Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will receive $5.3 million (about Sh12 billion) of TradeMark Africa’s (TMA) support for empowerment of women entrepreneurs, the regional not-for-profit company said yesterday. The money is meant to empower women entrepreneurs in Tanzania by helping them to get access to the wider markets across member states of the East African Community (EAC), according to the director for TMA’s Tanzania branch, Mr John Ulanga. “A total of $5.3 million will be issued to empower women entrepreneurs in Tanzania in a period of six years and today,” Mr Ulanga said during a function to announce a Sh500 million funding to Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce (TWCCIA). The money is meant to help TWCCIA in their project on cross-border trading endeavours while the remaining Sh11.5 billion will also be issued to various women entrepreneurial groups in line with need and requirements. Mr Ulanga said the TMA Women and Trade (WaT) programme seeks to increase incomes and improve livelihoods for women traders and women-owned enterprises through capacity building, addressing trade barriers and advocacy for policies that will create an enabling environment for them to thrive. He said a survey has shown that 70 per cent of cross-border businesses are done by women traders but that for a long time, they have been marginalised by a series of obstacles and barriers that range from geographical to gender and from financial to legal and exclusion. “It is therefore important to continually advocate for balanced frameworks and policy change that will nurture the...

In Summary The money is meant to empower women entrepreneurs in Tanzania by helping them to get access to the wider markets across member states of the East African Community (EAC), according to the director for TMA’s Tanzania branch, Mr John Ulanga. Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will receive $5.3 million (about Sh12 billion) of TradeMark Africa’s (TMA) support for empowerment of women entrepreneurs, the regional not-for-profit company said yesterday. The money is meant to empower women entrepreneurs in Tanzania by helping them to get access to the wider markets across member states of the East African Community (EAC), according to the director for TMA’s Tanzania branch, Mr John Ulanga. “A total of $5.3 million will be issued to empower women entrepreneurs in Tanzania in a period of six years and today,” Mr Ulanga said during a function to announce a Sh500 million funding to Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce (TWCCIA). The money is meant to help TWCCIA in their project on cross-border trading endeavours while the remaining Sh11.5 billion will also be issued to various women entrepreneurial groups in line with need and requirements. Mr Ulanga said the TMA Women and Trade (WaT) programme seeks to increase incomes and improve livelihoods for women traders and women-owned enterprises through capacity building, addressing trade barriers and advocacy for policies that will create an enabling environment for them to thrive. He said a survey has shown that 70 per cent of cross-border businesses are done by women traders but that for a long...

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...

Dodoma — MPs yesterday unanimously advised the government against signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the East African Community member states. According to the lawmakers, EPA in its current form is bad for the country's economic development and should be rejected. The government, through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, tabled the agreement in Parliament on Monday, seeking MPs advice on the way forward. A day earlier, MPs were familiarised with EPA's contents by three academics from the University of Dar es Salaam - Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, Dr John Jingu and Dr Ng'wanza Kamata - who all urged Tanzania to reject the deal.  Debating the agreement yesterday, MPs from both the ruling CCM and Opposition maintained that the agreement was not in favour of Tanzania's development vision, and should be renegotiated on terms that would take into account the country's interests. However, a handful of legislators advised the government to propose the way forward after rejecting the deal. Ms Saada Mkuya (Welezo-CCM) said the move would affect development cooperation between EU and Tanzania, particularly with regard to aid. "Yes, we are rejecting this deal because it is bad for our economy, but how far are we prepared to deal with the consequences? I suggest that we start to prepare early and allocate funds in the next budget for implementing development projects currently financed by the EU," the former Finance minister said. "The minister (Mr Charles Mwijage) should also go to Zanzibar and inform members...

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...