The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) signed between 26 African nations in 2015 is the most significant and historic trade deal signed on the continent in decades. The new and vast economic zone will link three trade blocs that would unite 57 percent of the continent’s population and allow free movement of goods and people with predictable positive effects on the African economy. The initial agreement, signed in Egypt’s Red Sea resort—Sharm El-Sheik—in last month, aims to combine the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the South African Development Community (SADC), and the East African Community (EAC) to one trade region. What member states agreed, in theory, requires practical implementation of the treaty as well as negotiations and ratifications by the respective national parliaments. At a recent AU heads of states summit African leaders decided the agreement to come into effect in 2017. With less than two years left, some African countries might struggle to meet the given deadline target. Given the current geo-political realities on the continent, it’s hard to see how such a short deadline could be met at the same time and by all member states. The difference in size, economic strength, bilateral relation, political situation and stage of development amongst member states might represent a challenge to the 2017 goal, some experts say. For instance, many African countries have poor relations between them and that says it all – without the prerequisite of serious diplomatic and political relations it could take considerable time for...

Uganda looks north as Rwanda considers eastern connection The Kampala-Kigali leg of Standard Gauge Railway line, under the northern corridor infrastructure development initiative, may delay as Uganda shifts its priority to “a more economically viable line” to South Sudan. And in the wake of Kampala’s changed priorities, Rwanda has been left with no option but to look east to Tanzania, a non-member of the so-called coalition of the willing of the northern corridor, for a quicker railway connection to the sea. Individuals familiar with these developments told The Independent in Kigali on condition that they are not named that the burden is now on Kenya, with huge business interest in Rwanda and the vast DR Congo, to try and persuade Uganda to stick to the original plan to prioritise construction of Kampala-Kigali railway line. Kenya has invested massively in the expansion of Mombasa port and is vigorously promoting it as the port of choice for the landlocked countries in the region. Any delay to construct the Uganda-Rwanda section of the railway line could see Mombasa lose the Rwanda and DR Congo market to its business rival, Dar ess Salaam port. Construction of the railway line is one of the major projects supposed to be fast tracked by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda under a tripartite arrangement; aiming at boosting intra-regional trade by reducing the cost of transporting goods to and from the sea. Rwanda also needs the electric railway line quickly to reduce the cost of transporting imports and exports—currently the...

AFTER an eight-year negotiation period, the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) was launched on June 10, bringing together 26 African states with the aim of stimulating intra-African trade by creating a common market. These countries make up three major regional communities — the Southern African Development Community, the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. The free trade area is a long-term project with significant stumbling blocks, including ratification by all 26 participating countries and the implementation of the agreement without causing significant economic disruption for weaker economies. However, the principle of promoting intra-African trade is receiving a lot of attention, along with the development of infrastructure that enables such trade. It is 50 years after the end of European rule in most parts of Africa, and more than a third of Africa’s trade remains with western Europe — historical ties still have a large influence on these markets. This is not surprising given shared languages and cultural connections between many countries. Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Egypt, Lesotho, Botswana, SA, Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania and Swaziland were all former British colonies and make up half of the countries in the TFTA, with most of the remainder having French, Portuguese or German languages and cultures in common. The continent’s largest economy, Nigeria, is not included in TFTA. Once the agreement is fully implemented, the way in which member states benefit will, in many ways, depend on their economic, political, trade and regulatory realities. It will also...

A fuss-free border can generate more revenues for governments and offer lower prices for consumers than one that is steeped in bureaucracy. It also encourages the movement of people which in turn inspires entrepenuership. The tourism industry can also gain through the concept of a seamless package tour. In the coming months, citizens of the East African Community (EAC) Partner States will see their presidents trooping to their borders to officially open new One Stop Border Posts (OSBP) facilities. In the dark days before economic integration became a clarion call for more regional prosperity, national borders were like fortresses. More so for business people and general traders intent on importing vital production inputs or exploiting new markets for their goods. The costs involved in both importing and exporting were high, because of the wasted time in duplication of effort. OSBPs will change all that, because persons, vehicles and goods make a single stop to exit one country and enter another. Implementation includes simplification of documents and procedures and greater use of ICT. Many online systems are already in place. For road transporters, instead of spending days at the borders, truckers will complete formalities in a single facility and leave in less than a day. Many of these documents will be received and reviewed electronically before the vehicle arrives. If all is in order and no inspection needed, the vehicle could complete formalities in a few hours and not several days as before. If inspection is needed, it will be done...

MOMBASA, Kenya - Shipping giant, Maersk, is pushing for a cloud-based strategy to reduce documentation processes in shipping and enable global trade writes JOSEPH BURITE. “The idea is to use our expertise around processes and systems around the world to help enable trade,” Managing Director for East Africa Steve Felder said in an interview on Monday. “It is to try and push for digitalization of documentation processes in shipping as an enabler to improve efficiency and lead-time. It will ultimately reduce total logistical costs,” he said by phone from Johannesburg. Partnering with Trademark East Africa, the company will work on the pilot project in the region. “If successful, it has potential to be adopted globally,” Fedler said. Transportation accounts for over 40% in cost of doing business in the region, according to the Shipping Council of East Africa. “To ship a container from Kenya to Holland, a mapping process showed - there are more than 30 individual organizations involved and more than 200 communication interactions. We are looking at how we can develop a cloud based solution to greatly improve this process,” Felder said. Source: East African Business Week

