The Beit bridge border between Zimbabwe and SA, the busiest border post in Southern Africa, has been rocked by unprecedented violent protests since June. The protests largely concern the restrictive trade measures unexpectedly introduced by the Zimbabwean government, which included banning the importation of basic commodities like body creams, baked beans and bottled water. While these measures were meant to support the development of domestic industries, they have the potential to do severe harm to the already fragile state of the Zimbabwean economy, characterised by significant unemployment and shortages of basic commodities and cash. The import bans are likely to spur increased informal economic activity, currently estimated to be at 60%, and in particular increase informal cross-border trade. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the informal economy refers to "all economic activities by workers or economic units that are – in law or practice – not covered or sufficiently covered by formal arrangements." This includes legitimately-produced goods and services that do not necessarily follow formal processes such as standards regulations, business registration or operational licenses. It is estimated that the informal economy provides up to 70% of employment in sub-Saharan Africa, providing access to domestic goods and services that are not available through the formal economy, and bringing significant socio-economic benefits for those engaged in such activity. Governments typically disapprove of informal activity as it results in revenue losses, and the difficulty of regulating such activities can have negative effects such as increased criminality. Informal cross-border trade constitutes the...

In Tanzania, perishable exports are set to receive a boost as cold storage facilities at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar-es-Salaam are being upgraded. The facilities have been modified to meet demands of export of perishable items. The cold room will now allow scanning and screening of perishable items. “According to last year statistics, 44.79 tons of vegetables, 589.13 tons of flowers, 1,331 tons of meat and 67 tons of fish were exported through the Airport,” Swiss-port Tanzania Plc. Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Gaudence Temu, has said Source: Daily Trust

The 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will today come to an end in Nairobi, Kenya. It is one of the most important events for the global investment community, providing an opportunity and platform to interact trade-wise. The conference brings together Heads of State and Government, ministers and other prominent players from the business world, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and economic development challenges. Among the key issues the meeting tackled is the need to strengthen the evolution and management of globalisation, interdependence of trade, finance, investment and technology, and ways of advancing growth and development prospects, especially for developing countries. One feature during this high-level trade conference is calling off the scheduled signing of Economic Partnership Agreement between East African Community (EAC) and European Union (EU). Members of the EAC were split down the middle, with Uganda reportedly joining Tanzania in pulling out of the pact that would have guaranteed continued access to the European Union market without paying duty. Of course, this arises from the recent Brexit. It stood out that regional trade agreements are too difficult to negotiate, may be for defensive reasons, fear of individual interest being locked out or protection of existing preferential agreements in other areas. Such reservations may ultimately slow down the higher ambitions and results sought by the crucial integration agenda. Trade gains from regional integration are one of the key economic objectives behind the creation of any trading bloc. Turns out that member states’ decision...

NOMSA NKANA, Lusaka A financial analyst says the newly-launched African Union passport will accelerate trade in Africa and open up new trade opportunities for African entrepreneurs. Noel Nkhoma said the passport will break down trade barriers that the continent has been grappling with for a long time. According to news monitored on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Mr Nkhoma said trade barriers such as visas have made it difficult for some countries to freely conduct business within the continent and yet those nations are major investors. “For instance, Dangote will require a travel visa to come to Zambia and yet he is a major investor in Zambia. “I also see no reason why Kenya being probably the largest single market in the East African trading bloc would require a visa to go to Johannesburg, which is equally a single largest trading economy,” he said. Source: Zambia Daily Mail

The East African Community member states have been asked to harmonise taxes on agricultural products to promote free trade. “Despite the high cost of production on food crops in countries like Kenya where farm inputs such as fertilisers are expensive, free trade is good for the market and business. VAT of food items, however, remains a challenge,” the EAC customs and trade director general Peter Kiguta said, adding farmers stand to benefit more. He was speaking during the launch of the G-Soko grain trade directory which seeks to facilitate information sharing amongst grain traders in the region. Kiguta said although EAC has zero-rated taxes on grains and some goods, some countries are still levying taxes on food items, making imports more expensive. Eastern Africa Grain Council chairman Dr Bernard Otim said taxation of agriculture products is hindering free trade across the East Africa region. “There is need to harmonise excess and import duties on some commodities within the region. Taxation on inputs should also be considered so that farmers, traders and suppliers can get inputs such as tractors and processing equipment like driers to enhance productivity,” Otim said. Source: The Star

Kenya, the biggest economy in East Africa is considering trade deals with the European Union (EU) as a nation and not as part of the East African Community. This follows Tanzania’s absence from the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with EU, a trade pact that would give East African community members duty-free quota-free access for all exports to members of European Union. The ceremony was to be held on Monday, July 18, 2016 on the sidelines of the United Nations Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) that is ongoing in Nairobi, Kenya. The five East African Community members; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have until August 4, 2016 to sign the deal with EU. According to The Star, this will help Kenya avoid duties of as much as 22 percent on its exports to EU members. This comes following Britain’s decision to leave the EU after 40 years, which has left the much anticipated deal in serious doubt. Britain’s exit (Brexit) may reduce capital inflows into East Africa, weaken exchange rates and damage economic stability in the region. In June 2016, Tanzania expressed her reluctance to sign any deal and decided to wait and see what happens within EU following Brexit. Uganda also said it wants to delay signing the deal. This has left the three other members; Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi at a loss, prompting the Kenyan government to consider trading with EU as an individual nation. We would like to sign it together; the desire...

