Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania continue to dominate intra-East African Community trade even though its value fell from $5.8 billion in 2013 to $5.63 billion in 2014. The share of intra-EAC trade to the total trade declined to 10.1 per cent from 11.1 per cent in the same period. Intra-EAC trade is mainly dominated by agricultural commodities such as coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, rice, maize, and wheat flour and manufactured goods such as, cement, petroleum products, textiles, sugar, beer and salt. Uganda remains a key market for Kenya’s exports, according to Kenya’s Economic Survey (2016). Kenya’s total exports to Uganda over the 2011-2015 period stood at $3.28 billion, followed by Tanzania ($1.98 billion), Rwanda ($734.93 million) and Burundi ($303.83 million). Exports to South Sudan, which was admitted to the EAC in March this year stood at $71 million. Similarly Kenya imported the most goods from Uganda at Ksh81.57 billion ($815 million) in the same period, followed by Tanzania ($748.64 million) and Rwanda ($36.45 million). But major imports came from South Africa, totalling $3.19 billion. Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that Kenya’s combined exports to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda  dropped from $69.9 million   in January to $1.56 million in February, before rising to $88.8 million n March. Last year, a study by Kenya’s Ministry of East Africa Community revealed that  the volume of Kenya’s exports to the EAC had fallen sharply largely due to unfair competition from Chinese traders and the country’s unfavourable taxation regime. Unfavourable taxation measures such...

Running battles between the opposition and Kenyan authorities on the streets of Nairobi, which is sort of a rehearsal for what could happen before the country goes to the polls next year, a panicky government in Kinshasa that continues to jail dissidents ahead of the general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a fragile coalition government in South Sudan that has still kept many traders on tenterhooks, could all hurt Uganda's economic prospects, writes ALON MWESIGWA. Uganda's growth projections for 2016/17 are already looking bleak as events playing out in the region, the country's biggest export market, seem unfavorable. Kenya, where most of Uganda's imports pass through the port of Mombasa, and takes the biggest chunk of our exports, will go to the polls next year. Already, skirmishes between the opposition and police in the last two months over the impartiality of the electoral commission have raised concerns in the region over whether the country will have peaceful elections or not. If the events in the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya are anything to go by, there are fears there could be major disruptions for Uganda next year. "These events are already sending shivers in the [Ugandan] economy," said Dr Adam Mugume, the executive director for research at Bank of Uganda. He was speaking at the Stanbic bank post-budget breakfast held at Serena hotel last week. Trade with Kenya is heavily tilted in favour of East Africa's largest economy, but Uganda exported there goods worth $427m in 2015,...

During the recent East Africa and Dubai Agribusiness Roundtable meeting, representatives from the East African Community (EAC) joined Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Ethiopian International Office to discuss opportunities for cooperation and investment. In attendance at the meeting were Abdul Razak Mohammed Hadi, UAE Ambassador to Kenya, and representatives of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce, East African Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the Private Sector Federation Rwanda and the Chambers of Burundi, Tanzania Zanzibar and Uganda. The roundtable focused on the agribusiness industry, an industry of the utmost importance to the UAE, which imports 85 percent of its food from overseas markets. “The UAE is fully committed to increasing trade and economic development in the region and we have done this by offering excellent logistical and export/import free zones while helping African companies to carry out their trading activities with global traders through the country,” Hadi said. Omar Khan, director of the international offices of Dubai Chamber, was also in attendance and talked about the importance of the African continent as a strategic partner for Dubai’s business community. The chamber will open international offices in the continent to support private sector growth. Source: Gulf News

