About five customs entries, customs agents’ fees in two countries, two goods- in-transit guarantee bonds and duplicated customs procedures in Kenya and in Uganda. That was the inconvenience that characterised cargo clearance before the implementation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) in 2013. Steel and Tube Industries’ Aggrey Ijara recollected that back in 2013 he was required to declare each container on  five to seven  customs entries for Mombasa Port,  and two entries for transit and on arrival at Malaba, Eastern Uganda respectively “The many entries were costly and a lot of time was consumed,” Ijara stated. Importers paid US$200m fees for clearing agents in Mombasa, a Sh150, 000 (over US$40) bond fee at Malaba and another Sh500, 000 (US$138) for agents in Kampala. This was in addition to two goods –in- transit bonds to deter dumping of cargo in Kenya or Uganda. The delays and costs were an indictment on revenue authorities, which were failing on the trade facilitation role. To address these challenges and others that impeded regional trade, the Presidents of the East African Community (EAC) agreed to fast track the implementation of SCT to enable importers declare their goods once on arrival at the first port of entries into the region. It is a stage towards full attainment of the Customs Union achievable by the removal of restrictive regulations and/or minimization of internal border controls on goods moving between the partner states. In June 2013, amid a Northern Corridor Presidents’ Summit, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya heads of...

The East African Community Heads of State will meet in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on November 30 for the 14th Ordinary Summit where they are expected to discuss different regional projects. Before the summit, the EAC Heads of State will travel to Tanzania to officially open the new EAC Headquarters in Arusha, commission the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road both events will take place on  November 28. The EAC Secretariat, the East African Legislative Assembly and the East African Court of Justice have been using rented facilities since the Community was revived in 1999. The three organs of the bloc were housed in the Arusha International Conference Centre. The new building was financed by the German Government and it will be hosting all the three EAC Organs based in Arusha. The Presidents, while in Nairobi, are expected to discuss financing of infrastructure projects, where different regional priority infrastructural projects in energy, and transport sectors will be outlined, according to a statement from the EAC Secretariat. Bill Kayonga, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of East African Community, told The New Times that during the summit, the regional leaders will receive reports by the EAC Council of Ministers highlighting the implementation status of the regional activities over the last one year. “They will receive a report of  the verification team on the application of the Republic of South Sudan ; the EAC secretariat will also present a model of the structure of political federation and action plan on the way forward,” he said....

Regional manufacturers have been urged to embrace electronic trading platforms (e-commerce) to widen their market reach and become more productive and competitive. The experts said embracing such innovations will help reduce the cost of production and enhance the sector profitability. According to Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General, e-commerce is an instrumental and innovative tool for promoting industrialisation and trade across the region. Kituyi was speaking during the ongoing EAC Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition in Kigali on Tuesday. The three-day summit brought together more than 500 participants,  including business leaders,  experts and policy-makers, to discuss mechanisms to bolster regional industrialisation. Kituyi said manufacturers should take advantage of the immense opportunities presented by e-commerce platforms to enter new markets, create awareness about their products and drive sales to improve profits. The UNCTAD official observed that the economy today is being driven by digitisation, which makes it imperative for regional manufacturers to embrace e-commerce and tap into the untapped markets. This way the sector will be able to create more jobs and foster inclusive economic growth, he added. Matthias Wachter, the in charge of the Federation of German Industries department of security and raw materials, encouraged industrial players to employ technology and e-commerce in all their processes to increase production and tap new customers. “This way, they will be able to easily penetrate markets and sell products at competitive prices,” he added. Reducing cost of production Meanwhile, the business community has called on regional governments...

