The newly operational One Stop Border Post (OSBP) facilities at the Rwanda-Ugandan border at Kagitumba, Nyagatare district has reduced clearance time by 25 percent, officials said. An OSBP is a "one stop" form of border crossing point jointly managed by neighboring countries, with officials from host and neighboring country sitting under one roof on either side of the border. This allows travelers to stop only once at the country of destination, where their travel or other documents are stamped both exit (from country of origin official) and entry (by country of destination official) at the same time, thus the "One Stop". This eliminates double clearing and enables cross border trade documentation to be done on the order side of destination thus reducing time it takes to cross border. A survey in March 2016, established that total clearing time at the border already reduced by 25 percent from 5 hours to 3:45 hours within 3 months of operation. Time reductions are estimated to hit 30 percent by June 2017, TradeMark Africa (TMA) said in a statement Tuesday. "Never in my life did I imagine anything like this would happen. Clearance is just easy," said Joseph Manzi, a Rwandan who lives in Nyagatare, a border town, and has done small cross-border business for about ten years. Further, various initiatives are being undertaken to popularize the border crossing to attract 60 percent of Northern Corridor, according to officials. To improve physical connectivity, two bridges were constructed with one serving cargo and passengers going...

As the East Africa region grows fast in Africa, policies to promote transformation of transport to economic corridors should be put in place to facilitate more dynamic movements of people, goods, services and money. Presenting the working paper on 'Dynamism and Future prospects of Economic Corridors in the East African Region', Chairperson for DAIMA Associates Limited, Prof Samuel Wangwe, said in the recent years new economic movements have emerged. "Growth poles which are an agglomeration of production, logistics and consumption centres have also emerged. Those growth poles have been connected more deeply through transport corridors and by so doing those corridors have been transformed from simple transport corridors to economic corridors," he noted. He said planning the corridor development and its surrounding area can maximise development benefits through engagement of public-private partnership for sustainability. DAIMA Chairperson said prioritising economic potential available in transportation corridors should be given priority by creating friendly business and trade policies. Expounding further he said through absorbing energies from Indian and Arabic world across the Indian Ocean, the region has witnessed more dynamic movements of people, goods, service and money along the economic corridors. As the corridor will not grow without doing anything, he said developing master plan to study them and growth poles was important. The plan will assist in implementation of projects and executing the transformation of process. Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Senior Representative, Mr Amatsu Kuniaki, said they commissioned DAIMA Associates to produce the working paper with interest in looking at the...

A Tanzanian cabinet minister said on Tuesday the government will next month start construction of a four million-US dollar inland container depot (ICD) in Coast region to decongest the Dar es Salaam port and improve efficiency. The Dar es Salaam port is busy and faces congestion as it serves landlocked countries of Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Makame Mbarawa, the east African nation’s Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, said the ICD will be constructed in 500 hectares of land and will be completed in nine weeks. He was speaking after he had witnessed the signing of an agreement to implement the ICD project between the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and Suma JKT of the Tanzania National Services. "Once the project is completed, we expect an accelerated movement of goods and containers from the Dar es Salaam port to the ICD, something that will decongest the port," he said. Mbarawa said plans were also afoot to widen and increase depths of berths in the Dar es Salaam port and construct a new berth in Mtwara port to enable large vessels to dock. Mbarawa said the next plan for the government was to construct a 300-meter berth at the port of Mtwara that would enable large ships to dock. The project would be followed by another project to construct a 300-meter long berth at the Dar es Salaam port to specifically service imported vehicles. "We are also planning to expand berths number one to seven to...

Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua has criticised his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho for opposing plans to put up a dry port in Naivasha, accusing him of politicising the issue. Mr Mbugua defended plans to put up the project in Naivasha, arguing that it is not meant to benefit a single county as implied by Mr Joho, but for the economic benefit of the whole country. Mr Joho and some opposition politicians are opposed to plans to put up the dry port in Naivasha, claiming it is a scheme to sabotage the economy of the coastal town of Mombasa. "We will not cease from opposing any move aimed at taking away port services from Mombasa to Naivasha," said Mr Joho on Monday. He further said such a move will create an employment crisis in the Coast. JOHO MISLEADING KENYANS However, Governor Mbugua told Mr Joho to stop misleading Kenyans about the project. "Leaders should support development activities aimed at creating jobs regardless of where such a project is being undertaken," he said. He wondered why Mr Joho is getting jittery over the project that would be of great economic benefit to the country. "I don't know what economic sense my counterpart is referring to given that Naivasha is key cog in the economic growth of the country," he said. The Nakuru governor said the port would not disadvantage the Coast people. He described Naivasha as one of the fastest growing commercial centres in the country, hence the need for such a project....

  PRESIDENT YOWERI Kaguta Museveni has reiterated his commitment to further strengthening of the relations between Uganda and India. The President was last evening speaking at State House, Entebbe where the new Indian High Commissioner, Ravi Shankar, presented his credentials to the President. The new envoy replaces Dr. Ramesh Chandra who concluded his tour of duties in Uganda recently after staying in the country since 2013. Welcoming the new envoy to Uganda, President reiterated his commitment to further strengthening of the relations that happily exist between Uganda and India. High Commissioner Shankar commended President Museveni for bringing Uganda to a level where the country ranks as one No Banner to display of the world’s most favorable places for investments. He also lauded the President and the National Resistance Movement for restoring and deepening ties between India and Uganda. India and Uganda relations cover a broad range of sectors including political, economic, commercial, cultural and scientific cooperation. In the 2010 – 2011 period, bilateral trade between Uganda and India amounted to US$728 million with the balance of trade in favour of India whereby Uganda’s exports to India accounted for only US$16.7 million of the total trade. Source: Xclusive UG

Singapore is embracing the East African Community Singapore has its eyes on the East Africa Community (EAC). The economic bloc is formed by Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi and is home to more than 157 million citizens. The EAC had a combined GDP of US$147bn in 2014 and an average annual GDP growth of over 6% projected for the coming two years. Huge investment opportunities arise there at an increasingly fast rate and Singapore is taking steps to grow in this market. In recent years, the EAC has started various infrastructure projects to improve the connection between its members, ultimately decreasing the cost of doing business and making the bloc more attractive to trade with foreign countries. Singapore is enjoying this opportunity. The city-state has traded more than $400m with the EAC alone in 2013. Singapore is currently involved in various businesses in the region, ranging from agriculture to digital logistics solutions, and is eager to expand its presence even more. This pace will increase as legal frameworks and institutions covering the whole EAC bloc gain strength and eliminate corruption in the region. Basic infrastructure problems are being solved to promote an easy flow of goods and services in the region. Challenges that the EAC faces are mostly related to poor infrastructure, such as inefficient border posts, road blocks, transit road weighbridges, long clearances at ports, and poor roads and railways. Corruption is also a problem. These challenges, however, in themselves constitute opportunities for companies understanding Africa and willing to...

IN SUMMARY Sudan is Kenya’s fifth largest tea market, importing 27 million kilos of the beverage worth Sh5.1 billion last year A number of restrictions in recent years have lowered the competitiveness of Kenyan tea and posed a threat on the trade. Kenya is the leading exporter of black tea in the world, selling 95 per cent of its tea in the global market. Kenya’s tea exports to Sudan have received a boost after consignment inspection fees were reduced by three quarters and the US’ lifting of sanctions — which were delaying payments — on the Horn of Africa country.  Sudan has been levying an inspection fee of Sh82,800 ($800) on every consignment of tea originating from Kenya, subjecting exporters to high costs of doing business. The two countries have however reached an agreement which will see Sudan slash the cost of tea inspection by 75 per cent to Sh20,700, head of the tea directorate Samuel Ogola has announced. The directorate said that Kenyan exporters incurred a cost of Sh155 million ($1.5 million) between January and December when the directive on mandatory inspection of their tea was in force. “The Sudanese government has agreed to cut down significantly on the amount that they charge our tea on inspection, this comes as a relief to traders who have been incurring high costs,” said Mr Ogola. Additionally, the recent lifting of sanctions that had been imposed on Khartoum by America has also boosted sales of the commodity. Timely payments Mr Ogola said...

