State Department for Trade Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo said although President Uhuru Kenyatta and his counterpart did not discuss EPA, the visit by the latter has “improved relations” between the two East African countries, which have in recent times taken a nose-dive.PHOTO: COURTESYTanzanian President John Magufuli yesterday jetted out of the country without uttering the term ‘EPA’. However, the Government believes the visit will go a long way in thawing the frosty relations between the two East African countries, especially after Tanzania declined to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). State Department for Trade Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo said although President Uhuru Kenyatta and his counterpart did not discuss EPA, the visit by the latter has “improved relations” between the two East African countries, which have in recent times taken a nose-dive. “President Magufuli spoke well, and we were all happy with the visit. It has helped a lot in improving our relations,” said Dr Kiptoo, for the first time admitting that relations between Dar es Salaam were frosty. Magufuli, famous for his frugality and spirited fight against graft, visited Kenya for the first time - a departure from the other Tanzanian heads of state who visited Kenya within a year of their presidency. “We did not discuss specific issues like EPA and the rest,” said Kiptoo. Kenyans had hoped the two-day visit by the Tanzanian President would help in resolving such issues as EPA. While Kenya has signed and ratified the trade agreement which allows the EU and EAC...

A model Bill to guide East Africa member states in streamlining freight forwarding industry has been drafted. A key proposal in the model Bill financed by Japan International Co-operation Agency is creation of competent national authorities in each member State to license customs agents and freight forwarding practitioners. The proposed law intends to create a competent authority that will regulate the sector and ensure professionalism in member States. FACE CHALLENGES The industry has been facing challenges related to service delivery, professionalism and self-regulation compounded by the implementation of the Single Customs Territory that expanded the scope of operations for customs, clearing and freight forwarding agents in the East African region. "Several meetings recommended self-regulation and accreditation of the industry as the most suitable option. Development of the model Bill was considered important in order to guarantee uniformity and harmony of the resultant national laws given that clearing agents and freight forwarders operate across borders," said John Mathenge, the executive director of the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations. Mr Mathenge was speaking in Mombasa during a workshop for East African stakeholders to validate the model Bill. Currently, competent authorities in East African Community that license customs agents and freight forwarding practitioners are customs departments of the revenue authorities in the region. Although this role is provided for in the East Africa Community Customs Management Act, the role of the freight forwarders and custom agents have not been properly provided for. "There are provisions for licensing but none on professional...

  President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta and DP William Ruto during the state banquet at State House, Nairobi, October 31. /PSCU Africa has the potential of being a donor continent if it unites and exploits its vast natural resources, Tanzanian President John Magufuli has said. Magufuli, when he was hosted for a state banquet by President Uhuru Kenyatta, expressed the need for African countries to partner in development for the benefit of their citizens. The current East African Community chairman assured Kenya of his support in accelerating the EAC agenda as well as enhancing regional development. "With EAC’s population of 165 million people, add the regional economic blocs of COMESA and SADC with a combined population of over 400 million people and other African economic blocs including ECOWAS, the continent is poised to become a donor community," he said on Monday night. President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta during the state banquet at State House, Nairobi, October 31. /PSCU He underscored the need for harnessing the vast natural resources in the five East African community member states towards economic development of the region. Magufuli also urged the African nations to guard against outside forces, with selfish motives, which could be fuelling turmoil within the continent. "For instance, there is no reason why the Democratic Republic of Congo with its vast natural resources would be wallowing in poverty," he said. President Kenyatta said the presence of a significant...

