African countries should unite and form their own common market to bolster preferential trade required to drive economic growth and development, an official has said. African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said this while officially opening the 32nd Ordinary Session of the AU Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) in Kigali, Rwanda on Sunday.Dr Dhlamini-Zuma said opening up of markets, liberalization of economies and facilitating free movement of people across the continent were key elements in driving Africa’s economic growth and development. To further Africa’s economic growth and development agenda, the AU is pursuing various initiatives including creating a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) to boost intra-African trade. Another initiative is the launch of the AU Passport, a flagship project of Africa’s Agenda 2063 aimed at facilitating free movement of persons, goods and services around the continent -in order to foster intra-Africa trade, integration and socio-economic development. “The world is moving towards mega trading blocks, that all exclude us, and the Doha development round of negotiations have failed to even start. Unless we unite to form our African common market, the little bit of preferential trade we have at the moment, will be further eroded,” said Dhlaminin-Zuma. “If we continue building momentum on the continental free movement of people and on the Continental Free Trade Area it will create better conditions for our traders, farmers, business, entrepreneurs and innovators to invest trade with each other and build Pan African companies and brand.” The PRC meeting kicked off the mid-term African Union summit which...

The Kiswahili proverb 'Mgeni njoo, mwenyeji apone,' which translates to let the guest come so that the host or hostess may benefit, can describe better the one-day state visit of India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi in Tanzania on Sunday. The Indian leader was on a tour of four countries in Africa to drum up business between India and African countries and tie up energy and trade deals. He had visited Mozambique and South Africa and left for Kenya later on Sunday. He and his host, President John Magufuli signed five agreements, including one to provide credit amounting to 92 million dollars to improve water accessibility on the island of Zanzibar where India will extend a line of credit for the rehabilitation and improvement of the water supply system for the semi-autonomous island. The Indian leader said India would also offer a 500 million Dollars of concessional credit for water supply connections to 17 cities in addition to an existing 100 million Dollars. The two leaders had agreed to deepen diplomatic and economic ties in agriculture, food security, trade, natural gas and other vital sectors. Under food security, India and Tanzania agreed on investments to boost export of pulses to India to help the Asian economic powerhouse to ease the shortage of pulses in the country that has led to a spurt in prices. According to President Magufuli he had asked the Indian leader to invest in motor vehicle and motorcycles assembling plants in Tanzania for India to expand footprint in...

Burundi peace talks under the facilitation of former Tanzania president, Benjamine Mkapa are schedule to resume on July 12 in Arusha, Organisers said on Saturday. Mkapa said he is willing to meet Burundians who were not represented in the first dialogue. A communication Officer with the East African Community (EAC) and organizer of the talks, Richard Othieno said more than 70 politicians and civil society groups from Burundi were expected at the talks. He added that the 75 participants will include former heads of state,representatives of political parties, religious leaders, civil society organizations, women and youths and representatives of the Burundi Chamber of Commerce. “Different groups from Burundi have expressed their willingness of showing up and participating in the dialogue, and reports that some will skip the occasion are baseless and unfounded,” said Othieno. The two-day talks follow the completion of the first round which came to an end in May. The peace talks from the EAC come amidst reports that some delegates were expected to impede the crucial dialogue, aimed at finding a lasting solution to the political crisis in the tiny central African country. More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and over 500, 000 people fled to neighboring countries, mostly Tanzania, Rwanda and the DRC, since the chaos started last year in the capital Bujumbura. Source: Africa News

