Speakers from the East African Community (EAC) are optimistic that a new body on legislative matters, the East African Parliamentary Institute (EAPI), will help bolster capacity of lawmakers from around the bloc. The creation of EAPI was announced at the closure of the EAC Bureau of Speakers’ 11th meeting last Friday in Arusha, Tanzania. Operationalisation of the EAPI was high on agenda as the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Daniel Kidega took over the chair from Tanzanian Speaker Job Ndugai. The EAC Speakers’ Bureau is the umbrella body under which EALA and national assemblies of partner states champion the cause of parliaments in the region: legislation, oversight and representation. It also plays an advisory role to the Summit of the EAC Heads of State. At the meeting, Rwandan Parliament was represented by deputy Speaker, Jeanne d’Arc Uwimaninpaye, while second deputy Speaker of the Burundi National Assembly, Edouard Nduwimana, represented his country. Both the Speaker and president of the Kenya’s National Assembly and Senate, Justin Muturi and Ekwee Ethuro, respectively, and the president of the Burundi Senate, Reverien Ndikuriyo, were also in attendance. According to a communiqué from EALA, the operationalisation of the East African Parliamentary Institute is expected in the next Financial Year once the EAPI Act, 2011, has been gazetted by the EAC Council of Ministers. The one day EAC Bureau of Speakers meeting considered a number of key areas deemed important to the realization of EAC integration. National legislatures and EALA are to commence on...

South Sudanese opinion leaders have voiced their views on the decision by president Salva Kiir to admit their nation into the East African Community. The East African Community (EAC) is a trade bloc initially founded by three east African countries before expanding its membership to include Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. Members of the EAC share certain economic and immigration policies for their citizens to promote free movement of labour, capital, goods and services within the region. If the decision to join the EAC is ratified by South Sudanese parliament, the country would be obliged to change some of its national laws to allow the full implementation of some aspects of the Common Market such as immigration and customs. Civil society leader Edmund Yakani said parliament should not ratify the treaty to join the EAC. “Let them wait for some time. We are not saying it is bad idea to join but the time is not right," Yakani said during a recent radio talk show. 'We are not an island' Charles Majak, a member of parliament from Twic state, said he supported joining the EAC, describing it as a win-win situation for South Sudan and its neighbors in the EAC. “The decision to join is not bad at all. We are not an island. Countries thrives through cooperation, even in Europe, they are working together. That is why they have European Union and the Americans decided to bring different states together to form United States of America," Majak said....

In line with the mechanism, the government has also introduced stickers for transit buses and trucks to differentiate them from those travelling in the country at weighing bridges. Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam recently, the Permanent Secretary (PS) at the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, Eng Joseph Nyamhanga, said the new system will be adopted beginning today. “This system will subject all transit vehicles to inspection in not more than four inspection stations to reduce trip duration and attract more customers to use the Dar es Salaam port,” said Eng Nyamhanga. He pointed out that there was a process to establish one-stop inspection stations (OSIS) at the Central Corridor at Vigwaza in the Coast Region, Manyoni in Singida and Nyakanazi in Kagera. For Dar es Salaam Corridor the areas include the road from Dar es Salaam to Tunduma (Tanzania and Zambia border) and Uyole – Kasumulu (Tanzania and Malawi border). The established centres will include Vigwaza in the Coast Region, Mikumi in Morogoro, Makambako in Njombe and Mpemba in Songwe. Services that will be obtained at the OSIS include weighing bridges, police stations, Tanzania Revenue Authority branches and rest stations for transit drivers. Eng Nyamhanga noted that the initiative has come a few days after President John Magufuli issued a directive to reduce unnecessary non-tariff barriers when he was launching Rusumo International Bridge situated at the Tanzania and Rwanda border. He further said that for Tanzania to facilitate trade and transportation with the East African Community (EAC), Southern...

