The first passenger cruise ship of 2019 docked at the Port of Mombasa’s new world class cruise ship terminal today, Sunday 3rd November 2019. She (Ms Albatros cruise ship) has 400 tourists on board and 300 crew members. The tourists will then proceed to excursions in Maasai Mara Tsavo National Part, Simba hills and Mombasa city. The terminal was constructed with contributions from Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Finish Embassy in Kenya, which contributed funding through TradeMark Africa (TMA). The terminal is currently 96.5% complete; with practical handover expected to take place in the next two weeks. The completion comes in time for the cruise season during the festive period. TMA and KPA agreed to upgrade the old passenger terminal, which was first constructed in the 1920’s; and was initially designed for storage of conventional cargo. It was later converted as a cruise terminal in 1960s. The key driver of the intervention was a need to provide safety for passengers and a modern facility that’s in line with the changing shipping technology; that’s now dominated by mega ships with high carrying capacity and depths. This would therefore, position Kenya as a passenger destination via sea, and support its agenda to increase tourism. Port of Mombasa is one of the busiest Ports along the East African coastline. The fact that it provides direct connectivity to over 80 Ports worldwide makes the terminal an economic logic and critical node in increasing tourism in the region. Additionally, and obviously, the old terminal...

TMA and COMESA sign MoU footage

Rwanda has opened the Masaka dry port for business with the launch on Monday of the $35 million-worth Kigali Logistics Platform, built and operated by Dubai World—a United Arab Emirates-based trade logistics firm. The facility provides services in container handling, loading and unloading from trucks, warehousing and cold storage; and is expected to reduce the time taken for cargo truck-turnaround from two weeks to three days. It was developed through a concession. Dubai World will run it for 25 years before handing it over to the government. The port’s construction began in early 2016 in Masaka, east of Kigali, close to the special economic zone and will link Rwanda to both the Northern and Central transport corridors, as well as save almost $50 million a year in logistics costs when operating at full capacity, according to the Rwanda Development Board. Patience Mutesi, the country director for Trademark East Africa told The EastAfrican that the logistics hub will help solve some of the persistent bottlenecks that dog the movement of goods to and from Rwanda. “Many challenges still exist for traders in the region. Offloading and reloading outbound cargo at both the Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports takes days and sometimes even weeks to be completed,” said Ms Mutesi. The Masaka dry port was therefore developed as the logical termination point of the proposed standard gauge railway from both the Uganda and Tanzania line, to improve connectivity with the ports of Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The Kigali...

Feasibility studies for the construction of a Jumuiya market in Busia is expected to kick off in February 2020, Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) official has said. Speaking to KNA after paying a courtesy call on the County Commissioner on Tuesday, Simon Konzolo TMA official from Nairobi said the team will then move to designing the cross border market. “Once we are done with making the design, we can then move to the construction,” he said, adding that works will only proceed if feasibility studies prove that the project is viable. Konzolo added that the team is still holding talks with stakeholders in Busia to find out how best to carry out the project. The  project under the Ministry of East African Community is being supported by Trade Mark East Africa to the tune of Sh.1billion. He  stated that they had a challenge with the initial consultant over the cost and the entire plan. “We have now been forced to go back to the drawing board and find out who can do it,” he said, adding that the issue was a little bit out of their control. The official at the same time said that the people entrusted with the design works will come out with the project’s time frame. “But based on past experiences, it is not a project which will be done within a short period,” he stated adding that it will be done in phases. He further stated that the resources into it might be more than...

With the United States and China locked in a trade war, climate action lagging behind climate reality, and the World Trade Organisation’s Appellate Body at risk of becoming inoperable, the theme of this week’s WTO public forum — “Trading Forward: Adapting to a Changing World” — couldn’t be more appropriate. But if the global trading system is to be adapted to twenty-first-century realities, careful attention must be paid to the needs of developing countries. Consider Africa, which has been working hard lately to deepen intra-continental trade and integration. While such efforts — most notably the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), have the potential to spur growth and development, their impact depends both on complementary global reforms and on countries’ implementation of WTO agreements. Success is far from guaranteed. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which entered into force in 2017, is a case in point. One of the few WTO agreements to be ratified in recent years, the TFA places developing members’ ambitions at the forefront. It aims to expedite the movement, clearance and release of goods across borders; establishes measures for effective cooperation between customs and other relevant authorities; and provides for technical assistance and capacity building. The TFA recognises that trade facilitation rests on three key pillars: Simplification, harmonisation and transparency. Given its global uptake, it has the potential to ensure that reforms reflecting this recognition are “locked in” across countries, including those whose governments might otherwise be reluctant to implement them. For African countries that manage to implement the TFA...

