But also perhaps unaware of it, Uganda is already feeding China, the only question would be, can Uganda satisfy China’s hunger for our products? In one of his recent pieces on a series of articles that examine the East African Community at 20, veteran journalist Onyango Obbo quotes the Kenya Commercial Bank CEO, Joshua Ogiara on his perspective of Uganda, “if it does a few things right, Uganda can feed China.” And that could be no further from the truth. The number of factories being commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni every year is of an unprecedented level in Uganda’s history. But also perhaps unaware of it, Uganda is already feeding China, the only question would be, can Uganda satisfy China’s hunger for our products? At the Namunkekeera Rural Industrial Research Centre, which is part of the Operation Wealth Creation Ecosystem, Ho and Mu Foods Technology has been exporting tonnes of dried mango snacks to China since its commissioning. So much that they (Ho and Mu) had not even considered availing their product in Uganda until they exhibited at the Buy Uganda Build Uganda(BUBU) expo last week at Kololo Airstrip. They never tired of the question, “where can we find these snacks in Kampala?” In my conversation with the company, I advised them not to underestimate the purchasing capacity of our middle class. In two months they will be on our local supermarket shelves, in addition to bringing in the much-needed forex. So why is BUBU so important to Uganda? There...

The government has allayed concerns of consumer price increases following the travel restrictions on the borders with Uganda which disrupted supply of goods, causing shortage of foods and key households items. Until Wednesday, consumers grappled with high prices of commodities imported from Uganda even as traders decried delayed orders meaning local markets were yet to get substitutes for foods which since stopped coming in. The Ministry of Trade and Industry, however, said the situation was under control with orders being expedited at the borders to ensure there is no shortage of goods. “We are working with Rwanda Revenue Authority to make sure that those orders are prioritised at the border,” Ms Soraya Hakuziyaremye told Rwanda Today. Ms Hakuziyaremye argued that the rise in prices was as a result of speculators seeking to profit from the crisis, something the ministry had warned traders against. She confirmed that there was no truck still stranded at the border with Uganda as all of them were let in. Besides, traders with urgent orders were going through the ministry to be assisted with options, including seeking alternative markets with the help of Rwanda Development Board and diplomatic missions abroad. “This is a situation we monitor so that there is no shortage of goods. We intend to do inspections to detect traders hoarding goods and to contain that speculation,” she said. Source: Rwanda Today

THE first large ship is expecting to dock at Tanga port berth number one next January after completion of construction. Tanga, situated at northern coast of the country, is the longest serving port in East Africa but a lighterage port with two shallow water berths. Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Executive Director Eng Deusdedit Kakoko said the port will start handling big ship at dockside thus decongesting Dar es Salaam port while cutting transport period to northern circuit. “The initial step of geological survey at berths No 1 and No 2 has been completed. The construction of berth No 1 is expected to start by this fiscal year 2019/20,” Eng Kakoko said. The TPA chief said construction of berth No 1 would be completed between this December and next January, the larger ships will start offloading consignment at quayside. Another challenge of the port was shallow water but Eng Kakoko said that would be taken care of since geological survey of taking soil sampling before dredging for increasing depth has been carried out. The geology survey was conducted by Bureau for Industrial Cooperation (BICO), a unit of the College of Engineering and Technology (CoET) at University of Dar es Salaam. The next step, TPA said, is to dredge so as to increase the port channel depth from current 3.5 to 5 metres to 11 metres. “The port once started receiving large ships will also open other opportunities for Tanga City residents by providing direct and indirect employments,” Mr Kakoko said. TPA...