Over last five years, the cost of doing business and the time taken to get goods cleared and transported in the region went down significantly, the Evaluation Report by the multi-donor organisation says. The cost of transporting a standard 40-foot container from Mombasa to Kigali went down by $1,700 from $6,500 in 2011 to $4,800 in 2015. Transporters and businesses have saved $7 million on the Mombasa-Kigali route alone within the timeline, says the report. Time taken to export goods from each country in the region has reduced by 20 per cent to 26 days from the previous average time of 33 days while time taken to import goods from each country in the region also went down by 14 per cent to 31 days. NTBs are trade barriers arising from rules and regulations that are poorly designed or implemented. According to the report, the trade barriers can be intentional or unintentional. It is estimated that in 2010 trade barriers led to a cost of $490 million in the region. Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark Africa (TMA), said that a reduction of these barriers will invariably lead to more trade in the region, which is ultimately TradeMark’s goal, of growing prosperity through trade. Burundi reduced the time taken to import goods from 43 to 60 days, the highest performance in the region. Tanzania experienced a 99 per cent reduced time (from five days to one hour) in application and processing of the Electronic Certificates of Origin. Inland transportation from Dar es...

The minister, who revealed the plan when he visited the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, in Dodoma yesterday, said his country was ready to offer exchange programmes that will see Tanzanians working at the Singapore Port to gain expertise and experience to run Tanzania’s ports efficiently. Dr Koon, who has been accompanied by 40 big businessmen, informed the PM that Singapore’s firm, Hyflux, has started investing in Morogoro Region, where in five years’ time they are expecting to build an enabling infrastructure for light industries, commercial areas and 37,000 residential houses. “Our company, Pavilion Energy, has invested 1.2 billion US dollars in the gas sector and is expecting to invest an additional 3 billion US dollars for an LNG plant, which will be built in Southern regions in partnership with gas companies from Europe and US,” he said. The minister noted that PIL Company from Singapore was expecting to invest 400 million US Dollars for establishment of service stations for gas companies. Mr Majaliwa welcomed Singapore’s companies to invest in various areas, including establishment of industries, hotels, agriculture and energy. The premier promised the visiting minister that Tanzania was ready to conclude talks on Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement to attract more investors from Singapore. He added that Tanzania had opened its investment doors for businessmen from Singapore to come and invest in manufacturing, aviation and Economic Processing Zones (EPZ). Source: Daily News

Arusha — Newly-appointed East African Community (EAC) secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko hit the ground running on assuming office Monday evening, warning of impending measures to salvage the regional organisation from its current financial crisis. He said his administration will propose 'stringent measures' geared at cost-cutting, value for money, accountability and transparency and that it will not be business as usual as the regional organisation has to cope with unprecedented deficits in its budget. "Although we have experienced situations of financial instability on regular basis, we never sunk into a deep crisis because our leaders in partner states have always reacted in time," he said during a welcoming party by the staff members of the Community. He said the EAC was currently going through challenging financial times and that forecasts for the month of June this year show a deficit of more than $11 million. The situation has been aggravated by failure by development partners, who account for close to 70 per cent of the annual budget, to disburse about 30 per cent of the expected funds two months before the end of the 2015/2016 fiscal year on June 30th. Mr Mfumukeko, a Burundi national, assumed the highest office at EAC and succeeded Dr Richard Sezibera from Rwanda whose five year, non-renewable term ended on Monday. Both countries were admitted into the bloc in July 2007 after enjoying a status of observers to the Community from the late 1990s. He was appointed the fifth secretary general of the Community during the...

Inter-regional trade is becoming increasingly important but infrastructure has to catch up to demand. Inter-regional trade is becoming increasingly important but infrastructure has to catch up to demand, writes Karim Sadek, Managing Director at Qalaa Holdings The countries of East Africa are currently grappling with a set of challenges and developmental priorities that are similar to what we are going through in Egypt, our home market. Expanding trade and building infrastructure to keep pace with the demands of young, growing populations are among the most pressing challenges at present. In 2015 Egypt's trade with Africa accounted for less than five per cent of total trade and intra-African trade as a whole stood at only 12 per cent of the continent's aggregate trade. Although an upward trend has started to emerge, there is still much that needs to be done. The Africa Union's Agenda 2063 envisions a fully functional African common market with free movement of people, goods, capital and services. To realise this transformation goal, Africa needs to put in place the necessary strategies, processes and infrastructure to harness the continent's potential. While trade is growing by up to eight per cent per annum across the region, without the transport and logistics sector becoming more efficient, growth will be severely constrained. Reducing cost and time of transport and logistics would increase trade, reduce the cost of living, contribute to higher exports and faster growth for Africa. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), "Africa still has massive infrastructure needs" yet...

