Foreign Affairs secretary Amina Mohamed has said abolishing travel visas in the continent will be among her top priorities in her latest bid to head the African Union Commission (AUC). Ms Mohamed said she would also address the infrastructure gap, defend industrialisation and encourage intra-Africa trade if elected AUC chairperson. “We need to remove bottlenecks such as visas,” she said, adding she would push for free movement of goods and services across states. The minister is competing with candidates from Botswana, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Senegal for the AUC job. In July, the African Union’s 54 members unveiled a single continental visa intended to grant citizens easy access to all member states. Some of the common electronic passports were issued to heads of state and senior officials at the AU summit in Kigali with bloc officials saying all citizens would get them by 2020. Ms Mohamed has lined up expediting the common visa distribution, industrialisation and fixing infrastructure gap as key planks of her campaign. “Industrialisation can reduce poverty and create jobs while trade is unifying factor, but we need to fill our infrastructure gaps and facilitate the mobility of people, capital and goods so that our young people can move across borders, exchange ideas, but also find jobs,” she said during a CNBC TV interview. “The 13 per cent intra-African trade is unacceptable. We should at least reach 30 per cent and eventually aim at 60 per cent. “Africa has to stop exporting raw products and jobs while our...

Arusha — Having adequately addressed the alleged extravagant expenditure which nearly brought it to its knees recently, the East African Community (EAC) began the new year with a dilemma on what to do with its new member; South Sudan. The world's newest nation was admitted into the bloc last year but is yet to be fully embraced in the EAC activities one of the reasons being sporadic violence pitting the government troops and rebels led by the former vice president Riek Machar. The fighting and the general instability there continue to cause worries among the bureaucrats at the Arusha-based secretariat such that they don't know for sure when the warring parties there would settle down and take their countries to a new path for peace. Officials of the regional organization have often said full incorporation of South Sudan still awaited some formalities which, some hinted, may have to await a new financial year or upon receipt of updates on the security situation in a strife torn country. However, it is known for sure that the difficulties of having South Sudan fully on board may take some time because of the fragile security. Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko, the EAC secretary general who is credited for the tough financial control measures instituted recently, is one of the senior officials at the EAC headquarters who would not say for sure when the new member would feature in the routine activities of the bloc. During his first ever and only press conference he has addressed...

University students from the East African region will be able to transfer credits from one university to another within the five member states of the East African Community from February, if the region’s heads of state endorse a plan to create a common higher education area. Under the proposal presented in a harmonisation document by the community’s higher education body, the Inter-University Council of East Africa, and already approved by education ministers of the trading bloc, students will be able to move from any of the more than 100 public and private universities in the region at any stage of learning, without having to sit a special entry examination. The community, with an estimated population of 150 million citizens, consists of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi and is in the process of admitting a new member, Africa’s youngest state, South Sudan. “Under the proposed harmonised higher education framework, student mobility will be made seamless enabling learners to move from one institution to the other at will,” said Cosam Chawanga, IUCEA’s head of quality assurance. Universities in the region will recognise qualifications from any chartered university and from every programme accredited by individual higher education authorities in the countries of origin, said Chawanga. The creation of a common higher education region was slated to have been completed in 2016 but bureaucratic procedures delayed the process, the officer noted. Last December though, education ministers met in Arusha, Tanzania, the bloc’s headquarters, and approved the proposed harmonisation document ahead of February’s heads of state summit...

Experts confirm potential of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in African (PIDA) to contribute jobs and GDP growth When the Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor Project (LAPSSET) won the prestigious Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum Award in Washington DC on March 10, 2016, the project was up against equally critical multi-billion dollar programmes including Mexico City New International airport and Seine-Nord Europe Canal, connecting northern European countries such as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. LAPSSET’s award in the job creation category honours leaders “driving the next generation’s most transformative global infrastructure projects.” Since inception in 2012, LAPSSET has created an estimated 5,000 direct jobs for the 500- kilometre road between Isiolo in Kenya and Moyale, a market town on the border of Ethiopia and Kenya. Opportunities in engineering designs around the Port of Lamu, banking, telecommunications, and energy generation are still available. LAPSSET, a flagship project of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in African (PIDA) and highlighted at the 2016 PIDA week has set the path. Once completed the project is anticipated to inject 2 to 3% in Kenya’s GDP but also position the country as an economic hub in East Africa. We are convinced that the 51 priority projects identified under PIDA in the areas of energy, transport, ICT and trans-boundary water will follow suit. Creating productive jobs remains a key challenge in sub-Saharan Africa where nine out of ten workers in both rural and urban areas are estimated to hold only informal jobs (ILO, 2009). By 2050,...

