Non-stop flights between Kenya and the US could grow trade, tourism and the hotel sectors two-fold in the first year of commencement. According to Kenya’s Ambassador to the US Robinson Githae, direct flights will increase Nairobi’s cargo traffic and solidify trade between America and East Africa, with volumes of top exports such as fresh-cut flowers expanding exponentially. Mr Githae confirmed that all approvals for direct flights had been obtained from US aviation authorities, adding that national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) should now move fast to rework its route plan to include US cities. “We have attained all the approvals. What remains is for KQ to reorganise its routes and launch the inaugural flight,” he said in an interview with The Standard in the US. “Business entities and leaders are angling to be part of the inaugural flight to and from the US,” he added. Safety certification was issued by the US Office of International Aviation in February and effected on September 5, 2017, a move that has attracted the interest of top aviation players. Cancelled flights Eight years ago, Delta Airlines cancelled planned flights between Atlanta in the US and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport through Dakar, Senegal, over security issues. Delta, together with KQ, are members of the Sky Team airline alliance. Githae said the lengthy travel time to the US and high cost of transporting produce via transit points such as Britain’s Heathrow and Holland’s Amsterdam airports would soon end. “Now, with direct flights, there will be enormous advantages. Kenyan flower exporters will no longer be subjected to ‘unnecessary’ levies at transit points. " Kenya is America’s 85th largest goods trading partner with $1.5 billion (Sh150 billion) in total trade. Goods exported totalled $937 million (Sh93.7 billion) while imports hit...

The World Bank Lead Economist and lead author of Africa’s Pulse, a bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies, Ms Punam Chuhan-Pole, said strong growth would offer prospects for increased trade and investments through more opportunities for exports and global financing. “Strong global growth will offer more opportunities for trade and investments... provides more alternatives for global financing where investors will look for more opportunities for financing,” she said in a video conference from Washington during presentation of the report which projected Sub-Saharan Africa would record modest economic growth recovery of 2.4 per cent in 2017 after the region grew by just 1.3 per cent in 2016. East Africa posted strong economic growth last year helping Africa to retain its position as the second-fastest growing continent globally despite a dismal growth. According to African Development Bank (AfDB), much of Africa’s growth in 2016 was driven by East Africa where sev eral countries recorded strong performances. Tanzania recorded 7.0 per cent growth, Kenya 5.8 per cent, and Rwanda and Uganda 5.9 per cent. And according to Global Economic Prospect report released recently, East Africa is projected to continue with robust economic growth where Ethiopia is forecast to expand by 8.3 per cent and Tanzania by 7.2 per cent. In its new Africa’s Pulse, a bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies, the World Bank however warns that the pace of the recovery remains sluggish and will be insufficient to lift per capita income in this year. Albert Zeufack, World...

DEVISING a regional science, technology and innovation (STI) policy is among key priorities of Kigali-based East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) this year. The EASTECO executive secretary, Gertrude Ngabirano, said this last week after the Permanent Secretaries of Ministries responsible for East African Community Affairs visited the institution’s headquarters to discuss its strategic plan and priority programmes. Ngabirano said they have four priority areas with the first dealing with putting in place education-based policies at the regional level. “This year, we will be working on a regional STI policy. In the short run, for example, we’ll be working on putting in place a regional intellectual property rights policy,” she said, emphasising the importance of the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. “We will also be working on a regional knowledge management framework involving establishment of electronic data bases. For example, recent research can be availed so that the public knows what research has been done and people who are interested can build on what is already in place.” EASTECO is a semi-autonomous institution of the EAC mandated to promote and coordinate the development, management and application of science, technology and innovation in partner states. Ngabirano said the commission’s work is in response to the fact that regional students’ enrollment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is on the decrease as compared to other fields of study. STEM is normally more expensive, she noted, and there is a need to invest more in laboratories and...

