Relations between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to get better and better, the Minister of Foreign Affair Dr Richard Sezibera has said. Sezibera’s comments follow the visit to Rwanda by DR Congo’s Director of Cabinet, Vital Kamerhe, which focused on strengthening bilateral relations. “We see that our relations are good and continue getting better and better, be it in cooperation and curtailing those who wish to destabilise Rwanda’s security that are [based] in Congo,” Sezibera said Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual retreat for Rwandan Ambassadors. Kigali sees bilateral trade activities between the two countries going on well and their respective leaders want it to be sustained, Sezibera said. Following Kamerhe visit, Rwanda invited DR Congo President, Félix Tshisekedi, to this year’s edition of the Africa CEO forum in Kigali, which is due in two weeks. Source: The New Times

Dar es Salaam has been ranked second in East Africa and 14th among 42 cities in Africa to receive huge foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. 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. 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," says the 322-pages report. Other leading sectors to receive FDI were construction, geological exploration and development, Import and export trade as well as wholesale and retail trade. The report has said that domestic market size, well-developed norms of trustworthiness, low level of corruption, rule of law have strong positive impacts on attracting FDI into Africa. "FDI will locate in countries with large and expanding markets with greater purchasing power and where firms are...

Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli yesterday, 13 March, 2019, held talks with a delegation from Russia led by a special envoy for African Affairs representing the Russian presidency, deputy Foreign Affairs minister Mikhail Bogdanov, at State House in Dar es Salaam. According to a statement by the director of Communication at State House Gerson Msigwa yesterday President Magufuli praised his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the healthy bilateral relations between their two countries that are based on cooperation in various sectors. In his statement, President Magufuli assured President Putin of his government’s commitment to the good relations between their two countries, promising continued co-operation in trade, investment, tourism as well as social services such as healthcare, education and infrastructure development. “Please relay my message to President Putin that Tanzanians love Russia and welcome him, as well as his fellow countrymen, to visit our country. , We also invite Russian investors to take advantage of various opportunities that exist in Tanzania for the benefit of both countries,” President Magufuli told Hon Bogdanov. For his part, Hon Bogdanov - who visited Tanzania eight years ago - praised the Tanzanian government for the big gains that it had made in a short period and reiterated his country’s commitment to continued cooperation with Tanzania. Hon Bogdanov said Tanzania was part of African governments that Russia was working with to increase the speed of development. He revealed that soon Tanzania and Russia will pen an agreement on starting a Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) on...

Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary, Kayula Siame says Zambia and Tanzania should strengthen bilateral trade. Mrs. Siame said this when the Tanzanian Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Professor Joseph Buchweishaija paid a courtesy call on her in the office. She has raised a concern over the accessibility of information on trade between the two countries at Nakonde One Border Post adding that effective communication is required to traders so as to simplify trade. The Permanent Secretary has observed that the cost of doing business in Tanzania for Zambian logistic companies is too high due to transit charges levied on them and poor road infrastructure. She hoped for the Tanzanian Government to resolve these challenges in trade as soon as possible. In response, the counterpart Professor Buchweishaija stated that he will ensure English is added on all documents that are issued in Swahili in order to avoid trade barriers. Professor Buchweishaija noted that Tanzanian traders face challenges when acquiring transit permits in Zambia. He explained that there is no authorization office in Nakonde that assists Tanzanian traders as this facility is only accessible in Lusaka. In conclusion, the meeting was agreeable that smuggling has been an alarming issue for both countries and as such the two countries should come up with measures to mitigate the vice to attain a smooth trading system. Furthermore, both countries agreed to share products for trade as a measure to strengthen bilateral trade. This is according to a statement issued to...

Twenty years ago saw the birth of the beautiful child, the vision of a one East Africa. However, this beautiful child still can’t walk, and still wets the bed. The failure of the vision of the East African Community can be blamed on many factors, but majorly on myopic foreign policies by the regional leaders. While some achievement may have been registered towards one market, common boundary and United travel documents, it all seems that the vision takes one step forward and seven steps backwards. This image has been magnified by the visible tensions in the relationship between the heads of state and clashing visions of foreign strategy amongst the governments. It seems that while the picture on top shows negotiating presidents on a round table, everyone is holding a bayonet under the table, and playing with their witty tongues to suit the needs of their respective home countries. With Rwanda at the centre of these disputes having a strained love affair with Uganda, Burundi and DRC, Uganda has been seen as the catalyst at the helm of this discord. Due to escalating tension between Kigali and Bujumbura governments, President Museveni of Uganda was appointed as the Mediator(regardless of the already existing tension between Kigali and Kampala)and Benjamin Mkapa the former president as the facilitator. This came after President Nkuruziza in an open letter had suggested that Rwanda was Burundi’s only problem. This team that was tasked with the negotiations pertaining the sovereignty battles between Rwanda and Burundi have up...

