Earlier this year, Rwanda said it was opening new missions to Ghana, Morocco, and Qatar. As a result the government appointed new envoys to represent Rwanda to the new missions who have already assumed their responsibilities. The envoys to new diplomatic postings include Sheikh Saleh Habimana who will represent Rwanda to the Kingdom of Morocco, Dr Aisa Kirabo Kacyira to Ghana and François Nkulikiyimfura to Qatar. But what are Rwanda’s strategic interests in these countries? The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of the East African Community, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, said the opening of new missions was part of the country’s target to have more bilateral relations with different countries. “We want to strengthen our bilateral cooperation with different countries and, of course, Ghana is a strong country in West Africa. It is important that we have an embassy there and explore business opportunities,” he said. The mission to Ghana is particularly as a result of a pledge by President Paul Kagame during his different meetings with his Ghanaian counterpart Nana Akufo-Addo, the Minister said. The two have met on different occasions. Under the National Strategy for Transformation, which runs till 2024, Rwanda sees economic diplomacy as one of the strategies drive up Foreign Direct Investments. Therefore, opening up new embassies is part of the tactic to achieve this ambition. Policymakers in Rwanda see Morocco, which has signed various agreements with Rwanda, a strategic country in North Africa and the whole region. This year alone, the two countries signed 12 agreements in...

As opportunities to showcase Rwandan products in the Chinese market through various exhibitions are increasing, the products have continued to draw attention in the Asian market. Rwandan products that are common here include coffee, chili, tea and handicrafts. The popularity of the products has been witnessed during various shows such as the recent concluded China International Food & Catering Expo held last month in Changsha city, Hunan Province, and the 2019 Beijing International Horticulture Exhibition. Since the beginning of the year, Rwandan companies have been invited to participate in various exhibitions as part of the People’s Republic of China’s measures to actively open the Chinese market to the world. Recently, the world’s most populous nation and second largest economy marked the 70th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China. Ahead of the celebration, the country showcased the progress made in various sectors towards economic growth and cooperation with other countries worldwide for common future. Chinese economy is shifting towards demand for high quality and featured commodities and service. Since 2019, Rwanda has been participating in various exhibitions in China such as Guangzhou International Travel Fair which has enabled Rwandan companies to promote tourism products and Made-in-Rwanda products. In April, nine Rwandan companies participated in the six months Beijing International Horticulture Exhibition. The event was said to attract 9.34 million visitors. Local products have been showcased and the event was said to be impactful in extending the reach of Rwandan products worldwide. In June, China continued to host...

AS US readies to support the East African Community (EAC) in controlling the deadly Ebola fever from spreading across borders, the latter is joining hands with International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration within the bloc. This comes as the six partner states look to bolster free movement of persons – migration that is being facilitated by the commitment of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan in the implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol provisions. To that end, there is development of a regional policy on eimmigration, progressive implementation of integrated border management, initiatives to build the capacity of immigration officials and other border management authorities. Along with that, it is implementation of the monitoring and evaluation framework and data collection of migration movement in the Community that Ambassador Mfumukeko says need support from stakeholders and specifically calls for IOMto lend a hand in as far as migration is concerned. The Secretary General says that the Community is concerned about security issues that could arise due to free movement of persons within and outside the EAC. He expresses concern at the overdependence on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) when it comes to support for refugees, repatriation and supporting the welfare and rights of refugees. When he met the new IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa, Mr Muhammed Abdiker at the EAC Headquarters here last week, the diplomat said that refugees were a special category of...