A bypass in the south of the Kenyan capital Nairobi was officially launched on Tuesday at a ceremony attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzanian counterpart John Pombe Magufuli. China's Exim Bank provided 85 percent of funding for the Nairobi southern bypass. The work was carried out by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, which is building a modern railway line in Kenya. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Kenyatta said the 28-km bypass, which links two major highways, will offer a durable solution to traffic congestion in Nairobi. "The southern bypass will help unclog traffic congestion in Nairobi's central business district that is created by trucks originating from the port of Mombasa and destined to western Kenya and large swathe of east and central Africa," Kenyatta said. Kenyatta said the modern road network would unleash economic and social benefits in Kenya and the wider eastern African region. "The Nairobi southern bypass will create new economic opportunities along its route. It will boost regional integration through faster movement of people and goods," said Kenyatta. The president lauded China's financial and technical support that has accelerated the modernization of transport infrastructure in Kenya. He added that Kenya would strengthen cooperation with China as it embarked on large-scale infrastructure development to hasten industrialization. Magufuli, who is also the current chairman of the East African Community, hailed China's contribution to infrastructure development in the region. "China has lent significant financial resources to expand and upgrade roads in this region. We look forward to...

President John Magufuli's two-day state visit to Kenya that ends today was undoubtedly one of the most awaited events in the region. Dr Magufuli had not been to the neighbouring country since he was sworn in as Tanzania's fifth President in November 2015. Even though it wasn't his first visit as President to another East Africa nation--he had been to Rwanda in early April and Uganda in early May--Dr Magufuli's arrival in Nairobi was undoubtedly very significant. In Kenya, there was a sigh of relief, for the naysayers had read bad blood in his apparent "lack of interest" towards the northern neighbour. And for Tanzania, the visit will go a long way to reinforce the fact that Dar and Nairobi value each other and that their partnership is for mutual development. The two countries comprise the largest economies in the region and as the founding partners of the EAC, their every move is significant to the welfare of the bloc. It is, therefore, not surprising that as elder EAC siblings, certain things haven't gone well as the two countries engaged in a race to strengthen their separate economies and positions of influence in the international community. While competition isn't bad, it shouldn't breed rivalry that could make it difficult for East Africans to live harmoniously, trade and integrate into one big nation headed for total unification.  Better relations It means, the significance of better relations between Tanzania and Kenya cannot be overemphasised. President Magufuli restated them yesterday during a joint...

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 14 that was held in Kenya was a huge milestone for the region. I was indeed honoured to be a panellist on the Ministerial Round Table, discussing Lowering hurdles for Trade: Trade Costs, Regulatory Convergence and Regional Integration at the conference. During the Ministerial Round Table that I was part of, it was collectively settled that while necessary and causative to sustainable development by fostering product standards, existing domestic regulations, in form of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs), present hurdles prohibitive to regional and international trade. In this 21st century business landscape, tariffs are just but the tip of the iceberg, contributing to just about 5 per cent of trade costs. Non-Tariff Measures are now king, constituting invisible barriers, roughly at 30 per cent of international trade costs. The Round Table sought to identify these measures and focus on where barriers can be lightened and regional harmonisation accomplished to boost inter and intra-regional trade, making the region more attractive to investment. Some of the opportunities that could come about through a cautious balance of policy harmonisation are regulation convergence and standardisation across markets, thereby reducing trade barriers, including the burgeoning telecommunications industry. Anticipated to contribute some $300 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2025 and expected to grow the East African market size to 128 billion USD by the end of 2016, the telecommunications industry has tolerated prevailing trade barriers at the regional level, distorting competitiveness as the market opens up to foreign and...

The East Africa Community member states failure to fully comply with the Common Market Protocol is hindering trade liberalisation in the region, a report shows. However, EAC deputy secretary general for finance and administration, Jesca Eriyo, said reforms undertaken since 2014 have reduced the number of non-conforming measures to 59 in 2016, down from 63 in 2014. Eriyo was speaking in Kampala, Uganda, during the launch of the EAC Common Market Scorecard 2016. “The scorecard will strengthen the regional market, grow the private sector, and deliver benefits to consumers,” Eriyo said. Scorecard 2016 measures partner states’ compliance to the free movement of capital, services, and goods. The World Bank group and Trade Mark East Africa took 18 months to develop the concept at the request of the EAC secretariat, which alongside partner states supervised its creation. The report shows Burundi continues to earn full points on recognition of certificates of origin, an issue repeatedly identified as a significant non-tariff barrier in 2014. Kenya continues to score 90 per cent. Tanzania’s recognition of certificates of origin has improved from 50 to 60 per cent, while Rwanda and Uganda’s scores have both declined, “indicating a worsening performance in terms of recognising certificates of origin of other EAC member states”. The EAC average of resolution for new NTBs for the 2016 period was about 54 per cent, better than the 38 per cent rate for common market scorecard 2014, she said. Eriyo called for greater information sharing on the treaty and protocol provisions....