The commercial enterprise of U.S. companies selling used clothing to African countries doesn’t seem a likely source of controversy, but the issue has become one of contention on two continents. The East African countries of Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Burundi have been trying to phase out imports of secondhand clothing and shoes over the last year. The countries claim the enterprise undermines their efforts to build domestic textile industries and they want to impose an outright ban by 2019. In March, the Office of the United States Trade Representative threatened to remove four of the six East African countries included in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, a preferential trade deal intended to lift trade and economic growth across sub-Saharan Africa. Burundi and South Sudan, gripped by upheaval, had already been expelled from the trade deal because their governments were accused of perpetrating state violence. Across Africa, secondhand merchandise is the primary source of clothing. Rwanda has said it is seeking to curb the import of secondhand clothes, not only on the grounds of protecting a nascent local industry, but also because it says wearing hand-me-downs compromises the dignity of its people. Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame said that the region should go ahead with the ban even if it meant sacrificing some economic growth. “We have to grow and establish our industries,” Kagame said in June. “This is the choice we find that we have to make. We might suffer consequences. Even when confronted with difficult choices, there is...

The East Africa Business Council wants countries which have not joined the regional electronic cargo tracking system (RECTS) project to do so sooner than later as the latter is considered to be effective in safety of goods while in transit. Urging Tanzania and Burundi to join Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya in embracing a harmonized electronic cargo tracking system, the apex body of business associations of the Private Sector and Corporates from EAC partner states, is emphasizing that the system reduces the cost of doing business. The EABC Executive Director Lilian Awinja has reiterated that RECTS is, among others, “a very good idea that is reducing diversion and theft of transit cargo.” “Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda are already on board, and this is something we appreciate because it adds value to the Single Customs Territory (SCT),” Awinja said, adding that the EABC needs the revenue authorities in the two other countries to “take up the cost of that gadget because it is in their best interest to have these gadgets on the trucks.” “What we need is to see Tanzania and Burundi join the regional cargo tracking system. The revenue authorities should support this whole process and make sure that they own it and we work together as a region, so that it is implemented uniformly across all partner states. We are supposed to work together. We are in a Customs Union.” Rwanda launched the e-Cargo tracking system which is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through Trademark...

This was a declaration made by over 300 delegates from Africa and international players in grain industry during the closing of the 7th African Grain Trade Summit in Dar es Salaam. The summit was held under the theme: “Setting New Horizons to rethink Grain Trade for Food Security and Prosperity in Africa,” and was opened by the Tanzania  agriculture minister, Dr John Tizeba. The EAC Partner States with the threat of high population growth were urged to borrow a leaf from emerging developed economies such as Brazil and Mexico who have transformed their people through agriculture. “African economies heavily rely on agriculture as a major source of income, but untapped potential has resulted in persistent poverty and limited wealth creation,” Alehandro Terminel, the chairperson of the board of the Terra Wealth Trader Company, Mexico told delegates . Terminel observed that the continent’s food security has declined over the past five decades despite interventions from governments, the private sector and development partners. “Africa has a rapid population growth of which 60% are under the age of 25 with higher preference for rice consumption than maize. This calls for crop diversification to meet consumer needs within and outside the continent,” he stated. The delegates observed that the infrastructure remains a top issue in the region with some agricultural areas with high potential of agricultural production still inaccessible. “In the Great Horn of Africa, some states are still volatile and this has hampered development and social well-being of the grain sector in the region,” Yohannes...

Ethiopia, whose economy recently overtook Kenya’s, is now the fastest-growing economy in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new World Bank report. This means Ethiopia’s economy will further stretch its lead on Kenya’s even as the latter grapples with economic headwinds, including heightened political temperatures that have left investors jittery. “Ethiopia is likely to remain the fastest-growing economy in the region,” noted the Africa’s Pulse Report released yesterday. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), another Bretton Woods institution, projects Ethiopia’s economy to grow by 8.5 per cent this year, three percentage points higher than Kenya’s, which is expected to grow by five per cent. The Bretton Woods institution noted the growth came about despite the expected slowdown in public investment. Ethiopia’s economy overtook Kenya’s, with the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - or the total value of goods and services produced annually - hitting Sh7.4 trillion last year compared to Kenya’s Sh7 trillion in the same year. And although the report projects Kenya’s growth to recover as inflation eases, recent developments on the political front have left the country’s economy in a precarious position. Already, GDP growth in the second quarter of this year slowed, growing by five per cent compared to 6.3 per cent in the same quarter last year as agriculture, manufacturing and financial services all took a beating. It was the slowest Q2 growth since 2012 when the economy expanded by 4.3 per cent. A drought, which swept across the whole of the Horn of Africa, is to blame...

