Dar es Salaam. The World Bank Group says it will support Tanzania’s industrialisation by focusing on deepening the EAC Common Market which is crucial in expanding the market for the manufactured goods. Steven Dimitriyev, World Bank Lead Private Sector Specialist for Tanzania said last week that if well utilised the East African Common Market can serve as a crucial market for the country’s industrial goods and services but restrictions remain that make trade in the region more difficult. And that is why the WB and other partners such as TradeMark Africa are ready to help Tanzania and other EAC partner states to work on all those issues that still hinder the full implementation of the Common Market protocol. “Our reasoning is that industrialising the Tanzanian economy will be achievable only if the EAC market becomes easily accessible for Tanzanian goods, services and labour which can be exported and traded across the region, on account of the large size of the market and the opportunities it presents for trade and business development,” Mr Dimitriyev, who was reacting to the Common Market Scorecard 2016 that indicated that EAC partner states still lag behind in some key aspects of integration, said last Wednesday. He added that the WB, therefore, intends to support EAC trade integration by including it in its package of assistance to Tanzania’s second Five Year Development Programme, which prioritizes industrialization as the approach to creating large number of new and better jobs for the population, especially the youth. The EA...

President Yoweri Museveni’s recent state visit to Tanzania was to rescue the crude oil pipeline project after Dar officials pushed to revise the low tariff that lured Uganda to prefer the southern route to the one through Kenya. When President Museveni flew to Dar es Salaam on February 25 on the invitation of his counterpart John Pombe Magufuli to hold bilateral discussions, top on his list of priorities was the issue of harmonising the tariff that Uganda will pay for its oil to be transported through the port of Tanga in northern Tanzania. Energy and Mineral Development Minister Irene Muloni was guarded, only saying that discussions between the presidents were around “issues of intergovernmental agreements to conclude” after “discussions with our partners about the incentive of the Tanzania route.” But sources said the discussions in Dar es Salaam revolved around the tariff, and President Museveni returned to Kampala with a major victory after his visit ensured “the only impediment” that was still facing the $3.5 billion oil pipeline was removed. Becoming stubborn “The only impediment was Tanzania. The ministers were becoming stubborn, insisting that Tanzania should get more from this pipeline. The president flew there, put on his Museveni magic and got the issue out of the way,” he said. The incentive that among other things lured Uganda to choose the southern route is the tariff of $12.2 per barrel of oil that Uganda will pay to move its crude oil through Tanzania, which Ms Muloni says was “the best...

Tourism between East Africa and the granted Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as Category One status is expected to herald the new beginning of direct flights to America from Nairobi, with a new chapter of growth in regional tourism. After Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) won Category One status from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last month, there are new hopes heralding East African tourism, looking for faster growth through the Kenyan entry point. By attaining the highest International Aviation Safety Assessment status, Kenya is now standing as East Africa’s aviation hub for American tourists booked to the East African Community (EAC) member states most of whom are lacking key tourist services. Kenya’s Transport Cabinet Secretary, James Macharia, was quoted by The EastAfrican as saying that Kenya Airways and other interested local operators will fly directly from Kenya to the United States once the necessary approvals and last point of departure (LPD) rights are granted. Mr. Macharia said that with the attainment of Category One status, Kenya Airways will immediately apply for approval to codeshare with US airlines while concurrently pursuing approval for direct flights. RwandAir, the other major airline in the EAC says going through Kenya is also an opportunity the airline can explore. Jimmy Musoni, the Head of Commercial Planning at RwandAir, noted, however, that they were yet to undertake a study to weigh their options. Direct flights to the US will significantly reduce the time taken between the US and East Africa to as little...

