Horticulture produce is expected to drop in the next month as the sector reels from the effects of heavy rains and diseases that have slowed down production amid rising orders in the European market. Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) chief executive Ojepat Okesegere anticipates production to fall by between 20 and 30 percent because of heavy rains that came with pests and diseases. Europe, which is Kenya’s main market, has been easing restrictions as it opens up the economy following months of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. “The shortage is as a result of a number of things that include too much rain, transitioning of the crops from the old to the new one and a lack of motivation as farmers relaxed when their orders were cancelled during the Covid-19 lockdowns,” he said. Mr Okesegere said the new crop is expected to get to the market after a month and would boost Kenya’s export market as the industry slowly recovers from the shocks. The decline in volumes comes at a time the number of international airlines at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) have gone up following high demand for freight services for horticulture produce. The latest entrants are British Airways and Singapore Airlines which had stopped plying the route following restrictions put in place and low demand for horticultural produce in Europe after many orders were cancelled. Airlines have also increased frequencies with Ethiopian Airlines flying daily from JKIA, KLM three times a week with KQ  also making a...

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has extended the free storage period for importers and exporters in view of the slow truck turn-around occasioned by the impact of the  Covid-19. “Kenya Ports Authority wishes to announce to the general public of extension of free storage period to its customers. This is in line with our continuous and deliberate efforts of cushioning our customers on effects of the Coronavirus,” acting managing director Rashid Salim said in a statement. He said the virus has impacted the whole transport logistics chain. The approved new free storage period is effective May 18 runs for three months, KPA notes. Free storage for domestic export containers has been increased from nine to 15 days. Transit import containers will now enjoy 14 days of free storage at the port and the Inland Container Depot-Nairobi(ICDN), from the previous nine. Transit import containers at the Naivasha ICD will have 30 days free period. All transit export containers are now being stored for 20 days free of any charges from the previous 15 days. Storage for domestic import containers, however, remain unchanged where cargoes are stored free for four days, before starting to attract charges. Importers and exporters incur charges of between $30 (Sh 3,212) and $90 (Sh9,636) per day for cargo that has stayed beyond the free storage period and more than 24 days, depending on the size of the container. Containers released by KRA and not collected after 24 hours are charged $100 (Sh10,707)and $200 (Sh21,415) per day for 20ft and 40ft respectively. “Please note that...

Cargo freighters in East Africa have applauded the move by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to consider their plea to have the free storage period extended. The Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) had written to KPA to have the number of days increased to 14 days for domestic cargo and 21 days for transit cargo. FEAFFA, the umbrella body of the clearing agents in the East Africa, also made a similar plea to the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA). Domestic export containers will enjoy a free storage period of 15 days compared to earlier 9 days. Transit import containers at the port and Inland Container Depot in Embakasi will enjoy a 14 days free storage period from 9 days with transit import container in Naivasha enjoying 30 days. Transit export container will now enjoy a 20 days free storage period from the current 15 days, KPA announced in a public notice. These changes that takes effect immediately for the next 90 days, however, did not extend the domestic import cargo as requested by the freighters, which remains at 4 days. “We welcome the KPA move. It will now enable our members to carry out their business operations smoothly. However, we will continue to engage KPA based on how the situation unfolds to have similar concession extended on domestic imports as well,” Mr. Fred Seka, FEAFFA president said, adding that they will also continue engaging TPA to initiate a similar move. East African Community Partner States, the World Health...



Global trade is predicted to fall by a record 27% in the second quarter of 2020, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), an organisation that tracks trade flows. This comes after the coronavirus pandemic distorted the supply and demand for products across the world leading to a severe decline in world trade. There has also been a slump in the export of cars, machine parts, and oil, among other global exports. Almost every category of goods is expected to suffer a fall in trade over the coming months, adding to a 3% decline in the first quarter of the year. According to UNCTAD, the report revealed a huge shock to the global economy from the Covid-19 pandemic. China was the first country to report a decline in trade ahead of a lockdown put in place by the authorities in Beijing in February. The country’s economy shrunk by 6.8% percent in the first quarter of this year. However, China also reported that her trade and Africa plummeted by around 14 per cent estimated at $41 billion in the first three months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to official figures released by China’s General Administration of Customs. The rest of the developed world followed in March when similar lockdowns were announced. Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that a previous forecast for an unprecedented decline in global GDP growth of 3% this year, the worst since the 1930s depression era, was looking optimistic. The...

