ARUSHA, TANZANIA – The race and direction of the proposed route of the oil pipeline from Uganda to the Indian Ocean took a new turn last week with President Uhuru Kenyatta hosting President Yoweri Museveni in Nairobi for the alternative oil pipeline route. However, the one day meeting, in which the officials from the main oil companies were invited over the Kenya’s preferred northern route through Lokichar, part of Lamu port, South Sudan, Ethiopia transport (Lappset) project, failed to agree on the route. They agreed to meet again in Kampala in two weeks while officials try to “harmonize” their views. Tanzania does not have any oil reserves, but its president, John Magufuli, is keen to win the pipeline, partly because his own country is warming up to develop its own extensive gas reserves. A route through Tanzania would deliver over 15,000 jobs during the construction. Some Tanzania energy analysts, however, say the Tanzanian route is more stable for the future, given its political stability, and far from the Somalia border which has remained problematic for Kenyan security over the recent years and yet the future is still uncertain with the Somalia struggling to put a working government in place. An economist based in Arusha, Shadrack Mapalala cited the 2007 Kenya post-election violence during which part of the railway to Uganda was threatened. Different goal positions between the main oil companies involved in the $4 billion pipeline project — Total of France, Tullow Oil of the UK and China’s Cnooc —...

ON a continent where nearly 90% of international trade happens by sea, several African ports are in the race to be their respective regional shipping hubs - and for one ambitious city – Kigali – the ambition to be a logistics hub isn’t the preserve of coastal ports. Lack of infrastructure and long ship waiting times continue to hamper productivity for the African maritime sector, but a wave of new investments look set to drive growth over the medium term, according to a new report from research consultancy SeaIntel. The upgrades come as the global economy slowdown sends jitters through the shipping industry. Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry fell to a record low in the three months to February 2016, according to the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from shipping adviser Moore Stephens. Of particular concern was the shrinking dry bulk market as less cargo is transported across regions. That has now led to an overcapacity problem, which is expected to lead to “price-cutting and eventually to financial difficulties for the weakest, the least well-prepared, or sometimes simply the unluckiest,” said Richard Greiner, Moore Stephens Partner, Shipping Industry Group. “Shipping has had its share of bankruptcies, foreclosures and restructurings during the past few years, and it is likely that we will see more over the coming months, with negotiations doubtless enlivened by the fact that shipping’s purse-strings today are often controlled by an intriguing mix of private equity and traditional shipping finance,” he added. Ramping up Still, Africa is...

Africa could see the emergence of a number of new bunkering hot spots, as ports across the continent vie to become new regional logistics hubs. "A variety of challenges exist, from structural congestion in African ports located in conurbations with limited road and rail infrastructure, to poor customs procedures, security concerns, poor dredging programmes, and industrial actions," said Victor Shieh, SeaIntel's Editor-in-Chief. In East Africa, Kenya and Tanzania are said to be in competition to become the region's major port, with Kenya aiming to upgrade its Mombasa port in order to improve efficiency, and Tanzania having begun construction of port in Bagamoyo in October, which is said to be set to become East Africa's largest port - expected to handle double the capacity of the more southern port of Dar es Salaam. Meanwhile, the West African port of Lome in Togo is reported to have made a number of improvements in both capacity and efficiency that have significantly boosted transhipment traffic in the region over the past year, with the Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC) having launched a service of 11 ships in January from the port on a circuit to Asia. Cameroon is building Central Africa's only deep sea port at Kribi, said to be intended to replace its current major port of Douala, which has been described by local media as being notoriously inefficient. Further, Gabon is reported to have begun construction in 2013 to improve one of its two major ports, Owendo, adding a new 500 metre...