Duplicate standards and regulations across different state agencies are stifling businesses and investments in the country, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has warned. The UN specialized agency that promotes industrial development yesterday called for harmonization of standards and regulations, both in the private sector and government, to ensure the cost of doing business remains low. According to UNIDO, the private sector has for long suffered from regulations and standards that are similar across the ’numerous’ state agencies, where costs such as licensing and inspection fees are payable. This has continued to ‘punish’ business and the private sector at large, the agency notes. “Government needs to have regulations and standards that address the real problem not just over regulating, it needs to address only the problem, we don’t want laws to become roadblocks we want laws that are facilitative,” said Andrew Edewa, UNIDO standards expert. He spoke during the World Standards Day(2019) celebrations in Nairobi, an event snubbed by the Industry, Trade and Cooperatives CS Peter Munya and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) managing director Bernard Njiraini. According to the UN, there are laws in the health department, trade, industry among other state organs that are duplicated, adding pressure to the private sector. These add to business to business standards which all put together, they are stifling businesses. “The government is speaking tough on their end , private sector has its own business to business standards, the marrying of these two seems to be a problem and it is affecting...

The value of Kenya’s exports to key East African Community’s markets hit a three-year high in first eight months of 2019, official data shows, partly helped by Nairobi’s efforts to ease trade tensions with Tanzania. Earnings from goods sold to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda stood at Sh77.32 billion in the January-August period, fresh data from the Central Bank of Kenya indicates, a 5.98 percent growth over Sh72.99 billion in similar period in 2018. Kenyan factories have in recent years struggled to grow exports in regional markets largely due to tariff and non-tariff barriers fuelled by mistrust and unresolved trade disputes, particularly with Tanzania and, in some isolated cases, Uganda. Manufacturers have also blamed multiple fees and levies, relatively high power charges and inefficiencies at factories for piling up the cost of production, making locally-made goods expensive in regional markets. Ministries of Trade and EAC Affairs have been reaching out to their counterparts in Tanzania and Uganda with a view to finding a long-lasting solution to on-and-off disputes that usually hit Kenyan products such as confectionery and cement. “The Kenyan team has done a very commendable job in working with the EAC secretariat in bringing both tariff and non-tariff barriers down, and we are also seeing very concerted efforts also on the part of Tanzania to bring these barriers down,” said Sachen Gudka, the chairman of Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). Source: Daily News

Kenya  Revenue  Authority (KRA) has urged traders to avoid engaging in smuggling of Goods at the Kenya Tanzanian Border and instead comply with the law by using official border points. The taxman encouraged traders to use the official border points like One Stop Border Points (OSBPs) where Customs officials are ready to assist them by expediting the clearance of their goods. Speaking during an event to mark the Customer Service Week at the Lunga Lunga One Stop Border Post to appreciate KRA Customers and which doubled up as a sensitization forum on the operations of Customs at the Border, the Lunga Lunga OSBP Deputy  Station Manager, Anthony Namboka said the role of Customs is to make it simple for traders to either import or export their Goods and not to frustrate trade. He informed participants at the sensitization forum attended by Clearing and forwarding agents, transporters, importers and other stakeholders that those who import goods from Tanzania and other East Africa community member states are exempted from paying import duty as long as they produce a certificate of origin to confirm where they imported the goods. The  Deputy  Station Manager, said  the Authority is also keen to empower small scale traders asking those who deal with importation of cereals from  EAC member states to obtain simplified certificates of origin from the source of the imports to be facilitated to move the produce. Namboka  said importation and exportation along the border is simple and there is no need for traders to use...

Indications are that the first berth of the new Lamu Port is nearly ready for business, with other reports indicating that highway infrastructure to feed and evacuate cargo from the new berth is far from ready - an unfortunate mismatch of project planning and implementation. The Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (Lapsset) corridor project was intended to link Lamu Port to South Sudan via a Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo-Lokichar-Juba highway and to southern parts of Ethiopia via the Isiolo-Moyale road which is already in place. For sustainable business at the new Lamu port the westward-bound highway will need to be constructed sooner than later. The multi-project Lapsset corridor was justified on the wider and longer-term principle of socio-economic opening up of the under-developed northern parts of Kenya through communication, trade, and improved security management. It was justified on economic not financial returns, and the socio-economic benefits are already visible in Lamu County. Benefits to the other counties along the corridor will accrue only when the highway is linked westwards. It was not the intention that the Lamu port competes for business with the Port of Mombasa and its captive Northern Corridor business. Further, the new SGR calls for maximum available cargo from Mombasa port. Using the Lamu port to trans-ship cargo which would otherwise be offloaded at Mombasa for the Northern Corridor appears inefficient and unlikely to pass tests in respect of costs from import ports to final importer location. The Lamu port was predicated mainly on new business opportunities from the neighbouring South Sudan...