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda ordered the conclusion of a deal between shipping lines and insurers to end the costly and inconvenient bonds. “The Summit directed ministers responsible for Finance and Trade to ensure that shipping lines and insurance companies finalise and sign an agreement on elimination of cash deposits for containers,” the leaders said in a joint communique at the close of a regional infrastructure meeting in Kampala at the weekend. Since containers are expensive, shipping lines servicing developing markets such as east Africa routinely demand cash deposits before releasing containers to consignors or freight forwarders. Shipping line agents charge $500(Sh50,000) and $1,000(Sh100,000) for 20 foot and 40 foot containers respectively for cargo destined for Kenya, while those on transit are charged $1,000(Sh100,000) up to $5,000(Sh500,000) for 20 foot and 40 foot containers respectively. Typically a new standard 20-foot container can cost above $3,000 (Sh300, 000) while a standard 40 foot may cost more than $4000(Sh400, 000), estimates by the United Nations Economic and Social Council showed. Container deposit is often not required in developed economies due to high level of professionalism and industrial competency among all players in the supply chain such as consignors, freight forwarders, haulers, warehousing operators and shipping liners. This is further supported by the fact that most developed markets have proper legal environments. “However, in some developing economies, there are higher risks of containers being stolen, damaged, abandoned or detained for prolonged periods. Ship liners impose container...

Rail projects proposed or under way on the southern continent will cost an estimated $60 billion. Railway projects totaling more than $60 billion are proposed or under way in sub-Saharan Africa. That estimate comes from Terrapin, which is organizing a major rail conference June 28-29 in Johannesburg. According to Terrapinn, projects in Uganda, Namibia, Batswana, Mali, and Nigeria have the largest budgets, ranging from $8 billion up to nearly $14 billion each. One massive project is a 3,000-kilometer rail line that will link Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Togo and Ghana. These nations and mining companies that operate within them are funding the project as the mining industry seeks to increase mineral exports from 109,000 tons a year to 3.4 million tons in 2020, a 30-fold increase. Without rail network, transport expensive The lack of a cross-border rail network has made transport expensive, especially in land-locked countries such as Niger, which derives 11 percent of its gross domestic product from mining, and Burkina Faso, which derives 13 percent of GDP from mining. The rail network also is expected to boost trade among the linked nations and drive economic development in other sectors. Nigeria also has ambitious plans for domestic rail lines, including one linking Lagos and Kano and another between Lagos and Calabar along the coast. Both were designed to ease commuter congestion and facilitate transport of goods. However, plans were thrown into doubt in April when the Nigerian National Assembly removed $300 million in funding for the...

Farm Africa has received a new £3 million grant from the UK Government, through the FoodTrade East and Southern Africa trade enhancement and promotion programme. The grant will support 70,000 smallholder grain farmers in Tanzania and Uganda to gain access to regional export markets. The farmers will be linked to buyers in East Africa using an innovative online trading platform, G-Soko*, and other market interventions. While Tanzania and Uganda produce a surplus of staple foods, Kenya only grows enough maize to feed itself one year in every five. Until recently, high tariffs on trade within East Africa meant that it was cheaper for Kenya to import crops from outside Africa. Recent policy developments have helped reduce the barriers to regional trade. The promotion of trade within East Africa is a significant step towards strengthening food security, and creates opportunities for smallholder farmers in these countries to access new markets. Smallholders grow around 80-90% of the staple crops consumed in East Africa, but many face difficulties accessing markets. Bigger businesses aren’t interested in purchasing produce from individual farmers growing small amounts. Small-scale farmers are also disadvantaged by the relatively high cost of inputs such as improved seeds and fertilisers and many have nowhere to store their produce so are unable to wait for a better market price for their crops. To help farmers capitalise on these opportunities, Farm Africa and consortium partners VECO East Africa and Rural Urban Development Initiatives will help Tanzanian and Ugandan smallholders to store their surpluses of rice,...