Rwandan traders are set for early Christmas after the Tanzania International Container Terminal (TICTs) announced that it will open a country liaison office in Kigali before the end of the year. This is in a bid to bring the Dar es Salaam port services closer to traders in Rwanda. The announcement was made last week, in Kigali, by Paul Wallace, the chief executive of TICTS, a private company that handles 80 per cent of the Dar port traffic. “We have already made the decision and before the end of December, the office will be operational,” Wallace, who led a delegation of Dar es Salaam port authorities for a three-day promotional tour to Kigali, said. During their visit, facilitated by Ministry of East African Affairs, the delegation hosted members of the Rwandan private sector to a business lunch during which they discussed possible solutions to a number of issues in a bid to ease trade facilitation at the port and on the central corridor. Amb. Valentine Rugwabiza, the Minister for East African Community Affairs, told guests during the event that the delegation’s visit was a result of a number of conversations with Dar es Salaam through the Rwandan High Commission in Tanzania. “We wanted a direct engagement between TICTS, the private company handling 80 per cent of the traffic at Dar port, with the stakeholders, who are the members of the business community transiting cargo through the port,” she said. Rugwabiza revealed that although the government has been doing some advocacy...

This new target followed bilateral talks between President Jakaya Kikwete and the President of Mozambique Felipe Nyusi, here on Thursday. President Kikwete is in the country at the invitation of President Nyusi for a two-day state visit. At the start of the bilateral talks, President Kikwete said that his counterpart’s invitation to him was timely since it also availed the opportunity to visit Mozambique for the last time as President and say farewell to Mozambicans and Frelimo colleagues since his term comes to an end following elections on October 25. Speaking following the official talks at Mozambique Presidential palace, the host’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Oldemiro Baloi, said the two countries saw the necessity to strengthen their inter-state relations and grow trade. He said trade between the two countries is impressive and that the two sides have also agreed on mechanism to work on a number of factors which had contributed to the phenomenon of some unofficial cross border trade. Mr Baloi said although the existence of informal unrecorded trade is known, its magnitude and mode of functioning had not been documented previously. He noted that as consequence of inappropriate trade statistics, wrong policies can be pursued and poor regional trade strategies formulated. “Trade is very good between the two countries. The two leaders talked about cross border trade which is not significantly included in official statistics.They said this can be followed up so that there are official statistics to tell the full story of growing trade relations...

The East African Community partner states have agreed on the outstanding trade issues under the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The EAC partners are expected to present their offer to the other TFTA members for a decision at the upcoming meeting in Kigali this week. If adopted, the deal will pave the way for EAC goods to enter larger markets such as South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea beginning next year when the TFTA comes into full force. The pending issues the five countries have already agreed on include rules of origin, liberalisation of tariff offers and dispute settlement. They have agreed to liberalise 63 per cent of their tariff lines to the other TFTA partners and 37 per cent of tariff lines to be liberalised and further negotiated. “This means that only 63 per cent of specified goods, which exclude sensitive goods, will be allowed into the region from the other TFTA partner states at zero per cent duty rate,” said Mark Ogot, a senior assistant director at Kenya’s Ministry of East African Community Affairs and a Tripartite expert. He said that the tariff offers by EAC allow completion of ongoing negotiations for a free trading area “Further discussions on the tariff offers by the EAC will depend on what the other countries will be offering but no country or bloc will be allowed to give a tariff offer below what other member states are offering,” said Mr Ogot. However, Tanzania will apply non-preferential rates on selected tariff lines...

