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 Sh107,000 ($1,700) from Sh650,000 ($6,500) in 2011 to Sh480,000 ($4,800) in 2015. Transporters and businesses have saved Sh700 million ($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 Sh4.9 billion ($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...

After formally bagging the new oil pipeline from the Ugandan oilfields through Tanzania to the port of Tanga, more good news emerged for Tanzania. The proposed railway extension from the inland dry port of Isaka to Kigali and Bujumbura will be built after all, providing a safe, faster, and much more economical link to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam. While Uganda's decision to route the pipeline, entirely financed by Total of France to the tune of well over US$4 billion, pulled the rug from underneath Kenya's plans to have a joined pipeline crossing their own oil fields, Rwanda's decision to push ahead with the central corridor railway line to Dar es Salaam may have done a similar thing to Uganda as the future of the Standard Gauge Railway from Kampala to Kigali is suddenly once more in doubt. Two major railway lines may provide redundancy but at a cost which may be prohibitive, and going the Isaka - Dar es Salaam way may yet prove the ultimate challenge for the Rwandan SGR link via Uganda and Nairobi to the port of Mombasa. Tanzanian officials dealing with the railway project appear to have confirmed the determination of the partner countries to go ahead and even finance the remaining consultancy reports jointly, a nd to then launch procurement and actual construction by mid-2017. The existing narrow gauge railway line from Dar es Salaam to Isaka will, according to the same sources, not be materially refurbished, but a new SGR...

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has expressed strong commitment to joining the multi-billion Standard Gauge Railway-SGR project, a statement attributed to President Joseph Kabila indicated.In the statement seen by APA on Monday, President Kabila said a leap forward has been taken to that effect with a proposal already before the DRC parliament for ratification. Kabila’s position was made know in a speech on his behalf by Jean Pierre Massala, the Charge d’Affaires of the DRC to Uganda at the 13th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit-NCIP in Kampala over the weekend. The project will see the construction of a modern, high-capacity railway system stretching from the Port of Mombasa in Kenya, through Nairobi to Kampala-Uganda, Kigali-Rwanda and Juba-South Sudan. The four East African countries agreed to use a uniform standard specification although each country will construct its sections. DRC first hinted on the possibility of joining the SGR project during the 11th summit held in Nairobi, Kenya. Sections of the Ugandan stretch of the SGR line from Pakwach will go through Goli Customs in Nebbi District and Vurra Customs in Arua District. Both customs are vital entry points into northeastern DRC. Kabila said his country has already made an international call for feasibility studies on the SGR and expressed optimism that by the end of May the company to conduct the study would be selected. He assured the Summit that the DRC is interested in the initiative which aims at developing the whole region. The SGR project is costing billions...

It is about 15 months to the eagerly awaited commissioning of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line between Mombasa and Nairobi. This is a massive infrastructural project whose total construction cost has been put at Sh327 billion. Tens of contractors and thousands of hardworking Kenyans in different sections of the 472 km line from Mombasa to Nairobi are currently replacing huge mounds of earth with tonnes of metal that will create the first ever high capacity railway line in the region. The East African region is a perfect example of how land transport infrastructure like a railway line can revolutionize an economy. For more than a century, the East African Railway gave birth to centres, towns and cities along the corridor and across the region. The coming of the SGR will thus be a game-changer in transport; it will for instance take a traveller just four and a half hours from Mombasa to Nairobi by rail, reducing time spent on travelling, with cargo train speed of up to 80kms/hr and passenger trains at 120km/hr. As we move closer to the completion of the first phase of the SGR, it is noble to note that the new network will be vital for business, supply chains and investment in the region. Once completed, the modern, high capacity Standard Gauge Railway will carry on each train a trailing load of 4,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to 216 TEU containers per trip. This is expected to raise Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product, or total economic...

Most missed out the big story in the recent visit to Rwanda by Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli.  Media outlets highlighted the event where the visiting president and his host President Paul Kagame opened the Rusumo one-stop border post. It was mentioned that the one stop border would ease trade and business operations as the two East African community members are governed by a single customs territory.  During the two days visit, President Magufuli also joined Rwandans in the commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi. He accompanied his host to light the flame of hope that will keep burning for the next 100days; the duration of the Genocide period. In as much as the two events highlighted by the media were very significant in gauging the relationship between the two neighboring countries, I beg to differ.  The big story was not in the two events mentioned above, but rather in the essence and significance of the Africa culture where president Kagame gave five cows to his visitor. The event was either mentioned in passing or totally ignored. It came to my realization that  schools of journalism have taught us  to tell stories from the Western point of view thereby influencing the African journalist to be  alienated from his native culture, hence the failure to tell the African story ‘brewed in an African pot’. When Kagame hosted Magufuli at his private home, they had time to talk about a number of issues concerning their countries and their personal and family...

The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati (DIKKM) standard gauge railway (SGR) project is progressing well, an official said. Eng. Jules Ndenga, the acting special project implementation unit coordinator at the Ministry of Infrastructure, said this following a recent joint technical monitoring committee meeting in Arusha, Tanzania. “Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda are continuing the joint development of the DIKKM railway project. The recent meeting in Arusha was a joint technical meeting aimed at extending the contract for the transaction advisory services that had expired on December 31, 2015,” Eng. Ndenga told The New Times last week from Kampala, Uganda. The extension of services being processed will end this month. The Arusha meeting, which was attended by officials from various entities, including finance, environment and land departments from the three countries agreed on the contract terms and conditions and the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA), will procure it on behalf of the three countries. “The consultant will develop the request for proposals document to be issued for the recruitment of a public-private partner. There is no major challenge to report as all the pending issues were addressed by the inter-ministerial meeting held in Mwanza in February.” The February 13 meeting was attended by ministers of transport from the three countries and other officials. A joint communiqué issued after the meeting indicates that the ministers reaffirmed their full commitment to further deepen and broaden the relationship for the mutual benefit of the three countries and their citizens. “The ministers commended the prevailing commitment among the...