MIRAMA HILLS, Uganda - The Mirama Hills One Stop Border Post (OSBP) linking Rwanda and Uganda is now fully operational on a 24-hour basis, but Ugandan officials at the new facility have been cautioned against asking for bribes writes SHARON KYATUMIISIRE Last week, Alex B. Okello, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport said, “This is an investment that has been put up by the government of Uganda to ease transportation of goods in and out of the country. “Let’s make this facility work for the people, including the local community. Avoid bribes here from smugglers and ensure transparency to all users,” he said. He was officiating at the technical handover of the OSBP to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) in western Uganda. The official commissioning of the two border posts (Kagitumba in Rwanda and Mirama Hills) will be done by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni later in the year. The refurbished border post contains sections for customs, the immigration department, a goods inspection hall, a clearing agency block and a police post. The facility cost $7.8 million to construct, financed by TradeMark Africa and the government. Work started in July 2013 when the site was handed over to the winning contractors after ab idding process, Dott Services Limited. Dickson Kateshumba, the Commissioner of Customs in URA, said the facility will be open 24 hours. He said all the relevant staff will be under one roof to ensure faster delivery of services. He...

When the heads of states and governments of COMESA, EAC and SADC met in Kampala on October 22, 2008, they conveyed in their communiqué a sense of urgency and approved the expeditious establishment of a single Free Trade Area (FTA) covering 26 out of the 54 countries that make up the African continent. The three regional economic groupings (RECs) also directed that a study be prepared on a legal and institutional framework to underpin the FTA with the ultimate goal of establishing a single customs union. Seven years later, on June 10, 2015, the heads of state and government of the COMESA, EAC and SADC gathered at the luxury Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt and launched the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The Tripartite FTA represents an integrated market of 26 countries with a combined population of 632 million people, which is 57 per cent of Africa's population; and with a total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $1.3 trillion (2014), and contributes 58 per cent of Africa's GDP. Heralded as a major milestone in line with the vision of having an FTA, the tripartite agreement is expected to bolster intra-regional trade by creating a wider market, increased investment flows, enhanced competitiveness and encouraging regional infrastructure development as well as pioneering the integration of the African continent. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report on Economic Development in Africa (2013) establishes that intra-African trade has enormous potential to create employment, catalyse investment and foster...

Women entrepreneurs are concerned that non tariff barriers are hindering women participation in trade across the East African region hence the need for concerted efforts to address such challenges. Under the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association-UWEAL, women entrepreneurs point out lack of access to information which has led to exploitation by middlemen, discrimination in formulation of trade policies and harassment of women at border points. It’s against this background that UWEAL is partnering with Trade Mark East Africa to launch and roll out a 500,000 US dollar project in which 4000 women will be empowered to participate in business through capacity building, networking and advocacy. Addressing Journalists at UWEAL offices, Allen Asiimwe, Country Director Trade Mark East Africa and Christine Kyeyune, CEO UWEAL said at the completion of the project, women will have the required capacity and help them meet relevant authorities to express their dissatisfaction Source: Radioonefm90.com

The future of Africa might rely on trains. Many regions of the continent, including Southern and East Africa, are emerging with new standard gauge railways and international deals to finance lines that extend from ports to deserts. However, there’s been a myriad of issues with railway lines from Uganda to South Africa. This has left many wondering: Why is it so hard to build a railway in Africa? Sorely Needed One of the major problems facing both communities and the economy in many parts of Africa is simply getting around. Trucks, which supply almost all of the goods to inland regions of the continent are known for belching out black exhaust. In addition, because many are so overloaded, trucks often go outrageously slow, causing difficulties in the distribution of not only food and water, but medication and basic living goods. When this is combined with poor roads, no roads and narrow roads it leads not only to traffic accidents when drivers attempt to overtake trucks, but trips that should take three hours on a standard western-style freeway can take as long as eight hours to complete. Embracing Train Travel These days Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa have embraced the idea of train travel and partnered with investors who understand that with vast quantities of natural resources on the continent, the ability to move goods quickly and efficiently could absolutely change the way we do business on a global level. This is one of the reasons that China...

In a Memorandum of Understanding, UNCTAD and TradeMark Africa (TMA) have agreed to strengthen the scope and impact of their activities in East Africa by joining forces on a number of issues. Joakim Reiter, Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD and Frank Matsaert, Chief Executive Officer of TradeMark Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 1 July 2015. "With this MoU our two organizations aim at further strengthening collaboration to efficiently deliver targeted assistance to countries and institutions in the region" Joakim Reiter. "We are delighted to enter into a MoU with UNCTAD which provides a platform for cooperation between our two organizations. This will help us work together with our partners in the East African Community in a more coordinated way, implementing issues such as Trade Facilitation and policies on Women in Trade" Frank Matsaert TradeMark Africa (TMA) is a not for profit organization which promotes regional trade and economic integration in East Africa. Collaboration between the two organizations dates back to 2012. This new MoU strengthens the collaboration and lays out a framework for future work in an area of mutual concern: inclusive and sustainable growth and development through economic integration. Specific areas of collaboration: Trade and Gender. Trade Facilitation, including Customs automation and trade portals. Sustainable transport (road, rail and ports) and finance. Joint work foreseen under this MoU: Joint policy-oriented research activities. Joint policy advice at the country-level. Joint in-country projects. By joining forces with TMA, UNCTAD will benefit from TMA's in-depth knowledge of the region and well...