BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - Liberat Mfumukeko, the East African Community (EAC) Secretary General Ambassador was in Brussels last week to attend a High Level Committee of the European Development Fund (EDF). Created in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome and launched in 1959, the European Development Fund (EDF) is the European Union’s main instrument for providing development aid to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and to overseas countries and territories. The EDF funds cooperation activities in the fields of economic development, social and human development as well as regional cooperation and integration. The EDF meeting in Brussels brought together the Secretary’s General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), EAC , Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Indian Ocean Commission(IOC), and EU representatives from Brussels. Amb. Mfumukeko asked the EU to consider priorities such as enhancing food security, income generation for employment to improve livelihoods. The Secretary General was accompanied at the meeting by Jessica Eriyo , the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration who also led the EAC delegation during Technical meetings. The purpose of the high level meeting was to discuss the implementation of the EDF 11 under which EAC was allocated 85 million Euros for a period of 5 years. The resources were distributed as follows: Peace and Security (15million Euros), regional integration (45 million Euros), natural resources management (20 million  Euros), and institutional strengthening (5 million Euros). The 11th EDF was created...

Ambassador Joseph Ayok Anei, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, says that his government has signed an agreement to create one-stop border crossings between South Sudan and Uganda. Speaking on Monday at a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ayok said the agreement was signed on 8 November in order to simplify and expedite border controls. “We want to brief you about the agreement I have signed in Kampala, Uganda on behalf of the government of South Sudan on the issue of one-stop border post between our country and Republic of Uganda which took place last week,” he said. “The areas of which we are going to cooperate are also to enhance the development in our own country here such as standard development and provision of testing equipment to the bureau of standards of the both countries,” he said. “Also to enhance women trade program to promote inclusivity and equality between women and men, that means small business like those who are selling banners or vegetable will empower them and make life easy for them to cross the border,” Ayok added. He further said the agreement aimed at sharing each other’s existing border control infrastructure and facilitates thereby enabling border control officers of each partner state to perform statutory border control outside their national territory. The deal was witnessed by officials from both ministries of foreign affairs was facilitated by the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support from Trademark East Africa. Source: Radio Tamazuj

The East African Community and European Development Fund (EDF) have agreed to implement various development projects in the region for a period of five years. According to the statement released by the EAC yesterday, the decision was reached during the EDF meeting in Brussels, Belgium, which was also attended by the EAC Secretary General, Liberat Mfumukeko. Mr Mfumukeko urged the EU to consider priorities such as enhancing food security and income generation for employment to improve livelihoods in the region. The EDF meeting in Brussels brought together the Secretaries General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Indian Ocean Commission(IOC), and EU representatives from Brussels. The purpose of the high level meeting was to discuss the implementation of the EDF 11 under which EAC was allocated 85 million Euros for a period of 5 years. The resources were distributed to various areas such as peace and security (15 million Euros), regional integration (45 million Euros), natural resources management (20 million Euros), and institutional strengthening (5m/- Euros). EAC reported that out of the allocated 85 million Euros, projects worth 70 million Euros have reached advanced stages. A project on regional electoral support worth 5 million Euros is under implementation, a project on establishing a Trade Related Facility for 35 million has been finalised which will allow Partner States access to funds for trade facilitation. Moreover, a project on water resources management worth...

Fishermen go about their business in Lake Victoria in Kisumu on September 29, 2016. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI  In Summary Cabinet Secretary for Water and Mining Eugene Wamalwa asked the states to tighten the common environment protection laws to ensure that issues affecting the basin are addressed. The five countries bordering Lake Victoria have been asked to end illegal fishing and discharge of industrial waste into the lake if they must benefit from the resource. The sectorial council of ministers (Secom) from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi said destruction of forest cover and use of poor agricultural methods had led to silting that has destabilised the waters. This has held back the great economic benefits that come with activities like fishing which is relied on by millions of people across the riparian states. The ministers spoke on Thursday during an event to celebrate the 10th year since the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) was instituted by the East African Community to protect and steer development agendas in the lake basin. “We should think seriously of ending destruction of watersheds, channelling of wastes from industries, farms and mines and controlling soil erosion,” Engineer Ramo Makani, the Secom chairman for LVBC Mr Ramo who is also Tanzania’s deputy minister for natural resources said it was the duty of every member state to protect the water levels and end use of illegal fishing gears that that have destroyed fish breeding grounds therefore reducing their numbers in the waters. Kenyan cabinet Secretary for...

Prolonged and contentious trade negotiations between the European Union and different regions of Africa have been put back into the spotlight in recent months. Despite negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements, or EPAs, with the EU, several key African states have failed to sign them. Britain’s referendum on leaving the EU last June has added an extra dimension of uncertainty to the situation. This threatens to derail years of trade talks between Europe and Africa, which changed significantly with the signing of the Cotonou Agreement in 2000 between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, or ACP countries. Before that deal, African states had enjoyed unilateral trade preferences with the EU. Cotonou reflected a significant rethinking of this trade and aid dynamic. A World Trade Organization waiver that was secured until the end of 2007 enabled the EU and ACP countries time to negotiate a new WTO-compatible trade relationship governed by a series of interregional EPAs. ... Source: World Politics Review