The East African Community regional integration process has seen the region register improvement in logistics performance which had stagnated in previous years, a World Bank report has said. The bi-annual report, ‘Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy’, ranked 160 countries on their trade logistics performance as well as the region, identifying the challenges and opportunities. The report noted that the move by the East African Community nations to integrate into one bloc had elevated the region’s logistics performance, consequently making it more attractive for investments and reducing the cost of doing business. Among the most notable changes observed by the survey was the elimination of multiple barriers to trade and transport, such as cumbersome procedures. “The Northern Corridor was once known for multiple barriers to trade and transport, including lengthy dwell times at Mombasa port and cumbersome clearance procedures along the corridor. In 2012–13, the corridor countries started a series of reforms that significantly improved the logistics environment and drove down logistics costs,” the report’s authors observed. Integration, the report says, saw the establishment of a single customs territory, thereby tackling unbearable clearance procedures. “One of the reforms was to introduce Single Customs Territory clearance procedures within the East African Community, including Burundi and Tanzania. This means final customs clearances for free circulation can be made already at the port of entry in Mombasa. The system has significantly reduced administrative burden and shortened the time required for customs formalities,” the authors said. With the single customs...

The African Development Bank has agreed to finance Tanzania’s central railway projects after several stakeholders pulled out. Speaking in Dar es Salaam last week, the bank’s East African managing director Nyamajeje Weggoro said AfDB is satisfied with the undertakings of the government, and will discuss the proposal on how much the bank will allocate for construction of the standard gauge railway. The total cost of the railway would be$7.6 billion for a distance of 2,190 kilometres from Dar es Salaam to the Burundi border. It will link Tanzania with landlocked neighbours Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The line would run from Dar es Salaam to Musongati in south-western Burundi. “The standard gauge railway line is very important for the region. It will improve regional trade links and help to boost the economies of Tanzania and its landlocked neighbours Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC,” Dr Weggoro said. It is not clear the amount AfDB will give to the project. Soft Loans In May, President John Magufuli asked his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma to help the country secure soft loans from Brics Development Bank. Brics comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as an association of emerging economies. “I have asked President Jacob Zuma to help us secure a low interest loan for us from Brics to finance the SGR project,” President Magufuli said during President Zuma’s tour in Dar es Salaam. Before that, the Chinese Exim Bank had pledged to lend Tanzania $7.6 for...

Kampala — Cabinet has approved the ratification of the EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Free Area Agreement (FTA), paving way for the implementation of the Agreement. In a Cabinet meeting that took place on Friday 4th August 2017, members unanimously agreed that Uganda was ready to start the implementation of the Tripartite FTA which will open up a wider market for Uganda's products and services in 26 African countries. The products for export will include agricultural products, sugar, tea, coffee and livestock products. The Tripartite FTA represents an integrated market of 26 countries with a combined population of 632 million people which is 57% of Africa's population; and with a total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD$ 1.3 Trillion, contributing 58% of Africa's GDP.  This is a large area that provides expanded trade opportunities to Uganda's Private Sector. Appearing before Cabinet, Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde said during the recent Tripartite FTA meeting that took place in Kampala in July 2017, the three regional blocs (EAC-COMESA-SADC) finalized and the adopted the remaining annexes on the Rules of Origin, Trade Remedies and Dispute Settlement, thus producing a full Tripartite Agreement. During the same meeting, South Africa signed the Tripartite Agreement, bringing the total number of countries that have signed to 19 out of 26. "Now that the Republic of South Africa has signed the agreement and is in the process of ratifying it, we see no reason not to ratify" said Kyambadde. Kyambadde says Uganda stands to benefit greatly from the Tripartite FTA given the...

The quantity of goods that Kenya sells to Tanzania has sharply reduced this year, indicating that a spat between the two countries is affecting cross-border business. The latest government data shows that Kenya's exports to its neighbour reduced by a third in the first five months of this year, a trend that is likely to be sustained throughout 2017 if efforts to resolve diplomatic and trade rows are not successful. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data on the economy show that the value of the exports dipped by 33 per cent to Sh8.2 billion between January and May, compared to Sh12.5 billion last year. The two countries have historically held different positions on numerous issues, which has affected trade as well as movement of people across the border. This has in the recent past escalated, with the East African Community partners each banning the other's imports. The ministers of foreign affairs from the two countries last month agreed to lift the trade restrictions the countries had imposed on each other. However, the agreement was short-lived, with Kenyan manufacturers reporting that they have yet to gain access to the Tanzanian market and Kenyan universities being ordered to shut down their colleges in Tanzania. Among the products that have been banned from the Tanzanian market are milk and milk products and cigarettes. Tanzania is one of the largest export markets for Kenya and is the second largest in Africa after Uganda. According to the Kenya Economic Survey 2017, exports to Tanzania...