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has drafted a new protocol to resolve cross-border restrictions among member states and cause easy mobility of people, goods and services. During the high-level experts technical review meeting at the Commonwealth Speke Resort Hotel in Munyonyo, Kampala on Monday, the technocrats said the new protocol was drafted on a unanimous decision by all IGAD member states as prescribed in the 1966 IGAD establishment agreement, trade unions and the East African Community. The draft protocol seeks to address four major freedoms among which are; "Movement of people aimed at abolishing visa, labour mobility, establishment of businesses and residence." Dr Mehari Taddele, the IGAD lead expert, said currently there are many border conflicts within African countries and the problem has been caused by absence of a direct protocol to address the issues. "By the time the first protocol was made, there were no problems we are seeing right now like fights at borders. These have been mainly caused by countries assuming sovereignty, political affiliations and trans-border issues. The new protocol will tackle these issues," Mr Taddele said. "We also want to see that we develop infrastructure and also abolish visas in the region," he added. The protocol comes at a time when Rwanda and Uganda are engaged in a trans-border conflict. About three weeks ago, Rwanda closed its busiest border with Uganda at Katuna. The closure has hurt transport and businesses between the two East African states and left the business community on either side counting...

When the Africa Continental Free Trade Area is implemented this year, it will create a single market for goods and services for the first time in the continent’s history. The agreement will cover a geographic area with a combined GDP of $3.2 trillion and a population of 1.2 billion people. It has the potential to drastically accelerate economic growth and exceed the African Development Bank’s current estimates for GDP growth from $1.7 trillion in 2010 to more than $15 trillion by 2060. This has the potential to shift Africa from being an aid-dependent continent to becoming an investment-dependent continent. According to the Brookings Institute, African foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows accounted for only 2.9 percent of total global FDI inflows in 2017, compared to the 49.8 percent share for developed economies, and 10.6 percent for Latin America and the Caribbean. A continental super bloc has the potential of creating an attractive value proposition for investors who are dealing with the fallout from Brexit, a U.S.-China tariff war and a global economy that is falling short of projected growth targets. For African governments, businesses and citizens, the prospect of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area has prompted widespread excitement and optimism, especially among some of Africa’s leading business and political figures. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame said: “Speaking with one voice as a continent will emerge as perhaps the most important provision of all for the success of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.” South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa publicly stated: “This...

The journey to achieving a fully-functional East African Common market is yet again in limbo given the current spat between Uganda and Rwanda, where daggers have been drawn over political and trade differences. Standoff between the two countries is now threatening discussions around key statutes on regional integration which is already facing a number of challenges including inadequate and poor regional infrastructure and contrasting legal and regulatory frameworks. Trade embargo Uganda has accused Rwanda of imposing a trade embargo while Kigali has accused Kampala of hosting anti-Kagame rebel groups, a move that has led to issuance of travel advisories and closure of borders which has hampered trade and movement of persons. Experts warn that if a truce is not reached in the shortest time possible, the current differences in the region will hurt a number of processes among them the ongoing discussion to harmonise the EAC Common External Tariff (CET), an annex of the EAC Customs Union Protocol which guides duty charged on imported products into the community. The region could fail to synchronise tariffs for different products which are affecting seamless flow of goods as East Africa lags behind in intra-country trade. While regional trade within the East African Community is close to 26 per cent, it is relatively low compared to other blocs such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) at 47 per cent and European Union at 67 per cent, which is a big concern to the EAC secretariat. Liberat Mfumukeko, EAC Secretary General, says that...

The National Revenue Authority (NRA) is set to secure an electronic integrated cargo tracking system for its officials to monitor South Sudan’s cargo on transit from Mombasa to Juba. The move came following the promise by Trade Mark East Africa regional director to support electronic integrated cargo tracking system for the NRA. Speaking to journalists at Juba International Airport yesterday upon arrival from a Kenya where he attended a meeting with his Kenyan counterpart, the NRA Commissioner-General Dr. Olympio Attipoe said in the next two to three weeks, NRA will sign a memorandum of understanding with Trade Mark East Africa and in the next two to three weeks, the project will start. “The electronic integrated tracking system is to make sure that we monitor our cargos from Mombasa port to South Sudan. The significance of this is that at time when the cargos have been dispatched for South Sudan,they end up not coming , both Kenya and South Sudan losing the revenue because of the collaboration between people to divert cargo from the government,” said Olympio. He said the system will provide transparency in the cargo system from Mombasa to South Sudan and will boost revenue generation. In another development, Dr. Olympio said that Trade Mark East Africa has agreed to pay some commitments and obligations that the NRA has not paid to international community such as World Custom Organization to allow South Sudan enter into World custom activities. “South Sudan over the past three to four years has not...

