As traders rue missed opportunities relating to Uganda choosing Tanzania over Kenya on the pipeline route, other initiatives are going on to spur intra-trade in East African. Hopefully, the recent initiative by Kenya and Uganda supported by a number of global and regional bodies to create a common platform for facilitating cross-border trade in fish and fishery products, using Busia Border point will succeed. Many times, the cumbersome and punitive inspection protocols for animal, human and plant products across the countries, which have different requirements and standards, has made it difficult for intra trade between the two countries. Uganda has a bigger supply for fish products, which on many occasions go to waste, while traders in Kenya face a huge domestic demand for fish products for local and export consumption cannot access because of stringent standards and different trade regimes within the two countries. To ease the cross border trade in fish and fish products, that will allow increased intra trade within the two countries, and by extension, export to other countries, a number of activities and facilities are to be established at the Busia border point that will provide quick inspection of human, animal and plant products health both at and behind borders. The pilot is among the several initiatives being implemented by partners in the business community as a way of increasing the level of intra trade volumes in Africa including: the EAC has developed the regional sanitary and phytosanitary standards, (SPS) the Inspectors’ guide; standard Operating Procedures;...

KIGALI—Rwanda has announced plans to develop rail links to Indian Ocean ports through Tanzania because they were cheaper and shorter than the route transiting Kenya, says Claver Gatete, Rwanda minister of finance and economic planning. Gatete told reporters on Sunday that the Tanzania route was cheaper and would not take long to be completed compared to the Kenya route. In 2013, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda agreed to link up to the Kenyan port of Mombasa along a standard-gauge railway estimated to cost $13 billion. Studies done by member states in the six-nation East African Community (EAC) showed that the Tanzanian option would cost Rwanda about $800 to $900 million dollars while the Kenyan one would go for $1 billion, according to the Rwanda ministry of East African Community Affairs report. “We opted for the route transiting to Tanzania during the construction of our railway line because the Kenyan route would be expensive and time consuming,” said Gatete. The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati (DIKKM) standard gauge railway (SGR) project is expected to be completed by March 2018 and is estimated to cost three countries $5.2 billion. Eng. Jules Ndenga, acting special project implementation unit coordinator at the Rwanda ministry of Infrastructure, said that Rwanda and Tanzania had already held joint technical monitoring committee meeting to fast-track the project implementation. “We are conducting a joint development of the standard gauge railway with our counterparts from Burundi and Tanzania. We have agreed contract terms and conditions and the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA), will...

The top African trade show - which was held from May 7 to 9 - at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre (Durban ICC), exploded with originality and creativity of the Africa’s wealth of cultural appeal, tourism natural attractions, services and products. In the media talk facilitated by the CNN New York based news anchor Richard Quest, African tourism ministers acknowledged the need to consult and engage one another to work on the bulk of issues which hinder tourism penetration. African ministers led by Hanekom added a strong voice on how Africa countries can come together to position themselves as tourism business collaborators and promote inbound tourism in which huge opportunities have largely not been exploited. “If one quarter of African countries were to implement the open skies for Africa decision  and facilitate great air connectivity between our countries - additional jobs (job creation) and an added GDP that could be generated with obvious numerous benefits for tourism in many countries, said Derek Hanekom, South African’s tourism minister. Hanekom said that many major airlines fly to Africa from North America, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. However, once visitors reach this continent they encounter difficulties in connectivity as well as exorbitant air fares from country to country. He said that air transport services in Africa remained a critical constraint. Hanekom, who was one of the three panelist’ tourism experts who attended the media talk including ministers from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Seychelles, Swaziland, Burkina Faso and Ghana. “Africa’s...

