OPINION By Adam Ihucha Arusha — Kenya and Uganda are scrambling for hosting the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), renewing political supremacy wars in the regional body. Kenya is the latest partner state to apply while Uganda had started its spirited lobbying blitz some years back, seeking to enhance its position in the region. Sources say Kenya demanded the EAC heads of state to consider the location of the seat of the EACJ to be in Nairobi, but the 33rd EAC Council of Ministers deferred with the proposal. The EAC Council of Minister's report shows Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania's delegations were of the view that the Kenya's proposal should await a comprehensive analysis of the equitable distribution of benefits and costs among partner states. Nairobi's delegation led by Cabinet secretary responsible for labour and EAC, Ms Phyllis Kandie countered the argument, saying the study had taken too long to be completed. It argued that there were some other institutions such as Kigali-based EAC Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), EAC Kiswahili Commission (EAKC) in Zanzibar, the East African Health Research Commission (EAHRC) in Bujumbura, Burundi, that were established and distributed without the completion of the study. Nairobi was therefore of the view that since it hosts only one of the institutions, it should be considered in hosting the EACJ. According to the outgoing EAC Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, the determination of the seat of the EACJ is a prerogative of the Summit under Article 47 of the Treaty....

TANZANIA is highly optimistic of striking an agreement with Uganda over construction of the 1,410-kilometre crude oil pipeline from Hoima, given the former’s competitive advantage. It is against this backdrop that the country is sending a delegation of 40 businesspersons to Uganda to discuss business opportunities aligned to the ambitious project with government officials in Kampala. “We understand that there is a competition from some of our neighbours to implement the project. But we are 98 per cent sure of striking a deal,” the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Professor Justin Ntalikwa, told reporters in Dar es Salaam. Neighbouring Kenya is as well competing with Tanzania to execute the project. It wants the pipeline to be channeled from Hoima to its oilfields in Loikchar, Northern Kenya, to yet-to-be constructed Lamu Port. “Tanzania boasts of conducive environment to lay out the pipeline and this gives us a competitive advantage compared to the Kenyan route. It will be less costly to use the Tanga port,” Prof Ntalikwa boasted. The PS went on to point to the fact that Tanzania is more stable and secure with vast know-how in implementation of pipeline projects. This includes the 1,710-km Tanzania-Zambia pipeline (Tazama), which was commissioned in 1968 to transport crude oil from the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania to Ndola in Zambia as well as the 542-km pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam, which was launched last year to convey natural gas. Other projects include a conduit from Songo...

The outgoing secretary general of the East African Community, Dr Richard Sezibera, has expressed his appreciation for the support he has received from development partners, noting that the EAC Partnership Fund was more than a monetary support. He was speaking in Dar es Salaam mid this week at the fourth High-Level Dialogue of the EAC Partnership Fund. The dialogue was co-chaired by the Norwegian Ambassador, Hanne Kaarstad, and the EAC secretary general and attended by heads of diplomatic missions accredited to the EAC as well as members the EAC Partnership Fund. “The Partnership Fund is a forum for dialogue and creates avenues for discussing key integration issues and mobilising political support for EAC regional integration,” added Dr Sezibera, who also noted the positive growth of the fund since 2011. He called on development partners to honour their pledges through actualising pending disbursements which currently stand at 24 per cent for the financial year 2015/16. The outgoing EAC chief underscored the importance of the basket fund to the EAC, noting the significant support the Partnership Fund had given to the bloc, including financial support to the implementation of the Customs Union and Common Market Protocols; Private Sector development; finalization of the One-Stop Border Post regulations; negotiations and finalization of the EAC Monetary Union Protocol; institutional strengthening including the EAC Institutional Review; enhancing public awareness of the EAC; and development of EAC Vision 2050 among many other projects that have been completed or were currently ongoing. The secretary general further disclosed to...