Arusha — East African businesses will tomorrow engage key agencies to facilitate trade in Tanzania. "The meeting aims at providing solutions to enhance business environment in Tanzania, hence increase intra-EAC trade," said the East African Business Council (EABC) chief executive officer, Ms Lilian Awinja, said. EABC, the East African Community Secretariat, Trademark East Africa and the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation will host a public-private dialogue (PPD) with key trade facilitation agencies. PPD is a structured, participatory, and inclusive approach to policymaking. It is directed at reforming governance and the business climate, especially where other policy institutions are underperforming. The business community will engage the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) and the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) on trade issues, according to an EABC statement. The forum will bring together stakeholders from public and the private sectors to discuss major developments as well as address key challenges facing entrepreneurs across the EAC in conducting trade in Tanzania. Businesses will seeking an understanding of new developments with regard to the work of trade facilitation agencies and clarifications on issues affecting their businesses. Specifically, the key objectives of the forum is to provide an opportunity to TBS officials to interact with the EAC business community on various requirements regarding compliance with standards in Tanzania. It will also offer an opportunity for TRA officials to discuss with business executives on various tax requirements and compliance, particularly those that are applied to goods from...

Summary Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his four-country trip to East Africa in Uganda on July 4 before heading to Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. It was the first visit by a sitting Israeli prime minister to the region since 1987. In a bid to bolster Israeli-East African ties, the prime minister held talks with his counterparts on increasing cooperation on security and economic matters. Official comments professing mutual dependence aside, the trip is unlikely to yield huge benefits given Israel's relatively small size. Analysis Israel's ambitions in East Africa are modest, with trade remaining low as a result: Israeli exports to all of Africa in 2015 amounted to $1 billion, or just 2 percent of its total exports. Business ties are informal, in most cases offshoots of direct personal relationships. For example, Ugandan officials, including longtime President Yoweri Museveni, made frequent trips to Israel in recent years. During these visits, friendships were forged with powerful Israeli figures, including former Mossad official Rafi Eitan, who is an advocate for more Israeli investment in Uganda. Yet despite these signs of warm relations, neither country has a diplomatic mission in the other. Symbolically, though, Netanyahu's first destination, Uganda, holds great emotional resonance for Israelis — and, most notably, for the prime minister himself. His visit coincided with the 40th anniversary of the famous Entebbe raid, when Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos freed 103 hostages held by Palestinian and Red Army Faction terrorists at the Entebbe International Airport. Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, commander of Sayeret Matkal,...

By Zephania Ubwani Arusha — East African Community (EAC) officials say they are shocked by renewed fighting in South Sudan which until yesterday had claimed hundreds of lives. "We don't know exactly what is happening in Juba and not aware of what's going on," remarked an official of the Secretariat when reached for comment. Nevertheless, he said, the deteriorating security in the country which was recently admitted into the bloc was a setback to the EAC and efforts underway to integrate it into the community. He hinted that senior executives at the Arusha-based secretariat are likely to consult today in order to assess the situation which has raised deep concerns across the entire bloc and possibly issue a statement. "What's happening in South Sudan is not good at all and we hope both sides will lay down arms," he said on condition of anonymity, noting he was encouraged by the televised overtures made by President Salva Kiir and his Vice President Riek Machar on the weekend to end the clashes. He added that renewed fighting had come at a time when EAC was contemplating to send its team of officials to assess the level of readiness of the strife-torn country to integrate with EAC after its admission into EAC on March 2 and signing of an Accession Protocol by President Kiir in Dar es Salaam in April. A business consultant based in Arusha, Mr Simon Mapolu, said the current deadly clashes in South Sudan were enough reflection of the deep...

By Lydia Shekighenda Several scholars and economists have backed the government's move to drop the Economic Agreement Partnership (EPA), saying it is in line with its priority of creating an industrialised economy. Interviewed by the 'Sunday News' separately in Dar es Salaam yesterday, they said that the move will not only protect domestic industries but also the revenue earned by the government through importation of goods from European Union (EU) countries. "If Tanzania will decide to sign the protocol, it would mean allowing the importation of duty free and quota free goods from the EU - thus imposing stiff competition with domestic manufacturers," one of them, Mzumbe University's Professor Honest Ngowi said. He noted that industries within the EU were well protected; meaning that importation of goods from the countries will make local manufacturers fail to compete in the market. Prof Ngowi further explained that the government has been getting revenue from goods imported from the EU, which also means that it stands to lose the earnings if it will endorse the protocol. "This is a right move for the protection of domestic industries and government revenue," Prof Ngowi stressed. He, however, noted that Tanzania, as an East African Community (EAC) member state, agreed to sign the protocol as a bloc. Therefore, its decision to drop the agreement may be received in a different way by other partner states, which might consider it as a slow moving or unwilling partner. He observed that in the long run, the government should...

