The local private sector has for the past many years complained about the numerous non-tariff barriers (NTB) along the Central Corridor, saying this was affecting their businesses and competitiveness. However, with the recent commitnent by the governments of Rwanda and the Republic of Tanzania to renew and to strengthen bilateral and economic ties, the situation is expected to improve. The Central Corridor is key to Rwanda as it covers a shorter distance to the sea port of Dar es Sallam compared to Mombasa port on the Northern Corridor. The route has hitherto been chanracterised by many NTBs, forcing Rwandan businesses to opt for the Mombasa route. The central corridor has been characterised by unharmonised trade policies, numerous checkpoints along the route, congestion at Dar es Salaam port, and theft, among others. However, as the two governments move to foster trade relations, experts are optimistic the move could turn around trade between the two countries. Experts say the development opens doors for trade partnerships and accelerated investments between the two countries. Francois Kanimba, the Minister for Trade and Industry, said that improving business and bilateral ties between Rwanda and Tanzania will increase trade flow, boosting Rwanda’s exports to Tanzania. “Indeed, this is a milestone in scaling up the campaign on trade development, trade facilitation and investment promotion,” Kanimba said. He reiterated government commitment toward strengthening relations and creating a conducive business environment to further improve trade between the two countries. The minister argued that Rwanda and Tanzania have been important trading...

Regional governments have been urged to make policies that support small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the East African community (EAC) to spur the bloc’s growth, as well as bridge skills gap through knowledge transfer. Nathan Irumba, the Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) regional executive director, said this is important for EAC to promote such regulations, arguing that some EAC countries are pursuing policies that hinder business growth, especially for SMEs. Irumba was speaking during a regional meeting to discuss ways on how EAC can attract more investments that was held in Kampala last week. The two-day forum, held under the theme’ “Making investment work for the people of East African Community”, attracted regional business leaders, government officials, SME sector players, and other stakeholders from across the region. It called for investment friendly policies, and urged EAC governments to only sign trade deals that support sustainable development and improve lives of East Africans. Addressing participants, Irumba said EAC private sector and citizens have not benefitted much from foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the region, arguing that “we don’t understand the models that shape them”. He said it is important to understand what drives FDIs, especially where trade deals are involved if the EAC bloc is to benefit from investments that come into the region. His remarks were echoed by Uganda’s representative at the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Fred Mukasa Mbidde, who argued that most FDIs come with ‘strings attached’. “Foreign firms sometimes invest in our countries...

The EAC Secretary General, Hon, Amb Liberat Mfumukeko, yesterday afternoon took Oath of Allegiance as an Ex-Officio of the Assembly as the 6th Meeting of the 4th Session commenced in Arusha, Tanzania. Hon, Amb Liberat Mfumukeko was sworn in by the Clerk to the Assembly in a brief ceremony witnessed by the Speaker and Members of EALA in line with the Rule 5 of the Rules and Procedures of the Assembly. The Rule 5(4) of the Rules of Procedure say in part that: “No Member can sit or participate in the proceedings of the House until the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance to the Treaty is taken”. Rule 5(5) specifically states that “when a Member first attends to take his or her seat other than at the first sitting of a new House, he or she shall be brought to the table by two Members and presented by them to the Speaker who shall then administer the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance”.  Hon Mfumukeko was ushered in to the House by EALA Members, Hon Isabelle Ndahayo and Hon Hafsa Mossi.  Hon,Amb Mfumukeko was appointed during the February 2016 Summit of EAC Heads of State to replace Hon, Amb Dr Richard Sezibera. Prior to the appointment as Secretary General, Hon. Mfumukeko was the Deputy Secretary General, Finance and Administration at the EAC. Hon,Amb Liberat Mfumukeko has over twenty one years’ work experience in both private and public sector.  Prior to joining the EAC, Hon Amb Mfumukeko was the Director General of the Burundi...

Ms Shy-Rose Bhanji (Tanzania) termed the speech as enlightening and said it had laid ground on a number of important matters in the integration agenda. The Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, delivered the State of EAC Address on behalf of the President of Tanzania and Chair of the Summit of EAC Heads of State, President Magufuli, at the commencement of theMeeting of the 4th Session of the 3rd Assembly on March 8 in Dar es Salaam. In the speech, Mr Majaliwa gave a score-card on a number of areas related to the pillars of integration. The speech highlighted the adoption of the use of One-Stop Business Posts (OSBPs) as a trade facilitation concept to minimise delays at the border posts and on the major corridors in the region. The House was informed that out of the 15 borders earmarked to operate as OSBPs, seven had been completed and four others were operating as OSBPs using bilateral agreements. Mr Abubakar Zein from Kenya reiterated that it was necessary for the region to contain corruption and remove bad governance in order to realise progress of the EAC, while Mr Mike Sebalu of Uganda termed disasters as a matter that the region must collectively address. Ms Mumbi Ngaru termed sensitisation as fundamental, adding that there was need for more adequate funding, a sentiment that was echoed by Mr Bernard Mulengani and Mr Frederic Ngenzebuhoro as well. On her part, Ms Judith Pareno said that East Africans continued to face a number of challenges...

