On 10 June 2015 the TFTA was signed in Cairo, uniting three of Africa’s principal trading blocs: the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The TFTA consists of a US$1.2 trillion free trade area, incorporating 26 African nations,[1] a population of 632 million, and an area of 17.3 million square kilometres, stretching from Cape Town to Cairo. During recent years there has been much talk of the potential benefits of creating an integrated African commercial bloc; the TFTA may be seen as the first tangible sign of action being taken. Following signature of the TFTA, negotiations to broaden its territorial ambit to West African nations opened on 15 June 2015 at the African Union (AU) summit in Johannesburg. According to the AU, the ultimate aim is to establish an intra-continental market benefiting from a youthful, fast-growing population of about 1 billion and a combined GDP of US$3 trillion. Objectives and actions under the TFTA The overall aim of the TFTA is to remove barriers to trade and to ease the movement of people between its signatory nations. According to a statement issued by South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry, the TFTA nations will now work towards agreeing and ratifying tariff rules in line with the agenda agreed at the launch of the trade bloc. The TFTA is founded upon three main pillars: market integration, infrastructure development and industrial development. The first actions to be taken...

Tanzania and DR Congo begun on Monday pilot clearance of goods under Single Customs Territory clearance procedures, Tanzania Revenue Authority has announced. TRA’s Commissioner for Customs and Excise, Tiagi Kabisi said in a statement that goods to be involved in the pilot project would be wheat flour, vegetable cooking oil, motor vehicles, petroleum products and maize flour. The goods would enter the DR Congo through Kasumbalesa border, he said adding that all declarations submitted from Monday would follow the single customs clearance procedures. “TRA hereby informs all parties involved in clearance of goods between the two countries, starting from 6th of July, 2015 there will be a pilot clearance of goods under single customs territory like clearance procedures (SCT),” he said in the statement. The beginning of the pilot project of the single customs territory between Tanzania and DR Congo followed a decision of the governments of the two countries to establish single customs cooperation between the two administrations. Under the SCT arrangement the two countries have adopted a destination model of clearance of goods where assessment and collection of revenue is to be done at the first point of entry. The revenue authority body announced Tanzania would go for full fledged Single Customs Territory (SCT) in the current financial year after successful and efficient piloting of the system since July 2014. The system seeks to facilitate increased trade in the region, reduce cost of doing business as well as eliminate dumping of goods in countries of transit to protect...

The port of Mombasa has commenced cargo clearance for specific goods destined for Tanzania through the Single Customs Territory (SCT), a move geared towards the full roll out of the system meant to make it easier to clear more goods on transit. A public notice from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) indicates that importers, exporters and clearing agents of motor vehicles, textile & fabrics and electronics destined to Tanzania will from July 6, 2015 begin clearing the products under the Single Customs Territory. “Also, only trucks fitted with Electronic Cargo Tracking System shall be allowed to transport cargo clearing under the SCT,” read the KRA notice. The electronic system, already being used on trial by Uganda and Rwanda, is expected to enhance the port agencies' systems to support exchange of information needed for SCT operations, as well as facilitate easier movement of goods across the region. Currently, there is no uniform mechanism for granting systems access to clearing agents and Customs officers from other revenue authorities as required under the SCT system. “In order to facilitate VAT refunds pertaining to the exports destined to EAC partner states, all exporters/ clearing agents will now be required to declare their exports through the simba system while the importers in the country of destination will continue lodging import entries in the ASYCUDA system. This requirement takes effect immediately,” said KRA in another notice. EAC partners are also expected train personnel on the use of the Asycuda (Automated System for Customs Data) Customs clearance...