Gowling WLG's infrastructure team, led by partner Jonathan Brufal and senior associate Tom Gray, have been working with TradeMark Africa and the government of Rwanda to improve transport infrastructure to and from Rwanda. Here they discuss the flagship Kigali Logistics Programme, a game-changing new internal port that will have wide-reaching benefits for trade and Rwanda when it comes online in mid-2017, and the future of trade and infrastructure in the region. Freight costs in East Africa can be as much as 50% higher than those in Europe or America. Journeys across borders and through roadblocks take days when they could take hours. A lack of suitable infrastructure, technology and expertise affects everything from road maintenance to customs and excise, storage to onward transportation. But does the construction of new transport networks, such as the standard gauge railway which will eventually link Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, various toll roads planned or already developed, or the recently signed Kigali Logistics Platform (KLP) concession, herald a new era for trade and logistics in East Africa and beyond? With a growing regional economy and innovative infrastructure transactions such as the KLP concession, the potential exists for significant change. Rwanda's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM), with Gowling WLG advising in conjunction with Deloitte and TradeMark Africa, recently completed a concession agreement with DP World for the development and operation of the KLP - an inland port for the collation and onward distribution of goods. DP World has been awarded a 25-year concession to construct...

According to the 2015 African Economic Outlook, East African countries will record the fastest economic growth in the continent in 2015 and 2016. In Kenyaalone, increased fiscal spending on infrastructure projects and robust private sector consumption mean that GDP growth is projected at 6% for 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Beyond 2016, East Africa is forecast to become the continent’s fastest growing region economically. Infrastructure in East Africa has historically been among the world’s least developed. But the region has now caught the eye of international construction firms looking to enter the African market: economic growth and infrastructure development are interdependent and mutually supportive. In our 36 years of operation in the region, Spencon has witnessed first-hand the surge of interest from foreign firms looking to leverage opportunities in the region, and we have partnered with many international companies and development agencies to deliver projects locally. Booming populations, rapid urbanisation and a growing middle class has spurred many African governments to prioritise national and regional infrastructure. Experts estimate that the region needs around US$100bn investment per year over the next decade to close the infrastructure gap and catch up with the rest of the world on basic requirements. But the funding is there. Since 2007, foreign direct investment projects in East Africa have grown at 19.9% a year, the strongest in Africa. A recent KPMG Global Construction Survey found that over 50% of senior leaders in the construction and engineering industry see the continent as one of the...

It will be easier and cheaper to use your data bundles on different telecommunication platforms within four East African countries from July 1, following the adoption of a price cap per megabyte on mobile data roaming scheme. Across all the networks, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan have agreed on a proposal of a maximum retail tariff of $0.11 per MB inclusive of taxes, billed on a per-kilobyte basis. A maximum inter-operator tariff of $0.07 per MB has also been adopted. The implementation of these tariffs will however be reviewed periodically. The development follows an earlier directive by the EAC heads of state to the four countries that telecommunications companies in the region remove tariff charges for short message services (SMS) and data in order to fully implement the One Network Area initiative they adopted in 2014. The drop in roaming charges is expected to stimulate growth in the telecommunications sector and promote cross-border trade. High data costs while roaming have seen most mobile users shift from the use of data tariffs and adopt over-the-top services such as WhatsApp, Viber and Hangout. In Uganda, for example, an operator using fibre optic cable charges Safaricom subscribers $0.4 per MB while those using satellite charge $0.7 per MB. Airtel charges a standard rate of $0.5 per MB for data roaming in Uganda and Rwanda. Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan last year adopted the harmonised money transfer guidelines and uniform rates developed by their central banks and communications commissions with the aim of boosting trade...

Efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers have saved transporters and logistics stakeholders along the Mombasa-Kigali route nearly $7 million (about Rwf5 billion) since 2011. The estimates are drawn from a recently conducted evaluation by Trade Mark East Africa of the impact of non-tariff barriers (NTB) to trade programmes in East Africa. The survey’s findings indicate that removal of key NTBs have contributed to a 14 per cent reduction in time taken to import goods from each East African country and further contributed to a 20 per cent reduction in time taken to export goods from each EAC country from 33 days to 26 days. Rwanda’s trade has been among the top beneficiaries from the efforts to remove the barriers hindering trade in the region. The survey found that transit time as well as cost has significantly gone down consequently reducing the cost of business. “NTBs reduction has contributed to the reduction in cost of transporting a 40 foot container from Mombasa to Kigali, from $6,500 in 2011 to $4,800. Evaluators estimate this generated a saving (at constant volumes) of about $7 million (about Rwf5.4 billion) on the Mombasa-Kigali route alone. Similarly, inland transportation times from Dar es Salaam to Kigali have dropped considerably, now to 3.5 days,” the report reads in part. The development is largely credited to an EAC programme on elimination of identified NTBs supported by Trade Mark East Africa. The programme has so far identified 112 barriers and resolved 87 of them. The survey also established that a...