Regional inflation rates could spike in the medium term following the sustained rebound of the price of crude oil in the international market, where it has risen from a low of $29 early this year to the current $47 per barrel. Rwanda recorded a rise in its April inflation rate to 4.6 per cent, up from 4.1 per cent a month earlier, which it blamed on rising energy and transport costs. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have also recorded an increase in fuel prices in the past month. The three countries saw their inflation drop in April, with Kenya’s year-on-year inflation dropping to 5.27 per cent in April, from 6.45 per cent a month earlier. Uganda’s inflation dropped to 5.1 per cent in April from 6.2 per cent in March, while Tanzania saw its April inflation decrease to 5.1 per cent from 5.4 per cent a month earlier. Rwanda’s central bank (BNR) said the country’s inflation levels experienced pressure as a result of increased transport prices after the recovery in global oil prices. Rwanda’s monthly inflation rate rose by 0.8 per cent in April, while its food prices rose by 5.6 per cent. The annual inflation rate for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 3.9 per cent while that for transport rose by 7.6 per cent. Last week, Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry announced an increase in the petrol pump price from Rwf826 ($1.05) to Rwf860 ($1.09) per litre, making it the highest in the region. “The...

Innovators and entrepreneurs in the logistics and transport sector across the East African Community have a chance to acquire part of $16 million grant-based fund under the second phase of the logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) Challenge Fund. The TradeMark Africa initiative will provide grants ranging from $150,000 to $1 million to winning proposals from innovators across the world, whose project ideas will be implemented in East Africa. The organisation has already called for entries from qualifying sector player. The LIFT initiative is managed by Nathan Associates through a fund management team based in Nairobi, and is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It seeks to trigger and introduce innovative approaches to tackling freight and transport costs in the East African Community (EAC). TradeMark Africa chief executive Officer Frank Matsaert urged innovators to apply for funding, saying the challenge had enabled stakeholders to test new ideas that should reduce the cost and transport time in the EAC. "It is our hope that the entrepreneurs and innovators of the East African Community in partnership with their counterparts internationally will drive forward development through the adoption or introduction of 'best practice' technologies in the transport and logistics sector, enabling local businesses to compete favourably in the increasingly global economy," said Matsaert. Businesses in the transport and logistics sector, or those that provide services to actors within it, are now being invited to submit their innovative concepts to LIFT for possible funding. The LIFT Challenge Fund is open to businesses...

Kenya’s big vision for a ‘coalition of the willing (CoW)’ agreement with Uganda and Rwanda to build a major rail line and oil pipeline that would invigorate and open up East Africa’s economy may be going up in smoke as its partners look elsewhere for more economically pragmatic paths to achieve their goals. First it was Uganda. In March, East Africa’s third largest economy pulled the plug on a tentative agreement with Kenya for an oil pipeline deal. Desperate bids to save the deal fell through as Tanzania, the new ally in Uganda’s oil pipeline deal said it would expedite the process for a lot less less than the Kenyan route had been estimated. Then Rwanda did what took both Kenya and Uganda by surprise: opting out of the standard gauge railway (SGR)with the two partners, once ‘bosom friends’. In 2013, soon after Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta ascended to power, he marshaled Uganda and Rwanda into a ‘coalition of the willing’ arrangement in which they initiated a raft of infrastructure, telecommunication, defense and tourism-promotion projects in East Africa’s Northern Corridor. The Northern Corridor links Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and gives the two landlocked countries as well as the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan access to the sea through Kenya’s port city of Mombasa. In 2013, soon after Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta ascended to power, he marshaled Uganda and Rwanda into a ‘coalition of the willing’ arrangement in which they initiated a raft of infrastructure, telecommunication, defense and...

