Former Tanzanian President, Benjamin Mkapa; has been appointed by the East African Community (EAC) as facilitator of peace talks between rival factions in volatile Burundi. The announcement was made during the 17th Ordinary Summit of EAC heads of state in Arusha, Tanzania on Wednesday. The former leader is expected to discharge his duties under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. “This was suggested by fellow presidents so as to deliberately speed up the end to the crisis in Burundi,” said President John Magufuli, the chairperson of the regional organisation. Former President of Tanzania HE. W. Mkapa new facilitator of the Burundi negotiations #BurundiCrisis pic.twitter.com/AX9GVzFGkK — Daily Monitor (@DailyMonitor) March 2, 2016 Mkapa was instrumental in brokering a peace deal in Kenya, when it was engrossed in a post election violence in 2007. Burundi’s foreign minister, Alain Nyamitwe welcomed the news and wished the former leader well. An African Union high delegation was recently sent to Burundi in an effort to facilitate talks between President Pierre Nkurunziza and the opposition. Source: Africa News

Somalia has been rejected to join the East African Community regional bloc after failing to meet the eligibility criteria, Horseed Media reports. Three years ago, Somalia first applied to join the regional integration but have not been given the green light due to unrevealed reasons. Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdisalam Hadliye insisted that a committee from the organization will soon visit the country to assess the country’s readiness to join the bloc. ‘’They will visit here [Somalia] in April to assess whether we are eligible to join the organization. I believe that we are able to fulfill the requirements and reap the benefits,’’ he said in an interview with the BBC Somali Service. Mr Hadliye strongly denied that the members of EAC denied Somalia’s application due to the security situation of the country. According to the treaty establishing the EAC, new members are admitted if they respect the principles of democracy, rule of law, accountability, transparency and social justice. The treaty also says the countries must, besides being geographically near any of the existing members, practise “equal opportunities, gender equality as well as the recognise, promote and protect rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.” On the same day Somalia’s application had been denied, the EAC members approved the new membership of war-ravaged South Sudan. Horseed Media Source: Hoseed Media

Leaders of the previously five-nation regional grouping have put in place new rules under which private companies could be sanctioned if they are involved in corruption. The 17th leaders’ summit of the east African community (EAC) held in Arusha Tanzania endorsed a private sector “code of conduct and ethics” that sets high standards for companies. Companies will be required to “do what is right” to keep their businesses clean. Designed by technocrats from governments and private sector, the new rules also call for “ethical business practices” in Human rights, labour standards, and environment within the EAC partner states. In Rwanda, corruption has been on the back-banner as government maintains a tough stance on graft. Hundreds of officials have lost their jobs and gone to jail after they were implicated in corruption. Companies have lost their tenders when it emerged kickbacks had changes hands. Anti-graft group Transparency International in its annual corruption index has constantly maintained Rwanda at the top of the rankings. One of its top board members was in Rwanda last week to push for more measures, and the government seems a very willing partner. However, even if the assent by the regional leaders means the new EAC code becomes the norm across the bloc, it is not obligatory for companies to take part. Meanwhile, the summit also agreed on measures banning importation of used cars, clothes and shoes. Rwanda alone, imported 5,865 used vehicles between 2014 and July 2015, worth Rwf53 billion, according to the Rwanda Revenue Authority....

Kenya’s hopes of building an oil pipeline linking its coastal town of Lamu to Uganda’s oil fields have been dashed. This is after Uganda and Tanzania yesterday announced that they had signed an agreement that will see the pipeline re-routed to Tanzania’s coast instead. And in what appears to be a new twist in the never-ending drama among the three East African countries, Uganda now says the agreement was a way of Uganda ‘reciprocating’ Tanzania’s past favours to Uganda. The latest development is likely to put the spanner in the works of the region’s largest infrastructure project, Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET). The success of the Sh2.5 trillion project has been hinged on the availability of, among other things, the Kenya-Uganda oil pipeline. “The two countries are planning to build an oil pipeline between Tanga (in Tanzania) and Uganda covering a distance of 1,120 km,” the Ugandan presidency said in its statement confirming Kenya’s worst fears. “Magufuli said this is projected to employ 15,000 people,” the statement, which was carried by news agency Reuters, said. But this is not the first time Uganda has indicated it had signed an agreement with Tanzania only to beat a retreat. In October 2015, the country said it had struck an agreement with Tanzania to explore the Tanga route. In August, Uganda had intimated it would go with the Kenyan route citing cost-effectiveness. Museveni and President Uhuru Kenyatta had made a joint call to set up a pipeline via Kenya’s northern region ‘without...

South Sudan has been accepted into the East African Community (EAC) ranks, increasing membership of the bloc to six with an estimated population of 162 million people. The four-year-old state was admitted following the 17th Ordinary East African Community Heads of State Summit in Arusha, Tanzania and the move is seen as a way of helping consolidate the stability of the region through trade. “South Sudan is a new member of the EAC,” said the EAC secretariat on its social media site on Wednesday. #EACSummit jumuiya South Sudan has now been admitted as the 6th Country in EAC today ! Now the market size is 162 million people in EAC!— Vimal Shah CBS (vimalafrica) March 2, 2016 The EAC previously had Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, who have worked to develop and facilitate trade among its members. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July 2011 but plunged into a civil war in 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup. The war has severely affected the country’s economy: inflation, the collapse of its currency, and a reduction of over 50% of its oil production – by far its main resource – since independence. Job seekers from neighboring countries like Kenya have fled the nation as more than 2.3 million people have abandoned their homes while thousands have lost their lives. Source: Africa News

