Legislative Assembly at Parliamentary buildings in Kampala, Museveni noted that just like economic integration is important for the economic prosperity of the region, political federation is very crucial for strategic security of the region as well as for guaranteeing the safety of the future generations especially against the emerging world giants who continue to compete for the limited world resources. "Our current administrative structures are fragmented and very weak and we have no choice but to unite and safeguard our destiny. What will you do for example if a modern China, with its big population, becomes imperialistic in the future and want to occupy parts of Africa?" he wondered. He said the community is wealthy with a population of 162 million including South Sudan which all...