CLEARING and forwarding companies in Tanzania have been urged to be honest in dealing with clients and conduct business professionally or risk losing their licenses. The Acting Director General, Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), Mr. Awadh Massawe said in Lusaka recently that clearing and forwarding agents have a big role to play in facilitating business especially for regional clients using the port of Dar es Salaam. “Clearing and forwarding agents have a big role to make Dar es Salaam a port of choice in the region,” Mr. Massawe he said during a meeting between TPA, Tanzanian officials and Zambian traders. The meeting sought to chart best ways to improve business operations for Zambian traders using Tanzanian ports. “We request Tanzania clearing and forwarding agents to be faithful, few unscrupulous ones should not tarnish the good image of others,” he said, adding that the firms have a better chance to contribute in easing the cost of doing business. The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Deputy Commissioner, Trade Facilitation and Procedures, Dr. Patrick Mugoya said the government will not hesitate to unregister any company which will go against laws and procedures. There are more than 550 registered clearing and forwarding agents in Tanzania. Dr. Mugoya said TRA in collaboration with other stakeholders continues to make sure business environment at the ports and Tanzania at large continues to improve and become more efficient. One of the Executive Councilors of Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (TAFFA), Ms. Adelaide Marijani said business people should stop using unregistered companies...

The World Bank Group has set aside $100 million to help Tanzania increase transparency and accountability in governance and boost public financial management as the country ramps up a series of major infrastructure projects. The bank said the “first-of-a-kind” ‘open government and public financial management development policy operation (OGPFM) in Tanzania, financed with credit from the bank’s International Development Association (IDA), aims to improve public investment management and procurement. The task team leader for the OGPFM project Chiara Bronchi said: “The programme proposes an innovative approach that will balance traditional public finance management reforms with a new focus on open data and transparency.” Akshai Fofaria of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: “IDA funding is highly coveted and one of the largest sources of financial assistance for Africa’s poorest countries. This substantial investment in Tanzania will demonstrate to other African nations, especially in East Africa, the international support that is available when countries are willing to take meaningful steps towards accountability and transparency in government.” OGPFM is designed to support the goals of the ‘Tanzania Development Vision 2025’, a policy blueprint that sets out actions Tanzania must take to become a middle-income country. The blueprint commits Tanzania to tackling “the excessive use of administrative controls and regulations” and giving “the highest priority” to investment in infrastructure projects, which Tanzania’s government said should involve “increasing promotion of investment” by the state, the private sector and others. National institutional and organisational structures “have not been reviewed to cope with the...

KENYAN President Uhuru Kenyatta has added his voice on the need to remove barriers that hinder international trade. Mr Kenyatta’s call comes hardly a month after the African Union Assembly launched the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiations during the 25th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Governments on June 15 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The launch of the CFTA negotiations was preceded by a high level panel discussion on the CFTA. The objective was to discuss the importance and benefits of the CFTA for the continent. Currently, it is documented that Africans trade only 12 percent of their merchandise among themselves. That is why Mr Kenyatta, one of the champions of the CFTA, has continued to highlight the importance and critical role the CFTA is for the continent. Speaking in Ndola on Saturday when he graced this year’s Zambia International Trade Fair, Mr Kenyatta appealed to officers working at international borders to work extra hard in implementing instruments that can enhance trade between Zambia and Kenya. President Kenyatta, who has also called for the continued signing of multi- and bilateral agreements that promote international trade among nations, knows the benefits of the CFTA: prosperity, job creation for youth, peace, security and agricultural development. Cross-border trade is an integral part of the modern world economy and international markets are an important platform for the exchange of goods and services. Economists say that there are gains from trade for countries involved. And with six out of the 10 fastest-growing economies...

Moshi — Two border posts in Kenya and Tanzania are to be officially launched in August leading to combined operations of relevant government agencies and faster flow of goods between the two countries. According to Trade Mark East Africa (TMA), who are the main consultants on the project, Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete and Uhuru Kenyatta the President of Kenya, are expected to visit the refurbished facilities at both Holili in Tanzania and Taveta in Kenya under the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) system. The project is one of the major steps towards eliminating non-tariff barriers and ease movement of goods and services across borders. An OSBP facility is aimed at reducing time-spent at the border posts. For this case, plans are for reducing the time for clearing trucks and passengers by at least 30%. Previously a transit truck could be cleared after 27 hours but now drivers can get moving within nine hours. Likewise, passenger documentation will be cleared within three to five minutes while waiting at the various counters, unlike before when passengers had to wait for longer periods. Officials say improved flow of goods will make the EAC region a better and cheaper place to do business and more attractive to foreign investors. It means goods entering the country can have all the customs paperwork sorted from the other side without going through a cumbersome process at the border. Under the One-Stop-Border project, all officials involved in the process of clearing people and goods come under one roof....