Tanzania’s vice president SAMIA SULUHU has urged heads of member states in the east african community to be mindful of women who deal in small business across the borders. Speaking at the just concluded Africa Now concert, she said the women are frequently labeled smugglers by customs officials despite the east african customs union treaty allowing free trade and travel across borders. Source: NTV

EABC executive director Peter Mathuki told journalists in Nairobi that intra-EAC trade stands at approximately 20 percent of all trade EAC member states conduct with the rest of the world, compared to the Southern African Development Community’s rate of over 40 percent. “The low level of intra-EAC trade is due to a number of factors including high level of non-tariff barriers among member states,” Mathuki said. Partner states have so far resolved 47 non-tariff barriers while another 17 are still waiting to be resolved, he said. The non-tariff barriers are a major concern for the business community as they add to their transactions costs, Mathuki said. The EABC has also proposed that governments develop an alternative dispute resolution mechanism to address the issue of non-tariff barriers, he said. Mathuki also noted that the region has few harmonized regional standards on most products, which contribute to additional barriers to cross-border trade. Enditem Source: News Ghana

Uganda, Tanzania and their partners in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline are yet to agree on provisions of the host government agreement, shareholder agreements and transportation tariffs. This has given room for speculation that the parties are under pressure to reach a final investment decision (FID). Just this January, Total E & P chief executive and chairman Patrick Pouyanne visited Kampala and held a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni in what insiders say was both a sign of the oil giant’s commitment to the project and impatience with the slow pace towards production. The two are understood to have set June for the FID, but several issues remain unresolved. East African Crude Oil Pipeline is a 1,445km export pipeline that will transport crude oil from Kabaale, northwest of Kampala, to Chongoleani peninsula, near Tanga port in Tanzania. The 24-inch diameter pipeline will export 216,000 barrels of crude per day. The EastAfrican has learnt that arbitration, one of the issues deferred during a technocrats’ meeting in Kampala in January, is still on the table. The parties are yet to agree on where to hold the meeting even after Tanzania offered to act as the host. “Provided it is not Tanzania’s national court that is going to hear the case, there should be no problem, because the parties can appoint neutral arbiters,” said lawyer and former member of the East African Legislative Assembly, Wandera Ogalo. Arbitration seeks to avoid tedious and costly litigation. In this case, choice of jurisdiction and what laws...

Kenya has signed infrastructure contracts with France worth more than 2.0 billion euros (2.26 billion US dollar). They have inked the deal on Thursday, including a 1.6 billion euro 30-year concession for a Vinci-led consortium to operate a highway between Nairobi and Mau Summit. Renewables firm Voltalia also sealed a €70 million contract for two solar power plants, while an Airbus-led consortium won a €200 million contract for coastal and maritime surveillance. The contracts were signed during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to boost trade in the East Africa region, reports Reuters. Source: Financial Express

According to Dynamar, in 2017 the overall value of ESAF economies reached $737 billion, 1% less than the global economy. South Africa is a dominant player as it holds the 60% of the total. East Africa is rapidly developing from 34% to 40% in 2017. Moreover, South Africa experienced a decrease of 5% in GDP from $367 billion in 2013 to $349 billion in 2017. As Darron Wadey, the author of the report, commented the decrease is also due to the weak South African currency against the U.S. Dollar. Yet, Dynamar expects that in the five years following to 2022, the ESAF economy will grow by $268 billion to $1,006 billion, with South Africa set to return to sustained growth but at a lower rate. The two largest ports continue to be Durban (2,700,000 TEU) in South Africa and Mombasa (1,190,000 TEU) in Kenya. Mombasa port surpassed Cape Town port in 2011 and broke the million TEU mark in 2014. Durban and Mombasa handled 48% of total throughput in 2017. Although there are a few private terminal operators in the region, DP World Berbera construction is underway. Ethiopia will get a new gateway, where DP World will hold the 51%, Somaliland 30% and Ethiopia the remaining 19%. In the beginning of 2019, there were 18 different carriers offering container shipping services to and from the ESAf region. This is two fewer than in 2017 and is the lowest number noted by Dynamar in over a decade of review.   ESAf is connected with the Far East, Middle East/Indian Subcontinent and...