In Summary The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) believes the enactment of an omnibus law would cure, if not overcome, challenges of harmonisation of the member countries’ legislations on the community and implementation of joint programmes. Advertisement Arusha. A new legislation intended to harmonise all national laws pertaining to the East African Community (EAC) by all partner states has been proposed. The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) believes the enactment of an omnibus law would cure, if not overcome, challenges of harmonisation of the member countries’ legislations on the community and implementation of joint programmes. The regional Assembly, which ended its plenary session in Dar es Salaam recently, also wants an administration law for the Common Market Protocol be instituted to ensure its smooth implementation. “The assembly is of the view that such a move shall cure existing challenges of harmonisation of partner states’ laws pertaining to the community,” said Bobi Odiko, the spokesman of Eala in a statement to the media. In the same vein, the Eala session, the first to be held in the country’s commercial capital in nearly three years, tasked the EAC Council of Ministers to prioritise harmonisation of laws for EAC “in order to facilitate integration within the set time frames”. The Council, which is the policy organ of the community, directed the Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs to expedite implementation of the entire Article 126 of the EAC Treaty which obliges partner states to harmonise legal training and certification and encourage standardisation...

The UK has outlined plans to increase its support for infrastructure development in Africa and encourage further investment on the continent. The UK's Africa minister James Duddridge told an infrastructure conference hosted by the international and current affairs think-tank Chatham House in London on 15 March: “Infrastructure is a pipeline for money. Airports, railways and roads are all pipelines for economic activity. This requires local knowledge and skills but also global expertise and help to get people and money moving.” “UK companies have skills and expertise from project design, through planning and implementation,” Duddridge said. “British architects, professional services, legal firms and capital markets are among the best in the world and stand ready to support infrastructure development on the continent.” Duddridge said there was “no quick fix” for infrastructure challenges in Africa, but part of a new UK-led ‘Prosperity Fund’ for the region, worth £1.3 billion ($1.8bn) over five years, “will be used to help Africa grow out of poverty”. Duddridge said current UK projects include supporting “critical feasibility studies” for Tanzania’s government “to secure bigger finance through the World Bank”. “With greater funding, Tanzania can improve the port infrastructure and realise the regional trade benefits that will come from improved freight corridors across Tanzania,” he said. The UK’s Department for International Development is backing a Tanzanian government programme with the World Bank to make the major commercial port city of Dar es Salaam, on Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast, “more resilient to extreme weather events”, Duddridge said. Duddridge said...

If economies had faces, then those of Uganda and Tanzania would be wearing smiles right now. The two neighbours reached a milestone when energy ministers from the nations penning a project implementation plan (PIP) on a crude oil pipeline linking them. Once completed, the project would enable over 200,000 barrels of oil to be transported per day from Uganda’s Lake Albert area to Tanzania’s Tanga port on the Indian Ocean coast ready to be supplied to the world. When signing the pact, Uganda’s Energy Minister, Irene Muloni and Tanzania’s Energy and Minerals Minister, Prof Sospeter Muhongo expressed the two state’s desire to fast track the implementation of the project, saying it is an important undertaking for the two nations in the region. Hammering the nail home, Adewale Fayemi of Total E&P Uganda, the French firm undertaking the project, cleared fears over its possible delays, saying there was no likelihood as the funds to build the pipeline are already available. President Magufuli was earlier quoted as having challenged Total to see if completion of the project could be expedited and take less than the years that have been planned. It is rather encouraging to learn that the political will is not wanting on both countries involved in the implementation of the project which, at a certain point, seemed to have been mired in high level regional politicking. On the one hand, neighbouring Kenya had her eyes on the project with the ambitious vision of linking the pipeline with Ethiopia and South...

The East African region has embarked on harmonizing laws on illegal wildlife trade as part of efforts to fight vice. The director, ministry of tourism, wildlife and antiquities, James Lutalo, said they are already working on mechanisms on how they can combat the illicit trade. "We want our laws to be harmonized. We want all countries to have tough punishments for the perpetrators like in Kenya where they have a life sentence," he said. Lutalo disclosed this while closing a five-day workshop training for law enforcement officers from different agencies on the prevention of wildlife trafficking in Entebbe. It was facilitated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Lutalo said that although the entire East African region remains a transit route of wildlife trafficking, Uganda remains the top-most used route for many wildlife items because of its porous borders and weak laws. Margaret Kasumba, the acting law enforcement coordinator at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said they seized some 4,000kg of ivory between 2014 and 2015. She said many items go undetected due to poor coordination of various agencies and lack of skills by law enforcers. Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and Police also impound 4,310kg of ivory and rhino horns in 2015. - See more at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1420150/east-africa-harmonize-laws-wildlife-trafficking#sthash.rJXe1qrE.dpuf Abel Kagumire, the manager, enforcement operations at URA, said most items were seized at Entebbe Airport disguised as shear butter, while others were camouflaged as matooke and aircraft equipment in transit to Singapore and Netherlands. Lutalo said wildlife trafficking is categorized as...

