The East African Community (EAC) is now successfully asserting itself as a regional trading bloc. Trade volume may have increased but dreams of monetary union are still far-fetched. Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (front L3), Rwanda's President Paul Kagame (R3), Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta (R2) and the host Tanzania's President John Magufuli (C) attend the 17th EAC Heads of State Summit in Tanzania's northern city of Arusha, March 2, 2016 Photo by: Xinhua "Between 2005 and 2014, trade within the East African Community (EAC) increased by 300 percent," Dirk Smelty, business consultant with the Tanzanian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture told DW. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda formed the EAC in 2000 and introduced a customs union five years later. Burundi and Rwanda joined the union in 2007. The customs union is promoting trade and is going from strength to strength. The EAC reported that in 2005 Kenya recorded imports worth $3.5 million (3.8 million euros)and exports valued at 5.8 million dollar. By 2014 imports had doubled to $6 million and exports tripled to $18.3 million. Uganda also doubled its exports in the same period and its imports nearly tripled. Tanzania however made the biggest leap by quadrupling its exports. Trade in Rwanda and Burundi however remained low. Chinesen bauen Straßen in Kenia Several EAC projects still remain unfinished due to logistical challenges The three driving forces: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda According to Smelty, trade within the EAC is mainly benefiting countries with stronger economies including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. "Kenya...

Convenience at minimum cost is a leading consideration for investors looking for new locations to set up enterprises. Around the world, industrial parks have become the popular vehicle for countries to provide a competitive environment for industries to take off. Technically, an industrial park is a geographically delimited area, intended for the settlement of industrial plants with proper location, infrastructure, equipment and services conditions, and with a permanent administration for its operation. Recently, Uganda announced that it is setting up 22 new industrial parks around the country. This is commendable if the government does not go back on its word by failing to put in place the basics needed to attract both local and foreign investors. It is going to be expensive, but will pay off in the long run if it is done right. All the Tiger Nations of East Asia developed industrial parks during the 1980s and early 1990s which helped attract investment especially from Japan. South Korea started in the 1960s. The government at the time adopted a strategy of concentrating industries in regions with high growth potential, rather than dispersing investments nationwide, in consideration of the country’s limited financial resources. The policy has worked out well as reflected in South Korea’s spectacular growth. Note, this is the country with the highest internet penetration in the world. Today, industrial parks are the industrial/manufacturing hubs that drive the economies of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. For the East African Community (EAC) to take advantage of a similar...

Khartoum’s letter to Arusha seeking a place in the EAC returned with negative response with the country being politely told that, in order for Northern Sudan or any other African state to be allowed in the regional bloc, it must share a common border with any of the existing member states, that is Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania or Burundi. Last month’s admission of South-Sudan to the Arusha Pivoted East African Community now paves way its neighbour, further north at Khartoum to also be considered to become the seventh member of the community which was revived back in 1999, but as of now it is all silent at the community secretariat here. It was actually North Sudan, headquartered at Khartoum which was first to apply to be allowed to join the East African Community (EAC) five year ago. However, its request was placed on hold because in order for a country to be a member of the EAC, it must share a common border with any of the initial five partner states. Efforts to find the EAC Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Richard Owora Othieno, to comment on the issue last weekend, proved futile as he wasn’t around and his phone was unreachable. South Sudan, which borders the two EAC member states - Kenya and Uganda in the South - apparently stood in-between Khartoum, but since it has now become a member, it is possible for North Sudan to re-apply and be considered to join EAC. South Sudan brought into the...

In what signals the country's stay in a forced marriage, Tanzania's performance in a number of dimensions of regional integration has lagged behind that of its East African peers -Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. This is according to the Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII), a new tool designed to measure the level of regional integration among African countries. The index is a collaborative effort between the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). It seeks to collect data on the impacts of regional integration. Countries are assigned scores from a scale of 0.0 to 1.0. It was created using five dimensions including regional infrastructure, regional trade, productive integration, free movement of people and financial and macro-economic integration. While the four countries have performed well above the African average- Tanzania has not. Kenya, the largest economy in the region, set the example in regional integration leading in three of the five dimensions that was used to design the index including regional trade, productive integration and free movement of people. Tanzania was last three dimensions including regional infrastructure, free movement of people, financial and macroeconomic integration. In essence, it is easier for a Tanzanian to enter Kenya and set a business than it is for a Kenyan to get into Tanzania and do the same. READ MORE East Africa trading bloc ranked high in regional integration Tanzania searches for "ghost workers" on public sector payroll Treat Kenyan VIPs with more decorum Tanzania is...

China is negotiating for the creation of a free trade agreement with the EAC. The EAC has already signed co-operation agreements on trade with the US and the EU. Recently, China wrote to the EAC Secretary-General proposing to negotiate with the EAC partner states a comprehensive free trade agreement (EAC-China FTA). China also requested to undertake a joint feasibility study with the EAC on the proposed FTA, outgoing Secretary-General Richard Sezibera informed the Council of Ministers at a meeting in Arusha. The Council directed the Secretariat to undertake a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis on the implications of negotiating FTAs with third parties. "We are working on the directive of the Council," EAC spokesperson Richard Owora said. He said they expect to conclude the work by June 30. However, East African Business Council executive director Lillian Awinja cautioned that free trade with China would hinder EAC industrialisation. "EAC shouldn't rush to negotiate an FTA with China. We need to study, consult a wide range of stakeholders, and establish the impact of such a deal on the EAC industrialisation blueprint," Ms Awinja told The EastAfrican. She said the EAC needs to protect its investors in the manufacturing industry rather than expose them to unfair competition. Ms Awinja said that already China floods the EAC market with its products. "China has the capacity to flood the whole world with their products. If we are to protect our industries, let's choose only a few products from China," said Gasper Mpehongwa, a development lecturer at Tumaini...

