A newly designed short messaging service (SMS) for reporting trade barriers within the Tripartite regional economic blocs has been launched. The Tripartite Free Trade Area was launched in 2015 and encompasses three regional blocks; the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), the East African Community (EAC), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). The SMS tool will supplement the current web based online system for reporting, monitoring and elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) used by Comesa, EAC and Sadc. According to a statement from the Comesa secretariat, the Tripartite online reporting system is a real-time mechanism for reporting, processing, monitoring and resolving trade barriers. It was operationalised in November 2010. “The online mechanism has been instrumental in assisting the region to understand the kind, frequency and category of NTBs that are encountered by economic operators as they are doing their business in the Tripartite region. These include road blocks, delays in processing export or import documentations, permits, et cetera,” the statement reads. The SMS tool has now been rolled out to Comesa member states as part of capacity building and empowerment to manage trade barriers and fast tracking their removal. Economic operators who encounter NTBs will be able to send an SMS to the central number which will in turn relay messages to identify focal point numbers and the current online reporting system. The SMS tool was first launched in 2013 in Zambia to facilitate a diverse spectrum of economic operators, especially the informal and small scale traders...

Kenya has suffered a blow in its effort to change East Africa's market access rules to allow duty-free sale of edible oil manufactured from imported raw material. Kenya, with the support of Burundi, has been pushing for the review of East Africa Community's rules of origin to give tax-free access to products even if imported raw material constitutes up to 70 per cent. At the moment, edible oils only enjoy duty-free access to member states if wholly made from locally grown oil seeds like palm, soya bean, sunflower or cotton. Kenya argues that preferential terms would safeguard the 9,000 direct jobs and $55 million worth of investments put in edible oil manufacturing across the region. A team of experts appointed by the bloc to review Kenya's case however warned that the region must keep its eye on the thousands of farmers who are likely to lose market if local firms get the free hand to import raw materials.  Source: All Africa

President Uhuru Kenyatta today said that one of his priority foreign policy objectives has been to see trade between African countries grow to a new higher level. He said he has promoted the integration of the East African region and advocated for increased collaboration between African nations. President Kenyatta, the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, spoke at the National Defence College in Karen, Nairobi. He said he promoted a structured process for the integration of the East African Community starting with economic integration. The President fielded questions from participants on the course, including officers from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Egypt and Nigeria. He said people-to-people movement, and easier movement of goods and services was at the heart of Africa building a prosperous future in which Africa’s security and prosperity was guaranteed. He said he wants to change the traditional trend where the economic interest of African countries ended at their own borders in relation to other nations on the continent while they trade extensively with overseas nations. National Defence College trainees he addressed were all above the rank of Colonel or corresponding ranks in other defence agencies. The President explained why he had devoted much time to East African integration, saying a wider market for goods in the region would attract greater attention of investors globally. He also said that exchange of good practises among Africans themselves was pivotal for Africa-led growth. He was responding to a Nigerian officer, who had said that Kenya should take lessons from countries like his...

It will now be easier and faster for the business community in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to report trade barriers within the tripartite regional economic bloc, thanks to a new short messaging service (SMS) system. According to experts, the innovation that was launched last week will help improve regional trade. Souef Kamalidini, the Director General of Customs of the Union of Comoros, said the SMS tool will supplement the current web-based online system for reporting, monitoring and elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) used by COMESA, the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). A similar system is used by the Northern Corridor countries to report NTBs. The tripartite online reporting system is a real-time mechanism for reporting, processing, monitoring and resolving NTBs. The SMS system that is being rolled out by COMESA member states is part of capacity building and empowerment to manage NTBs and fast-track their removal. According to Kamalidini, the new tool will especially help the informal sector and small-scale traders who do not have access to the Internet to report NTBs in real time. “With the new technology, each member state is able to install and operate the system using a ‘central’ number at the national level where stakeholders can send messages on trade obstacles. This way, they (traders) will not incur any roaming charges to send an SMS,” he explained. Alphose Kwizera, the assistant executive director at the Rwanda Association of Manufacturers (RAM), said the tool is...

DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania (Xinhua) -- A senior official with the East African Community (EAC) said on Thursday implementation of the bloc’s single customs territory (SCT) has tremendously reduced the cost of doing business in the region. Dicksons Kateshumbwa, chairman of the EAC Committee on Customs, said turnaround time has been reduced from 21 days to 3-5 days on average between the entry points to Kampala in Uganda, Kigali in Rwanda, and Bujumbura in Burundi. The six-member EAC is implementing a number of customs projects, including the SCT, transforming the way of doing business for the benefit of EAC members economies. “Capacity building and sensitization to support the SCT has been done and is ongoing,” Kateshumbwa told a news conference in Dar es Salaam. The SCT started in 2014 on both the northern and central corridors where goods are assessed and declared at the first point of entry and move to the destination partner state with taxes and duties paid upfront. Kateshumbwa said integration of customs functioning was enhanced through cross-border deployment of staff in partner states, leading to better accountability, deterrence of smuggling and closer cooperation among customs authorities. “So far we have rolled out goods on the SCT on pilot basis,” Kateshumbwa said. “However, the most important decision we have made today is that we have agreed on the full implementation of the SCT effective July 31, 2017.” He said customs automation across the region has been enhanced in all member states—Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South...