This is according to an independent evaluation of the Non Tarrif Barrier (NTB) to trade programs in East Africa that was conducted last year on the impact of NTBs program. "NTBs reduction has contributed to the reduction in cost of transporting a 40 foot container from Mombasa to Kigali, from US$6,500 in 2011 to US$4, 800, in 2016," said the report. Evaluators estimate that this generated a saving on constant volumes of approximately US$7 million on the Mombasa-Kigali route alone. The independent evaluators based the report on NTBs programs valued at US$ 7.89 million across East African Community Partner States, supported by Trademark East Africa. Burundi tops the list of the East African countries that have witnessed the highest import reduction time – at 28 per cent, from 43 days to 30 days. Moses Sabiti a senior programs manager at TMA explained that in Uganda, they have supported the formation of an automated system where traders can report any tariff barriers encountered during trade, supported policy issues around the NTBs between Uganda and other East African countries among others. "Such interventions have contributed to the reduction of clearing time from the 35 days to less than 30 which is making life easier for traders not only in Uganda but for region as well," said Sabiti. Other areas that have witnessed great progress according to the report include Tanzania which has witnessed a 99 per cent reduction in application time from 5 days to one hour for getting an electronic certificate...

Uganda is pre-occupied with the oppression business, but still few would have missed the announcement by Rwanda a few days ago that it has decided to develop a rail link to the Indian Ocean through Tanzania. Kigali said it is because that option was cheaper and shorter than the route through Kenya. Why is this important? Because in 2013, when Presidents Yoweri Museveni, Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta, and Rwanda's Paul Kagame were meeting virtually every two weeks in what the media came to call "the coalition of the willing" to turbo charge regional infrastructure projects, the three agreed to link up to the Kenyan port of Mombasa along a standard-gauge railway estimated to cost $13 billion. The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati standard gauge railway project is expected to be completed by March 2018 and is estimated to cost $5.2 billion. This will be yet another boost to Tanzania, and a feather in the cap for its disruptive president John Magufuli. In March, Tanzania and Uganda agreed to build a $4 billion pipeline to transport crude oil from Kabale to Tanga Port in Tanzania. Uganda chose the Tanzania route, saying it was cheaper than the Kenyan one, had more access infrastructure, and presented fewer complications in securing land for it. It is not a loss to Kenya, as Rwanda says it will continue using Mombasa too, so it is more a two-port strategy, than an exclusive shift to Dar es Salaam. This column on April 20, 2016 (See "If you think the Uganda...

Proper investments will also be used as a key driver of structural transformation through creating backward and forward linkages between agriculture production, industrialization and growth in services trade. The call was made by Ambassador Nathan Irumba from SEATIN Uganda, ahead of the regional investment climate meeting that takes place this Thursday and Friday at Lake Victoria hotel in Entebbe. The meeting is organized by SEATINI Uganda in partnership with Diakonia under the theme "Making investment work for the people of East African Community (EAC)". It's aimed at kick starting efforts towards "Promoting Investment policies and Agreements that support sustainable development and improved livelihoods within the region". The multi-stakeholder meeting will involve adoption of a multi-disciplinary approach to enhance stakeholders' awareness and capacity to understand and appreciate the imperative for investment policies and practices that are gender sensitive, protect human rights, promote environment sustainability and address the development needs of the EAC region. At the meeting, stakeholders will be able to appreciate the need for investment policies and practices that are gender sensitive; protect human rights; promote environment sustainability among others. Irumba added that investment can facilitate rural economic transformation through increased production and productivity as well as value addition. The East African Community region is characterized by mostly Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) due to the fact that deliberate effort has been made by governments to attract FDIs into their countries. Currently, the region has registered world FDI flows of up to US$ 7 billion in 2014. Besides this, the EAC...

Innovators and entrepreneurs in the logistics and transport sector across the East African Community have a chance to acquire part of $16 million grant-based fund under the second phase of the logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) Challenge Fund. The TradeMark Africa initiative will provide grants ranging from $150,000 to $1 million to winning proposals from innovators across the world, whose project ideas will be implemented in East Africa. The organisation has already called for entries from qualifying sector player. The LIFT initiative is managed by Nathan Associates through a fund management team based in Nairobi, and is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It seeks to trigger and introduce innovative approaches to tackling freight and transport costs in the East African Community (EAC). TradeMark Africa chief executive Officer Frank Matsaert urged innovators to apply for funding, saying the challenge had enabled stakeholders to test new ideas that should reduce the cost and transport time in the EAC. “It is our hope that the entrepreneurs and innovators of the East African Community in partnership with their counterparts internationally will drive forward development through the adoption or introduction of ‘best practice’ technologies in the transport and logistics sector, enabling local businesses to compete favourably in the increasingly global economy,” said Matsaert. Businesses in the transport and logistics sector, or those that provide services to actors within it, are now being invited to submit their innovative concepts to LIFT for possible funding. The LIFT Challenge Fund is open to businesses...

Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda consider ending imports of used garments by 2019 in order to increase domestic production. Five East African countries may ban sales of second-hand clothing from abroad – a staple of many residents’ wardrobes – in order to bolster domestic garment making. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda make up the East Africa Community (EAC), which directed its member countries to phase out textile and shoe imports by 2019. The heads of state of all five countries must agree before the limits could take effect. The proposal comes as many African countries seek to increase manufacturing and other industries to fuel economic growth. Charitable donations resold Second-hand clothing, mostly from Europe and North America, are a mainstay of local clothing markets in Africa, according to Dr. Andrew Brooks, author of Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes. In Uganda, for example, second-hand garments account for 81 percent of all clothing purchases, Brooks said. East Africa imported more than $150 million worth of second-hand clothing in 2015. Brooks noted that the used clothing is less expensive than locally produced garments or even inexpensive new imports. U.S., U.K. are largest exporters Most of the second-hand clothing sold around the world comes from charitable donations by European and North American residents who are unaware the clothing will be sold, Brooks said. The United States and the United Kingdom are by far the largest exporters of used clothing. The United States exported used garments worth more than...

A Sh1.6 billion ($16 million) grant-based fund that supports innovators and entrepreneurs working in the logistics and transport sector has opened entries for its second phase. Logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) Challenge Fund will provide grants ranging from Sh15 million ($150,000) to Sh100 million ($1,000,000) to winning proposals from innovators across the world, whose project ideas will be implemented in East Africa. LIFT is a TradeMark Africa initiative managed by Nathan Associates through a fund management team based in Nairobi. It is financially supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It seeks to trigger and introduce innovative approaches to tackling freight and transport costs in the East African Community (EAC). TradeMark Africa CEO Frank Matsaert asked innovators to apply saying the challenge had enabled stakeholders to test new ideas that should reduce the cost and transport time in the EAC. “It is our hope that the entrepreneurs and innovators of the East African Community in partnership with their counterparts internationally will drive forward development through the adoption or introduction of ‘best practice’ technologies in the transport and logistics sector, enabling local businesses to compete favourably in the increasingly global economy,” said Mr Matsaert. LIFT Challenge Fund manager David Mitchell said the initiative’s impact to local entrepreneurs had been positive. “The Challenge Fund instruments fill a significant gap in the financial support needs of private businesses and the innovators that drive business activity to greater results and efficiencies,” said Mr Mitchell. Businesses in the transport and logistics sector, or...

Lack of skills and capacity among clearing and freight forwarding agents has been blamed for trade hurdles across the East African region, a new survey shows. The survey by TradeMark Africa (TMA) established that 477 clearing agents in the region had not been trained on improving trade logistics. This means that freight forwarding firms continue to incur costs such as fines imposed when clearing agents make errors on systems. The TMA survey conducted between 2011 and 2014 estimated that companies could save Sh38,500 annually if they employ trained clearing agents. TMA chief executive Frank Matsaert said business prosperity is achieved when there is a trade flow. “By training key people in the freight forwarding business, we are helping move goods quicker, save time and money and help the region develop,” he said. He said the survey was based on the premise that freight forwarders and clearing agents lacked necessary skills and capacity in clearing cargo at border points which resulted to an increase in cargo clearance costs and cargo release times. It was implemented by the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) in conjunction with the East Africa Revenue Authorities (EARA). A total of 4,023 out of 4,500 freight forwarders and clearing agents were trained during the programme that sought to seal some skills gaps. The highest number of graduates in the programme were from Kenya, 1,665, while Tanzania had 1,218. Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi had 717; 299 and 164 graduates respectively. The survey projected an 84 per...