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has pledged to continue using Dar es Salaam port for imports and exports due to its safety and vicinity to their country. The Governor of Katanga province in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Jean Claude Kazembe Musonda, said during his tour to the port in Dar es Salaam yesterday the aim of his visit was to continue maintaining friendship in economic sector. "We decided to visit Tanzania to maintain our friendship and strengthen economic ties. Also to strengthen bilateral trade investment opportunity that would help to boost economy of both countries," he said. He said that the relationship between the two countries has helped improving business environment, formalize trade and strengthen economic ties. He added, "Our presidents are friends, we (traders) should be friends and continue to maintain the friendship in business and in other sectors for the benefit of the people." Mr Kazembe said DRC government is equally happy that some challenges faced by the port in past years have been solved in recent months. "We are happy to see some challenges solved and our cargo given first priority when entering the port. We need to see our economic ties promoted and improved for the development of our people," he said. He added that the 50 per cent of DRC businesses are conducted through the Dar es Salaam Port and we will continue using the facility. Mr Musonda said that the plans are underway to construct bridges that will strengthen economic ties between three countries...

Flower producers and exporters in Kenya say demand for flowers just rose slightly this year during the Valentines season, despite new markets such as South Korea and Australia opening up. In addition, Britain’s decision to leave the EU contributed to slow growth. The country’s lucrative flower sector is a key foreign exchange earner but faces an uncertain future as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union is still pending. If we don't sign that agreement on time then our produce that we are sending to the European countries will attract taxation. In essence increasing the cost of us sending our products to the European market “Our main challenge currently is with Economic Partnership Agreement that is where we are seeing we are going to have a very big challenge simply because if we don’t sign that agreement on time then our produce that we are sending to the European countries will attract taxation. In essence increasing the cost of us sending our products to the European market,” said George Ong’any administration manager at Van Den berg Kenya Ltd. The concessional trade deal between East African countries and the EU primarily gives products from East African Community (EAC) member states duty-free and quota- free access to the EU as long as they meet heath and safety standards.Kenya and Rwanda signed the agreement but it needs approval from all members of the EAC. A deadline to sign the EPA expired in October last year and a meeting held in late...

The newly operational One Stop Border Post (OSBP) facilities at the Rwanda-Ugandan border at Kagitumba, Nyagatare district has reduced clearance time by 25 percent, officials said. An OSBP is a “one stop” form of border crossing point jointly managed by neighboring countries, with officials from host and neighboring country sitting under one roof on either side of the border. This allows travelers to stop only once at the country of destination, where their travel or other documents are stamped both exit (from country of origin official) and entry (by country of destination official) at the same time, thus the “One Stop”. This eliminates double clearing and enables cross border trade documentation to be done on the order side of destination thus reducing time it takes to cross border. A survey in March 2016, established that total clearing time at the border already reduced by 25 percent from 5 hours to 3:45 hours within 3 months of operation. Time reductions are estimated to hit 30 percent by June 2017, TradeMark Africa (TMA) said in a statement Tuesday. “Never in my life did I imagine anything like this would happen. Clearance is just easy,” said Joseph Manzi, a Rwandan who lives in Nyagatare, a border town, and has done small cross-border business for about ten years. Further, various initiatives are being undertaken to popularize the border crossing to attract 60 percent of Northern Corridor, according to officials. To improve physical connectivity, two bridges were constructed with one serving cargo and passengers going...