Agriculture accounts for 30% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of EA and it employs over 60% of the population of East Africa. In East Africa, it is reported to have annual value of $50b and this represents a 75% of the Agricultural products being traded from the commodities like maize, rice, potatoes, cassava, beans, wheat among others. Agricultural performance is critically important to pro-poor growth since it employs over 75% of EAC member population, where the majority of them live in rural settings. The sector provides a basis for improvement of livelihoods in both rural and urban populations. Despite the importance of the sector to the EAC economies, reviews of public expenditures and programmes that was recently conducted by Civil Society Budget group and other partners like Action Aid, Uganda Debt Network, Food Rights Alliance and ESAFF, indicates that, the input and output from Agriculture has continuously kept declining where inputs being the lowest in the sectors of the economy and is registered being below the National Development Plan target of 4.9% for the case of Uganda. Besides the decline in the East Africa member states with an exception of Rwanda have not prioritised Agriculture in their public spending to the extent that the sector receives less than 4% of the national budgets. This, therefore, calls for the Government and other partners to ensure that there is increased public financing for the sector in East Africa and need to invest more in Agriculture to better support the economies. The...

The irking story of high costs of doing business in the East African region is slowly changing to high returns, thanks to the implementation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT). At the bottom line is the execution of the Customs Union Treaty that seeks to promote cross border trade and attract investment into the enlarged regional market with minimal formalities in customs clearance. The Director for Taxpayer Services and Education at the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Richard Kayombo said in an interview that the system started with few goods and the number is progressively being increased to full-fledged. Kayombo also said that some of the goods that were assessed during the piloting period include rice, maize, sugar, neutral spirits, cigarettes, petroleum products, wheat, salt, edible oil and pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. “The story has changed in many aspects. For example, we currently talk of three-day travel from Dar es Salaam port to Kigali and only three blocks up to the Rwanda border,” he said. He said also that at the first point of entry, depending on the level of risk, customs officers from the destination country, who are posted at the first point of entry, can subject the goods to physical examination before release. He added, the system has called to an end cheating and dumping of transit goods into the local market because the cargo clearance goes together with the payment of all taxes. Customs declarations are made electronically and processed and released by the authorities from the country...

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania: 28 May 2015: The Chairperson of the Summit of the EAC Heads of State H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has convened an Emergency Summit on the situation in Burundi to take place on Sunday, 31 May 2015 in Dar es Salaam, The United Republic of Tanzania. The Emergency Summit is a follow-up to the 13th Extraordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State held on 13 May 2015 also in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Emergency Summit shall be preceded by a meeting of Ministers/Cabinet Secretaries of the EAC Partner States to take place on Saturday, 30 May 2015 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, is among the leaders that have been invited to attend the Emergency Summit on Burundi. Others include South Africa’s President H.E. Jacob Zuma and Angolan President H.E. Eduardo dos Santos, who is the current chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICLGR).The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) will be represented by his envoy to the Great Lakes region.​ Media Alert All Foreign and Local Journalists intending to cover the Emergency Summit are alerted that the Accreditation Process will commence from tomorrow, Friday, 29 May 2015 at the Maelezo offices (Tanzania Information Services-TIS) located on 9th Floor of the Golden Jubilee Towers on Ohio Street in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Source: East African Community

After 30 days of demonstrations and police confrontations following Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza's gamble for a third presidential term, 25 people are reported to have been killed. The wounded are reportedly standing at 450. Concerns are mounting in Burundi and around the world about the risks of the conflagration in the country and the Great Lakes region. The East African Community (EAC), of which Burundi is one of five members, comes under increasing pressure from the African Union, the United Nations and Burundi bilateral partners, to take action. In fact, the Burundi crisis puts EAC members in a quandary. They could push Nkurunziza out or let him proceed to elections. Whichever option they take, they know that it will be precedent setting in the broader region. An EAC summit on Burundi is scheduled for Sunday in Dar es Salaam, 18 days after the first was called off amidst an attempted military coup in Bujumbura. The request by protesters that Nkurunziza withdraws from the presidential race is based on the Accord for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi signed in Arusha, Tanzania (the Arusha Accord), in August 2000. It clearly states: "No one may serve more than two presidential terms." A six-hour drive from Bujumbura, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, reflects the dilemma facing the region. An Africanness champion, Museveni chaired and led the "Regional Initiative for Burundi" which for eight years, managed to broker the difficult Arusha Peace Accord. For the Ugandan leader and for Africa, giving in to Nkurunziza's third term...

