HANGZHOU – Trade between African countries and the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu increased 20−fold, while the city’s imports from the continent rose 30−fold in the past half−decade. Local companies from the city have also invested US$39 million in seven African countries by the end of 2015, about 16% of the city’s overseas investment, according to Yiwu deputy mayor Xiong Tao during the fifth China−Africa Think Tanks Forum, which was held over the weekend. Last year, imports and exports between African countries and Yiwu reached 49,8 billion yuan (US$7,7 billion ), up 49% year−on−year, accounting for 2,7% of China’s total trade volume with Africa. “Africa is Yiwu’s second−largest continent−level trade partner after Asia, accounting for 23% of foreign trade,” Xiong said. Yiwu is the world’s largest wholesale market for small consumer goods. More than 3 000 African merchants are stationed in Yiwu, and nearly 300 Africans study here. The city reports 80 000 buyers from Africa every year. Besides, over 5 000 kinds of products from 29 African countries and regions are available at the Yiwu International Trade City. Source: The Namibian

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) has unveiled a trade portal that will facilitate electronic issuance of ordinary Certificates of Origin (CoO). A CoO is an international trade document attesting that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. Issuance of the CoO is only done by the KNCCI through a manual process that usually took a minimum of three days. The web based portal, designed in partnership with Trade Mark East Africa (TMA), will also allow application for membership of KNCCI. Speaking at the launch Friday, KNCCI chief executive Matanda Wabuyele said the portal will allow users to cut on costs and time spent in acquiring the CoO. “A customer can apply for a certificate of origin from the comfort of their home/location. In addition it cuts on paper, ink and archiving resources,” he said. Mr Wabuyele noted that automation of the process came in handy in fighting corruption as it eliminated unwanted privileges and preferential treatment. In the case of foreign trade, the portal is expected to benefit foreign traders by lowering transaction costs arising from periods of inactivity in the manual processing of formalities for export operations. It will also allow users to make payments using various means including real time gross settlement (RTGS), bankers cheque, online banking and electronic funds transfer (EFT). To facilitate the payments, it has been integrated with local platforms such as M-Pesa and Equitel. Source: Business Daily

By joining the bloc, the Horn of African country opened a new chapter of hope and opportunities in social and economic spheres. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli signed a Treaty of Accession into the regional bloc. Speaking shortly after the signing ceremony in the east African nation’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam, President Magufuli paid tribute to South Sudan, saying the event was historic as it was done in Tanzania, the current chair of the EAC. "A new chapter of diplomatic relations has been opened," said the head of state, adding that South Sudan has been in close relations with EAC members in areas of culture, trade and economic ties. He said the joining of South Sudan in the EAC has expanded the regional market of 160 million people. President Magufuli said in order for the EAC to have sustainable development it should nurture peace and urged the new comer to continue with talks aimed at ending strife in the country. "The main reasons behind integration is to promote trade, investments and infrastructure in order to bring about sustainable development and nurture peace among members of bloc," said the president. Tanzania President John Magufuli and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir | Coastweek President Kiir thanked the EAC leaders for accommodating him in the regional bloc. He said his country will work hard to see to it that the EAC became a vibrant bloc, adding: "To start with we will form a ministry that will...

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli were scheduled to sign the treaty on 15 April, the latter having been mandated by the recent regional heads of state summit to sign on behalf of the EAC. Throughout the protracted negotiations that led to the admission of Sudan Sudan into the Community followed by the formal accession, there was no unanimity of opinion regarding the new member. There were essentially two diametrically opposed schools of thought. The first group – and this is perhaps the larger group – felt that South Sudan was not ready to join the regional bloc and should not be allowed to do so. Matters were not helped by the outbreak of civil war in December 2013 and the numerous lost opportunities at crafting a lasting peace in the country. Many people felt that with the current instability in that country, allowing it to join the Community would be of no benefit. There is little trade that can take place in war-time, and indeed many traders from the region fled South Sudan when civil war broke out. Efforts to rebuild infrastructure stalled, and firms that had rushed to take advantage of opportunities in the world’s youngest state hurriedly closed down. Why, then, did some people feel that the country’s application to join the EAC should be approved despite the fighting and instability? There are those who felt that the region could have a stabilizing influence on South Sudan, bringing it on board and...

At what stage of EAC integration are we? Partner states are looking for experts to draft the constitution that will guide on what kind of a federation the region will take. We expect at least three people from all the partner states to be in charge of drafting the constitution. The deadline for having a Political Federation had been set for 2016, so what are the new timelines? We cannot have timelines without a constitution. The regional constitution will be the guide towards the federation. It will clearly define what should be achieved at what time, when the region should have the federation, when it will be launched and over what period it will be implemented. For now there are no timelines until the constitution is in place. In November we expect the Heads of State to approve the list of experts who will be in charge of writing the EAC constitution thereafter the process of a political federation will commence. READ: EAC leaders meet to decide on constitution of political federation There is the issue of disparate constitutions, with some members having done away with the presidential term limits. How will this be handled? The constitutional team will determine that. They will guide the partner states but the final decision lies in the hands of the EAC Heads. What the experts will propose will be adopted or sent back for amendments by the presidents. So far, what have the partner states agreed on? In the last few consultative meetings,...