The East African Community (EAC) has made positive strides to anchor economic development. Most of the investment seems to be under infrastructural development interventions, including the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) – covering railways, roads and energy sectors. This is one step. The East African Community has been among the fastest growing regions with about 6.5 % economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decades. Regional integration has been at the fore of this growth, as the Member states to foster economic development. The EAC economies by way of household employment are dominated by agriculture which is the core economic sector employing 90% of their respective populations and accounting for 24% to 46% of gross domestic product (GDP). Meanwhile, the EAC remains a net importer of manufactured products. So how do we reverse this and anchor locally based industrial sector? What would it take for local manufacture and assembly of electronics like motor vehicles, electric circuit breakers and fittings, cookers, dry cells, solar panels and machine parts? How do we leverage petroleum related products such as plastics and other products? Whereas opportunities do exist in large scale farming, irrigation, value addition; processing, pre-packing and specialization, in order to exploit regional and international markets, the opportunity for industrial growth is not being strengthened in locally producing quality inputs for use in the agricultural sector. With our good soils and fresh water in EAC, why would the region import processed animal feeds, chemicals given our fertilizer deposits, cement or even ceramics...

At Friday’s opening of Bank of Kigali’s service centre on Kigali Heights, I was honoured to meet several eminent gentlemen and a lady that loyally follow this column, the best motivation for any writer; they also gave me some honest feedback regarding my profile picture. “It makes you look like a giant,” said one gentleman. Disclaimer: I am only half a giant. “You actually look older in the picture,” said another gentleman. I am actually 360 months old, a long time if you are polite enough not to convert it into years. Another gentleman teased me about the green jacket and the striped shirt. The banter left me in such a great mood that I could have written a wonderful romance essay that night. To be fair, the feedback on Friday about my profile picture is consistent with what others have told me before. Pictures are lovely. They are a form of writing and a good way of advancing viewpoints. In media framing, pictures are the best tools of composition and currently, the best case study is the media’s pictorial representation of the cantankerous US President Donald Trump. Based on the feedback, I will be changing my profile picture, soon. But it is not only me with a picture to fix; East Africa’s picture of regional integration is increasingly becoming blurry as members place more focus on their respective national priorities. Originally, the picture we drew from East Africa’s rhetoric on regional integration was that member countries were harmonizing their...

Our fascination with Europe and Brexit is perhaps obscuring the two greatest changes and opportunities in global trade. These are happening neither in European nor Anglo-Saxon countries, but in China and Africa Next week Britain will host a Commonwealth Trade meeting in London. This is the time to start resetting the tone of Britain’s engagement with the world, post-Brexit. Pre-Brexit, many businesses from Commonwealth countries used Britain as a front door to Europe. The reasons for this were simple: there is a common language, a common legal system and Britain is inside the trading block. Soon Britain is to leave. What happens next? I did not support Brexit. Indeed I actively campaigned for Remain, however “Brexit means Brexit” and we must make this change work. To make Brexit work, we must now turn our minds to creating opportunities for post-Brexit Britain. Many have said that Britain can now “look outward” again and “re-engage” with the world. While Britain was neither inward-looking nor disengaged from the world, we must focus Britain in a global context, not just a European one. Our fascination with Europe and Brexit is perhaps obscuring the two greatest changes and opportunities in global trade. These are happening neither in European nor Anglo-Saxon countries, but in China and Africa. Firstly, in 2012 President Xi of China announced China’s One Belt, One Road policy, which is a massive multi-trillion dollar infrastructure and trade boosting program linking East Africa, Persia, South Asia and China, with an almost after-thought side route...