East African Community (EAC) customs officers are meeting in Kigali to discuss incorporation of the Green Customs Initiative into national custom training curricula to enable them meet their obligations under international environment agreements. The Green Customs Initiative is a partnership designed to enhance the capacity of customs and other relevant border control officers to monitor and facilitate legal trade and to detect and prevent illegal trade in environmentally-sensitive commodities covered by trade related conventions and multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). The three-day workshop,  organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has brought together around 50 customs officers from Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, to talk about environmental crime in detail. Officials said on Wednesday that it is also meant to facilitate the inclusion of Green Customs Initiatives as a regional programme involving custom officers. Colette Ruhamya, Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), said that most environmental problems encountered in the world today have a trans-boundary nature and a global impact. She said these environmental problems can only be addressed effectively through international co-operation and shared responsibility made possible through multilateral environment agreements, several of which regulate the cross-border movement of items, substances and products, mainly in the form of imports, exports and re-exports. “This gives customs and border-protection officers’ responsibility to control trade across borders, a very important role in protecting the national and global environment,” Ruhamya said. Environmental crimes are illegal acts which directly harm the environment, she said. They include: illegal trade in...

The Comorian expert from Anti-Piracy Unit of the Indian Ocean Commission Mr Hassani Ahalada Soilihi said during the Maritime Security programme (MASE) for the Eastern and Southern Africa and Indian Ocean (ESA-IO) region that States need to strongly be committed and foster close collaboration with other international organizations and operational agencies such as UNODC, Atlanta and Interpol to curb the situation. “A country cannot address by itself maritime security issues. Regional and international cooperation are essential to effectively combat piracy,” he said. The MASE was presented at the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States bordering the Atlantic Ocean (COMHAFAT). Held under the theme of “Maritime piracy off the African Atlantic coast: extent and approach for a more effective fight”, the workshop aimed at providing a thorough review of maritime insecurity issues and to get an overall feedback of the initiatives undertaken by each regional organisation to combat piracy. Experts who represented their countries came from COMHAFAT, the African Union, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), the African sub regional organizations (CCPO,COREP), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), universities and maritime training institutes as well as experts in operational fight against maritime piracy. Furthermore, apart from sharing experiences, the meeting enabled participants to have an insight of maritime piracy in an economic, social and legal perspective. The organizers also stressed on the fact that it was vital to implement adopted strategies and activate appropriate mechanisms to ensure safety and security in West African ocean. Source: Daily News

The coastal breeze and picturesque views of Kenya’s Indian Ocean meets the busy port of Mombasa where heavy machinery awaits to ferry tonnes of cargo. Suddenly, the fresh and humid air is met with choking dust and screeching sounds of cranes as cargo is offloaded from the ship. Most of the shipment to Kenya includes food stuff, machinery, raw materials just to mention but a few. They are sealed and locked into containers ready for transportation to East African countries. Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) notes its Mombasa Port has the capacity to handle over 1.2 million containers annually and this number could be higher going by the several expansion works visible at the Port. Aside from this number, the challenge has been on how fast these goods are cleared for transportation to other regional countries. There is an average of 300 heavy commercial vehicles that leave Mombasa destined to East African countries on a daily basis. “Lift, pack, move… lift, pack, move” paints the picture of clockwork operations at the port. Our attention is drawn to these containers that have been a focus in the recent past. Most of the goods contained here do not reach their destination either due to highway insecurity, accidents or theft. A team of tax officials donning their usual white, army-like uniform are busy affixing a magnetic gadget to containers. This is their solution to the perennial problem facing transporters in East Africa. “A team at the gate identifies high risk goods in what we...