South Sudan on Friday last week, became the sixth member of the East African Community as the world’s youngest nation embarked on implementing comprehensive reforms in order to catch up with the other member states. President Salva Kiir said conflict resolution and upholding peace in his country was his biggest commitment after inking an ascension Treaty in Dar es Salaam with President John Magufuli, who is the Community’s chair. President Kiir named some of the reforms that his country would be making in the near future as the establishment of national revenue collection authority, forming a special ministry in his government charged with EAC affairs, review and passing number of laws and policies in order to harmonise them with other community member states. He also said his country also needs capacity building and institutional support, and he was hoping that the community will extend its helping hand. “We are equally aware of the major progress that the EAC has made in the recent times. The community is today respected as the most integrated bloc on the continent and one among the best globally. We accept this challenge of competitive open market through hard work and commitment. Tied with necessary reforms, South Sudan will raise to the occasion,” he said. On the execution of peace deal in his country President Kiir said: “We believe with peace and stability in our country progress will be made and our objectives will be achieved.” In August last year, President Kiir and his arch-rival who...

Rwandan officials said that contractors are yet to complete works on substations and high-voltage power lines that would facilitate the power trading plan, which is part of the Northern Corridor Infrastructure Projects. The three countries had proposed to start trading in power by 2015, a deadline that was pushed to April this year. But chief executive of Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd Erias Kiyemba told The EastAfrican that the partner states will not meet the new deadline due to challenges such as delays by the contractor. “We are behind schedule…. The transmission lines are not yet complete because of delays with the contractor, both on the Ugandan and Rwandan side,” said Mr Kiyemba. “Even if we had finished ours, the Rwanda side is also facing challenges…they haven’t finished theirs, and power can’t jump!” While Kigali has completed a high voltage — 220kv — interconnection electric grid transmission line to tap power from western Uganda, the Birembo/Shango sub-stations are behind schedule. “The Kagitumba-Mirama-Shango line was completed in October last year,” a statement from Rwanda’s Ministry of East African Affairs notes. A source from the Ministry said that they plan to complete the sub-stations by October. “We experienced some delays in our Birembo /Shango sub-stations, but we are now at 80 per cent complete,” he said. Kigali has asked Isolux Ingenieria, a Spain-based engineering firm contracted to build the power lines and sub-stations to expedite the project. The EastAfrican could not independently establish why Isolux had failed to beat the deadline. However,...

Uganda will take its oil to the market through Tanzania’s Tanga port, leaving Kenya to build its own pipeline to Lamu, if the positions taken at the just-ended talks in Kampala are maintained. “We have lost the pipeline deal to Tanzania. The only deal is to go back to the drawing board to construct our own pipeline to Lamu port,” a senior Kenyan official told The EastAfrican on Friday. The outcome of the talks was closely guarded, with the technocrats meeting in Kampala insisting that the final position would be announced during the Northern Corridor Heads of State Summit next week. The EastAfrican, however, learned that Uganda may have already sealed a deal with Tanzania to take the Tanga route and to let oil firm Total E&P of France fund and operate the pipeline. Last week in Kampala, Uganda held two separate meetings with Kenya and Tanzania; each consultation came up with a report. It had been agreed that the technical teams would compile the two reports and hand over a joint report to the heads of State. READ: Battle of wits hots up as Kenya, Uganda officials resume oil pipeline talks However, the Ugandan team is said to have been reluctant to share the report of its consultations with Tanzania. “Uganda is playing hardball and has refused to share the report from its discussions with Tanzania. This then leaves us nowhere,” said one of the Kenyans close to the discussions. However, it has also emerged that the Kenyan officials...

The signing by South Sudan of the Treaty of Accession into the East African Community ushers in a new era for East Africa, one full of new opportunities but still fraught with challenges. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli were scheduled to sign the treaty on 15 April, the latter having been mandated by the recent regional heads of state summit to sign on behalf of the EAC. Throughout the protracted negotiations that led to the admission of Sudan Sudan into the Community followed by the formal accession, there was no unanimity of opinion regarding the new member. There were essentially two diametrically opposed schools of thought. The first group – and this is perhaps the larger group – felt that South Sudan was not ready to join the regional bloc and should not be allowed to do so. Matters were not helped by the outbreak of civil war in December 2013 and the numerous lost opportunities at crafting a lasting peace in the country. Many people felt that with the current instability in that country, allowing it to join the Community would be of no benefit. There is little trade that can take place in war-time, and indeed many traders from the region fled South Sudan when civil war broke out. Efforts to rebuild infrastructure stalled, and firms that had rushed to take advantage of opportunities in the world’s youngest state hurriedly closed down. Why, then, did some people feel that the country’s application...

DAR ES SALAAM, April 16, 2016 - Tanzania President John Magufuli (R), who is also current chairman of the East African Community (EAC), and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir exchange documents shortly after signing an agreement for South Sudan to officially join the regional bloc, at the State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzannia, on April 15, 2016. South Sudan on Friday officially joined the East African Community (EAC), becoming the sixth member of the regional bloc after Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Source: Prokerala