Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter THE Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) should be buttressed by a robust industrial and infrastructure development programme for the region to derive benefits from market liberalisation, an official said yesterday. TFTA is part of an overarching Pan-African project aimed at integrating all countries in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), Sadc and the East African Community (EAC). Speaking during the Ad-hoc expert group meeting on the deepening of regional integration in Southern Africa in Bulawayo, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa director for Southern Africa office, Professor Said Adejumobi, said: “The innovative approach of the TFTA is to incorporate industrial and infrastructure development in the corpus of market integration. “Without production, trade and market liberalisation will be meaningless. “The industrial pillar seeks to boost the productive capacity of member-states, promote value addition and beneficiation and enhance economic diversification. “The infrastructure component aims to ease the challenge of doing business, open up the continent from Cape to Cairo and allow the free flow of goods and services.” He said the TFTA provides the architecture of development that would be crucial in realising the aspirations of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. “If well implemented, Prof Adejumobi said the TFTA has the capacity to promote trade, enhance productivity, spur economic competition thereby improving the quality of goods and services across the regions. The implementation of TFTA is also expected to assist in creation of jobs, reduce poverty as well as ensuring nobody is left behind...

Chris Kaijuka, chairman of The Grain Council of Uganda (TGCU), featured speaker at the upcoming Agribusiness Congress East Africa in Namulonge in November said: "My vision for the agri-sector is a national grain sector that supplies the region and is the preferred source of high-quality grain. There are opportunities in agriculture with our two seasons (bimodal) and a fast-growing population - the highest in the world at 3% per annum." The TGCU is the official host partner of this leading regional farming event which returns to Uganda from 29-30 November as a fully-fledged conference and outdoor exhibition with its move to the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Namulonge. Apart from the high-level conference with high-level expert speakers, Agribusiness Congress East Africa will this year also feature more than 45 exhibitors, free training workshops and agronomy consultations, roundtable discussions as well as live demonstrations and crop trials. According to Kaijuka, the TGCU is “currently pursuing affordable financing for infrastructure development and working capital for members. We look forward to the launch of the electronic trading on the Uganda National Commodity Exchange where we are shareholders.” He adds: “For us to truly grasp the opportunity for East Africa, and Uganda in particular, which has evolved into the new frontier for food and grain production and the continent’s food basket, we need to come together and take action to move the industry forward. We urge all industry players with a stake in agriculture to take advantage of this golden opportunity to...

THE revival of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) will significantly reduce the cost of bulk transportation of goods locally and in the region thereby easing stress on the road infrastructure, a senior official has said. Last week, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister, Dr Joram Gumbo, said NRZ’s $400 million deal with a consortium led by the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG) and South Africa’s Transnet was back on the rails after Cabinet gave a nod to the proposed deal. Officially opening the Ad-hoc expert group meeting on Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) in Bulawayo yesterday, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Willard Manungo, said the revival of NRZ would greatly impact on the entire regional transport system. “The envisaged resuscitation of NRZ will facilitate the less costly transport of bulky cargo and reduce the stress on the road infrastructure. “After the completion of such projects as the NRZ rehabilitation programme, there will be a significant reduction in the cost of transporting goods and services within the region, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), Sadc, and the East African Community,” he said. The meeting runs under the theme: “Deepening regional integration in Southern Africa: The role, prospects and progress of TFTA”. Mr Manungo said deepening regional integration in Southern Africa was critical in opening of markets to member states to enhance the development of regional value chains, which would increase intra-trade, stimulate economic growth and lift people out of poverty. In this...