East African Business Council (EABC), a regional business lobby on Tuesday called for the speedy conclusion of the ongoing East African Community (EAC)-European Union (EU) trade talks. EABC Executive Director Lillian Awinja told Xinhua here that the delay in signing the agreement is causing anxiety among the EAC business community. "We are concerned that if the agreement is not reached before the Oct. 1 deadline, Kenyan exports into the EU will begin to pay import duty," Awinja said during the Financial Services Sector Forum that took place as part of the UNCTAD 14. If an agreement is not reached, Kenyan goods will be subjected to import duty in order to access the EU market while goods and services from the other EAC member states will still access the EU duty free because they are considered Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Awinja noted that lack of a trade deal will not only affect Kenyan goods because Kenyan exporters currently have working arrangements with the companies in the other EACs nation in order to meet quantity requirements. She noted that some of the EAC member states are reluctant to sign the EU-EAC trade deal because they will not get additional benefits from the agreement. "We therefore need to bring on the table, the contentious issues and renegotiate as soon as possible in the spirit of the EAC," Awinja said. She added that some of the EAC states will take about two years to graduate into becoming developing countries and will soon be in...

On 15th of July 2016, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved USD 12.4 million grant for a project called "50 million Women Speak" to create a networking platform dedicated to sub-Saharan women entrepreneurs. The grant will be spread between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The project is an innovative social media platform to enable women to start, grow and scale their business through the dynamic exchange of ideas. According to Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the AfDB's Special Envoy on Gender this digital/virtual marketplace will connect business-women to encourage peer-to-peer learning, mentoring, and information and knowledge sharing. The platform will cover 36 countries and will be accessible on mobile phones. It will enable women to access business training, mentorship, financial services and locally-relevant business information, while building their own networks of contacts. The project will be implemented within a period of three (3) years starting from 2017. The number of monthly platform user could reach 50,000 women in 2022, and by developing their businesses they expected to create 10% more jobs. In Africa like in many parts of the world, women business owners continue to face gender-specific barriers such as lower levels of education and business training, weak property rights that deprive them of collateral and tangible assets, legal barriers that impede their economic activities and cultural barriers that discourage women from thriving as entrepreneurs. The consequence is that women have challenges accessing financial and...

On July 18, the comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union (EU) was set to be signed, however, it did not go ahead as planned. Officials who spoke to The New Times over the weekend were non-committal on divulging details pertaining to the sudden change of heart that comes after Tanzania recently decided to halt signing, citing the "turmoil" that the EU is experiencing following Britain's exit. The East African Business Council (EABC) has been advising partner states to sign the deal earlier than previously agreed as further delay, it argued, would hamper EAC exports to the EU. "The signing has been called off so whatever issues are contentious should be brought to the table for renegotiation," EABC chief executive Lilian Awinja said. Emmanuel Hategeka, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, confirmed that both parties agreed to call off the signing. The five partner states previously proposed that the signing ceremony be held in the first week of August. Last month, however, the EABC recommended July 18 as the date of signing to coincide with the visit of the EU Commissioner for Trade, who is expected in Nairobi for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). It was thought that the recommended July 18 signing would give partner states ample time to ratify the agreement before October 1, the deadline earlier set by the EU. Failure to meet the EU deadline on ratification, it was noted,...

"Our Union is facing emergency issues on a daily basis, these issues require instant and effective mechanisms to address them." African Heads of State and Government underscored the need for fast tracking integration to achieve socio-economic growth, peace and security missions as well as to enable the continent fully finance itself. Opening the 27th AU Summit held at Kigali Convention Center (KCC) Sunday, current Chairperson Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said : "Our Union is facing emergency issues on a daily basis, these issues require instant and effective mechanisms to address them." It is on that realization that the AU Summit focused on the "African Year on Human Rights with a particular focus on the Rights of Women," he said. President Deby underlined that the alternative sources to finance the activities of the AU , its budget, peace and security on the continent and AUC leadership election were some of the key issues discussed at the Summit. Commending President Paul Kagame for honoring women, empowering, and placing women at the center of national development, AUC Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said :"We used to hear the people saying that behind any successful man, there is a woman. But in Rwanda we can now say women and men stand side by side to achieve success." With a view to putting in place a framework, the Commission had undertaken a journey towards adopting Agenda 2063 under her leadership to create a continent that is integrated, peaceful and prosperous, driven by its own...