As Tanzania deliberates on the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the East African Community (EAC) and European Union (EU), scholars have cautioned against the deal, which they have described as bad. University of Dar es Salaam's Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, Dr Ng'waza Kamatta and Dr John Jingu told Members of Parliament during an awareness seminar in Dodoma over the weekend that signing and ratification of the deal will jeopardize the country's industrialisation vision. Kenya and Rwanda have since September signed the pact but their signatures remain ineffective until all EAC member states sign it as a block. EAC Heads of State led by President John Magufuli agreed in September to delay the bloc's commitment on the deal to January next year to allow more deliberations. The deadline for EPA signing was October 1, 2016 and the bloc had called on the European Union not to penalise Kenya with huge tariffs on exports for missing the deadline as member of the bloc. The EAC and the EU have gone back and forth since 2007 on EPA, which is expected to give a reciprocal duty-free access to the EU. At stake is Kenya's horticultural exports which may be subjected to taxes to access the lucrative European Union market. The EU accounts for 31 per cent of Kenya's export market, especially for cut flowers, tea, fresh vegetables and coffee. The passing of extended deadline means the expiry of the current arrangement under which the EAC currently enjoys preferential trade benefits from...

Editor, We all know about that expression  when elephants fight. It was good to see the body language of President John Magufuli and his host President Uhuru Kenyatta. The visit by the Tanzanian leader will hopefully begin to squash those elements that want to divide the East African Community’s teo biggest economies. It is true that there are major differences between Kenya and Tanzania and I think most are a hangover from the 1960s and 1970s. But the EAC just cannot afford to have these two at loggerheads. Dar es Salaam port and Mombasa port are currently involved in fierce campaign to maintain and get new customers from the hinterland. This is good because it means management of both facilities will be constantly kept on their toes and customer service will keep rising. What I hope the two presidents agreed during their talks was that the EAC should not waste time and effort bickering amongst ourselves and instead look out for competitors outside the region. Integration is a great idea under the circumstances we are in. But the EAC’s competitive edge can only get sharper if we work closer together. Francis Thuo Nairobi, Kenya Source: Business Week

By Christopher Majaliwa Dodoma — The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between East African Community (EAC) and European Union (EU) is 'a raw deal', a threeman independent team tasked to examine the trade deal has warned. Under the terms of the EPA, the EU will liberalise its market for EAC goods by 100 per cent while EAC member states will liberalise their market by 82.6 per cent on a progressive basis over period of 25 years after signature.  If signed and ratified, the team hinted that it 'will be a kissing goodbye to the country's industrialisation vision'. Speaking yesterday during an awareness seminar for Members of Parliament, a University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Lecturer, Professor Palamagamba Kabudi, cautioned that the deal is only meant to under-develop Africa. He pointed out that the trade deal, which among others, prevents instituting new export duties and taxes, will make the country lose sovereignty right to negotiate on business. The don said though other countries in the EAC bloc have signed the deal, Tanzania should not rush into endorsing the agreement for it will badly affect the economy. "It is a bad deal. I don't advise the country to sign. Our economy will suffer," he cautioned, hinting that African products cannot compete with those from Europe. Another expert, Dr John Jingu, analysed that through the agreement, the EAC will have to commit to liberalising close to 82.6 per cent of all its imports for the EU by 2033. He argued that through this commitment,...

MORE COMMITMENT: Eriyo said progress is being made in some areas but all EAC Partner States remain largely non-compliant in their services trade liberalization commitments. KAMPALA, UGANDA - Partner states of the East African Community (EAC) are slow to open up their domestic markets and non-tariff barriers continue pose a problem, especially the liberalisation of services across the region.  The second EAC Common Market Scorecard (CMS) 2016 which evaluates implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol was launched last week in Kampala by the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration, Jesca Eriyo. Scorecard 2016, measures Partner States’ compliance to the free movement of capital, services, and goods and was developed by the World Bank Group together with TradeMark Africa (TMA) at the request of the EAC Secretariat. The Scorecard was developed over a period of 18 months under the supervision of the EAC Secretariat and Partner States. The areas of capital, services and goods were selected for scoping as they are fundamental to the operations of the Common Market. Eriyo said, “A number of reforms have been undertaken since the 2014 CMS.  These have brought the total number of non-conforming measures (NCMs) down from 63 in 2014 to 59 in 2016.  While this shows progress it should be noted that all EAC Partner States remain largely non-compliant in their services trade liberalization commitments.” Commenting on the latest results, Eriyo said the Scorecard is well aligned with the EAC’s implementation priorities. “It fosters peer learning and facilitate...

A group of Rwandan members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) are in the country on an outreach and sensitization mission. They have visited several borders to assess problems that hinder cross-border trade and travel and acquaint the border communities with East African Community (EAC) issues. While all border posts have their own unique problems, the Nemba One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) with Burundi’s concerns are mainly security issues since trade has come to a near standstill. But the vibrant and busy borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda are more concerned with trade and how the OSBP can be more beneficial. Most have been advocating for cross-border markets and the government and some of its partners such as Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) have taken heed. Streamlining trading issues will only enhance better cooperation and understanding among border communities. It will also improve the welfare of women as they dominate cross-border trade. So it comes as welcome news that TMA has a particular soft spot for women and has designed special programmes to empower them. But empowering one side of the border alone will not bring many benefits. TMA should duplicate what it is doing for Rwandan women across the other side of the borders of EAC member states. Just as Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda are marketing the country as a single tourist destination at this year’s London Expo, there is more strength in unity. A people who move in tandem are likely to travel further...