Construction for the new Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor is expected to drive significant opportunities for the breakbulk sector, according to predictions from research consultancy Africa House. In a recent research note the firm states that nine development zones or "growth areas" have been identified including a dedicated bulk cargo center at Lamu which will help the port, as well as Isiolo area in the western interior, become major transport hubs. “It is estimated that Mombasa Port will have outstripped its capacity by 2025,” a spokesperson for Africa house said, adding that “a contract for the first three of planned 32 berths [at Manda Bay in Lamu] has already been awarded to a consortium of companies led by China Communications Construction Co. with the value of contract at 42 billion Kenya shillings.” Despite the overall positive expectations for growth in project cargo demand in the region the firm cautions that some factors still threaten downside risk. “Recent developments may, however, reduce the impetus for the LAPSSET Corridor. Uganda and Tanzania have announced the routing of the oil pipeline from Lake Albert to Tanga Port in Tanzania rather than Lamu. Ethiopia is strengthening its trade corridor to Djibouti Port,” a spokesperson added. Headquartered in Johannesburg, Africa House was formed following the merger of Whitehouse & Associates and Africa Project Access. The firm provides trade and project environment analysis alongside bespoke research on projects and opportunities in African transport and breakbulk markets. Source: Break Bulk

On a sweltering Kenyan morning on the outskirts of a national wildlife park, Chinese and local workers maneuver a massive concrete rail-bridge structure onto towering support piers. In the distance, trucks loaded with shipping containers rumble down a highway. The bridge at Voi, northwest of the port of Mombasa, is the latest construction frontline for the initial 327 billion-shilling ($3.2 billion) stretch of an ambitious railway project to link the East African country with landlocked neighbors including Rwanda and Uganda. As a faster alternative to the trucks clogging the only road running inland to the capital, the Chinese-built and -financed standard-gauge railway, known as the SGR, has the potential to transform trade in the region. A wagon carries railway sleepers on a superbridge which will form part of the railway A wagon carries railway sleepers on a superbridge which will form part of the railway Photographer: Riccardo Gangale/Bloomberg Kenya’s rail line, the country’s biggest investment since independence in 1963, is among the most advanced of the more than $30 billion of African rail projects planned or under way. Together, they span more than 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles), enough to connect Cape Town to Copenhagen. It’s one of the bright spots on the world’s least developed continent, where governments are wrestling with drought-induced food shortages, weakened currencies and shrinking budgets following the plunge in commodity prices. Held Back “Infrastructure constraints are one of the major things holding back Africa and this standard-gauge railway will make a big difference,” said Mark Bohlund,...

Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) have embarked on a sensitization and outreach drive across member states over the role of each stakeholder in the integration process. The team responsible for mobilizing Uganda says the move is to enhance mutual relations between the East African Community (EAC) and populations of partner states. The EALA is an organ of the EAC established under Article 9 of the treaty for the establishment of the Community. "Attainment of the EAC integration agenda can only be first tracked when we have all our people on board, so it is important that we mobilize them. Most of them especially at the grassroots don't know how to do cross border trade which is a very crucial aspect of the process," Chris Opoka the team leader of the sensitization program told journalists yesterday. ast frican egislative ssembly members ora yamukama and ike sebalu addressing the media during a press rief at the media center East African Legislative Assembly members Dora Byamukama and Mike Ssebalu addressing the media during a press Brief at the media center The program organized under the theme, 'EAC integration Agenda: Accessing the gains' came after a rallying call by the EAC Heads of States, that EALA members should sensitize the population on the integration process and its benefits. Opoka says, "It is more like an assignment from the summit after the heads realized that their citizens were not averse with the issues at hand and the milestones so far made." He...

ADDIS ABABA - In a bid to show solidarity and promote free movement of Africans within their region and other parts of the continent, African heads of states are to carry an African passport for the next African Union Summit to be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, in July. The heads of states will receive the African passport since the AU wants to popularise it as it is very symbolic and significant for the continent, as well as practical, because if one is carrying an African passport he/she should not be expected to apply for a visa, according to Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission. “A few of us at the AU are already using that passport within Africa and it is very useful, but we want the heads of states to carry it when they are visiting African countries to make it official and known to others as well,” she said. Africa’s attempt to address this situation has seen free movement show up in continental development strategy documents since the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action and the 1991 Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (AEC), commonly known as the Abuja Treaty. Abuja committed African states to “adopt, individually, at bilateral or regional levels, the necessary measures in order to achieve progressively the free movement of persons, and to ensure the enjoyment of the right of residence and the right of establishment by their nationals within the community”” The chairperson also said that all African countries must give...

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is ranked third in regional integration out of eight regional economic communities assessed by the Africa Regional Integration Index – Africa’s first effort to measure progress on regional integration. The Africa Regional Integration Index Report launched recently in Addis Ababa, is the result of a collaboration between the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC); and follows calls for systematic measurement of regional integration. On a scale of 0 to 1, ECOWAS came third with a score of 0.509, behind the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which scored 0.531, and the East African Community (EAC) which came first with a score of 0.540. The Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) came fourth with 0.459, followed by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the horn and its western area, with 0.457; and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in sixth, scoring 0.454. The joint research also examined integration in two wider regional blocs: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which cuts across North-Eastern, East, Central and Southern Africa, and includes some member countries of the UMA, IGAD, ECCAS and SADC; and the Community of Sahel Saharan States (CEN-SAD) made up of ECOWAS and some North, Central and East African states (from UMA, ECCAS and IGAD). COMESA scored 0.415 and CEN-SAD, 0.395. Regional integration in the report was measured using 16 indicators in five dimensions: trade integration, productive integration, free...