IN SUMMARY The government said the lifting of the ban was prompted by forecast of surpluses. However, exporters will still require permits for rice and maize, and quotas will also be introduced to limit the export quantities. The measures also appear to be aimed at reining in middlemen who capitalise on the harvest season and cash needs of farmers to buy produce at low prices, denying the growers high prices later, and entrenching poverty. Though EAC is a Customs Union, trade in food is one of the sensitive areas that are left to national interests especially with regard to the terms of importing food during deficits and exporting in times of surpluses. However, there are Custom external tariffs for importing maize, wheat and sugar from which countries can seek exemptions in a bid to make the goods affordable by citizens. Tanzania is set to introduce new rules on food exports after it lifted a ban that had seen Uganda become the main source of grains in the region. The government said the lifting of the ban was prompted by forecast of surpluses. However, exporters will still require permits for rice and maize, and quotas will also be introduced to limit the export quantities. The Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Charles Tizeba, said the new rules were meant to curb practices that jeopardise food security such as pre-harvest sale of produce. “As of now, a company could be permitted to export even 350,000 tonnes of a food crop at a go. This volume is about two times the capacity...

RE: “Why EAC needs a regional currency” (The New Times, September 13). Look at the straitjacket that is the euro for the mostly southernmost (with Ireland as the exception) member states of the EU (the so-called PIIGS - i.e. Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) and be extremely wary of single currency systems involving countries at different levels of economic development, and which deprive the individual members of their ability to use currency valuation as an instrument of monetary and economic policy adjustment. Until our economies are better aligned, we must device alternatives to a single currency to reduce transaction costs of having to use the dollar intra-EAC trade. Mwene Kalinda ********************* The East African Community (EAC) does not need a common currency like the euro at this time. This would require multiple financial and economical adjustments which we are not ready for now. What is needed is a stable and sustainable means of payment across multiple borders. A common currency for EAC does not need to be a real currency at all — as long as it can facilitate transaction and reconciliation of accounts. A very good model for this payment mechanism is the special drawing rights (SDR) as used by the IMF. We could do something similar but tied to the relative value of the national currencies of the EAC partner states. The exchange rate could be revised weekly if necessary. In my opinion, this solution bypasses outside influence on our internal commerce and is sustainable. It does...

PARTICIPANTS to the East Africa workshop on the development of national and regional regulations and standards on lead and paint have called for the harmonisation of rules and regulations of the lead paint in the region so that they reach one gram in one kilogramme. Reading the workshop recommendations, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Senior Programme Officer, Eisaku Toda, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that participants also agreed on the need to amend the lead paint limit in the East African Community (EAC) paint standards. “Participants acknowledged the leadership of EAC and the importance of harmonisation of the 90 ppm total lead limit for paint throughout the region in support of the continental free trade area,” he said. Tanzania and Kenya national efforts were recognised during the meeting by being amongst the first to establish the lead limit for paints in all paints produced, sold, used and imported. Moreover, he said, Tanzania agreed to develop a justification to amend the EAC lead paint standards by October, this year, while Kenya offered to explore hosting a regional harmonisation meeting to a draft amended EAC standards for lead in paints, next steps and timeline for finalisation. Mr Toda said they also called for the need to come up with challenges on the implementation of the lead limit in paint but called on the importance of raising awareness among the public on the health and mental effects caused by the cumulative toxic in lead. On her part, World Health Organisation (WHO) scientist,...