This was revealed here on the side-lines of the Indaba, Africa’s largest tourism trade show by the CEO’s of Tourism Board from Tanzania Ms. Devota Mdachi and Kenya’s Acting CEO, Ms. Jacinta Nzioka, and Uganda’s UTB Acting Marketing Manager, Ms. Sylvia Kalembe. “While we expect a significant growth of International arrivals this year, regional markets remains a potential segment that we are happy with the response of the Indaba trade show”, said  Devota Mdachi, Tanzania Tourist Board’s Managing Director. Tanzania was represented by nearly 40 exhibitors showcasing different tourism services and products from travel agents, tour operators and hospitality industry stakeholders.  Devota said the show exposed the growth of interest for Tanzania destination from different stakeholders including hosted buyers. Intra-Africa tourism business, according to Devota, is rising with many visitors visiting Tanzania from the African continent, particularly from South Africa. Some of key investments in the lodges and hotels in Tanzania are run and managed by South African companies, one of the pull factors, according to her. Zanzibar, the Serengeti national park Mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro crater dominated most of the enquiries while some shown interest in the Ruaha and Katavi national parks in the Southern Tanzania. Of interest to some enquiries, Devota said was the Kigamboni new bridge which opens up tourism beaches in the administrative and commercial capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania stand was graced with visits by different media houses based in and out of Africa including Richard Quest, the CNN news anchor who...

The Kenyan and Ugandan currencies have gained against the dollar in the past five months, buoyed by tighter monetary policies and higher earnings. However, the Tanzanian shilling and the Rwandan franc are still depreciating. In the past week, the Kenya shilling hit 100.60 to the dollar for the first time in eight months. At the start of the year it was at 102.80, and has so far gained 1.75 per cent to the dollar. The Uganda shilling gained against the dollar on the back of a peaceful election that led to increased investor confidence, with the currency gaining 1.55 per cent since the start of the year. Prior to the election, the currency had shed close to 5 per cent as investors adopted a cautious stance. The Ugandan unit is currently trading at 3,325 to the dollar, from 3,480 in mid-January. The Rwanda franc failed to beat negative predictions that the effects of the country’s poor export earnings and a stronger dollar last year would spill over into 2016. The franc, which shed 7.6 per cent to the dollar last year, is currently trading at 774.35, down from the 747.98 to the dollar at the start of the year. Offshore investors Wilson Kibe, a treasury dealer at ECB Bank, said the Kenya shilling is expected to dip below the 100 unit mark in a few weeks, when proceeds from the sale of a nine-year infrastructure bond draw in dollars from offshore investors. “For the past month, we have seen a...

Trade is a basic economic commodity that activates and improves people’s socio-economic livelihoods. To increase competitiveness and spur regional economic growth, quality control and checking are pivotal. Standards, testing, conformity and assessment processes have been frequently mentioned as barriers to trade. East African countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and now the rookie member, South Sudan — are addressing these barriers with the aim of increasing intra-EAC trade. Proper testing and certification increases the speed at which goods are traded across borders, ensures conformity assessment certificates are accepted, reduces rejection of goods and minimises costs. This is where the TradeMark Africa-supported Standards Harmonisation and Conformity Testing Programme comes in. The programme was launched in 2011 to help the East African National Standards Bureaus achieve regional harmonisation of standards and improve testing capacities, thereby improve trade competitiveness. So far, there are 70 new harmonised standards. Also, a 59 per cent testing cost reduction and 74 per cent average testing time reduction have been achieved across the East Africa Community bureaus of standards respectively. An analysis of volumes and values of intra- and extra-EAC trade of sampled products that the programme supported, indicates a growth trajectory — a 144 per cent increase in intra and extra EAC trade (from $857,997 in 2010 to $2,094,748 in 2014). The programme has also achieved clear results on market access requirements and certification of locally manufactured products by small and medium enterprises, particularly in Kenya. There has been a 194 per cent increase in the...

Making access to visas easy or scrapping the requirement entirely is an important way governments can help promote tourism and trade among the nations of the continent, according to the African Development Bank (ADB). The ADB has developed the Africa Visa Openness Index to assess which countries have the most open and efficient visa access. The bank says cumbersome visa procedures undermine doing business across borders on the continent. On average, travel within the continent is often difficult because African nations are “more closed off to each other than open” the ADB said in its 2016 report (pdf) on visa access. “Free movement of people is not a reality across Africa.” Most require visas in advance The report said only 20 percent of the 55 countries in the index do not require visas and only 15 percent offer visas on arrival, meaning more than half require visitors to obtain visas in advance. To make matters worse, the report said, many of Africa’s strategic hubs have restrictive visa policies while the continent’s small, landlocked and island states tend to be more open to promote trade links with neighboring countries. The report said countries in West and East Africa tend to be more open than in other regions. The top 10 nations for openness stand out, with an average score of 0.86 (out of 1) on the ADB index, more than double the overall average of 4.25. Seychelles is first for openness The top 10 countries are Seychelles, Mali, Uganda, Cape Verde,...