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete's recent visit to Kenya helped to resolve a number of disputes, which could see businesses in the two countries making massive gains. As President Kikwete and his host President Uhuru Kenyatta made public appearances, bilateral talks by the respective Ministers for East African Community, Trade, Agriculture and Livestock, Information and Communications and Foreign Affairs were going on behind the scenes to thrash out thorny issues that are hindering trade and free movement of people and services between the two countries. A report on the bilateral talks, seen by The EastAfrican, indicates that Nairobi raised concerns over Tanzania's consistent blocking Kenyan businesses access to the Tanzanian market by subjecting Kenyan manufactured goods to numerous requirements and high levies, making them too expensive to compete in the Tanzanian market. The protectionist measures, the Kenyan ministers said, were against the spirit of the East African Community Common Market Protocol. The Tanzanian side raised concerns over strict measures Kenyan authorities have imposed on their investors and high fees by Kenyan authorities at the border points. According to the report, Kenya complained that while it allows a stay period of six months to Tanzanian citizens in the country as required by EAC Common Market Protocol, Tanzania allows Kenyan citizens only a three months stay. In addition, while Kenya provides gratis visas to Tanzanian students, Kenyan students are required to pay $100. "The yellow fever certificate required by Tanzania is still an issue that needs to be addressed so as to facilitate...

Dar es Salaam. Chadema presidential candidate Edward Lowassa yesterday vowed to boost cross-border businesses between Tanzania and neighbouring countries to uplift citizens’ livelihoods. Addressing rallies at Tarakea in Rombo, Moshi Urban, Moshi Rural and Siha districts, Mr Lowassa said if elected on October 25, his government would put in place a viable environment of doing business and enabling Tanzanians to participate in building economies at both national and individual levels. He said his government would remove bureaucracies and unnecessary obstacles that had been hindering the people from doing their businesses. “My government will not tolerate officials, who do not listen to people. I want to facilitate businesses at all borders so that Tanzanians will be able to export and import products whenever they want,” he said. Mr Lowassa noted that if businesses at borders were improved, the majority of people would obviously uplift their livelihoods and open markets between the neighbouring countries. “I would like to see women in Tarakea sell bananas in Kenya without any problems. Every person should be free to transport their products across borders where they find a good market for their products,” he explained. He added that if elected, his government would remove all unnecessary taxes and road blocks that bothered farmers and traders. “My government will focus on promoting businesses and enabling ordinary Tanzanians to boost their economies. I will remove all unnecessary duties on agricultural products,” he said. Earlier, Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe said those, who thought the CCM presidential candidate, Dr...

HOLILI/TAVETA  — President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and his Kenyan counterpart, President Uhuru Kenyatta, launched the construction of Mwatate-Taveta Road in Kenya last week that will link with Arusha-Taveta to connect the central and northern transport corridors in East Africa. President Kenyatta said: “This is one of the missing links aimed at enhancing the East Africa Integration objectives, and a crucial link between Kenya and Tanzania. Once the road is complete, it will attract large-scale investors in Kenya and Tanzania, and that free trade and non-tariff trade barriers will improve business in the EAC region.” The 90 kilometre road is being constructed by a Chinese road construction company, China City Construction Group. The volume of cross-border trade between Kenya and Tanzania will increase by 50%  once the Arusha-Mwatate road is complete, outgoing Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete has said. The main objective of connecting the two transport corridors is to easeinterconnectivity transport in the EAC region through infrastructure development and trade facilitation. The northern and central transport corridors connect the people of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. These corridors also provide port access to the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Southern Sudan. The launching ceremony is a culmination of the African Development Bank (AfDB) funded grand road project in the East African region, which is expected to boost trade and spur growth and prosperity in the region. A few months ago, the Arusha to Tengeru expansion road was launched in Arusha under the AfDB loan package....

KENYA’S investments in Tanzania have reached 1.685 million US dollars in 518 projects creating 55,762 jobs. The Executive Director of Tanzania Investment Centre, Juliet Kairuki, revealed this in Nairobi recently in Tanzania-Kenya business forum during an official state visit of President Jakaya Kikwete to Kenya. Juliet Kairuki said, the forum was organized by Kenya Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Kenya Investment Authority, Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Tanzania Investment Centre. It attracted around 200 participants including senior government officials, leaders and members of the private sector who represented various sectors particularly energy, manufacturing, education, transport and logistics, financial sector, real estate and tourism. In his keynote remarks, President Kikwete said Kenya was not a competitor but a strategic partner to Tanzania as it ranks fifth among top 10 countries with investment in Tanzania. President Kikwete also hailed the joint efforts to improve infrastructure between the two countries and singled out the recently launched 85 kilometre Arusha-Hoili/Taita Taveta road. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta honoured President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete for the advances made in Tanzania under his leadership, particularly in the area of trade, Investment and regional integration. He pointed that friendship between Tanzania and Kenya has been strengthened by common membership of the East African Community, and the recently signed EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Agreement. He said that last year Kenya’s exports to Tanzania grew by 5.5 per cent noting these figure was not a true reflection of potentials that exist between the...

