NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 12 – Revenue authorities from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have been instructed to ensure no clearing and forwarding agency is denied business at the port of Mombasa due to bureaucracy. President Uhuru Kenyatta, President Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and President Paul Kagame (Rwanda) on Thursday night asked Kenya Revenue Authority boss John Njiraini and his counterparts to rectify a bureaucratic glitch that has seen almost 1,800 clearing and forwarding agents locked out from using systems used by Uganda and Rwanda to clear goods at the port of Mombasa. The instructions were given after President Kenyatta brought to the attention of the other leaders who were attending the 8th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit at the Safari Park Hotel that many clearing and forwarding agencies have been disadvantaged after Uganda and Rwanda revenue authorities set up shop in Mombasa. The agents have been temporarily locked out because of delay in training them to use systems used by Uganda and Rwanda. The revenue authority bosses were summoned to stand in front of the Presidents to explain why such a situation could occur under their watch when the Heads of State themselves were working overtime to integrate the region. The officers as well as cabinet ministers were taken to task to say when they will resolve the backlog and ensure all agents are cleared to do business using the systems. The summit directed the revenue authorities to ensure that by the end of January the anomaly is rectified. “When we meet...

COTONOU, (Xinhua) -- The establishment of an African free trade zone to increase the volume of trade on the continent will consequently increase Sino-Africa trade relations, a Beninese economist Pascal Komlan said when he spoke to Xinhua over the weekend. “Even before the establishment of the continental free-trade zone, China had become Africa’s biggest trading partner for almost a decade. Now with the establishment of this platform, Sino-Africa relations will witness exponential growth,” he said, recalling that trade volumes between Africa and China had reached 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, against 10 billion dollars in 2000. “The free-trade zone is expected to be operational between now and 2017,” he noted. The economist noted that regional integration is the key to placing African states in the global economy. "The creation of this continental free-trade zone will be an opportunity for each African country to accelerate its economic transformation agenda. The vision of these countries is not to remain Least Developed Countries, but to build emerging economies," he said. However, he explained, the emergency of African economies will not be achieved without the support and expertise of China which views Africa as being key to its economic development strategy. “Our continent holds over a third of global mineral reserves. The proportion is higher than 70 percent when it comes to some minerals such as iron ore, manganese, platinum and bauxite,” he said, noting that “China equally needs some of these natural resources from Africa for its own economic growth.” He welcomed...

Arusha — A MAJORITY of Tanzanians, although in support of the East African Community (EAC), oppose the proposed political federation that would lead into formation of a single federal government and president. That was revealed in findings from a recent research on 'What Tanzanians think about the East African Community,' conducted by the Society for International Development (SID) in conjunction with 'Twaweza', which also discovered that 80 per cent of the citizens support fast-tracking of the integration but are not ready for a single government. Speaking at the ongoing third Regional Civil Society Forum, SID Associate Director, Mr Aidan Eyakuze said despite the EAC being 15 years old, 42 per cent of the interviewed Tanzanians were still not aware of its existence. "And while many Tanzanians enjoy the idea of moving freely between each of the five East African states, they are on the other hand very wary of consolidating their respective national sovereignty powers into a single federation," stated Mr Eyakuze. The report findings also revealed that six out of ten citizens, accounting for 58 per cent of those interviewed, have heard of the EAC and that 85 per cent were in favour of having closer ties to Kenya and Uganda over the other member states. "Kenya and Uganda are the most popular integration partners, maybe because Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were the founding EAC states, therefore most people identify more with the two countries than they do with Rwanda and Burundi," said the researcher. According to the report,...

Very few tourists are applying for the single tourist visa and expatriates are now being used to market regional destinations. The visa allows multiple entries in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda for 90 days at Sh9,000 ($100). A holder can visit the three countries without added costs or associated bureaucracy. Tour firms recently proposed a review of the visa to allow 30 days of free movement for expatriates within the region, Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers chief executive Mike Macharia said. “We have realised that this segment has not been tapped into, so we are looking for ways to ensure that even as we lobby for use of national identity cards as travel documents, expatriates can be accorded similar privileges as regional citizens,” Mr Macharia said. NUMBER COULD GO UP He is also a member of the East Africa Tourism Platform and was speaking to the media in Nairobi on Wednesday. Since its launch on February 20, 2014, about 1,560 single tourist visas have been sold and as the chief executive officer of Kenya Tourism Federation Agatha Juma said, the number could go up by next year. Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are the only countries out of five in the East African Community riding on the benefits brought about by the system. Recently, Tanzania indicated it would be joining the three. “The challenge, however, has been that there is lack of awareness among most tour companies within the East Africa region. This is also why very few are applying for...

NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 10 – The uptake of the Single Tourist Visa in the East African Community (EAC) has had a slow growth since its inception on February 20, according to industry players. Kenya Tourism Federation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Agatha Juma says this is as a result of the insecurity in the country with tourists fearing to visit Kenya. Juma said the only 1,560 Single Tourism visa have been sold so far. She said most tour operators are unaware of the products to sell in other parts of the region apart from what is available in their own country. “Most operators in Kenya don’t know what they sell in Tanzania and Rwanda and vice- versa, this lack of awareness has made tour operators unable to sell the Single Tourism Visa,” she explained. She said the federation received a grant of Sh9 million from Trademark East Africa that seeks to create awareness on the regional Single Tourist Visa and the use of Identity Cards in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Juma said the initiative will focus on encouraging the players in the tourism sector like tour operators and travel agencies to take advantage of the two developments and help grow the region’s tourism sector. She urged the government to come up with boards in Tourism related parastatals that include Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) that will offer guidance of oversight especially in times of crisis. On his part, Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers CEO Mike Macharia revealed that the East...