East African Community member states have failed to reach a deal on a common tax rate as the bloc’s smaller economies worry about significant revenue losses. The failure to harmonise value added tax, income tax and excise tax rates has left the regional bloc deliberating on how to harmonise legislation and regulatory frameworks governing the operations of these taxes in each country. A three-day meeting — convened by the EAC’s Sectoral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs in Arusha Tanzania from May 5-7 — to deliberate on the issue failed to agree on a policy framework to guide the process and instead sent the document to a consortium of experts. The draft EAC Domestic Taxes Policy Framework, which is under consideration, is critical for the harmonisation of VAT, income tax and excise duty. The Committee on Fiscal Affairs said the process of producing the domestic taxes harmonisation policy was taking too long and directed the EAC Secretariat to convene a meeting for the tax policy and tax administration subcommittee to look into the draft document and develop an EAC policy on tax harmonisation by August. Kenya’s National Treasury said while harmonisation of domestic taxes is a priority for the bloc, some countries are reluctant to go that route because of the fear of loss of  revenue. “This issue came up as part of the discussions during the meeting in Arusha last week. VAT has not been harmonised because it is an important source of revenue so countries are reluctant to lose out,” said Geoffrey...

African economies must reduce trade barriers and make it easier for people and goods to cross borders to boost growth in the face of headwinds from a commodity price drop, African officials and delegates at the World Economic Forum in Rwanda said. The International Monetary Fund said average growth in sub-Saharan Africa would fall to its lowest in nearly two decades this year, at 3 percent, with commodity exporters struggling and government finances coming under pressure. "As we develop the regional markets in Africa, we’ll reduce the susceptibility of Africa to these global commodity price shocks," African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina told a news conference in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Trade between African nations accounted for just 11 percent of total transactions, compared with Asia where regional trade accounted for 40 percent and Europe where it was 70 percent. Adesina said there were some positive signs - Africa-to-Africa investment had climbed, rising from $10 billion to $50 billion a year - although he didn't give a time frame. But he said high tariffs and non-tariff barriers such as poor roads, railways and ports hindered progress. "If there were a real willingness to dismantle trade barriers, you could get growth gains regardless of what was happening in the rest of the world because of broader markets," said Razia Khan, Africa economist at Standard Chartered Bank. While there are several trading blocs in Africa, few have acted swiftly to completely dismantle barriers to commerce, though the six-member East African Community...

African economies have changed and trade relations need to evolve since the U.S. first started offering duty-free access to certain countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a Bloomberg interview. Since AGOA first started in 2000, African economies have become more integrated and they’ve changed in terms of demographics, development and technology, Froman said in Kigali, Rwanda, at the World Economic Forum. A deadline is looming for Froman’s office to update Congress on sub-Saharan African countries that want to negotiate free-trade agreements with the U.S., Politico reported. The U.S. is consulting with African officials, business leaders and regional experts on what should happen next. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 1 percent of U.S. trade in 2015, according to Bloomberg. When AGOA was renewed in 2015 for 10 years, Congress mandated a progress report and re-evaluation of the overall trade and investment relationship between the U.S. and sub-Sahara by June 29, the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the bill into law. “It’s time to start looking at what comes next,” Froman told Bloomberg. “Part of what motivates us is that we are hearing from Africans that they want to move towards a more permanent, reciprocal kind of relationship.” Many in Congress have grown tired of extending one-way trade preferences to Africa without gaining reciprocal access for U.S. goods, Politico reported. The U.S. started free-trade talks with South Africa and other members of the Southern African Customs Union in 2003, but never reached a deal....