Dar es Salaam — China has pledged more development support for Tanzania to enable the country meet targets set in the 2016/20 National Development Plan and achieve the ambition to build the industrial economy. The Chinese minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Wang Yi, issued the promise during official talks with his Tanzanian counterpart, Dr Augustine Mahiga in the city. Mr Yi had paid a day-long official visit. He said, China was ready to assist Tanzania in its development projects particularly roads, railway and the construction of ports in Bagamoyo and Zanzibar. "The cooperation will continue to go deeper and extensively, and China will always stand shoulder to shoulder in the making of Tanzania development and for the wellbeing of it's people," he said. This was among the issues which dominated the one-hour discussions between the two delegations at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam. "We also promise to pump industrial investment as a way to support the government mission of building an industrial economy,"he said. Moreover, he assured continued support for Tanzania in the latter's bid to improve industries and infrastructure. For his part, Dr Mahiga welcomed the support, saying that the government was ready for the move, as part of efforts to improve lives of of the people. "We encourage many Chinese companies to invest in Tanzania and again, they have shown interest to build us new structures in Dodoma," he said. According to him, China is committed to pose comprehensive reforms at Tazara to...

The manufacturing sector recorded a slow growth in 2016 as industries struggled to cope in a tough business environment characterised by massive layoffs and closure of some businesses, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers has said. KAM has noted companies continue to grapple with high cost of energy at Sh11 per kilowatt hour, compared to Ethiopia, where factories are enjoying lower tariffs of between four and five cents per kilowatt hour. Threats from illicit trade are also a major concern for manufacturers as the year comes to an end. It is estimated that Kenyan manufacturers are losing at least 40 per cent of their market share to counterfeiters, KAM CEO Phyllis Wakiaga said, which has “unfairly” reduced the industry’s earnings. This, coupled with frequent power outages, congested industrial zones, high labour input costs, increasing overall production costs and a huge import bill are denying the manufacturing sector an opportunity to thrive, the association pointed out. “We currently have a structure that supports imports and not local manufacturing where finished products and raw materials attract the same Value Added Tax rates. Corruption is also hindering the industry’s growth,” Wakiaga said. She said the harsh environment is to blame for the closure of industries, the most recent one being tyre manufacturer Sameer Africa, which announced it would shut down its Mombasa road manufacturing plant on September 30. The company’s managing director Allan Walmsley blamed the closure on competition from cheap and subsidised tyre imports mainly from China that enter the Kenyan market. “The...

Economists predict a gloomy year ahead as the private sec-tor continues to shrink due to austerity measures by President John Magufuli’s government, which is keen on procuring goods and services locally. Prof Honest Ngowi, an econo-mist at Mzumbe University, says Tanzanians should expect high tax rates, increased nuisance tax and declining lending by banks.The government has already barred its institutions from de-positing their funds in commer-cial banks, with Tsh500 billion ($231.5 million) already with-drawn from 54 banks and depos-ited in the central bank. Prof Ngowi told The EastAfri-can that the current cash crunch will continue to bite.“The government is the big-gest buyer of goods and services, and the directive to trade locally will continue to bite as long as it stands,” he said. Recently, the Magufuli admin-istration issued a directive to all central government and local government authorities, public institutions and statutory corpo-rations to engage in government-to-government business dealings, a move analysts say could nega-tively affect private sector com-panies. According to guidelines for the preparation of the government budget for the year 2017/18, is-sued by the Ministry of Finance and Planning, accounting officers of all public entities are to stop buying goods and services from private firms and instead deal with state-owned enterprises. Prof Ngowi cited poor rains, which will hurt food security and accessibility of energy as hydro-power generation dams are likely to experience a decline in water levels — as another danger sign.“The weatherman’s warn-ing on low rains next year is of concern because it will not only...

