KABANDA CHULU, Lusaka PLANS to launch the grand free trade area (FTA) that will bring 26 countries in the tripartite regional economic blocs into one common market have advanced. Heads of states and governments are expected to append their signatures on the FTA on June 10, 2015, in Egypt, according to the COMESA website. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and East African Community (EAC), Tripartite FTA (TFTA), comprising 26 countries or 48 percent of the membership of the African Union holds 51 percent of its gross domestic product and 56 percent of its population will be the largest economic bloc in Africa. This will also be the launching pad for the establishment of the continental free trade (CFTA) in 2017. "The advance teams will start arriving at the venue from June 5 for the technical meetings that will prepare the ground for the launch. The tripartite committee of senior officials and the council of ministers will be part of the advance team and their pre-launch meetings will take place on June 7and 8." “They will prepare the launch documents including the TFTA agreement, the declaration launching Phase II of the negotiations for the TFTA and the roadmap,” it stated. The decision to establish the COMESA-EAC-SADC TFTA was mooted in 2008 to overcome the challenges posed by the overlapping membership of the three regional economic blocs, especially in the regional trade. Zambia has dual membership in COMESA and SADC. Source: Zambia Daily...

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) has signed a contract with Belgium-based Phaeros group to install a single window electronic system in Tanzania’s ports in order to fast track cargo clearance. Speaking during the signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) director, Mr Phares Magesa, said under the agreement TPA will provide euro 5 million (Sh11.1 billion) for the implementation of the project at a pilot stage. According to him, the pilot project which will be implemented in sea ports will be completed by June this year. After completion of the pilot project, Mr Magesa said, the project will be implemented in other ports and borders. Upon completion of the project, Tanzania’s ports will have the capacity of clearing 15 million tonnes of cargo by the end of this year. According to him the capacity will increase 18 million tonnes by the end of 2015. Currently, Mr Magesa said Tanzania’s ports have the capacity to clear 13 million tonnes per year. “Not only will the capacity be increased, but the duel time of cargo will be decreased to less than five days compared to the current nine to eleven days to clear cargo in our ports,” said Mr Magesa. He further said under the system, clearing agents will feed data electronically instead of doing so manually, which is time consuming. Implementation of the entire process which includes installing the system in all ports and borders will cost $18 million (Sh28.8 billion), Mr Magesa said....

The South African Development Community (SADC) in yellow, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in different shades of green and the East African Community (EAC) in the light brown (the only country in the EAC that isn’t also a member of COMESA is Tanzania). That map is from 2009 so doesn’t include South Sudan. In a recent note, Capital Economics named Africa as one of the world’s few potential bright spots as far as boosting global trade is concerned: Over a longer time horizon, sub-Saharan Africa could also play a much larger role in world trade… If sub-Saharan Africa can sustain the pace of GDP growth seen over the past ten years, its share of the world economy could more than double over this time. While this would not be as dramatic as China’s rise over the past 35 years, it does still imply that Africa’s share of world trade will rise substantially from where it is today. Given the development levels and divergence of the countries involved, progress is likely to be slow — but the Tripartite Free Trade Area would be a big step in the right direction. The world is just about to get a free trade area that’s bigger, by population, than either the European Union or NAFTA. It’s got nothing to do with the much-publicised Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). In fact, you’ve probably never heard of it. It’s actually the Tripartite Free Trade Area, a deal that...

Agriculture accounts for 30% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of EA and it employs over 60% of the population of East Africa. In East Africa, it is reported to have annual value of $50b and this represents a 75% of the Agricultural products being traded from the commodities like maize, rice, potatoes, cassava, beans, wheat among others. Agricultural performance is critically important to pro-poor growth since it employs over 75% of EAC member population, where the majority of them live in rural settings. The sector provides a basis for improvement of livelihoods in both rural and urban populations. Despite the importance of the sector to the EAC economies, reviews of public expenditures and programmes that was recently conducted by Civil Society Budget group and other partners like Action Aid, Uganda Debt Network, Food Rights Alliance and ESAFF, indicates that, the input and output from Agriculture has continuously kept declining where inputs being the lowest in the sectors of the economy and is registered being below the National Development Plan target of 4.9% for the case of Uganda. Besides the decline in the East Africa member states with an exception of Rwanda have not prioritised Agriculture in their public spending to the extent that the sector receives less than 4% of the national budgets. This, therefore, calls for the Government and other partners to ensure that there is increased public financing for the sector in East Africa and need to invest more in Agriculture to better support the economies. The...

The irking story of high costs of doing business in the East African region is slowly changing to high returns, thanks to the implementation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT). At the bottom line is the execution of the Customs Union Treaty that seeks to promote cross border trade and attract investment into the enlarged regional market with minimal formalities in customs clearance. The Director for Taxpayer Services and Education at the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Richard Kayombo said in an interview that the system started with few goods and the number is progressively being increased to full-fledged. Kayombo also said that some of the goods that were assessed during the piloting period include rice, maize, sugar, neutral spirits, cigarettes, petroleum products, wheat, salt, edible oil and pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. “The story has changed in many aspects. For example, we currently talk of three-day travel from Dar es Salaam port to Kigali and only three blocks up to the Rwanda border,” he said. He said also that at the first point of entry, depending on the level of risk, customs officers from the destination country, who are posted at the first point of entry, can subject the goods to physical examination before release. He added, the system has called to an end cheating and dumping of transit goods into the local market because the cargo clearance goes together with the payment of all taxes. Customs declarations are made electronically and processed and released by the authorities from the country...

