Tanzania and Russia were on the final touches of forming a joint commission aimed at accelerating ties in investment, trade and economic development between the two countries, a Russian government official said on Wednesday. Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, said the commission will be entrusted to ensure that natural resources benefited people in both countries, said a statement by the Directorate of Presidential Communication at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. The statement said Bogdanov revealed the formation of the commission during talks with President John Magufuli. It said that the talks were held after the Russian diplomat had delivered a special message to President Magufuli from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian diplomat, who visited Tanzania eight years ago, praised President Magufuli's leadership for pioneering economic reforms and fighting corruption. For his part, President Magufuli thanked President Putin and assured him of continued cordial relations between the two countries. The head of state said Tanzania will continue cementing ties with Russia in trade, investment, tourism and provision of social services to the people. Magufuli invited President Putin and Russian investors to visit Tanzania and learn about available investment opportunities. Source: Xinhau

In May 2016, KenTrade commenced an ambitious project of implementing the Information for Trade in Kenya Portal (InfoTradeKenya), a web-based platform used by the Government to publish trade regulatory information from relevant Government offices, ministries and agencies to facilitate trade. This was after a realisation that access to information and understanding of the required regulatory procedures to import and export was a major challenge to traders and a barrier to new market entrants in Kenya. The portal which is currently live and can be accessed via www.infotradekenya.go.ke, is an on-line platform which enables traders to access a comprehensive, step by step guide on all the requirements to import/export commodities in Kenya. By providing required information, the portal has assisted in lowering trade costs, reduced the time required to do business and cross borders and therefore contribute towards enhancing trade and investment in the country. The objective is to provide the current, potential traders and other stakeholders with total transparency on rules and procedures pertaining to import and export formalities, through detailed, practical and up-to-date descriptions of steps to go through, as seen from the user’s point of view to assist them to make informed business decisions. It further aims at reducing the effort and time used by traders to access authentic information and documentation required for trade. The portal together with the Kenya Trade Net System provides an end to end solution on regulatory and documentation requirements in the country and streamlines and simplifies trade processes for the business community....

As Uganda struggles to recover revenue lost in international trade, the Prosecutor's Office reported about $6.6 billion was lost through trade misinvoicing between 2006 and 2015. Losses tied to imports amounted to 10 per cent of total trade between 2006 and 2015 while losses pegged to exports were equivalent to eight per cent of total trade in the same period. Under trade misinvoicing, agents in the trade value chain engage in tax evasion practices such as distortion of import and export values to conceal and transfer income overseas. For example, an import order for industrial equipment may carry an invoice value of $1.5 million whereas the factory cost is $1 million. The difference of $0.5 million is usually transferred to multiple places by interested parties to hide profits earned from a particular country. These are direct tax revenues that developing countries lose in the international trade system. The monetary value of losses arising from potential over- and under-invoicing of Uganda imports stood at $4.9 billion during the nine years under review, a figure that translates to a loss of $544 million per year. Losses driven by over- and under-invoicing of exports stood at $1.7 billion during the period, or $188.9 million per year. Transfer pricing In contrast, numerous tax audits of businesses suspected of under-declaring taxes generally yield less collections. Routine audits carried out on selected taxpayers with a bias towards Value Added Tax and excise duty returns usually generate less than Ush20 billion ($5.4 million) from each taxpayer, according...

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is pushing member states to align their laws with the bloc’s regulations to abolish trade barriers. The bloc says that the Comesa Seed Trade Harmonisation Regulations will lead to increased seed production, supply reliability, enhanced trade and competitiveness of the seed sub-sector. The regulations give seed companies the impetus to invest in testing and trials targeting a bigger market of about half a billion people. Besides, it will eliminate duplication of trials, which often takes years, and enhance collaboration in research. Only seven countries of the 21 Comesa member states have harmonised their national seed regulations with the regional ones. These are Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This push comes at a time when a new report by Netherlands-based Access to Seeds Foundation, which evaluates 22 leading seed companies, shows that two home-grown African seed companies top the 2019 Access to Seeds Index in the region for playing a key role in raising smallholder farmers’ productivity. The two, Kenya’s East African Seed and South Africa-based Seed Co, topped the index due to their broad portfolio of seeds. “Two African seed companies at the top of the ranking is no surprise, given their deeper understanding of the region and the challenges smallholder farmers face. It shows also that these relatively small seed companies are ahead of larger multinational in integrating smallholder farmers into their business models,” said Sanne Helderman, Access to Seeds Index senior research lead. Other East African companies...