South Sudan is the newest addition to the East African Community (EAC). In the meantime the bloc has rejected Burundi’s bid for the EAC chairmanship for 2016. As leaders of the EAC met in Arusha in northern Tanzania, one man was conspicuously missing. Burundi's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, did not attend even though his country was bidding for the chairmanship of the bloc. The last time Nkurunziza attended an EAC summit, rebels staged a failed coup in his absence. The group however rejected Burundi's bid for this yearly chairmanship and instead decided to extend Tanzania's tenure under President John Magufuli into a second year. New member South Sudan The almost five-year-old country South Sudan is the newest addition to the group, which was previously made up of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. South Sudan gained its independence from the Republic of Sudan in mid-2011, but only two years later a political split threw the country back into a civil war. Leaders from nearly all EAC countries have played a role in the peace talks between South Sudan's president Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. The two rival parties have now agreed upon a transitional government which is however still waiting to come into force. "South Sudan's membership of EAC is not strictly on economic benefits but has historical significance. EAC is where we belong," South Sudan's vice president James Wani Igga proclaimed. He said his country had wanted to be part of East Africa even before its independence....

South Sudan has been admitted as the 6th Country in East African Community (EAC), Rwanda Eye report. The inclusion of South Sudan was endorsed at the heads of state summit of the EAC, chaired by the Tanzanian leader John Pombe Magufuli on Wednesday. This will widen the market size of the region to a staggering 164 million people, a sizeable population capable of attracting billions of dollars in Foreign Direct Investments. South Sudan’s admission endorsed by the Heads-of-State meeting in Arusha, Tanzania on Wednesday ends several years of waiting to join the regional economic bloc comprising Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. EAC’s Growth Domestic Product is estimated at $134 billion. Experts say the move is good for South Sudan which has been struggling with a crumbling economy following a two-year devastating war. With a peace agreement in place and rebel leader Dr RiekMachar expected in Juba soon, the country’s growth prospects remain high. For a common market to be successful there must be a significant level of harmonisation of micro-economic policies, and common rules regarding monopoly power and other anti-competitive practices. Officials say the benefits of integration far outweigh any existing fears with strong trade ties being an important tool in enhancing peace and stability in Africa. Source: News of Rwanda

TANZANIA - War-torn South Sudan was admitted on Wednesday into the regional East African Community (EAC), the bloc said, which works to encourage trade and simplify customs duties between members. The EAC, based in the Tanzanian town of Arusha, now expands the bloc to six nations, alongside Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Current EAC chairman, Tanzanian President John Magufuli, announced South Sudan's membership. With South Sudan's inclusion the EAC now covers over 150 million people. South Sudan won its independence in 2011 from Sudan after decades of war. Many South Sudanese said they should have joined the East Africa region -- rather than being tied to north Sudan -- when British colonial rulers left at independence in 1956. Despite euphoria at independence, South Sudan erupted into civil war in December 2013, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines. It is struggling to stem runaway inflation, and many foreign workers from neighbouring nations have fled violence that has seen key cities razed. - AFP Source: eNCA

Sifelani Tsiko The 15-member SADC regional economic bloc is set to receive €1,6 billion (US$1,7 billion) from the European Union to accelerate the implementation of regional integration programmes and projects. This emerged after the EU signed a €4 485 million euros (US$4 948 million) technical co-operation facility with Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) recently in Zambia to support implementation of regional integration programmes for the Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and India Ocean (EA-SA-IO) region. Head of the European delegation to Zambia and special representative to Comesa Ambassador Alessandro Mariani and Comesa secretary-general Sindiso Ngwenya signed the agreement. The €4 485 million would be shared among five regional economic communities — Comesa (€1,525 million), Southern African Development Community (€1,615 million), East African Community (€1,525 million), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (€1,435 million) and the Indian Ocean Commission (€900 000). “It is not an understatement that without the support of the EU, the achievements made by Comesa in regional integration would have been less than optimal. “Comesa already has a framework to ensure that we deliver time-bound results and demonstrate value for money for the facility,” said Ngwenya, the head of Comesa at the signing ceremony. Mariani said the funds would provide support for the studies sector, surveys, stakeholder consultations, communication, monitoring activities in various development areas such as trade integration, maritime security, wildlife and others. The funds are part of an overall of €1,3 billion provided by the EU under the 11th European Development Fund Regional Indicative (EDF) programme...

Kenya’s hopes of sharing the Sh400 billion crude oil pipeline with Uganda could hit a dead end as Uganda and Tanzania firm up plans to construct a pipeline through Tanga. A statement by Tanzania’s presidential press unit Tuesday stated that president John Magufuli met Uganda’s president Kaguta Museveni, and agreed that the pipeline will pass through Tanga. “The two agreed to begin construction of the crude oil pipeline from Tanga to Uganda, for the benefit of the two countries and their East African counterparts,” said director of State House Communication in Tanzania Gerson Msigwa on Tuesday. “The pipeline will have a length of 1,120 km and the project will create employment for over 15,000 people.” Kenya and Uganda had agreed to construct the crude oil pipeline through the Northern Lamu route mid last year. France’s Total, an investor in Uganda’s pipeline dismissed the option, quoting insecurity along the route. A study by Toyota Tsusho shows that the Kenya – Uganda Northern route for the heated crude oil to Lamu Port is cheaper for both countries. Total has been on the forefront advocating for the Tanga route. An MoU binding Tanzania with Uganda and initiating a study on the route was signed last year. TOTAL CEO The countries have all been calm on the pipeline decisions since December. However, senior official at the ministry of energy and mineral development in Uganda said Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne visited Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to convince him on taking the Tanga, Tanzania route in...