Next week the African Union (AU) will issue the first e-passports to allow holders to travel visa-free between its 54 member-states. At first, the heads of state, foreign ministers and permanent representatives of member-states, will be the main passport holders. The ultimate aim of the AU is to gradually issue these passports to all Africans. This would be even more ambitious than the Schengen Area established by the European Union. The free movement of labour and goods is a key goal in the 2063 agenda, the AU’s 50 year action plan, to further continental integration. Much of Africa’s trade is still with European and Asian powers, particularly China, rather than between African countries. But there are regional trends towards free movement. Visa-free travel is already permitted between Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which includes Nigeria. While the East African Community (EAC) is planning to establish its own regional passport in 2017. Critics have raised concerns of the spread of infectious diseases, as well as terrorist networks and smuggling, across borders. With just six member-states, the EAC is the most advanced union in Africa and may well try to establish a monetary union in coming years. The Financial Times provides an overview of African integration. Source: The World

A fresh diplomatic row is brewing between Kenya and Tanzania over the neighbouring country’s reluctance to sign a trade deal with the European Union. Tanzania last week said it will not sign the Economic Partnership Agreement between the East African Community and the EU. It says it needs to monitor developments following Britain’s successful June 23 referendum vote to leave the EU. The signing of the EPA by the EAC was set for July 18 ahead of its ratification deadline by the European Commission on October 1, 2016. Kenya has accused Tanzania of “intentionally” blocking her by refusing to sign the EPA. Tanzania Foreign Affairs PS Aziz Mlima said the government will not sign the deal aimed at giving East African states, as a bloc, duty-free and quota-free market access into the EU. “Tanzania wants to capitalise on its access as a least developed country to increase its market share against Kenya,” a ministry official privy to the negotiation process told the Star. If Tanzania backs out, it will jeopardise the process for the second time after a similar move in 2014. Kenyan exports to the EU will attract duty of between five per cent and 22 per cent, like it happened in 2014 when Kenya was placed under the General System Preference trade regime for three months. As a result, the country’s private sector suffered losses estimated to be Sh600 million per month before successfully lobbying to be reinstated to duty-free status. About 87 per cent of Kenya’s exports...

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda are losing about $2 billion in revenue every year to foreign investors through generous tax incentives. Tax Justice Network-Africa (TJN-A) and ActionAid International figures show Kenya loses $1.1 billion, Tanzania $790 million, Uganda 370 million and Rwanda $176 million in unnecessary tax holidays, capital gains tax allowances and royalty exemptions. On its part, Burundi lost $52 million to firms or officials who were given tax exemptions to import goods to build infrastructure and instead sold the materials. TJN-A and ActionAid said policymakers in the region have spoken about revising tax policies but questions abound on how these tax incentives will be revised, costed and phased out, and the government’s resources and expertise to carry out the exercise. The report by TJN-A and ActionAid titled “Still racing towards the bottom? Corporate tax incentives in East Africa,” reveals tax incentives are fuelling competition for investors and derailing harmonisation of policies, thereby undermining integration. “Though there have been improvements in recent years in addressing the issue, governments continue to give away domestic resources in tax incentives,” said ActionAid Tanzania’s country director Yaekob Metena. The report said the real cost of incentives remains hidden in all five EAC countries as there are neither mechanisms nor demands for accountability to reveal the huge revenue losses happening. Mr Metena said there is a need for a shift in policy as political, financial national and institutional authorities admit tax incentives harmful to revenue mobilisation need to be revised if not altogether eliminated....