The East African Community (EAC) is fast tracking the development of regional institutions that will support the implementation of a single currency, officials said on Tuesday. Liberat Mfumukeko, secretary general of the East African Community (EAC) told a media briefing in Nairobi that the East African Legislation Assembly has already passed a bill to create the East Africa Monetary Institute as well as the East Africa Statistical Institute which are critical components of the EAC monetary union protocol. "The region has shown political will to roll out a common currency so as to promote further economic integration," Mfumukeko said. EAC member states includes Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Mfumukeko noted that efforts are also proceeding with a view to harmonize both the fiscal and monetary policies across the economic bloc. He revealed that a key priority is to develop a similar payment system across all central banks of the EAC partner states. According to the EAC official, the goal of achieving a monetary union by end of 2023 is still in place. He added that the trading bloc has already implemented a custom union with a common external tariff. Mfumukeko observed that the common market protocol which allows for free movement of capital and labor is also at advanced stages of implementation. Source: Xinhau

THE East African Community (EAC) will pocket 12m US Dollar (27.6bn/-) as a supplementary appropriation for the current financial year that ends in June. Presenting an approved $ 12m/- supplementary budget to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Tanzania Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Co-operation, Dr Damas Ndumbaro, said the EAC Secretariat was set to receive $ 5.9m/- for its activities in the fiscal year which comes to an end in three months’ time. Dr Ndumbaro, who was presenting the budget speech on behalf of the  Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, Dr Richard Sezibera, further noted that EALA will receive $1.8m/- to its kitty, while the East African Court of Justice(EACJ) is expected to get $499,090 from the approved EAC’s budget. “Another $2.1m/- will be earmarked for the Lake Victoria Basin Commission,” he told the attentive house. According to Dr Ndumbaro, the East African Science and Technology Commission will receive $137,600 with another $161,784 being reserved for the East African Health Research Commission (EAHRC).  The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO) is to receive $345,083 and the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), $ 549,600 while the East African Competition Authority, will tap $97,450. Earlier on, the Council of Ministers through Dr Ndumbaro, moved an amendment to the vote on the LVFO, reducing the original estimates downwards to the tune of $ 517,011.  According to Dr Ndumbaro, a meeting that sat on May 5 last year had directed the LVFO to prepare for an action plan...

Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and President Uhuru Kenyatta will today tour the Nairobi Central Railway Station. Uhuru and Macron are expected to hold a joint press briefing after the tour; on the proposed development of a commuter rail service from the station to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). The two are expected to announce their governments’ partnership in making train services in the country’s biggest airport a reality. Meanwhile, the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) management will conduct a locomotive driving licence examination for 15 senior assistant locomotive drivers. Huduma Namba database to contain citizenship details The May 2019 examination will access Kenyan drivers who are expected to take over the operations of SGR locomotives from Chinese nationals. KRC said it would instruct four of its senior locomotive drivers, who will organise a test in collaboration with instructors from the SGR operator. SGR is being operated by the China Road and Bridge Corporation. The locomotive driving licence will be issued by KRC.“We appreciate SGR management’s efforts to train Kenyan locomotive drivers who have acquired skills over the past two years. hey are ready to take up the challenge from their Chinese counterparts,” KRC said in an alert. Since July last year, the China Road and Bridge Corporation has been training the locomotive drivers. The training covers safety regulations, safety equipment, locomotive engines and electrical appliances theory as well as driving simulation. Upgrade skills After passing the grading examination of an assistant locomotive driver...

