The United States has raised concerns that future trade and investment deals with East African countries based on a continent-wide free trade agreement may be unrealistic due to their diverse interests. According to Washington, the differences could lead to a lowest common denominator agreement and consensus on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) would be difficult. Last year, the EAC told the US that, in order to increase trade and investment between the two parties, the general outlook of post-Agoa should take on a development dimension based on trade facilitation and investment promotion as well as address supply constraints and improve the business environment in the region. “Future agreements with the US, post-Agoa, should be discussed at the continental level in line with the African Regional Integration Agenda,” said Beyond African Growth and Opportunity Act, a report of the meeting of the Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment held on June 2 in Arusha. “Special and differential treatment should be factored into any trade and investment agreement post Agoa, as well as development support, in order to enhance EAC capacity to trade with the US. Therefore, there may be a need to qualify reciprocity that would take into account the asymmetrical nature of the economies involved.” According to the EAC, although policy reforms can have a positive impact on the private sector and influence the global competitiveness of the region’s firms, future trade relations should not be made conditional on these reforms. Such agreements should focus on trade...

Kampala. With about six weeks left for Kenyans to go to the polls, businesses in neighbouring states are beginning to look at the Dar es Salaam Port as an alternative route to import and export goods. Kenya’s main port of Mombasa, which according latest reports, registered 11 per cent cargo growth in the first quarter of 2017, serves Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and DR Congo. Although much preferred by the business community, the effects of the post-election violence of 2007-08 are still fresh because of its adverse effect on regional economies. Uganda’s private sector is not taking chances, saying it should resume using Dar es Salaam Port. Mr Gideon Badagawa, the executive director of the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda, hopes the elections will be peaceful -- that Kenyan leaders and voters must have learnt their lessons from the 2007 experience. “We have seen both the [main contenders] Raila [Odinga] and Uhuru [Kenyatta] commit to peaceful elections and calling on their supporters to avoid violence. Of course it’s easier said than done! We, nevertheless, are hopeful that the environment for business shall not be much distorted,” he said. Mr Badagawa added Uganda needs to have ‘a plan B’. “It might be a good idea to begin opening up and using the route through Dar es Salaam,” he said. Kampala City Traders Association spokesman Issa Sekitto said goods should go through the Central Corridor during this period. Uganda’s leading export commodity, coffee, is transited through Mombasa Port and many exporters...

The office of the US trade representative (USTR) has announced the initiation of an out-of-cycle review of the eligibility of Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to receive benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The launch of the review is in response to a petition filed by the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART). The petition files by SMART asserts that a March 2016 decision by the East African Community, which includes Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing and footwear is imposing significant economic hardship on the US used clothing industry. Through the out-of-cycle review, USTR and trade-related agencies will assess the allegations contained within the SMART petition and review whether Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are adhering to AGOA's eligibility requirements. Signed into law in 2000, the AGOA promotes trade and investment in sub-Saharan Africa, including through substantial trade preferences. In order to qualify for AGOA trade benefits, partner countries must meet certain statutory eligibility requirements, including making continual progress toward establishing market-based economies, the rule of law, political pluralism, and elimination of barriers to US trade and investment, among others. US AGOA imports from Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda totalled $43 million in 2016, up from $33 million in 2015. US exports to Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda totalled $281 million in 2016, up from $257 million in 2015. A public hearing will take place on July 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. (KD) Source: Fibre2Fashion.com

Agriculture will now be placed as number one engine of economic growth in the East African Community (EAC) integration process. This follows last week's signing of the EAC Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact. "The Compact is designed to facilitate coordination of regional and cross cutting programmes that complement agricultural programmes and projects at national and regional levels," said the EAC deputy secretary general (Productive and Social Sectors) Christophe Bazivamo. He said after the signing ceremony at the EAC headquarters that the process of developing the EAC-CAADP Compact has been lengthy, inclusive and consultative and that the partner states should embrace it. The programme details regional development priorities and defines actions, commitments and partnerships required to achieve agricultural transformation in line with the CAADP goals and targets. Uganda's Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Mr Ssempijja Bamulangaki, reaffirmed the EAC Partner States' commitment to transforming agriculture for inclusive economic growth in the region. "Over the years, efforts have been put in different sectors of integration such as infrastructure. It is now time that we assert ourselves, move with greater speed and ensure we take agriculture to the lead," the minister said. CAADP's overall goal is to use agriculture to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty in Africa. Through the CAADP agenda, African governments have agreed to increase public investment in agriculture to ten per cent of national budgets per year and to raise and maintain agricultural productivity and annual growth by at least six per cent. With the vision...

Kampala- With about six weeks left for Kenyans to go to the polls, the private sector in neighbouring states are now beginning to look at the Dar es Salaam port as an alternative route to import and export goods. Kenya’s main port of Mombasa, which according latest reports, registered 11 per cent cargo growth in the first quarter of 2017, serves Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and DR Congo. Although much preferred by the business community, the abrasions of the post-election violence of 2007/8 are still fresh because of its adverse effect on regional economies. Uganda’s private sector is not taking chances saying Dar es Salaam Port should permanently resume its use Private Sector Foundation of Uganda Gideon Badagawa executive director hopes the elections will be calm and peaceful- Kenyan leaders and voters must have learnt their lessons from the 2007 experiences. “We have seen both Raila and Uhuru commit to peaceful elections and calling on their supporters to avoid violence. Of course better said than done! We, nevertheless, are hopeful that the environment for business shall not be much distorted,” he said. Mr Badagawa added Uganda needs to have ‘a plan B’. “It might be a good idea to begin opening up and using the route through Dar es Salaam,” he said. Kampala City Traders Association spokesperson Issa Sekitto said goods, during this period, should go through the Central corridor. Uganda’s leading export commodity, coffee, is transited through Mombasa Port and many exporters saw their stocks pile in 2007....