In the past, the world was clearly split into developing and developed countries – with the latter boasting the most advanced logistics ecosystems. Today, the emerging markets of Africa are challenging this divide in the fields of transportation and logistics, and in some cases leapfrogging ahead of more mature markets. From a connectivity perspective these developments are giving rise to a new image of the future for Africa – one which is very different from today. Let’s explore three key highlights from a transportation and supply chain perspective and the implications for Africa in 2030. Open skies Owing to current aviation infrastructure in Africa (or the lack thereof), what should be a three-hour journey between Algeria and Cameroon, in fact takes 24 hours, with the flight touching down in Istanbul and Turkey en route. A single air transport market for Africa is key to unlocking the opportunities the continent presents. Today, transporting goods in and out of Africa, as well as within the continent, is prohibitive in terms of both time and cost. The restrictions it places on the movement of people also makes for a highly fragmented continent. A study by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has forecast that if another 12 African economies opened their skies to each other, fares would become 35% cheaper, enabling 5 million more people to take to the skies, creating 155,000 new jobs and adding $1.3 billion to GDP. The benefits have been clearly witnessed in South Africa, where an agreement to...

The Electronic Cargo Tracking System will check dumping and deviation of goods from their final destination. PHOTO | FILE Business owners in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda are expected to save on the cost and time of transporting cargo on the Northern Corridor following the launch of a joint electronic cargo tracking system. The $4.4 million Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTs) will enable the three countries to track movement of goods along the Northern Corridor from the port of Mombasa to Kampala and Kigali. The system is expected to reduce transit time, cargo theft and diversion of goods in transit, which will then reduce the cost of doing business along the corridor. RECTs will also eliminate the need for physical escorts and monitoring of sensitive cargo, such as batteries, fuel and cigarettes. The system was officially launched by revenue authorities of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda in Kampala and will be free as the tax bodies will meet all operational costs. “The system will help us monitor goods from end to end; it will ease cargo handling, improve revenue collection and reduce diversion of untaxed goods into the market. It will lead to improved fair trade as goods that have not been taxed will not be diverted to distort the market. This will benefit our traders and assure potential investors of a level playing field in our region,” said Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner-General Doris Akol. The system comprises tracker satellites, central command centres in each of the revenue authorities in Nairobi,...

It The agony of trailer truck drivers and logistics companies are the multiple stoppages they have to make on roads within East Africa. According to Mr Kassim Omar the chairperson Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents, the average time trucks take on the road moving between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda is about three to four days. “Three days is a long time to be on the road with cargo. It comes with extra costs for the truck drivers, parking space and also sometimes at border points,” he explains. Last week, the three countries introduced a new Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) that is going to more than halve the time trucks spend on the road. According to Mr Dicksons Kateshumbwa, the Commissioner Customs at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), the web-based tracking system will eliminate the stops trucks have to make in the EAC member countries. “In the Northern Corridor, the average movement of goods is about 190,000 consignments that on average spends three days on the road. The cargo tracking system will reduce that time to 1.7 days (36 hours). This is trade facilitation,” he said during the unveiling of the system. The three countries have been operating their own national tracking systems and that meant on each border point, the trucks had to stop and be checked. This would lead to queues and sometimes, diversion of goods. According to URA, this process did not provide complete transit monitoring mechanisms leading to cases of dumping, delayed bond cancellation and...

The Minister of Trade Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde has called on the business community to embrace the use of technology while doing business to reduce costs. Kyambadde made the call on Friday at the launch of the Regional Electronic Cargo Trucking System (RECTS) that will track goods in transit across the three East African countries. The electronic cargo tracking system was first introduced by Uganda Revenue Authority in 2013 with support from development agencies through Trademark East Africa, after its success, it was piloted in the three revenue officers of Kenya and Rwanda, hence the launch as a success project. She said most traders still prefer shortcuts to clearing goods which makes it difficult to track or help them recover in case goods disappear along the way. "Some Ugandans still think of dealing with someone informally to clear their goods faster, it’s time now for us to embrace technology to help us do business in a clear manner," said Kyambadde. She however asked the implementers to sensitize the users on how technologies like the RECTS work, benefits to business, costs or no costs for the innovation to be fully embraced by the targeted audience. The project was funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) through the TradeMark Africa (TMA) to the tune of US$4.4 million (about sh15.752 billion). According to Kyambadde the system will enhance the monitoring of transit goods along the northern corridor to, reduce costs and time, ease sharing of information and improved coordination...