The acting Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, Dorothy Tembo says the coronavirus pandemic could represent a risk for the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, but African leaders could also turn that into an opportunity for stronger collaboration if specific policies are fast-tracked. She joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor for more insight on this discussion.   Source: CNBC Africa

African countries, at least at the level of regional trade blocs, particularly EAC, SADCC, ECOWAS, will need greater joint efforts, beyond containing coronavirus, to resolve the many intractable problems that have always plagued African economies. As coronavirus engulfs the world and defies efforts to develop a vaccine or find a specific antiviral treatment, one of the questions that the spread of the pandemic has raised in the minds of many ordinary citizens, political leaders, public health strategists and journalists around the world, is whether the trick in fighting the deadly disease lies in cooperation between countries or in isolationism. There seem to be two main responses to this question. Some people say this is a global health crisis, touching more than 187 countries and territories, and as such, it would be fallacious for any country to think that it can go it alone and be successful in stemming the tide of the pandemic and its crippling ripple effects. Others contend that, countries being all different sizes, levels of wealth, types of government that run them and all manner of cultural and geographic boundaries that are defined by the size of their economies, trade, their local interests and a plethora of other considerations, it is already clear that each country sees itself as uniquely placed and wishes to protect itself by extending its physical distancing measures to include closing its doors to the rest of the world. EXPOSED ASPIRATIONS That question has been escalated to levels where the disease has exposed...

Egypt's new Ambassador to the Tanzania and the EAC, Mohammed Yasser Ala'Eldeen El Shawaf, said his country was eager to boost trade and technical cooperation EAC Secretary General Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera with the Egyptian Ambassador to Tanzania and the EAC Mohammed Shawaf after the envoy presented his credentials to the Secretary General. Egypt has committed to improve ties with the East African Community. Presenting his credentials to the EAC Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha on Tuesday, Egypt's new Ambassador to the Tanzania and the EAC, Mohammed Yasser Ala'Eldeen El Shawaf, said his country was eager to boost trade and technical cooperation with the EAC Partner States. Welcoming the Egyptian ambassador, Dr. Sezibera described Egypt as an important trading partner for the EAC and praised its outstanding role in promoting negotiations for the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) between the EAC, COMESA and SADC. Dr Sezibera noted that the Tripartite FTA when fully implemented would move the African Continent from the margins of Global Trade, adding that it was a good basis for the Continental Free Trade Area envisioned by the African Union. The Secretary General thanked Egypt for making a tariff offer to the EAC and went on to request Egypt to encourage the other member states to negotiate as a bloc instead of doing so as separate entities saying this would hasten the operationalization of the Tripartite FTA. Source: New Vision

Ahead of last week’s African Union ministerial meeting, prominent business leaders issued a letter to Heads of State to observe the 01 July deadline for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to come into force. The signatories to the letter say that there is no legitimate reason to postpone the AfCFTA even if they understand that a staggered approach can be used given current circumstances. The letter was written in response to several media articles alleging that African Heads of State are considering to delay the implementation date. One of the signatories is Paulo Gomes, former Executive Director of the World Bank and Chair of the Executive Committee of AfroChampions. The AfroChampions network has been mandated by the African Union to coordinate private sector discussions around the AfCFTA. Gomes stated that the ministers had a duty to respect the current deadline. “We understand that certain parts of the AfCFTA are sensitive. The rules of origins and tariffs need time but we can start with trading of essential goods. That will send a strong message to the world that we are serious about the AfCFTA and to African businesses. The private sector is the biggest beneficiary of the AfCFTA and with supply chains being disrupted globally, it is even more urgent that we have a functioning system within the continent to create continental supply chains.” The signatories argued that governments were right to ensure that the immediate response was a health one. But the looming crisis is economic and the AfCFTA...

The first commerce under an Africa-wide free-trade pact will provide new stimulus to countries on the continent to overcome the economic damage of the coronavirus, even if it could be delayed for around six months, according to the most senior official of this agreement. The secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area is exploring the feasibility of moving talks involving more than 50 countries and real-time translation into four languages online. However, full border closures by some 30 nations aimed at limiting the spread of the virus is likely to restrict trade flows over the coming months, Wamkele Mene, the secretary-general said in an interview. While the agreement entered into force legally last year, protocols for trade in goods, including tariff concessions, need to be agreed for its implementation and commerce to start on July 1. Disruptions caused by the pandemic have set negotiations back by two and half months. “The consideration for postponement doesn’t mean that there no longer is political will and that there is no longer political commitment,” Mene said by phone from Addis Ababa on Wednesday. “We have to adjust to conditions that unfortunately nobody could have anticipated and we have to give the space to governments to solve the public health crisis as a matter of priority.” Customs Union Africa lags other regions in terms of internal trade, with intracontinental commerce accounting for only 15% of the total, compared with 58% in Asia and more than 70% in Europe. The agreement is meant to...