President Emmanuel Macron embarked on a four-day trip to the Horn of Africa nations last week, with the visit largely seen as part of attempts by France to cement new ties in a region where China's influence has been growing fast. Macron’s trip to Africa was meant to boost trade with Ethiopia and Kenya, two countries that were never a French colony. Djibouti, the third country he visited, was formerly under colonial rule and hosts foreign military bases for both Paris and Beijing. In the first visit by a French president to Kenya since its independence in 1963, Macron concluded his trip with the announcement of an estimated $3.4 billion worth of deals with the East African powerhouse. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed in a statement on Thursday that an agreement with a "French consortium" had been reached on a series of major works to boost the African country’s transport network.   Macron described his country as a “credible economic partner,” and hailed the agreement with Kenya as a “new partnership in economy." The visit, however, was denounced by some Kenyans as “real stumbling blocks to the development in Africa.” At a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the French president announced a military agreement in which Paris would lend $96 million to Addis Ababa to support the establishment of a navy for the landlocked country. Ethiopia has access to the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea ports as a result of deals with neighbors Djibouti and Sudan. Upon...

French president Emmanuel Macron brought his unlikely charm offensive to East Africa, a region perceived to be fast shifting towards options that lie further eats to drive its development agenda. Accompanied by a group of French business leaders and the French President pursued to boost the role of French businesses in the region, and countering China’s growing dominance the continent. In seeking to establish the French in the region, Macron’s mission was well cut out based on his unreserved assertion that China-African relations is debt trap. In his just concluded maiden trip to Kenya, the first by a sitting French president, Macron sought to place his country in a strategic position aimed at deepening economic and political ties. >Currently, France is the 17th largest trading partner with Kenya and both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Macron have underscored the need for the two countries to strengthening their ties for mutual benefits in areas security infrastructure, education, environment, energy and petroleum and creative deals. Macron said France will work closely with Kenya on green energy. He said Kenya delivered "tremendous results in the fight against climate change." Macron's office said that Kenya is the only African nation to reach the goal of making renewable energy 75 per cent of its energy mix. On French exports to Kenya in 2017, it amounted to between $170 million and $225.80 million, while China, remains Kenya’s number one trading partner, with exported goods worth $3.8 billion. “France has supported Kenya for several years in development projects...

Kampala has been ranked third behind Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in East Africa to receive huge foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. Kampala, which ranked 26th in Africa and 335th in the world with FDI amounted US$2.3 billion, a growth of eight per cent when compared with the previous report followed by Kigali, which is ranked 27th in Africa and 349th in the world after receiving FDIs amounting US$2.3 billion. This was reported in the recent study titled The States of African Cities 2003-2018 jointly published by the UN-Habitat, African Development Bank, Wits School of Economic and Business sciences and UK Aid. The report, which covers the period of 15 years has also revealed that Dar es Salaam was ranked 224th among 1,325th cities in the world, to record huge investments. Nairobi was leading after being ranked eighth in Africa by recording FDI valued US$5.9 billion, a growth of 25.1 per cent compared with the previous report of 2008. During the reviewed period, Dar es Salaam city received FDIs amounting $3.4 billion, a decrease of 4.75 per cent recorded during the previous ranking held in 2008. Manufacturing and services sectors attracted more investments to African cities, not only Dar es Salaam, but also other cities featured, the report has said. The resources sector is the second-largest recipient of FDI, accounting for 34 per cent of total FDI. “The resources sector in Africa is extractive in nature and mainly associated with the export of raw material rather than local value addition,”...