A network of some of Africa’s largest companies will gather in Kigali, to share ideas about how companies can build business initiatives around solving social problems at scale and contributing to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on the continent. The event, the Africa Shared Value Leadership Summit, aims to increase awareness of how social and environmental protection can be incorporated into the strategies of businesses across industries and borders. The Shared Value Business Model, developed by Harvard Business School’s Prof Michael Porter and Mark Kramer and practised by an increasing number of businesses across the world, advocates that business has a responsibility to create both economic and social value. The summit will provide delegates with an opportunity to learn from the Rwanda success story and why President Paul Kagame is widely regarded as having presided over an economic and social rebirth in the country. In economic terms, Rwanda’s rate of economic growth has averaged 8% since 2001, according to the World Bank. It is one of the four African countries included in the top ten fastest-growing global economies in the world in 2019, with medium-term growth projected at 7-8%. In social terms, poverty rates have fallen, and Rwanda has made dramatic gains in health and development indicators. “Rwanda has demonstrated how enormous challenges can be overcome if there is a willingness between public and private sector to work together, to create a thriving economy,” says Shared Value Africa Initiative CEO Tiekie Barnard. “The summit will offer participants insights...

With the United States and China locked in a trade war, climate action lagging behind climate reality, and the World Trade Organisation’s Appellate Body at risk of becoming inoperable, the theme of this week’s WTO public forum — “Trading Forward: Adapting to a Changing World” — couldn’t be more appropriate. But if the global trading system is to be adapted to twenty-first-century realities, careful attention must be paid to the needs of developing countries. Consider Africa, which has been working hard lately to deepen intra-continental trade and integration. While such efforts — most notably the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), have the potential to spur growth and development, their impact depends both on complementary global reforms and on countries’ implementation of WTO agreements. Success is far from guaranteed. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which entered into force in 2017, is a case in point. One of the few WTO agreements to be ratified in recent years, the TFA places developing members’ ambitions at the forefront. It aims to expedite the movement, clearance and release of goods across borders; establishes measures for effective cooperation between customs and other relevant authorities; and provides for technical assistance and capacity building. The TFA recognises that trade facilitation rests on three key pillars: Simplification, harmonisation and transparency. Given its global uptake, it has the potential to ensure that reforms reflecting this recognition are “locked in” across countries, including those whose governments might otherwise be reluctant to implement them. For African countries that manage to implement the TFA...

The establishment of fully serviced industrial parks with plug and play facilities to attract investments is one of the proposed actions to gain quick wins in the promotion of the Cotton, Textiles and Apparels (CTA) Manufacturing Industries in East Africa. The first forum of owners CTA manufacturing industries held in Kigali, Rwanda days ago further proposed sustainable procurement of all institutional uniforms, beddings, draperies by state institutions from textiles and fabric industries in the region. Another resolution of the forum was to carry out campaigns on Buy East Africa, Wear East Africa including implementation of the declaration of Fridays as “Afrika Mashariki Fashion Day” and organizing the Annual “Afrika Mashariki Fashion Week” exhibition to precede the EAC Heads of States Summit Meetings normally held on November 30, every year. Themed, ‘Promoting Local Production and Consumption  of Cotton, Textile and Apparels (CTA) Made in the EAC Region’, the two-day forum was attended by participants from the ministries responsible for industry, trade, agriculture and EAC; private sector players, CTA industry associations, private sector associations, industry associations and development partners, among other stakeholders. The overall objective of the Forum was to ensure that the owners of CTA industries meet discuss pertinent issues within the sector and make useful and practical recommendations to the EAC Policy Organs especially the Heads of State Summit for purposes of promoting the sector. Opening the Forum, Rwanda’s Permanent Secretary of Trade and Industry, Michel Minega Sebera, noted that CTA has the potential to create employment, improve economic well-being and widen...

Tanzanian authorities said on Sunday plans were afoot to form a task force for addressing challenges facing business people and investors using the country's leading port of Dar es Salaam. Isack Kamwelwe, the east African nation's Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, said the task force will be formed by 22 institutions dealing with the port. "The government is keen on attracting businessmen and investors to use the Dar es Salaam port. And this will be achieved by doing away with challenges they face at the port," Kamwelwe told a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. "There are 22 institutions that the government will like to work with to speed up clearance of cargo at the port." he said. He mentioned some of the institutions that will form the task force as Tanzania Ports Authority, Tanzania Revenue Authority, Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority, Tanzania Bureau of Standards and Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation. Kamwelwe said there had been complaints by some businessmen and investors using the port, including delay in clearance of cargo. He said the government has been working to improve efficiency of the port, one of the country's three ports. Other two ports are in Tanga and Mtwara regions. Source: Xinhau

Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) on Monday launched a one-month campaign to introduce local investors on opportunities that will be unleashed by Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the proposed dry port. Said Ali, chairman of Nakuru County chapter of KNCCI, said that countrywide sensitization fora will be carried out to enable entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens understand the huge potential of the extended railway line that was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Oct.16. Ali said both the 120 kilometers modern railway and the dry port will stimulate economic activities in the Kenyan hinterland. "The SGR stations are now fully operational and works to construct a modern dry port that have already begun. Our duty going forward is to bring our members on board and shed light on opportunities they can seize to grow their businesses," said Ali. He said that apart from educating members on phase 2 A of SGR, the trade lobby will partner with local authorities to help youth acquire the skill that can secure them jobs at the proposed special economic zones. "No one will be left out including our youth and we have made elaborate plans to ensure they are included in this new transformation that we are witnessing after the launch of phase 2 A of SGR," said Ali. He urged the business community in Mombasa opposed to ferrying goods using the SGR freight service to halt their demonstrations as the benefits will be felt along the value chain. "Not all...