The International Monetary Fund and Fitch Ratings concur on Rwanda’s positive economic outlook. While each country is unique in its circumstance, this reflects on the wider EAC, specifically Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, which are as favourably projected. The just-released IMF Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa reports that the four EAC members states are expected to sustain annual growth rates of five per cent or higher. Rwanda, for instance, is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent in 2017 as vouched at the IMF second review of country’s Policy Support Instrument in Kigali this week. The percentage growth coincides with Fitch forecasts for this year, onward to 6.6 per cent in 2018 (See “Fitch confirms Rwanda’s economic outlook as stable”, The New Times, May 15, 2017). If the projection holds, this will mean more than a slight improvement from the 5.9 per cent growth registered last year. It is the same with the other three member states. According to the IMF report, their economies’ comparative strength is due in large measure to public spending and investments in infrastructure. Generally, however, one wishes the positive outlook rubs on Burundi, which remains in economic doldrums, as much as South Sudan which continues to be wracked by conflict. But a wish is only a wish, and more a measure of intent than effective action. What is certain is that the two countries must weigh their options with the better able section of the EAC playing its role to offer the support it must,...

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) concluded here Monday, and officials and experts said the forum has strengthened international trade ties and sounded a call against protectionism. The forum has strengthened international trade ties and sought new channels of distributing goods to bring about mutual benefit for all, said Ignacio Martinez Cortes, head of the Research Laboratory for Trade, Economy and Business. "It is also a call against protectionism," Martinez Cortes said in an interview with Xinhua in Mexico. China's new commercial strategy will allow Latin America and the Caribbean to join this drive of "opening up, inclusiveness and mutual benefits," said the Mexican expert on China affairs when talking about the two-day forum held in Beijing. The Belt and Road Initiative breaks with both regionalism and corporate-driven global supply chains and will benefit Latin America in the two fields of raw materials and added-value technologies, he said. The initiative "is the gateway" to international free trade and sustainable development, and also "more focused on investment, infrastructure and development, instead of just on trade," he said. "Through this initiative, China is offering new channels, which is focused on strengthening partnerships and on the success of sustainable development," the expert said. The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with an aim to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond ancient trade routes. "In his opening speech President Xi highlighted the importance of infrastructure...

The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between East African Community (EAC) partner states and the European Union, search for a sustainable financing mechanism and assent to bills passed by the regional Assembly are among the agenda items of the upcoming summit, an official has said. The leaders of the six EAC partner states are due to meet in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on Saturday for their annual summit that has been postponed three times in the recent past. While in Kigali, earlier this year, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) passed a resolution urging the Council to find a common stance on partner states’ funding deficit by having it on the agenda of next EAC Summit. Richard Owora, the EAC head of corporate communications and public affairs, told The New Times yesterday that the provisional agenda of the summit also includes matters concerning the EAC Political Federation, the fourth goal of regional integration, after the Customs Union, Common Market and Monetary Union. According to Owora, the 18th Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State will also consider various reports including the “report on the roadmap for the accelerated integration” of South Sudan. South Sudan deposited the instruments of ratification of the accession Treaty on September 5, 2016, and the summit is set to appoint a judge from South Sudan to the East African Court of Justice. South Sudan has already elected its nine members for the fourth East African Legislative Assembly in June. The summit will also consider a progress report on admission...

It used to take an incredible 45 working days to transport goods from the Kenyan port of Mombasa to Rwanda, passing through Uganda, a distance of approximately 1,450 kilometers. “You can imagine how expensive that was,” said Mutaawe, Chief Strategy and Results officer at TradeMark Africa (TMA). She has dedicated her career to trade facilitation, working on the public, private and donor sides of the issue, and has seen some dramatic improvements. That shipment time is now down to eight days and counting. This makes a huge difference for traders in delicate or perishable goods which were getting damaged or ruined in transit. “And think of the difference for businesses who were having to ensure sufficient inventory as you wait for your shipment to come through; and the cost of people working across the chain, just following up on the shipment,” said Mutaawe. The improvement is also due to the hard and soft infrastructure improvements supported by TMA. Named for Trade and Markets, the agency is funded by the EU plus six member states, the US and Canada with a pot of $560 million for 2010-17. It focuses on improving trade competitiveness and expanding domestic and regional markets for the East African Community. “We have projects that are aimed at increasing physical access to markets; ensuring infrastructure is in place; that ports are working efficiently; to improve the capacity of ports, their entrance and exits,” said Mutaawe. That route from Mombasa to Rwanda used to include eight weigh-bridges and various...

Rwanda’s ambassador to China, Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga has praised the Belt and Road initiative as a platform for Africa to grow with the rest of the world. He said the initiative, pioneered by Chinese leader Xi Jinping gives developing countries space to have a say in the global economy, create jobs and prosperity. The Belt and Road forum opened in Beijing on Sunday. In his opening address, president Xi Jinping said the initiative aims to promote economic interdependence, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation. “Manufacturing will open up economies of countries along the belt and road, create employment and reduce inequality,” said the Chinese leader. Hundreds of delegates are attending the forum, including 29 heads of state. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta are among the leaders in attendance. Among others, the initiative seeks to build a network of infrastructure connecting China to Asia, Europe and Africa in the form of highways, bridges, sea ports and industrial parks. China is injecting $18.8bn in the Silk Road fund to give more momentum in the initiative, Xi said. He also pledged $8bn in aid to developing countries and international organization along the belt and road for education and humanitarian work. Kayonga said the belt and road initiative the vision of Africa’s Agenda 2063, which aims to integrate the continent and to develop sustainable economies. “The Belt and Road initiative is one of the mechanisms for infrastructural development. East Africa is working with China to develop a standard gauge railway...