Dubai will this November host African heads of State and business leaders at a forum to discuss the continent’s economic outlook and investment opportunities for countries in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The conference, which will take place on November 1 and 2, 2017, will host five African heads of state and 12 ministers. It will also host more than 1,000 top-level government and corporate decision-makers and industry experts. The event will be held at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah. The event is being hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Hamad Buamim, President and CEO of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that with the Global Business Forum series, Dubai has managed to offer a global platform, allowing top officials, decision-makers and investors to explore the prospects of economic partnership and cooperation among international markets. The Dubai emirate is now becoming a magnet for African business. East Africa will be represented by Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni. “The Global Business Forum on Africa, which is set for an unprecedented top-tier attendance, including distinguished African heads of state and ministers, is testament to Dubai’s firm position on the global economic map,” Mr Buamim said. The Global Business Forum series was launched by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2012, and focuses on Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Latin America. Source: Standard Digital

The high court on Thursday temporarily stopped the importation of duty-free sugar into the country. The court temporarily suspended a gazette notice that extended the importation of the commodity to December. Justice Enoch Chacha Mwita issued the directive after activist Okiya Omtata sued Treasury secretary Henry Rotich for extending the importation of duty free sugar from September to December. “A conservatory order be and is hereby issued suspending the sued parties’ gazette notice No.9801 dated September 29 , allowing importation of duty free sugar,” said Justice Mwita. Mr Omtatah claimed that the gazette notice published on October 4 is arbitrary as it was imposed without public participation involving all stakeholders including the affected local sugar industry. He argued that should the importation of duty free sugar proceed, it would complicate matters for many cane farmers and workers in factories across the country. He argued that there was no sugar shortage to warrant such a decision. He also said local sugar millers were licensed to produce the commodity from locally grown cane and have no business importing it unless they have abandoned their mission. The notice raised suspicion after traders and millers imported 300,000 tonnes of the sweetener in August alone ahead of the August 31 deadline for importation duty free sugar. The August imports are an equivalent of the country’s six-month sugar demand. The country consumes about 50,000 tonnes of sugar monthly. Mr Omtatah said the notice did not set a limit to the quantities of sugar to be imported...

Rwandair, the national carrier, will effective October 31, 2017 start direct flights to Brussels, Belgium. According to Chance Ndagano, the acting chief executive officer of RwandAir, the airline will operate three weekly flights on the Brussels-Kigali route on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The move addresses the challenge of the requirement for non-Schengen citizens to hold a UK transit visa and to disembark for rescreening at Gatwick Airport London. Ndagano said: “We are confident that the new schedule will improve the experience of our esteemed clients boarding from Brussels while maintaining our schedule from London with only one stop in Brussels.” The new schedule followed negotiations between the airline and Gatwick Airport after RwandAir suspended flights through London to Brussels in August over transit visa requirement. London-bound passengers will now pass via Zaventem Airport in Brussels and will not need a Schengen transit visa as they will be required to stay onboard the aircraft. RwandAir’s state of the art Airbus A330 fleet, configured in a triple class cabin and in-flight connectivity will continue to operate the Kigali-Brussels–Gatwick route and conveniently connect across Africa via Kigali International Airport. Experts say RwandAir’s ambitious expansion strategy could help the airline position itself as a major aviation player in the next five years. More long-haul flights in offing Meanwhile, RwandAir is scheduled to launch flights to New York and new Asian destinations. On the African continent, the national carrier plans to start new routes to Conakry in Guinea, Bamako, Mali, Lilongwe in Malawi, and Durban in...