Africa’s biggest trading blocs are next month set to sanction the creation of a grand free trade area while still seeking consensus on tariff liberation and rules of origin of manufactured products. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has been negotiating for agreeable tariff offers and the criteria for determining the national sources of products with its counterparts—Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the East African Community (EAC). This comes at a time when all partner states within the East African Community (EAC) are undertaking to harmonize their tax systems despite the gap brought about by different stages of development of its members. It is hoped that this harmonization will help in preventing any national tax measures that could have a negative effect on the functioning of the planned common market arrangement. The EAC protocol calls for harmonization and Uganda, as a partner state has been part of the policy formulations since last year with the objective of achieving harmony or uniformity in respect of VAT, Excise duty and other domestic taxes. It is hoped that the harmonized tax regimes will help in eliminating price distortions that encourage tax evasion and allow more investment in the region, Uganda in particular. The harmonization will allow efficient allocation of resources – and encourage comparative advantage among member states. The process will enable states and its peoples excel in those aspects where they have comparative advantage. For instance, the processes would encourage agrarian regions to concentrate on farm products that...

Improved tax administration has ensured that for the first ten months of the 2014/15 financial year, the Uganda Revenue Authority has posted a revenue surplus exceeding the target by more than 40 billion shillings. The tax body now says it is setting its eyes on widening the tax brackets to help it do even better in meeting its targets. Source: NTV Uganda

With two months to the end of the current financial year, Uganda Revenue Authority is confident they will hit the revenue collection target of Shs9, 576.59Bn. Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner General Doris Akol said they have so far collected Shs7, 703.00Bn. She added that they are capable of supposing the target with amounts of more than Sh1bn. The commissioner general was speaking at the release of URA performance brief July to April 2015 during a tour of Mulago Hospital on Wednesday. “The net revenue collections target for the FY2014/15 is Shs9, 576.59Bn, so far Shs7, 703.00Bn as at the end of the period July to April 2015 representing 80.44% of the annual target." URA is on right track and very confident that it will surpass the annual target through the implementation of the various policy and administrative measures. During the period of July 2014 to April 2015, URA collected Shs7, 703.00Bn against a target of Shs7, 662.73Bn, representing a performance of 100.53%, (Shs40.26Bn cumulative surplus) and a growth of 18.94% (Shs1, 226.81Bn) compared to the same period last financial year. For the month of April, 2015specifically URA had a net surplus of Shs 3.76 Bn. Meanwhile URA is pleading with its clients to pay up their tax dues in time. “Our esteemed client, URA reminds you to file returns and settle your outstanding income tax liability by Tuesday 30th June 2015.” URA stated in a public notice to remind clients to file and pay tax dues. Now due for clients...

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has posted a Shs40 billion surplus with two months to the closure of the 2014/15 revenue calendar. As a result of the cumulative impressive performance, the tax body’s commissioner general, Ms Doris Akol, is optimistic that she will deliver on her Shs9.5 trillion revenue collection target with a surplus of not less than Shs1 billion. The collection thus far (of Shs7.7trillion) means that about 80 per cent of the tax revenue annual collection target of Shs9.5 trillion has been achieved. Releasing the revenue performance at Mulago hospital yesterday after touring the facility, which happens to be one of those funded by the revenue URA is mandated to collect, Ms Akol noted that despite challenges, the months under review were largely successful. Source: croozefm

Uganda’s permanent secretary in the ministry of Works, Mr Alex Okello, has threatened to arrest residents who deliberately settle along the railway line in order to be compensated for the standard gauge railway project. Government has earmarked UGSh100 billion to compensate people living along the railway and construction of the railway line begins next month. Mr Okello said land assessment has started but warned that government will work closely with local authorities to arrest all illegal claimants. He was addressing leaders from Acholi sub-region about development of the railway project. Source: Business Daily

African countries have been urged to pursue policies aimed at fast-tracking integration of the continent into a global economy. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said it was time for Africa to pursue an economic integration agenda that would ensure the continent is at the centre of global economic growth. “Countries should seek new partnerships and take advantage of emerging markets and opportunities and lower trade barriers to leverage trade for sustainable development,” she said. Africa, she added, should expedite the process of building a Free Trade Area (FTA) currently at embryonic stage. Mohamed said Heads of State are ready to initiate the negotiation process when they meet in South Africa in June for the forthcoming summit, a move she noted would demonstrate a high level political commitment by the African leaders that time is ripe for Africa to pursue its economic agenda and integrate fully into the global trading system as a focused entity. “Such partnerships are in a category of their own by dint of their scope and their impact are most likely to create a symmetry in a global trade area,” she said at the opening session of the conference on mega trading blocks and the future of African trade at a Nairobi hotel yesterday. She said it was crucial to interrogate potential impact of mega–regionals with a view to formulate requisite response on how such agreements are likely to affect all involved. Mohamed said African economies need to urgently deepen domestic economic reforms,...