More than 46,000 jobs and $202 million could be added to the region’s growth domestic product (GDP) per annum if East African Community (EAC) member countries embrace the open sky policy, a new study indicates. The study by the East African Business council (EABC) estimates that liberalisation of the airspace between the six EAC countries could result in an additional 46,320 jobs and $202.1 million per annum in GDP. According to the study, there is compelling evidence that full liberalisation of restricted routes will lead to about 9 per cent lower average fares and a 41 per cent increase in frequencies, which in turn will stimulate passenger demand across the region. “This study demonstrates that increased air service and traffic resulted in positive benefits for the total EAC economy,” said Lilian Awinja, the EABC chief executive officer. Sector players say one of the factors contributing to the slow implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision principles is a lack of clear and specific information regarding the impacts of enacting air transport liberalisation. “The East African Business Council (EABC) and the EAC secretariat, therefore, commissioned the study on the costs and benefits of open skies in the EAC bloc to understand the impact of implementing the Yamoussoukro Decision in East Africa,” she noted . She added that  liberalisation of air transport contributes to “greater trade and tourism, inward investment, productivity growth, increased employment and economic development” besides being supported by regional stakeholders. According to aviation experts, liberalisation offers a means to restructure national...

Britain has assured Kenya its imminent exit from the European Union will not affect trade ties in any way. The assurance by British Prime Minister Teresa May to President Uhuru Kenyatta on the sidelines of the London Conference on Somalia last week came against the backdrop of growing uncertainty over the future of Kenya’s exports to the UK over failure by East African Community (EAC) nations to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) deal. EPA would guarantee EAC traders duty and quota-free access to the EU market in exchange for gradual opening of up to 80 per cent of the region’s market to European products. Tanzania, the main opposer of the deal, cited the economic and constitutional uncertainties arising from Brexit as the reason for rejecting it. It argued that with the exit of Britain from the core market, it had little to gain from the partnership agreement negotiations and signing up the deal would not in any way spur its national interests. Kenya has been putting up a spirited fight to have all EAC countries get on board as a way of safeguarding unlimited duty free access of its exports to Europe. Tanzania and Uganda have stalled in signing the deal initialised in October 2014, saying it needs to be renegotiated afresh following Britain’s exit from the EU. But following last week’s meeting between President Kenyatta and PM May, the latter assured Kenya its exit from the trade bloc would not affect trade arrangements between the two countries. “The...

The European Union has invited the government of Tanzania for dialogue over the Economic Partnership Agreement impasse that has threatened to derail the trade pact between the bloc and the East African Community member countries. The head of the EU delegation to Tanzania and the East African Community, Roeland van de Geer, said they were awaiting Dar es Salaam’s position on the matter. “What is important is that we have dialogue,” said Mr Geer during the Europe Day celebrations in the Tanzanian political capital Dodoma last week. “Tanzania has its own convictions, the EU have theirs. Tanzania is a sovereign country and should take its own decisions,” he said, underscoring the importance of the dialogue. Tanzania has not signed the EPA, arguing that the trade agreement in its current form will have negative implications for its industrialisation strategy. Talks on the EPA are expected to feature for the East African Heads of State Summit on May 20. Only Kenya and Rwanda have signed and ratified the EPA deal, but being a Single Customs Territory, the other EAC members must sign the pact to make it enforceable. READ: EAC summit now set for May 20 Burundi has also not signed, citing the resumption of EU aid to Bujumbura as a precondition for its signature. Uganda, on the other hand, said it will only sign the EPA if there was consensus among the EAC members. Parliament's role The EU-EAC EPA promises duty and quota-free access to EU markets for East African goods...

The heads of the six East African Community member states will confront tough issues when they meet in Kampala, Uganda, on May 10 for their annual summit. The summit will provide another opportunity for the presidents to assess progress that the countries are making towards full integration and also address the emerging threats to regional security, stability and development. They will try to narrow their differences on the future of the regional economic bloc, which brings together over 170 million people with a combined national output of $157 billion in 2015. As Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni assumes the leadership of the EAC from Tanzania’s President John Magufuli, the leaders will have less to celebrate as cracks widen on their binding commitment to the spirit and future of the EAC — some may indeed consider a Brexit type withdrawal. Tension within the political leadership of the community is apparent, particularly between Kenya and Tanzania — which have a long history of suspicions over shared benefits, one that led to the collapse of the first EAC in 1977. Presidents Museveni, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Paul Kagame of Rwanda have demonstrated strong support for economic empowerment of the EAC countries and their people by deepening regional integration and expanding intra-regional trade. The three are often referred to as the “Coalition of the Willing” but Magufuli has openly challenged the EAC principles. His administration, for instance, has tightened restrictions on Kenyans being employed or investing in Tanzania, effectively stifling the implementation of the...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will avail $1.1 billion to five African countries, including Kenya, to address challenges arising from climate change. The pan-African lender's president Akinwumi Adesina made the announcement Wednesday during the Feed Nigeria Summit in Lagos. Dr Adesina said the money would be used to address the current drought challenges in Nigeria, South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. He also urged African countries to industrialise the agricultural sector and its value chain in order to transform their economies. Dr Adesina called on governments to provide incentives to food and agribusiness firms in rural areas through establishment of staple crop processing zones. “These staple processing zones will transform rural Africa into new zones of economic prosperity,” he said. According to the AfDB chief, staple crop processing zones, which were vast in agro industries zones, would encourage food industries’ operators to establish factories in rural areas. “Africa has no business importing food. Africa should be a net exporter of food. “Agriculture in Africa must move away from being treated as a social sector for managing poverty to a business of creating wealth,” he said. Dr Adesina said AfDB had committed $24 billion investment to agriculture in Africa in the last 10 years. Source: The East African