NAIROBI (HAN) September 14.2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. By Allan Olingo and Fred Oluoch. You have just finalised your travel plans: Done your budget, reserved the tickets and accommodation and confirmed your passport is up to date. Then it hits you: You don’t have any information on a visa for the African country you are visiting. You assume it will be easy to get a visa as everything has been taken care of. But should you? Have you been to the embassy, filled out the forms, paid the fee and waited for the visa to be processed? Take visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo or Nigeria, for instance. If you have journalist under “Occupation,” you must get a written approval from the Ministry of Information in Kinshasa or Abuja, before the embassy in Nairobi issues you with a visa. This will cost you $200, on top of the $50 visa fee. While Mauritius, Rwanda and recently Benin are the leading examples of visa-free countries for Africans, Ghana from July introduced a visa-on-arrival policy for citizens of African Union member states. But national sovereignty, irregular immigration flows, xenophobia, terrorism and refugees still make African countries hesitant to adopt a visa-free Africa or even adopt the African Union passport. Cristiano D’Orsi, a lecturer in international legal protection for asylum-seekers at the University of Pretoria said that most countries on the continent have shown visa barriers for other African nationals. “The best reason put forward for this has been the economic burden...

FUNDING of entrepreneurial ventures will feature prominently in the maiden East African Business and Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition, which is slated for October 10 in Nairobi, Kenya. The three-day event, organised by the East African Business Council, in partnership with national investment agencies in the East African Community, will also throw a special look on women entrepreneurs, according to Angelika Farhan, EABC’s business development manager. “There are numerous programmes that  promote women entrepreneurs. Many women have an extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit but with limited access to financing,” Farhan said last week. “We want to show their power, energy and opportunities by inviting many female speakers who can report on their success stories. I was impressed by how many women entrepreneurs are active and successful in the ICT sector.” Organisers expect up to 300 participants from the infrastructure, manufacturing, and energy sectors, as well as from the ICT and leather and textile industries, and financing institutions. Policy-makers and top representatives of relevant international organisations will participate. “We expect Kenyan First Lady Margaret Kenyatta to host a special ladies dinner to encourage women to participate in this important networking event,” he said. Ladies showing the bedspread they make in Kitenge clothe at Cocoki Design Sewing. Christine Rukera, owner of Premium Cayenne Pepper, a Rwandan pepper producing firm, told The New Times that women entrepreneurs “for a long time had been dogged by financial constraints, not only loans from banks but also in accessing family funds.” “What took them so long to figure out...

Dar es Salaam — The refusal by Tanzania to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) - hailed as bold and nationalistic at home but raising more questions than answers among regional partners - has put the country back in the spotlight. It seems for the country's older East African Community (EAC) siblings - Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, mostly - the decision to snub trade agreements with the European Union is somewhat otherworldly, not normal. Apparently, the EAC brothers struggle to see how Tanzania could continue to flirt with something they consider so 'important' to any future deals the region will have with the outside world. Within the six-member regional bloc, Tanzania has for years now had a tendency to split opinion on matters that range from political to economic integration. The dust it has raised in the bloc over the past few weeks after it refused to sign EPAs is not new. On many other issues, the country has been at loggerheads with fellow EAC members accusing it of making decisions and, at critical moments, bringing up arguments that slow down the envisaged political and economic integration. But the Tanzanian authorities have always directly and indirectly dismissed criticism levelled against the country as the lobbying of 'vested interests' and those determined to use integration for their own ends. And now, the EPA stalemate has brought the question to the fore once again - by not going along with the rest of the team is Tanzania being selfish and inconsiderate? Addressing...

East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 13 September 2016:The officials from the Departments of Trade, Customs and Infrastructure of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by Transport Facilitation  and Policy Expert, Mr. Appiah Christian  and Trademark East Africa led by Director General, David Stanton  today paid a working visit to the EAC Headquarters and held discussions with the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko and other EAC Senior officials. The purpose of their visit was to gain insight on major developments realized as well as challenges experienced within the EAC especially on areas of Trade and Customs, Investment, and infrastructure  as well as sharing  experience of the same from ECOWAS. In his welcoming remarks, the Secretary General hailed the good relationship  between EAC and ECOWAS  as well as the increasing opportunities for  inter-regional trade brought about by the establishment of regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa. Amb. Mfumukeko, emphasised the increasing collaboration between the EAC and ECOWAS. He said the EAC was keen on what ECOWAS has attained in the area of financial integration and movements of people. Noting the establishment of a tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) between the East African Community (EAC), South African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Secretary General said he looked forward to the FTA linking up with ECOWAS and other RECs to form an African Continental FTA (CFTA). Accompanying the Secretary General, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning...