US President Donald Trump barely mentioned Africa or trade with the continent during his whirlwind campaign and has been mostly silent about the region since taking office. But the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum being held in the Togolese capital Lome this week will bring together top US officials and African ministers. The gathering will finally shine a light on Trump's policies toward the region of 1.2 billion people. What is the African Growth and Opportunity Act? It was a trade deal inked between the United States and eligible African countries nations under Bill Clinton's presidency and enacted in 2000. It gives 39 African nations duty-free access to the US market for about 6,500 products including textiles, cars, fruit and wine. Those countries permitted to participate in AGOA are obliged to prove that they are making efforts to improve human rights, the rule of law and worker protections. Is Trump getting involved in Africa? Early signs were not good for the 45th president's interest in trade with the continent. He spoke regularly on the campaign trail about the need to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and to get a better deal with China -- but Africa did not feature in his top priorities. But he has now sent his top trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer to Lome for the two-day meeting that concludes on Thursday along with a top level negotiating team. Trump himself will not attend the talks. A good deal for Africans? When asked...

Consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas for the six months to June dropped 38.91 per cent, latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has shown. Data shows LPG consumption for the first half of the year declined by 36,050 metric tonnes to 56,590 tonnes from 92,640 tonnes during the same period last year which comes on the backdrop of strained bilateral trade ties between Kenya and Tanzania. In April, Energy CS Charles Keter designated Mombasa as the only point of entry for LPG, a move aimed at locking out traders from importing cooking gas through Tanzania. The move, he said, was intended to curb cheaper LPG from Zambia which was reportedly being imported to the country through Tanzania, with most of it ending in illegal refueling plants. KNBS data shows that since the ban, cooking gas uptake has been recorded at 5,740, 6,550 and 5,190 in April, May and June respectively. The data shows that cooking gas prices hit the Sh2,000 mark in April this year, highest prices since September 2016. Prices are still averaging slightly above the Sh2,000 mark. The government’s April ban on LPG coming through the Namanga border renewed the long-running trade feud between the Kenya and Tanzania. More than a fortnight ago, Kenyan Foreign Affairs cabinet secretary Amina Mohamed and her Tanzanian counterpart Augustine Mahinga announced that the two states had agreed to end the restrictions after ironing out long-standing trade differences. Kenya lifted restrictions imposed on Tanzanian wheat flour and liquefied petroleum gas while...

THE government has pledged to address complaints raised by clearing and forwarding agents in regard to alleged inaction by the Directorate of Maritime at the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA), in addressing delays in clearing of shipments at the Dar es Salaam Port. In an interview with the ‘Daily News’ yesterday, the Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, Prof Makame Mbarawa, confirmed to have received the concerns from stakeholders at the port. “The clearing agents forwarded their concerns to my office; I am still assessing their complaints before taking action on the said inactions by the directorate,” Prof Mbarawa told this paper in a telephone interview. Prof Mbarawa said it is only after thorough assessment of the said indecision by the ministry that the government would take appropriate actions. Clearing and forwarding agents are up in arms over what they describe as unwarranted delays in clearing goods at the Dar es Salaam Port, blaming the Directorate of Maritime at Sumatra for not taking action to solve the problem. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the ‘Daily News’ yesterday, the Secretary General of Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (TAFFA), Mr Tony Swai, said despite repeated complaints from port stakeholders to the directorate the delays have continued to haunt the industry. “For instance, it takes up to five hours to obtain proforma invoice from the Tanzania International Container Terminal (TICTS) and additional four hours for clearing agents to make payments before they are issued with invoice and receipts. “As if that...