  Traditional barter market From salt bars to bank notes, the system of trade in East Africa has come a long way over the course of 100 years. The numismatics exhibition taking place at the Nairobi National Museum traces the evolution of currency and exchange in East Africa, from pre-colonial through to modern times, as part of the 50 years’ celebration of the Central Bank of Kenya. Long before East Africans came into contact with outside traders, traditional African communities were exchanging goods and wares through barter trade, a system dating back to prehistoric times. At market days, which were a customary part of cultural life, some of the most valuable items of exchange were livestock, ironware, salt, weapons, beads, cowrie shells as well as were foodstuffs. Arab traders travelling through East Africa’s interior in search of ivory, slaves and other goods, were the first to introduce money as an alternative to the cumbersome salt bars normally used as payment. The currency introduced by the Arabs was an assortment of foreign coins which reflected the multi-national nature of the Indian Ocean sea trade. There were Indian rupees and annas, pice bronze coins, British florins, and silver Maria Theresa thalers that originated from Austria. When the 1885 Berlin Conference carved up Africa among the European powers, Uganda and Kenya were allocated to Britain. The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) that administered East Africa before it became a formal protectorate issued the Mombasa Coins between 1888-1890. These were minted in India...

EUROPE is in crisis, and yet countries in East Africa are ready to sign on a poorly understood trade agreement with the EU whose overall impact will be disastrous for years to come. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) will favour trade in the direction of Europe and stunt African progress. Tanzania has hesitated and called for public debate. Tanzania should provide the bold leadership required in the region to reject the EPA. It seems to me that the discussion on the EPA that is being pushed by Kenya, especially the flowers lobby, which does not understand the changes in the international situation. In 2016, Africans are a long way away from the era when British settler bigwigs in Kenya – Michael Blundell and Bruce McKenzie – could make decisions about the future of Africa. Then, they built the flowers trade as part of the lift capabilities of the British and European long term plans for Africa. These plans were thwarted by Tanzania and the liberation forces. In the period 1971-1990, there had been an attempt by the West to isolate Tanzania because Tanzania did not toe the line of the West on the future of Southern Africa. For a short while, especially the days of Nguvu Kazi, Tanzania was alone, yet Julius Nyerere did not blink. The present Tanzanian society is in a much better position than it was in 1984. The private sector has come out clearly against this Economic Partnership Agreement. Full Disclosure The Speaker of Parliament has...

By Anita Chepkoech The East African Community (EAC) is yet to fully implement the common market protocols which were meant to boost the region's trade, a new report has shown. The second East African Community Common Market Scorecard 2016 (CMS 2016) launched in Kampala, Uganda on Thursday shows that Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi still run their trades as separate and distinct markets, keeping their economies small and disconnected due to several bottlenecks in the regulations. This was blamed on failure by individual states to lift legal barriers like recognition of business certificates from each other and double taxation. This is despite EAC presidents having signed the treaty to give the countries freedom of movement of goods, labour, services, and capital, which would significantly boost trade and investment and make the region more productive and prosperous. The protocol was signed on November 20, 2009 and came into force on July 1, 2010. "While there is positive progress, states have remained largely non-compliant in their services and trade liberalisation commitments," said Ms Jesca Eriyo, the EAC deputy secretary-general in charge of finance and administration during the launch of the report. She said the first scorecard launched in 2014 had raised similar concerns stating that regional trade in goods was being constrained by not less than 51 non-tariff barriers. NON-CONFORMING MEASURES Efforts to freely offer cross-border services such as professional services, distribution, transport and communication were slowed down by at least 63 non-conforming measures while only two of the 20 operations...