The Ngong tunnel on the Nairobi-Naivasha standard gauge railway. Large infrastructure projects have resulted in weak domestic savings. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU |   NATION MEDIA GROUP IN SUMMARY Although government data has painted a rosy picture of the economic performance over the  nine months to September 2016,  the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are  cautious about the  country’s growth prospects  as banks  shun  lending to the private sector  in  a controlled  interest rate environment. The  fragile economic outlook has been further dampened by reduced credit to the productive sectors of the economy  and the spiralling public  debt burden, which  currently stands  at over Ksh3.6 trillion ($36 billion). Kenya’s economic growth prospects have been dimmed by uncertainties related to this year’s general election, interest rate controls, shortfalls in revenue collection,  and a ballooning public debt. Although government data has painted a rosy picture of the economic performance over the  nine months to September 2016,  the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are  cautious about the  country’s growth prospects  as banks  shun  lending to the private sector  in  a controlled  interest rate environment. According to the World Bank, increased government spending during an electioneering period may crowd out private sector investment and lead to overheating of the economy, resulting in inflation. “On the external front, challenges include weaker than expected growth in the global economy, volatility in global financial markets and a spike in oil prices,” the World Bank said. The Central Bank of Kenya confirmed that credit to the private sector...

For many years, farmers have pushed in vain for their milk to be paid based on quality as opposed to quantity. Well, while a majority of the processors are reluctant to implement the model, one has taken the new path, heralding good times for farmers in the New Year and beyond. Happy Cow, a milk processing firm in Nakuru, is pioneering a system that is paying farmers based on quality, rather than quantity for every produce delivered.The company is working with two smallholder dairy cooperatives, namely the New Ngorika Milk Producers Limited and Olenguruone Dairy Farmers Coop-erative Society, which collect the milk from farmers at Sh37 per litre. Producing high quality milk is earning the farmers more as the company uses a system called Quality Based Milk Pay-ment (QBMP) to reward them. How the system works Quality of milk delivered is tracked from the 50-litre can delivered to indi-vidual farmers (5 to 7) based on results of a laboratory analysis. The lab results are used by the firm to plan targeted extension services that the farmer needs to improve and maintain quality. Farmers participating in the sys-tem have to label and own their cans. The can number is used to track quality and trace the source of the milk. Cans qualify for bonus every month and to continually be awarded the bonus is an important mission that requires a lot of attention and effort by both the farmers and the extension team. Happy Cow is working closely with SNV Kenya,...

Tanzania's President John Magufuli (left) and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame jointly opened the Rusumo one-stop-border- post on April 6, 2016 to improve trade between the two countries. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA  The East African Community is working with agencies such as TradeMark Africa to ease the movement of labour and capital and cross-border business. The Community has initiated projects focused on creating market access, enhanced trade environment and competitiveness. In 2016, 10 of the 13 one-stop border posts were completed and are operational under the integrated border management arrangement. These are the Holili-Taveta, Mirama Hills-Kagitumba, Kobero-Kabanga, Busia-Busia, and Mutukula-Mutukula posts. According to the TMA, the OSBPs have significantly reduced the time spent at the borders. “There has also been efficient movement of goods on the Northern Corridor and linkages to the Mirama Hills-Kagitumba OSBP with construction of the Ntungamo and Port Reitz roads,” said TMA chief executive officer Frank Matsaert. There was a 50 per cent reduction in Customs transaction time as a result of the upgraded Automated System For Customs Data,  the electronic cargo tracking system and the Authorised Economic Operator Scheme, and the electronic single window system. This reduction translates into reduced cost of doing business. For Rwanda, the electronic single window saw clearance times fall from 11 days to one day 10 hours, saving businesses $6.8 million in 2013 alone. Uganda Revenue Authority’s Electronic Cargo Tracking & Customs Management System saw a 75 per cent reduction in transit and clearance times, saving traders $56 million annually. The EAC Single Customs Territory also improved transit times to...