Expensive maize in Tanzania and Uganda contributed in sparking a sharp rise in the price of flour in Kenya as local millers cut reliance on grains from the neighbouring countries. The latest food security report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries indicates that imports from neighbouring countries dropped to 205,350 bags in quarter one, down from 1.8 million in the same period last year. This came as Kenyan farmers stepped up maize exports to Tanzania, worsening the cereal shortage locally that has seen flour prices rise by Sh15 for the two kilogram packet since February. Data prepared by the Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network (Ratin) shows that a 90-kg bag of maize retailed at Sh4,898 in Dar es Salaam, the highest unit price in East Africa. The same quantity of maize currently fetches about 2,700 in Nairobi, an average of Sh2,661 in Kampala and Sh4,597 in Burundi. “The supplies of maize have been tight in the market and millers are unable to get enough stocks, this situation is behind the rise in flour prices,” said an official of the Cereal Millers Association. The government notes that the reduced imports of the various major food commodities signify relative adequacy of stocks. “The cross-border imports decreased by 80 in the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year,” says the report. Millers have been complaining of decreased supply of local stocks in the market and are banking on stocks from Tanzania, whose harvest season has...

Romania’s Government aims to stimulate the country’s exports to Africa and has signed, together with other EU countries, an economic partnership agreement with the East African Community (EAC) states. Romania anticipates that the agreement will help it export Dacia Logan cars, communication equipment, mineral water to Burindi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, reports local Profit.ro. The Government also hopes that the partnership will help increase Romania’s exports of construction materials, fertilizers, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products to these countries. Romania’s trade with EAC countries totaled EUR 32 million in 2015, consisting in EUR 11.6 million exports and EUR 20.4 million imports. Source: Romania - insider.com

An urban planning policy for the East African Community (EAC) will create a network for the allocation of investment and for the production and sale of most goods and services once adopted, a regional parliamentarian said. MP Nancy Abisai earlier this month urged the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) to adopt a motion in support of an urban planning policy for the bloc, with view to empower the urban poor. Shortly before the motion was adopted, the Kenyan lawmaker told the Assembly that poor urban governance and inappropriate policy frameworks contribute to the vulnerability of the urban poor. Corruption, inappropriate policies, and cumbersome regulatory requirements in EAC cities, she said, lead to deprivations such as inadequate infrastructure and environmental services, limited access to school and health care and social exclusion. “Better urban governance is, therefore, a necessary condition for empowering the urban poor and improving their opportunities and security,” Abisai said. “Urban planning will reduce social inequality. Social and economic inequalities are apparent in urban areas and are growing in all the cities in the EAC partner states and can lead to social and political clashes.” Augustin Rwomushana, Director of Urban Economic Development in the City of Kigali, told The New Times last week that EALA’s resolution is a catalyst for increasing urban network of regional cities, towns, and villages encompassing all aspects of the environment within which societies’ economic and social interactions take place. Rwomushana added: “Nationally, the resolution will create a network for the allocation of investment and...

The overall objective of 2016/17 budget was achieving a middle income status through Sound macroeconomic policy framework, Employment and job creation interventions and Productivity enhancement programme. Domestic revenues are projected to increase from Ushs 11.6 trillion to Ushs 13.0 trillion through increasing tax base and reducing the informal sector. Uganda’s economy has remained stable with the national economic output increment at 4.6%• which is below the targeted 5%.  Inflation peaked at 8.5% early this year but has generally stabilised at 5.4% as of May 2016. Uganda’s imports were worth US$ 5,647 million; compared to export receipts of US$ 2,669• million due to the strong US Dollar and speculative tendencies related to the 2016 General Elections; and  The foreign exchange reserves contain approximately 4.4 months-worth of imports of goods and• services valued at US$ 2,925 billion. According to Matia Kasaija who read the Budget, the government will continue to simplify the tax regime, enhance compliance and eliminate tax• avoidance and evasion; and Tax relief to be granted to businesses that acquire or merge business with losses so as to• promote investing in Ugandan businesses. Social economic environment Government’s priority is to improve the water and sanitation infrastructure by expanding piped• water schemes, urban sanitation, and rural water access facilities; and  Enhanced supervision and monitoring of Government programmes to strengthen accountability• and quality of public service. The cost of personalised number plates has increased from Ushs 5m to Ushs 20m;•  Implementation of the Taxpayer Registration Expansion Project (TREP) to enhance coordination• between...