Kampala – A year ago, several logistics companies were at risk of closing shop as commercial banks sought to recover their money. “It has been tough,” is a common phrase you will hear from most of them. Estimates revealed that in 2016 the oil and gas sector players alone had reached Shs70 billion. It was a disaster for the companies that had lined up to tap further into oil opportunities. Some indeed burnt their fingers. About 1,000 workers were laid-off by the various players in the oil sector, including logistics companies. For the logistics companies, the losses were rather high because they were almost put out of business. Oil companies had been spending about Shs2 trillion prior to 2013. However, by 2015, these amounts had fallen to about Shs1.2 trillion. About 30 per cent was spent on local content. Of this about 70 per cent was for payment of logistics services. This money dried up as oil companies also cut back on expenditure in 2014 due to a combination of factors. The first; delayed oil production licences. The second was the low oil price environment at the time that shrunk investment in the oil sector. Since then, logistics companies that had been involved in the oil sector have not recovered. Some of the equipment they had bought was exclusively for the oil sector, making it hard for them to diversify income sources. Now they are braced for yet another phase. Oil company needs In August 2016, the Uganda government granted...

IN SUMMARY Such interventions include: Incorporation of cross border market channels, construction of cross border markets, equipping borders with mini labs for standards resting and quality upgrading as well as trade information desks for women and informal traders Kampala. The ministry of Trade together with TradeMark Africa (TMA) are in advanced stages of developing a strategy to improve trade across borders. The proposed strategy lays out planned interventions and priorities that will eliminate some of the challenges faced by women and informal traders. Addressing the participants during a stakeholders’ meeting to review the strategy held in Kampala last week, Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde said government is going to coordinate different stakeholders in different ministries charged with trade facilitation. “The strategy has also been developed and approved and we are now going to present to Cabinet. We are giving it less than a month. We are also going to ensure that they work on infrastructure and also approve the National Export Development Strategy which comprises all these projects,” she said. Speaking at the event, TMA Uganda country director Moses Sabiti said the cross border plan is a strategy that supports national exports in Uganda. “... given that 70 per cent of informal traders are women, it is important that interventions are focused to ensure that there are processes in place to help them to gainfully engage in trade,” he said. As part of its contribution to the strategy, TMA will support interventions that complement infrastructure work such as the one stop...

Kampala — Government has secured funding for the construction of the first logistics hub at the Gulu Railway station, targeting the markets in South Sudan through Alegu and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through West Nile. South Sudan and DRC are Uganda’s largest export markets. According to Mr Benon Kajuna, the director transport in the ministry of Works and Transport, the hub will be constructed on at least 24 acres – provided by the government. The project will cost $8.6m (Shs30.96b) of which $5.6m (Shs20b) is available with funding from DFID and TradeMark Africa. “In October 2016, we completed a pre-feasibility study for the project, with designs expected at the end of this year. Currently, a consultant is working on the proposed design for the project. We expect construction to commence by end 2018,” he told delegates attending the Joint Oil and Gas and Logistics Expo 2017 at Kampala Serena Hotel Conference Centre last week. A logistics hub is a designated area that deals with activities related to transportation, organisation, separation, coordination and distribution of goods for national and international transit, on a commercial basis by various operators. Gulu is one of the four areas designated in Uganda where there is a planned logistics hub. The Gulu hub is expected to serve the two export markets for Ugandan goods but also for re-exports destined for DRC and South Sudan. It will be a Private-Public Partnership (PPP), with some private sector players expected to come on board. According to Mr...

The East African Community (EAC) has saved $3.4 million from cost-cutting measures designed to reduce travel expenses. For the 10-month period from May 2016 to February 2017, EAC travel expenditures fell to $9.1 million compared to $12.5 million during a similar period the previous financial year. The Community’s travel expenditure includes air tickets and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) for EAC Staff, Partner States’ delegates and other participants at EAC meetings. In April 2016 the EAC, which has been facing financial constraints, adopted administrative and institutional reforms aimed at cutting down costs and reducing wastage in its expenditure. Some of the most significant cost reductions were in expenditure drops on air tickets for EAC staff by $456,491 and air tickets for Partner States’ delegates and other participants to EAC meetings by $408,273. DSA for EAC staff declined from $4.5 million to $3.2 million; and for Partner States’ delegates from $4.4 million to $3.5 million in the same period under review. EAC Secretary General Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko noted that the Community’s overall travel budget has significantly reduced over the past three financial years; from $28.1million in 2014/2015; to $28.0 million in 2015/2016; and now $21 million in the current financial year. Source: Foot Print To Africa

The East African Community could follow in the footsteps of African Union in its quest to find an alternative financing mechanism, a regional lawmaker has said. During last year’s African Union Summit in Kigali, the Heads of State adopted a self-financing mechanism, proposed by former African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka. The African Union (AU) model aims to raise $1.2 billion (about Rwf898 billion) annually to reduce heavy dependence on external partners to finance Africa’s development projects. Rwandan members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) say regional ministers of finance are set to meet in Arusha, Tanzania to consider the various proposals on the table and finalise the matter of alternative financing for the bloc. “I believe the proposals are similar to those put forward by the African Union. We’ve had proposals for a number of years, but the Council requested for more clarification as there were more issues to be considered,” MP Patricia Hajabakiga, the chairperson of Rwandan EALA chapter, told a news conference in Kigali yesterday. Finance ministers from the bloc start meeting today until May 8 to consider various matters connected with the region’s financial muscles. During their latest country tour, the lawmakers met and held discussions with heads of key government departments with a direct bearing on the regions integration agenda. MP Martin Ngoga (Rwanda) said the matter of an alternative financing mechanism for the Community was among the issues they discussed with Finance and Economic Planning minister Claver Gatete recently. Ngoga said: “The minister...