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania: 28 May 2015: The Chairperson of the Summit of the EAC Heads of State H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has convened an Emergency Summit on the situation in Burundi to take place on Sunday, 31 May 2015 in Dar es Salaam, The United Republic of Tanzania. The Emergency Summit is a follow-up to the 13th Extraordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State held on 13 May 2015 also in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Emergency Summit shall be preceded by a meeting of Ministers/Cabinet Secretaries of the EAC Partner States to take place on Saturday, 30 May 2015 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, is among the leaders that have been invited to attend the Emergency Summit on Burundi. Others include South Africa’s President H.E. Jacob Zuma and Angolan President H.E. Eduardo dos Santos, who is the current chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICLGR).The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) will be represented by his envoy to the Great Lakes region.​ Media Alert All Foreign and Local Journalists intending to cover the Emergency Summit are alerted that the Accreditation Process will commence from tomorrow, Friday, 29 May 2015 at the Maelezo offices (Tanzania Information Services-TIS) located on 9th Floor of the Golden Jubilee Towers on Ohio Street in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Source: East African Community

After 30 days of demonstrations and police confrontations following Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza's gamble for a third presidential term, 25 people are reported to have been killed. The wounded are reportedly standing at 450. Concerns are mounting in Burundi and around the world about the risks of the conflagration in the country and the Great Lakes region. The East African Community (EAC), of which Burundi is one of five members, comes under increasing pressure from the African Union, the United Nations and Burundi bilateral partners, to take action. In fact, the Burundi crisis puts EAC members in a quandary. They could push Nkurunziza out or let him proceed to elections. Whichever option they take, they know that it will be precedent setting in the broader region. An EAC summit on Burundi is scheduled for Sunday in Dar es Salaam, 18 days after the first was called off amidst an attempted military coup in Bujumbura. The request by protesters that Nkurunziza withdraws from the presidential race is based on the Accord for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi signed in Arusha, Tanzania (the Arusha Accord), in August 2000. It clearly states: "No one may serve more than two presidential terms." A six-hour drive from Bujumbura, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, reflects the dilemma facing the region. An Africanness champion, Museveni chaired and led the "Regional Initiative for Burundi" which for eight years, managed to broker the difficult Arusha Peace Accord. For the Ugandan leader and for Africa, giving in to Nkurunziza's third term...

African countries have been urged to pursue policies aimed at fast-tracking integration of the continent into a global economy. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said it was time for Africa to pursue an economic integration agenda that would ensure the continent is at the centre of global economic growth. “Countries should seek new partnerships and take advantage of emerging markets and opportunities and lower trade barriers to leverage trade for sustainable development,” she said. Africa, she added, should expedite the process of building a Free Trade Area (FTA) currently at embryonic stage. Mohamed said Heads of State are ready to initiate the negotiation process when they meet in South Africa in June for the forthcoming summit, a move she noted would demonstrate a high level political commitment by the African leaders that time is ripe for Africa to pursue its economic agenda and integrate fully into the global trading system as a focused entity. “Such partnerships are in a category of their own by dint of their scope and their impact are most likely to create a symmetry in a global trade area,” she said at the opening session of the conference on mega trading blocks and the future of African trade at a Nairobi hotel yesterday. She said it was crucial to interrogate potential impact of mega–regionals with a view to formulate requisite response on how such agreements are likely to affect all involved. Mohamed said African economies need to urgently deepen domestic economic reforms,...

Arusha — East African Community (EAC) Secretariat staff have been advised to cut out unnecessary travel. In the run-up to the 2015/16 budget being passed last week, a report of the General Purpose Committee (GPC), presented by the Chair Dr. Odette Nyiramilimo suggested the need to further curtail excess travel and enhance implementation of the decisions and directives of the Council of Ministers. Consequently the Committee called for more Video Conferencing and that all departments within the EAC should adjust their budgets to reflect the same. In its report the Committee also expressed concerns that the social sectors at the EAC have been chronically underfunded over time. Committee members called for the re-allocation to the extent possible in order to restore some activities of the sector to allow for their effective implementation. The GPC also wants an overall strengthening of EAC Sensitisation policy and the requisite prioritization in funding. "While the Committee has previously recommended strengthening of the Corporate Communications Department to be able to spearhead the process, the Committee is of the view that efforts have to be enhanced and funding increased to facilitate Organs and Institutions to optimally participate both jointly and as entities, in the sensitization of East Africans," a section of the report reads. Dr Nyiramilimo also calls for improvement of the conditions of service and emoluments of the EAC Staff to make the Institution more competitive and to retain the best caliber of staff. The Committee raises concern over the impending high number of staff...

Agriculture accounts for 30% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of EA and it employs over 60% of the population of East Africa. In East Africa, it is reported to have annual value of $50b and this represents a 75% of the Agricultural products being traded from the commodities like maize, rice, potatoes, cassava, beans, wheat among others. Agricultural performance is critically important to pro-poor growth since it employs over 75% of EAC member population, where the majority of them live in rural settings. The sector provides a basis for improvement of livelihoods in both rural and urban populations. Despite the importance of the sector to the EAC economies, reviews of public expenditures and programmes that was recently conducted by Civil Society Budget group and other partners like Action Aid, Uganda Debt Network, Food Rights Alliance and ESAFF, indicates that, the input and output from Agriculture has continuously kept declining where inputs being the lowest in the sectors of the economy and is registered being below the National Development Plan target of 4.9% for the case of Uganda. Besides the decline in the East Africa member states with an exception of Rwanda have not prioritised Agriculture in their public spending to the extent that the sector receives less than 4% of the national budgets. This, therefore, calls for the Government and other partners to ensure that there is increased public financing for the sector in East Africa and need to invest more in Agriculture to better support the economies. The...