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to commission the second phase of the railway paving the way for passenger and cargo services on the railway line between Nairobi and Naivasha. President Kenyatta is also expected to commission construction of the Nairobi Expressway Project which connects Mombasa Road and Nakuru Highway at Rironi that is projected to cost 50 billion shillings and take 3 years to complete. The 120-kilometer standard gauge railway line between Nairobi and Naivasha connects Mombasa through Nairobi to the resort town of Naivasha, where a dry port is under construction to ease the movement of goods. The Nairobi-Naivasha railway line has been under construction since October 2016 with four stations at Ongata Rongai, Ngong Mai Mahui, and Suswa. The construction of the railway line is being undertaken by the China Communications Construction Company. The project is expected to be commissioned this Wednesday by President Kenyatta at the Suswa station, the largest of the four passenger stations. The contractor has been running trial text in the last one month in readiness to commission the project. Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has said the project has been completed within the budget and agreed time-frame. Some salient features of the line include the longest railway tunnel in Africa at 4.5 kilometers and a 6-kilometer super-bridge over the Nairobi national park. President Kenyatta is further expected to launch the construction of the Mombasa road to Rironi expressway. The 50 billion shillings project first proposed eleven years ago is expected to reduce travel...

As a part of its marketing strategy to promote the newly developed Lamu Port, the Kenya Ports Authority has invited shipping lines to tour the port. According to reports, more than 10 shipping lines have agreed to so far to visit Kenya’s Lamu Port. Edward Kamau, general manager corporate services at the Kenya Ports Authority told the media that, “We are taking the shipping lines to Lamu to see and appreciate the facility and infrastructure that is being put in place ahead of commissioning.” He added,” We also want them to understand what is expected of them once we commence operations at the new port.” The Kenya Ports Authority’s marketing strategy also includes offering promotional tariffs to logistic companies which includes a 30 days free storage period for transshipment and transit cargo, 14 days free storage period for domestic cargo and a 40 percent discount for cargo-based charges as per the Kenya Ports Authority’s tariff. Edward Kamau also revealed that the Kenya Ports Authority will promote Lamu as a transshipment port. Recently, Denmark’s – Maersk, which happens to be the world’s largest container shipping firm agreed to call at Lamu Port. Maersk, which is the largest container ship and supply vessel operator in the world since 1996, will connect the Lamu Port to 300 global ports. The Kenyan government is developing the first three berths at the planned 32-berth port which is part of the Sh2.5 trillion Lamu-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (Lapsset). The project, which was flagged off in 2012,...

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to commission the second phase of the railway paving the way for passenger and cargo services on the railway line between Nairobi and Naivasha. President Kenyatta is also expected to commission construction of the Nairobi Expressway Project which connects Mombasa Road and Nakuru Highway at Rironi that is projected to cost 50 billion shillings and take 3 years to complete. The 120-kilometer standard gauge railway line between Nairobi and Naivasha connects Mombasa through Nairobi to the resort town of Naivasha, where a dry port is under construction to ease the movement of goods. The Nairobi-Naivasha railway line has been under construction since October 2016 with four stations at Ongata Rongai, Ngong Mai Mahui, and Suswa. The construction of the railway line is being undertaken by the China Communications Construction Company. The project is expected to be commissioned this Wednesday by President Kenyatta at the Suswa station, the largest of the four passenger stations. The contractor has been running trial text in the last one month in readiness to commission the project. Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has said the project has been completed within the budget and agreed time-frame. Some salient features of the line include the longest railway tunnel in Africa at 4.5 kilometers and a 6-kilometer super-bridge over the Nairobi national park. President Kenyatta is further expected to launch the construction of the Mombasa road to Rironi expressway. The 50 billion shillings project first proposed eleven years ago is expected to reduce travel...