AR: How would you describe the civil and infrastructure markets in Africa? There is a clear consensus that infrastructure development currently is a focus area across the entire African continent, including the markets that we serve in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone; this is emphasised by the number of currently ongoing road, rail and port projects in these markets. The medium term macro-economic challenges include pressure on government revenues, elections, currency volatility and slow decision making by foreign investors and donors. In the short-term we have identified excellent prospects in East Africa. In Kenya, the focus has shifted to road projects now that the Standard Gauge Railway project is well underway; the Tanzanian and Ugandan governments are settling down after their recent respective elections and have announced a number of mega projects that will attract great interest and investment. In West Africa we have actually seen a decline and this may continue through 2016. Nigeria, although it has recently announced its budget and intent to pay contractors, will depend upon the timing and ultimate solution surrounding foreign exchange restrictions, which have negatively impacted the economy. Ghana will also be negatively impacted due to continued low oil and commodity prices and output, as well as the upcoming election and adverse impacts of the “missing” Cocoa Board Funds (which fund much of the feeder road development). Panafrican remains bullish about the road infrastructure sector, which is why we sought out the addition of the world class Wirtgen range of...

NAIROBI (HAN) June 13.2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. East African governments are determined to succeed in their global races to create growth and deliver lasting prosperity. They recognise that to build a strong economy necessary for a fairer society, they require infrastructure that competes with the best in the world. One only needs to look at the steady and substantial infrastructure spends over the years. The Kenyan 2016/2017) budget did not disappoint. Allocations of over $3.5 billion, representing over 15 per cent of the budgetary allocations, were channelled towards infrastructure and apportioned as follows, undoubtedly in order of priority; standard gauge railway (SGR) $1.55 billion, roads  $1.48 billion, energy $0.40 billion, Lapsset $100 million and ports $55 million. As expected, the majority of the Kenyan budget has been allocated to projects aimed at enhancing transport and logistics, in order to ease the cost of doing business in the country and bolster its competitive edge compared to its peers. It is projected that total traffic on the Northern corridor will double in 2016 from the 2013 levels of 21.5 million tonnes. The Tanzanian 2016/17 infrastructure budget also has a strong focus on developing its Central corridor; which undoubtedly will create strong competition for the Kenyan Northern corridor. Tanzania allocated $143 million to accelerate developments to renovate the Central railway line that runs from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika; and $9 million to the construction of the Mbegani port in Bagamoyo. The Ugandan government is likely to benefit...

Kampala — African Potash, a company listed on the London Stock Market, has signed an agreement with Uganda that will see the UK firm establish its presence here to supply affordable fertilisers to farmers in the country, East Africa and beyond. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last week was witnessed by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) representatives and the Alliance for Commodity Trade in East and Southern Africa. The two blocs will ensure that quality of fertilisers is up to required standards as agreed in the deal. The group, which included representatives from the office of Operation Wealth Creation, Agriculture, Finance, Energy and the African Potash chairman, Dr Chris Cleverly, also agreed to work together to increase availability of fertilisers in Uganda by 50 per cent (20,000 tonnes) as well as establishing a nationwide distribution network for fertilisers. And for that, an MoU was signed between the parties - government and African Potash. During discussions before the signing, it was revealed that the use of fertilisers continues to be low in Uganda because of high prices and poor quality fertilisers on the market. According to the Economic Policy Research Centre, at least eight in every ten 50-kilogramme inorganic fertiliser bags on the Ugandan market do not meet the required standards.  During the 2016/17 Budget reading in Kampala last week, Finance minister designate Matia Kasaija said for commercial agriculture to take off as well guaranteeing food security, farmers must begin to consider using fertilisers. The group, which...