The Corporate Council on Africa will serve as the officially launch the group’s new Power Africa/Trade Africa web portal to maneuver the complexities of doing business in sub-Saharan Africa during a Dec. 16 meeting of their Power Africa working group. That evening, the Council’s Annual Awards Dinner will also take place, recognizing four African business members for their efforts to promote U.S. private sector investment in Africa. The Corporate Council on Africa serves as the lead go between for the private sector and the U.S. government for Power Africa projects. “We’re also the point of contact on Trade Africa – and that is really just getting into gear, where Power Africa was launched over a year ago,” Mia Warner, Corporate Council on Africa’s Director of Energy and Power initiatives told AFKInsider. Trade Africa focuses on the East African Community (EAC) member states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda and is designed “to increase internal and regional trade within Africa, and expand trade and economic ties between Africa, the United States, and other global markets,” according to the United States Agency for International Development. Among the goals is advancing the Commerce Department’s “Doing Business in Africa” campaign which encourages U.S. businesses “to take advantage of growing trade and investment opportunities and to promote trade missions, reverse trade missions, trade shows, and business-to-business matchmaking in key sectors.” The President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa was established by Executive Order Aug. 5 for a two-year period, but it was not...

Burundi has joined Rwanda and Tanzania in ratifying the East African Community Monetary Union Protocol. The Protocol aims to harmonize monetary and fiscal policies and establish a common central bank for the East African Community. It is thought that a monetary union, with the absence of currency risk, provides a greater incentive for trade. The protocol is like a roadmap that will lead to the adoption of the Monetary Union. By ratifying the Protocol, Burundi commits to implementing the activities on the agenda. Some people fear that adjusting to a single monetary and exchange rate policy will proof impossible for Burundi, as it will struggle to meet the benchmarks agreed upon in the protocol. Audace Niyonzima, Director of Research and Statistics in the Burundi Central Bank and chief negotiator during the Protocol negotiations, ensures people that ratification doesn't mean that Burundi will join the Monetary Union. "There is no risk. Preparations have started, but we'll evaluate at the time of realization of the Union." The first step towards realizing the Monetary Union is harmonizing the currency rate; fixing the exchange rate against the currency of other countries to facilitate the conversion of the Burundian franc into the unique currency for the East African Community. Niyonzima trusts that Burundi will benefit from the union, but emphasizes the importance of hard work "because we will enter an open system of competition". There are macro-economic stabilization mechanisms in place to support countries failing to live up to the economic agreements. But, as the...

WINDHOEK – Namibia, along with with 25 countries from the Common Markets of East and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Countries (SADC) , has been involved in trade negotiations for the past three years to establish a Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The Tripartite Free Trade Area once achieved will provide a market of 600 million people with a GDP of US$1 trillion, Maria Immanuel, Trade and Investment Policy Analyst at the Namibia Trade Forum (NTF) has disclosed. Immanuel explained that the objective is to establish a large single market with free movement of goods, services and business persons. This is expected to boost intra-regional trade by removing tariff barriers between these regional economic communities and harmonising customs procedures and trade facilitation measures. Immanuel said the current negotiations focus on market integration which will be carried out over two phases. The first phase was the one that had been ongoing for the past three years focusing on trade in goods. Phase two would focus on trade-related aspects such as trade in services, intellectual property rights, competition policy, trade promotion and competitiveness. Immanuel emphasised that the current negotiations in trade in goods were aimed at liberalising movement of goods. She noted that negotiating countries would exchange tariff concessions based on reciprocity. “The aim is to liberalise as many goods as possible, effective immediately once the agreement has been ratified. The liberalisation of tariffs between the three regional communities will allow countries to open up their...

Addis Ababa, Dec 7 (IANS): East African businesses are set to trade more with India by learning how to take advantage of the country's duty-free market access scheme, facilitated by the Supporting India's Trade Preferences for Africa (SITA) project of the International Trade Centre (ITC). The ITC, a joint agency of the World Trade Organisation and the UN, aims for businesses in developing countries to become more competitive in global markets, speeding up economic development and contributing to the achievement of the UN's Millennium Development Goals. The participants of the third SITA held in Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa Dec 4-5 analysed trade trends under the scheme for each of the SITA partner-country beneficiaries. It also analysed key issues surrounding complying with the scheme like rules of origin, export requirements in the Indian market, issues impacting on export from SITA partner-countries to India, and the value chain from factory gate to the destination market in India, among others. "Building productive capacities, market linkages and enhancing investment attractiveness in the selected sectors will be a key way to ensure that SITA delivers impact and provides a sustainable template for similar South-South trade and investment projects," SITA coordinator Govind Venuprasad told IANS. "It will also allow companies working in these sectors to become export ready to supply other markets". Following an amendment made two years ago in India's Duty-Free Trade Preference (DFTP) scheme, least developed countries (LDCs) will receive preferential zero-duty access on 98 percent of the Indian tariff lines. It...

The Tanzania International Container Terminal Service (TICTS) invested Sh50 billion in modern equipment in efforts to decongest the Port of Dar es Salaam, TICTS Terminal Manager said. Donald Tarawa added: “Following the big investment, customers can now have service within a day, unlike in the past when they would wait for up to 10 days.” Speaking on TICTS family day in the city yesterday, Tarawa said loading and off loading containers have doubled from 15 to 25 containers per hour. He said up to 1,000 containers are handled per day compared to just 500 in the past, but explained that even with the achievements there were challenges, including old port infrastructure. He called on the port authorities to increase the number of gates so that the facility can serve many vehicles at a time to boost its effectiveness and reduce congestion. The manager, speaking about the TICTS family day, revealed that they are offering five per cent of the company’s share to its workers. Tarawa said for 10 years TICTS have celebrated their family day with employees, including their families to strengthen cooperation, calling on them to continue working hard. Source: IPP Media