This is a critical and strategic discussion that should continue and I’m glad it was triggered by the Minister of Trade and Industry; it means it is high on the agenda of the Government of Rwanda. For industrialisation to take place, there are many prerequisites: universities must be actively involved in research and development, availability of basic infrastructure (electricity, water, transportation and Internet connectivity), access to finance (and even preferential treatment for local firms...just replicate the EXIM banks in most OECD countries) and reduction of government red tapes. During the conversations, I would also throw this question out there; what is really our competitive advantage? If we think we can manufacture tyres in Rwanda and be competitive then indeed we are missing the point. I also don’t agree with these rules of nationalistic protectionism being promoted at the East African Community level; it creates uncompetitive and non-innovative companies (this sounds like welfare of sorts...Europe has tried it before and failed). For Rwanda, what we should focus on is how to aggregate in environment protection, textile, coffee, food processing and export (products and services) to big markets in Africa, China and USA. Finally, we need to tap into outsourcing opportunities in technology and related services. That should be part and parcel of our industrialisation policy. And, don’t forget to invest in think-tanks (local and regional). Al ************************* And what is “industrialisation”? Is it switching hand work to machine work? Replacing own oriented work with factory wage work? Relinquishing personal, landlord, or...

Christopher Farai Charamba Correspondent Richard Mullin once said: “The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa . . . for he has so much to look forward to.” Over the past few years the global perception of Africa has been changing. The Africa rising narrative coupled with the positive growth rates in many regions on the continent have contributed to changing former negative attitudes the world had towards Africa. A direct consequence of this changing narrative has been an increase in international tourists to Africa. In 2014, African Business Magazine stated that Africa’s tourism industry was the fastest growing in the world. According to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa’s tourism industry is set to spur more economic growth for the continent and directly employ 6,7 million people by 2021. In 2011, tourism in sub-Saharan Africa accounted directly or indirectly for one in every 20 jobs. While there has been a marked increase in international tourists to the continent, it has always been a cumbersome process for Africans travelling within Africa to other countries. With flying too expensive and considered a luxury, a lack of proper road and rail networks between African countries has limited Africans in terms of exploring their continent. Another hindrance has been the need to obtain a visa to visit other African countries and a lack of a common passport akin to the one in the European Union that would allow African nationals easier access to other African states. This,...

The 17th East African Community Heads of State Summit admitted South Sudan as a new member of the East African Community partner states. This historical endorsement was made on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 in Arusha- Tanzania. Negotiations to South Sudan’s accession to the EAC began in November 2014 and truly there has been relatively an accelerated timeline to their conclusion. This clearly shows the willingness of all stakeholders to have the World’s newest nation join the East African community. The whole idea of the EAC integration is largely about creation of a wider market base, infrastructure development and guaranteed security within the region. The inclusion of south Sudan as an EAC partner state certainly provides a much needed push for both a wider market base from 150 million people to 162 millions and ultimately a beam of light in our regional security angle. A key feature of South Sudan’s membership is undoubtedly the thrust on strengthening the already existing market especially for agricultural produce. Here, Uganda and Kenya have significantly enjoyed trading with South Sudan and this has resulted into traders bringing in millions of dollars that have boosted our foreign exchange base. As for infrastructure development, we are likely to witness a tremendous improvement of the road network from partner states towards South Sudan. The standard gauge Railway project that was commissioned on October 8, 2014 will also take a shorter period to accomplish than otherwise expected. It’s also important to note that our region has largely experienced security...