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta made brief visits to Uganda and Rwanda on Monday amid long-running disputes between the two countries that has now threatened cross-border trade. Mr Kenyatta held private talks, first, with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame before addressing the country’s national leadership retreat in Gabiro, where he emphasised on the importance of integration. His next stop, before his return trip to Nairobi, was at State House in Entebbe where he met President Yoweri Museveni. President Kenyatta’s visit comes on the back of Mr Kagame’s two-day trip to Tanzania, seen as a quest to firm up relations with Dar es Salaam and secure a trade route from the sea. Rwanda, a small landlocked country, is served by two major transport corridors — the Central Corridor that runs from Dar es Salaam through Tanzania’s heartland, and the Northern Corridor that runs from Mombasa through Kenya and Uganda. About 80 percent of Rwanda’s import cargo is handled through the Dar port, but its major exports — minerals, tea and coffee — go through Uganda to the port of Mombasa. However, souring of relations between Kigali and Kampala have been simmering for years now, and worsened late last month when Rwanda closed the Gatuna border post, its busiest. Integration In Gabiro, President Kenyatta said Kenya’s relationship with Rwanda “is probably the best” adding that: “The more we meet, the more we interact, the better we integrate as a people.” He urged for more engagement among the citizens of the two countries. “As governments, we...

Uganda and Rwanda’s relationship hit a new and worrying low last week when Kigali closed its main border with its neighbour. This move was the culmination of rising animosity over a few years now. Rwanda accuses Uganda of sheltering its dissidents, some of whom it has allegedly forcibly repatriated in the past. Meanwhile, Uganda accuses Rwanda of planting spies in its security apparatus several of whom it claims to have arrested or deported. These tensions were reflected in the war of words that erupted recently between the two presidents. “You can attempt to destabilise our country, you can do us harm, you can shoot me with a gun and kill me. But there is one thing that is impossible,” said Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame at a government retreat this weekend. “No one can bring me to my knees.” President Yoweri Museveni similarly declared: “Those who want to destabilise our country do not know our capacity. It is very big. Once we mobilise, you can’t survive.” A few weeks ago, Ugandan trucks had reportedly been stopped to border points, leading Uganda to advise traders to transit to Rwanda via the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but last week crossings came to almost complete halt. Rwanda shut the border and advised its citizens not to travel to Uganda for safety reasons. This dramatic move has created huge disruptions to cross-border trade and people’s lives on both sides. Many Rwandans depend on Uganda for food and medicines, for example, while cargo porters and currency traders’ livelihoods have been put on hold....

The government has committed to strengthen the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and seal the loopholes against control illicit financial flows (IFFs) in the country. The AAAA sets out a strategy to mobilise and ensure effective use of domestic revenue, combat tax evasion and IFFs. It requires progressive tax policy reforms and more efficient tax collection in a transparent manner. IFFs can result from proceeds in corrupt dealings, money laundering and from commercial tax abuse including evasion and trade mis-pricing. The net effect is transferring the monies outside the country to where they are outside the scope of local financial regulators. Funds flow offshore, including through deposits or securities, real estate, businesses, and other assets. In 2017, Global Financial Integrity estimated that the country lost over Sh1.06 trillion ($10.6 billion) in accumulated IFFs since 1970, being the worst case in Africa. Between 2002 and 2011, Kenya is believed to have lost about Sh151 billion ($1.51 billion) to trade mis-invoicing, with the tax losses estimated to be as high as 8.3 per cent of government revenue. Trade PS Chris Kiptoo said there are loopholes existing in laws meant to ward off fraudulent individuals and corporations, hurting revenue collection targets. “If we achieve this, the funds will be redirected in spending targets for essential services set out in government pillars to ensure social justice,” PS Kiptoo said yesterday. A report on Tax justice and Poverty by Jesuit Hakimani Center has named banks, ICT, unregulated money transfer services, legal loopholes and developments like...