Kigali — Reflecting efforts to boost intra-regional trade and investment, 26 African countries have recently agreed to establish a Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) by January 2016. The TFTA agreement comprises the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). With a total population of 638 million people and a total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 1.2 trillion, the TFTA will create Africa's largest free trade area. In one of the first papers to quantify the potential benefits from the TFTA, UNECA economists Andrew Mold and Rodgers Mukwaya suggest the TFTA could boost intra-regional trade by USD 8.5 billion. Particularly interesting is the fact that the economic sectors most likely to benefit are the industrial sectors - such as processed foods, light manufacturing and heavy manufacturing, providing an important impulse to regional industrialisation. The authors also speculate that, if the elimination of tariffs is accompanied by measures to remove non-tariff barriers and infrastructural deficits, the potential gains could be much larger. The TFTA is estimated to increase regional welfare by US$2.4 billion, with South African consumers being among the main beneficiaries. Other principal beneficiaries include Angola, D.R. Congo, Tanzania and Egypt. The paper also addresses concerns that industrial production in the TFTA may concentrate in the countries with the highest productivity levels - namely, Egypt and South Africa. The simulation results suggest that these fears are exaggerated, with little evidence of concentration of industries in the larger...

The collapse of the first East African Community in 1977 killed a dream that had taken more than 15 years to actualize. The breakup of the bloc which was formed in 1967 was occasioned by differing political and economic ideologies. That was then. Today the world is witnessing the re-emergence of the EAC driven by the Kenya and Tanzania who were blamed for the collapse of the original bloc. But can the two nations succeed where they failed in the past. From the start, the first East African Community was meant to fail, it was not sculptured to adapt to the changing trends. It is said that the EAC bloc was formed to counter the influence of colonialists who were not ceding power after years of dominance. After independence individual countries got busy consolidating power, giving affairs of the bloc less prominence. The then President for Kenya Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was intent on making sure that the country stuck to capitalism. Tanzania on the other hand championed for Ujamaa, a major African socialist policy. A clash of ideologies was imminent. 1977 the EAC was dissolved and Kenya and Tanzania ended diplomatic ties only to re-establish them in 1983. The next 23 years, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania would try to revive the bloc. In July 2000, Tanzania and Kenya along with Uganda reestablished the EAC. However, the Kenya and Tanzania tension lingered on even with the new bloc. According to policy analyst Dr. Kerret Mutua, the differences between the two countries...

LAST Sunday, President Jakaya Kikwete and his Kenyan counterpart, President Uhuru Kenyatta, launched the construction of a 90 kilometre Mwatate-Taveta Road in Kenya that will link with Arusha-Taveta to connect the central and northern transport corridors in East Africa. The launching ceremony marked the beginning of the African Development Bank (AfDB) funded grand road project in the East African region, which is expected to boost trade and spur growth and prosperity in the region. In Tanzania, we are also expecting launching construction works for the Arusha-Taveta stretch soon. The stretch will involve a four-lane dual carriageway which will connect Arusha City with Holili-Taveta through Moshi Municipality and Himo Township. The project is also expected to involve the so-called Arusha-bypass. The main objective of connecting the two transport corridors is to enhance interconnectivity in transport in the region through infrastructure development and trade facilitation. The modernisation of this transport infrastructure is crucial for both national and regional road traffic and sustains economic growth in the area, trade expansion and investment, which are also vital to develop and support a dynamic and robust private sector. We would therefore like to commend the two leaders for their commitment to make sure the dream to connect the two transport corridors is realised so as to improve trade and boost growth in the region. In East Africa, the Northern and Central Transport Corridors connect the people of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. These corridors also provide port access to the people of the Democratic...