The Minister for Natural Resources, Dr Vincent Biruta (L), and Dr Josua Dione, senior advisor to the African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, sign the 'Kigali Declaration' that paves way for the establishment of the Climate Application and Prediction Centre for Central Africa in Kigali on Monday. / Timothy Kisambira Rwanda has become the first country to sign up to a framework that paves the way for the establishment of the Climate Application and Prediction Centre for Central Africa, which will serve the 11 member states of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). The centre, whose creation was agreed upon during the last ECCAS Heads of State and Government Summit held in Chad in May, last year, will provide much needed support to the bloc’s member states in terms of recording data, as well as forecasting and sharing information related to weather and climatic conditions. The centre, which will be hosted in Cameroon, is expected to start operations next year. Rwanda on Monday signed up to the Kigali Declaration on the Establishment of the Climate Application and Prediction Centre for Central Africa on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation for Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) User Forum in Africa, a gathering of global climate specialists and meteorologists. Participants follow proceedings at the EUMETSAT meeting in Kigali. / Timothy Kisambira The declaration represents the strongest commitment to date to make the centre a reality, officials said. Other member states are expected to sign the document...

Heads of two leading travel agencies in Kigali say they have sustained major financial losses due to the border closure between Burundi and Rwanda. In late July, the Burundi government suspended food exports to Rwanda – allegedly due to drought – and Burundian security officers have since prevented passengers’ buses from crossing the border. Relations between Burundi and Rwanda have soured since Burundi’s President Nkurunziza, who was elected for a controversial third term in July 2015, accused Rwanda of supporting rebels in Burundi. Volcano Express and Yahoo car Express, which carry passengers between Burundi and Rwanda, and Uganda and Kenya, have seen a sharp decline in business. Movement is virtually at a standstill; there are no passengers, some bus routes in Burundi have stopped, and businesses are no longer making cross border transactions. Olivier Nizeyimana is the Managing Director of Volcano Express. Some of his buses registered in Burundi are simply waiting inside the country, doing nothing. “Our buses are locked there. Some escaped by other borders, but they were empty. The government should respect our business, as we are paying taxes”, he says. On July 30th, Burundian Vice President, Joseph Butore ordered the Police to prevent all traders from taking products into Rwanda. Previously, many passengers were businessmen from the region, as well as relatives of families that have fled to Rwanda and Uganda due to crisis. No more fruits on Rwandan market Since the closure of border, Rwanda is experiencing significant shortages of food imported from Burundi, including...

IN SUMMARY “Countries in this region have big infrastructure projects going on. These must in future be consistent with the EAC macroeconomic and monetary union convergence criteria,” he said. Mega infrastructure projects in East Africa may stop once the monetary union is put in place seven years from now to avoid breaching the regional fiscal deficit and debt policies. East African Community (EAC) countries will be forced to stick to the three per cent maximum fiscal deficit as opposed to the current situation where Kenya is at 9.4 per cent deficit — largely due to the construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR). Bank of Uganda (BoU) deputy governor Louis Kasekende said countries in the region would have to ensure their infrastructure or other spending ambitions are in line with the fiscal deficit ceiling set under the monetary convergence criteria. “Countries in this region have big infrastructure projects going on. These must in future be consistent with the EAC macroeconomic and monetary union convergence criteria,” he said. The BoU deputy governor was speaking during a symposium called by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as part of its celebration of 50 years since it was set up. In Kenya’s case the fiscal deficit has been hovering around 8-11 per cent in the past few years, though it is projected to come down in the coming years. READ: EAC's mounting debt, a recipe for regional crisis The fall in the deficit is associated with the conclusion of the SGR. Kenya borrowed...