Dodoma. Two days after the US Trade Representative announced that Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda risk losing access to the American market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) following plans by the East African member states to ban imports of second-hand clothes and shoes, a former Cabinet minister has asked the government to take the issue seriously. The US Trade Representative announced on Tuesday the initiation of an out-of-cycle review of the eligibility of Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to receive benefits under the act after concerns that the planned ban will impose significant economic hardship on the US used clothing industry. The launch of the review is in response to a petition filed by the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (Smart), which asserts that a March 2016 decision by the East African Community, which includes Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing and footwear is imposing significant economic hardship on the US used clothing industry. Having read the article in The Citizen on Thursday, Dr Diodorus Kamala (CCM - Nkenge), said the government needs to take the issue seriously and come up with necessary plan of action. “There is a story in The Citizen today which shows how serious this issue might be. The government needs to come up with relevant measures to protect the economy from the negative outcomes of what might be reached under Agoa,” he told the House yesterday during a debate on the 2017 Finance Bill. Dr...

The Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) joint technical committee for the development of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is meeting in Kampala to review progress. The meeting, attended by Ministers in charge of Works and Transport from all partner states, comes in the wake of Kenya’s successful completion and launch of its first section of the SGR network from Mombasa to Nairobi. It is expected to eventually extend to Malaba on the border with Uganda through Naivasha and Kisumu. The Northern Corridor Integration Projects brings together Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Southern Sudan. The two day meeting will track progress and review performance of each countries’ implementation of the SGR regional Protocol. The meeting also discussed strategies for faster implementation of the Standard Gauge Railway. The countries, through the SGR Protocol, agreed to jointly develop and operate a modern, fast, reliable, efficient and high capacity railway transport system as a seamless single railway operation that will connect the countries to international markets through the sea at Mombasa port. Source: Independent

Experts attending the second high-level East African Manufacturing Business Summit and Exhibition (EAMBS) held in Rwanda’s capital city Kigali said Wednesday that innovation is key for the East Africa manufacturing sector to compete globally. “We have to understand that our industries are operating in a global context, in an open globalized market place, and that is not going to change. We have to be innovative and work on our efficiencies. We should be able to produce high quality products that are competitive at international markets,” said Ali Mafuruki, board chair of Trade Mark East Africa. He added that regional economies should strategically position themselves in the global business environment through producing locally made products that are price competitive. Rwanda hosts the forum from May 23 to 25, 2017 dubbed “harnessing the Manufacturing Potential for Sustainable Economic Growth”. The three-day meeting includes an exhibition where investors, enterprises, researchers and academia will collectively showcase new products and services as well as exhibit the latest advances in manufacturing technology and innovation, particularly those with relevance to Small Medium Enterprises. Lilian Awinja, executive director of East African Business Council (EABC), called for innovative strategies that will raise competitiveness levels and expand the region’s manufacturing and export base. “Innovations are now shaping the business environment. We need to add value to products produced in EAC. Our regional industries can now begin to raise manufacturing output and increase its share of global trade and production,” she added. Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary-general of United Nations Conference on Trade...

Arusha — The East African Community (EAC) says it will go ahead with its annual secretary-general's forum in Bujumbura, Burundi, which will kick off tomorrow despite a boycott by a regional umbrella body of civil society organisations. Officials of the secretariat said yesterday that preparations for the two-day event were progressing well and were not bothered by threats from the East African Civil Society Organisations Forum (EACSOF). "We are not bothered at all. Officials of the organisation or their partners can attend the meeting or not. It is up to those invited to turn up or not," one of them told The Citizen on the condition of anonymity. EACSOF, an umbrella body of civil society organisations with an observer status to the EAC, said last week that its members would boycott this year's forum in Burundi for security concerns. In a letter sent to the EAC secretary-general Liberat Mfumukeko said they would keep away from the Bujumbura event to protest against alleged human rights abuses against members of CSOs in Burundi, some of who had been forced into exile. EACSOF president Marie Ingabire added that it was also concerned by the security situation in Burundi, where more than 400 people were killed during the 2015/16 political chaos. However, EAC officials insisted that the meeting would be attended by members of non-governmental organisations, professional bodies, universities, representatives from partner states, EAC organs and institutions. One official cautioned that EAC would not like to be drawn into frosty relations between Burundi and...

Kenya no longer faces possible loss of Agoa trade benefits, US officials announced on Tuesday. However, three other East African Community member states -- Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda -- must undergo an assessment of their Agoa eligibility status, Washington's top trade agency affirmed. The assessment could result in their ejection from the preferential trade programme. A review of Kenya's inclusion in the African Growth and Opportunity Act "is not warranted at this time," the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a notice published in a federal government gazette. It cited "recent actions Kenya has taken, including reversing tariff increases, effective July 1, 2017, and committing not to ban imports of used clothing through policy measures that are more trade-restrictive than necessary to protect human health." The US trade office added that it "will continue to monitor Kenya's actions to ensure that Kenya follows through on its commitments." The US decision to spare Kenya from a process that would have jeopardised the country's 66,000 Agoa-related jobs "is, no doubt, a victory for Kenya's trade diplomacy," said Abdirizak Musa, an official in Nairobi's embassy in Washington. Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda still risk loss of their Agoa benefits due to their ongoing commitment to a March 2016 EAC decision to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing and footwear from the US. The EAC countries, including Kenya, were named in a petition filed three months ago by a US-based recycled textiles association alleging that the joint move to bar...