Dar es Salaam. The World Bank, which is one of the financiers for a $596 million (about Sh1.1 trillion) Dar es Salaam Port upgrade, said at the weekend that it is impressed by the ongoing improvements. The World Bank is cooperating with the UK’s Department for International Development and TradeMark Africa (TMA) to inject a total of $596 million in the project of deepening and strengthening of berths 1-7, the dredging of the entrance channel and turning basin in the port. Out of the money, the World Bank, will give Tanzania a $400 million loan to finance the port upgrade project in line with the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP). The ultimate goal of the project is to see the Dar port handle 28 million tonnes by 2020 from 14.6 million it handled in 2013/14. And, speaking when he toured the port of Dar es Salaam in the city at the weekend, the World Bank vice president for the Africa Region Dr Makhtar Diop, said that his institution was impressed with the ongoing improvements, saying the move will have positive impacts on the economy of Tanzania and its landlocked neighbours. The tour was meant to acquaint him with a number of ongoing infrastructure projects that seek to improve the performance of the country’s major sea port. “We acknowledge the importance of the ongoing improvements to the economy of Tanzania and its landlocked neighbours,” said Dr Diop who was in the company of the new World Bank country director...

Last month, representatives of Maersk were invited to share their East Africa project in front of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, hosting the fifth year review of Aid for Trade – a concept to support developing countries and their governments in recognising the role trade plays in their countries’ development. Maersk Line pointed out that the journey of a container encompasses a maze of processes and paperwork that greatly complicates a simple task of moving cargo from A to B, with these complications being cost-heavy due to lost or inaccurate information. "More than 30 individuals or institutions are involved in handling documentation and there are about 200 different communication interactions in the process, with public officials and between different companies," the group said. "Consequently, the time spent waiting on paper stamps and email replies costs just as much as the actual shipment, which simply is not a feasible or productive way to do business. For producers in Kenya all of the paperwork and its processes increase their total cost and limit their market access significantly." The mapping of numerous documentary requirements in the journey of flowers and avocados from growers in East Africa to retailers in the Netherlands was the first step of a new partnership between Maersk Line and TradeMark Africa, a not-for-profit organisation working to accelerate poverty reduction in the region through trade growth. The aim of the partnership is to identify ways to reduce trade barriers for Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and perishable...

Restrictive legal and regulatory policies coupled with poor infrastructure and logistic services are holding back East Africa’s manufacturing sector, says the Africa Development Bank The East Africa’s manufacturing sector report released on Friday shows manufacturers continue to experience problems in cross border trading and starting and closing a company. It shows productivity remains inhibited by a problematic energy supply and costly transport due to poor road network, limited availability of rail transport and poor logistics in ports. “From a regional perspective... the poor performance on trading across borders is particularly detrimental to the prospects for achieving rapid industrialisation,” it reads. The countries that were covered include Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Seychelles. According to the report, the contribution of manufacturing in the economies of these countries is relatively small, ranging from 3.8-11 per cent of the gross domestic product, compared to the levels between 30-40 per cent in industrialised countries like China and South Africa. The report shows manufacturing in East Africa is dominated by food and beverages, largely basic processing of agricultural output and the production of more refined consumer products such as soaps, perfumes and cosmetics. It shows Kenya has a comparative advantage in food and beverages, leather products, textiles and clothing, and in non-metallic mineral products including cement and ceramics. Rwanda has an edge in processed tea, Tanzania in textiles, Uganda in cement, clay and ceramics and the Seychelles in processed fish products, mainly tuna. According to the report, the limited role that manufacturing currently...