Textile industry players in the region have been challenged to start making garments that require low level technology and skills as the East African Community (EAC) countries prepare to phase-out imported used clothes. Lilian Awinja, the Executive Director of the East African Business Council (EABC), said the sector can manufacture apparels such as inner garments, ties, scarfs that require low level technology and skills. “It is a high time that EAC countries embarked on manufacturing apparels such as inner garments, ties, scarfs that require low level technology and skills as the region works on a phase out approach of imported second hand clothes,” said Awinja. In 2016, the five EAC members - Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania – agreed on phased plan and eventual ban on the importation of used clothes and leather products by 2018 to support industrialisation and job-creation in the region. Awinja was speaking ahead of the second East African Business and Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition scheduled for November 14 to 16 in Dar es salaam, Tanzania. The event is meant to provide a platform to create synergies and linkages between the local cotton and textile industries with local suppliers and the fashion and design industry. The meeting is also expected to devise an action plan outlining the policies and modalities to promote the sector performance, productivity and quality, according to a statement from organisers. According to EABC, cotton production, processing and trade is highly influenced by policies of major producing countries through price support, tariff...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has called for global support for Africa’s young farmers and “agripreneurs”, highlighting how agribusiness is the answer to the continent’s youth employment. In collaboration with the Initiative for Global Development, the Association of African Agricultural Professionals in the Diaspora, Michigan State University, Iowa State University, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the AfDB brought together stakeholders to discuss how to expand economic opportunities for Africa’s youth throughout the agricultural value chain, from lab to farm to fork. “Africa’s next billionaires are not going to come from oil, gas, or the extractives. ENABLE Youth is about investing in small agribusinesses today so that they can grow into large enterprises tomorrow,” Akinwumi Adesina (pictured above), the AfDB president said at the event. “By empowering youth at each stage of the agribusiness value chain, we enable them to establish viable and profitable agribusinesses, jobs and better incomes for themselves and their communities.” Adesina was presenting a paper during a session titled “Making Farming Cool: Investing in future African farmers and Agripreneurs” on the sideline of the 2017 World Food Prize Symposium-Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa in the US. It was attended by young entrepreneurs from Africa private sector representatives, policymakers and thought leaders, among others. Africa has the world’s youngest population with 60 per cent being under 35 years old. There are 420 million youth aged 15-35 and this segment of the population is expected to double to 840 million by 2040. Working with the International...

Kenya and Tanzania will power economic growth in the East African region, which is expected to record the highest economic growth rate in Africa. The African Development Bank quarterly economic report says the East Africa region will grow fastest in Africa at 5.4% this year then accelerate to 5.8% in 2018. Growth in the East Africa region will be driven by strong domestic demand and high public infrastructure spending. Kenya is expected to grow by 5.1% while Tanzania will expand by 7.2% this year. Despite a major slowdown in commodity prices, Africa retained her position as the second-fastest growing continent globally recording an average GDP growth of 2.2%, behind South Asia. The East African region powered this growth with a 5.3% economic expansion with the North African region coming second at 3.3%. The growth was driven by Kenya at 5.9% and Ethiopia at 6.9%. The African Development Bank quarterly economic report says the East African region will anchor growth in Africa growing by 5.4%. The bank says the expansion will be boosted by capital investment and strong domestic expenditure. However, the bank has also downgraded economic growth for Africa saying that poor weather will slow growth to 3%. The North African region is expected to grow by 3.1% and 3.6% in 2017 and 2018 respectively, with expected pick up of growth in Morocco of 4.5% in 2017 and 3.9% in 2018. The bank however warns that continued political uncertainties and reduced oil production in Libya continue to drag growth in...

The Ministry of Trade yesterday launched a one-stop trade portal that provides market place information for both local and international trade. The portal is expected to expand market for local traders and service providers while bringing convenience for buyers who will now access market information like commodity prices at a click of a button. It is also expected to cut out middlemen from the trade chain. Information in the portal is provided my multi-sectional stakeholders including KNBS, Council of Governors, Kebs, KRA, KAM, Kephis, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce, Retail Traders Association among others. Speaking while unveiling the portal, dubbed Kenya trade portal, Cabinet Secretary Trade and Industrialisation Adan Mohamed said it will have information ranging from products available in the country, licensing requirements in the counties, wholesale and retail markets as well as licensed traders who could be targeted by manufacturers for distribution throughout the country. “The portal serves as a platform through which counties can promote intra-county trade through sharing information on goods available at county level and where the goods can be sourced. Through the portal, county governments have a cost-free medium of promoting trade through sharing information on county markets where products from the counties can be sourced.” Cabinet secretary Adan Mohamed said. He added that the portal provides an opportunity for traders across the globe to view Kenyan suppliers of goods and services and to pursue deals through interactions with specific companies that are profiled to the global limelight. ''This portal give Kenyans an opportunity...