Ethiopia has received significant investor interest from regional and emerging markets with the country registering double digit growth and implementing sound policies. Ethiopia has also been identified as the next central East African trade hub. Head of Africa Trading at Rand Merchant Bank, Roy Daniels, joins CNBC Africa to discuss this. Source: CNBC Africa

There has been a lot of hand-wringing, and even alarm, in Kenya since Uganda decided to route its oil pipeline through Tanzania and Rwanda gave up the standard gauge railway and also decided to go with a line through Tanzania. There have been cries that Kenya is being “isolated” by the other East African countries. Surprising, really, because one would have thought that after so many years as the region’s leading economy, Kenya would be a little more confident than it is sounding. But there is something else. The focus on big infrastructure has partially to do with patriotic vanity and even nationalist ego rather than how countries in the region fuel each other’s development. For example, one of the fanciest hospitals and East Africa’s first tele-medicine hospital is Butaro, in western Rwanda. It was built in one of the most far-flung parts of the country. There was criticism when the hospital was being built, with accusations that it was a “waste” to locate it in the wilderness and that it would turn into a white elephant. It might well have, except there was something no one had factored in during the plan. The hospital is not far off from Uganda, and that region of Uganda had no decent hospital. Shortly after opening, hundreds of Ugandans swept across the border, travelling to be attended to at the hospital. That, and other local factors, changed the story of Butaro. Near my hometown in eastern Uganda, a low profile Italian Catholic order...

Tanzania plans to invest $1.9 billion each year by 2025 in energy projects in a bid to end power shortages and boost industrial growth in East Africa's second-biggest economy, its prime minister said. Tanzania aims to boost power generation capacity to 10,000 megawatts from around 1,500MW at present, using natural gas and coal and reducing its dependence on hydro power sources. "Tanzania’s electricity sector faces another important challenge. As it is heavily dependent on hydropower, energy provision cannot be ascertained in times of drought," Tanzania's prime minister, Kassim Majaliwa, said in a statement late on Tuesday. "Severe and recurrent droughts in the past few years triggered a devastating power crisis as electricity generation in most of the hydropower stations have progressively been declining in recent years, occasionally resulting in long hours of power black outs." Majaliwa said the government wants to see more private capital investment in the energy sector. "The projected power projects funding exceeds the existing government fiscal space," he said. "To attract private capital, the government is improving institutional set up, legal and regulatory frameworks." Investors have long complained that lack of reliable power was one of the obstacles of doing business in Tanzania. Tanzania said last week Japan's Koyo Corporation plans to invest $1 billion in a gas-fired power plant near big offshore natural gas fields off the African country's southern shore. Source: CNBC Africa

It’s already Nigeria’s largest city, but it’s still growing – and fast. The population of Lagos is predicted to increase by an astonishing 77 people every hour between 2010 and 2030, according to United Nations data, making it the fastest-growing city in Africa. Strong economic growth, led by an oil boom, has driven the rural poor towards the city, and the population surge is also being driven by high birth rates and the return of Nigerians living abroad. Image: UN World Urbanisation Prospects, 2014 Following in second place is Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Cairo completes the top three. The figures are calculated using actual population figures for 2010 and forecasts for the likely populations in 2030, taken from 2014’s UN World Urbanization Prospects report. Can the infrastructure keep up? Seventy-seven people an hour. That’s 1,848 people a day, or 12,946 a week, or 56,179 a month – roughly the equivalent of the entire population of Greenland moving to Lagos every month. The big question is whether Africa’s urban infrastructure can keep up. Lagos already suffers from electricity supply problems and its road system is nearly paralysed. However, $50 billion worth of new infrastructure is due to transform the city. A rapid-transport system, new power plants and Africa’s first suspension bridge are planned to make life easier for Lagos residents. This is a pattern repeated across Africa, as expanding populations put a strain on urban resources. However, African cities are acting to build resilience and reduce the risks associated with expanding populations. In an article for...

LUSAKA Africa remains the second-fastest growing economic region after East Asia, says a report. It, however, notes there is need for a higher expansion rate, if the continent is to make a meaningful dent in poverty levels. The report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) said the continent’s average growth is projected at 3.7 per cent in 2016 and will pick up to 4.5 per cent in 2017, provided the world economy strengthens and commodity prices gradually recover. Titled African Economic Outlook 2016, the survey says Africa’s economic performance held firm in 2015 amid global headwinds and regional shocks. Last year, it said, net financial flows to the continent were estimated at $208 billion, 1.8 per cent lower than in 2014, due to a contraction in investment. The report was released on Monday during opening of the lender’s annual meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. The forum brings together several delegates from around the world. MAKE REAL IMPACT While launching it, AfDB acting director development research department, Mr Abebe Shimeles, said to make any real impact at reducing poverty, Africa needs to grow at a rate of 7 per cent per year. And during a panel discussion on sustainable cities and structural transformation in Africa, UNDP assistant administrator and regional director, Mr Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, said Africa had made some gains in human development, especially in education. Mr Dieye said one of the major challenges facing cities on the continent was governance as local administration was neglected by national governments. UN Habitat...

It is now official. Kenya will no longer be the gateway to Africa’s Great Lakes Region. Rwanda announced last week that it would join Uganda to develop a new gateway to Tanzanian ports. This announcement follows hot on the heels of an earlier announcement by Uganda that its oil pipeline to the sea would go through Tanzania, contrary to the expectation that it would pass through Kenya. Some pundits may see this turn of events as a strategy to isolate Kenya in the region, but it may herald a new competitive environment that would benefit the entire region. For more than half a century, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo relied on the port of Mombasa, the East African Railways, and the relatively better road network in Kenya to import and export goods to and from these countries. Kenya took this opportunity for granted.  Unofficial, non-tariff barriers frustrated desperate landlocked countries. Due to the huge delays, perishable goods often got damaged on the way. Corruption added injury to an already-increasing pain on Kenyan roads. Tanzania, which has massive resources on the Indian Ocean, slept on the goldmine of the Dar and Tanga ports. Then came Magufuli, and he is turning out to be Tanzania’s knight in shining armour. The man is seen as a believable, reassuring, no-nonsense fixer. In one fell swoop, he has demolished the “coalition of the willing,” which threatened to isolate Tanzania as the unwilling partner in East African integration. Consequently, Tanzania may be on...