TANZANIA is highly optimistic of striking an agreement with Uganda over construction of the 1,410-kilometre crude oil pipeline from Hoima, given the former’s competitive advantage. It is against this backdrop that the country is sending a delegation of 40 businesspersons to Uganda to discuss business opportunities aligned to the ambitious project with government officials in Kampala. “We understand that there is a competition from some of our neighbours to implement the project. But we are 98 per cent sure of striking a deal,” the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Professor Justin Ntalikwa, told reporters in Dar es Salaam. Neighbouring Kenya is as well competing with Tanzania to execute the project. It wants the pipeline to be channeled from Hoima to its oilfields in Loikchar, Northern Kenya, to yet-to-be constructed Lamu Port. “Tanzania boasts of conducive environment to lay out the pipeline and this gives us a competitive advantage compared to the Kenyan route. It will be less costly to use the Tanga port,” Prof Ntalikwa boasted. The PS went on to point to the fact that Tanzania is more stable and secure with vast know-how in implementation of pipeline projects. This includes the 1,710-km Tanzania-Zambia pipeline (Tazama), which was commissioned in 1968 to transport crude oil from the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania to Ndola in Zambia as well as the 542-km pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam, which was launched last year to convey natural gas. Other projects include a conduit from Songo...

THE government is determined to address the challenges in doing business in Tanzania in efforts to improve the business environment that will promote trade and investments in the country. Speaking at the launch of TradeMark Africa in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday evening, the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Prof Adolf Mkenda, the government would continue with key reforms to remove hurdles that undermine business in the country. He said the government valued TradeMark Africa support to enhance trade and would tackle the challenges identified so as to promote access to market, enhance trade environment and improve business competitiveness of the country. “We are willing to listen and share with you our dreams and aspirations,” he said at the launching of the report of the multi-donor funded aid for trade agency. Prof Mkenda said addressing the challenges in doing business was top in agenda for government action in efforts to improve the business environment will help create a foundation for sustained and inclusive economic growth and prosperity as pledged by President John Magufuli during his election campaign. “President Magufuli acknowledged that there were too many hurdles. He made commitment to open up space for trade,” he said. TradeMark Africa is supporting Tanzania to boost prosperity through trade, various projects including a port modernisation of eleven deep water berths and the rehabilitation and upgrading of port access roads at the Dar Port, which will significantly increase port access, especially for larger, modern vessels, while improving...

The outgoing secretary general of the East African Community, Dr Richard Sezibera, has expressed his appreciation for the support he has received from development partners, noting that the EAC Partnership Fund was more than a monetary support. He was speaking in Dar es Salaam mid this week at the fourth High-Level Dialogue of the EAC Partnership Fund. The dialogue was co-chaired by the Norwegian Ambassador, Hanne Kaarstad, and the EAC secretary general and attended by heads of diplomatic missions accredited to the EAC as well as members the EAC Partnership Fund. “The Partnership Fund is a forum for dialogue and creates avenues for discussing key integration issues and mobilising political support for EAC regional integration,” added Dr Sezibera, who also noted the positive growth of the fund since 2011. He called on development partners to honour their pledges through actualising pending disbursements which currently stand at 24 per cent for the financial year 2015/16. The outgoing EAC chief underscored the importance of the basket fund to the EAC, noting the significant support the Partnership Fund had given to the bloc, including financial support to the implementation of the Customs Union and Common Market Protocols; Private Sector development; finalization of the One-Stop Border Post regulations; negotiations and finalization of the EAC Monetary Union Protocol; institutional strengthening including the EAC Institutional Review; enhancing public awareness of the EAC; and development of EAC Vision 2050 among many other projects that have been completed or were currently ongoing. The secretary general further disclosed to...

In Summary The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) believes the enactment of an omnibus law would cure, if not overcome, challenges of harmonisation of the member countries’ legislations on the community and implementation of joint programmes. Advertisement Arusha. A new legislation intended to harmonise all national laws pertaining to the East African Community (EAC) by all partner states has been proposed. The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) believes the enactment of an omnibus law would cure, if not overcome, challenges of harmonisation of the member countries’ legislations on the community and implementation of joint programmes. The regional Assembly, which ended its plenary session in Dar es Salaam recently, also wants an administration law for the Common Market Protocol be instituted to ensure its smooth implementation. “The assembly is of the view that such a move shall cure existing challenges of harmonisation of partner states’ laws pertaining to the community,” said Bobi Odiko, the spokesman of Eala in a statement to the media. In the same vein, the Eala session, the first to be held in the country’s commercial capital in nearly three years, tasked the EAC Council of Ministers to prioritise harmonisation of laws for EAC “in order to facilitate integration within the set time frames”. The Council, which is the policy organ of the community, directed the Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs to expedite implementation of the entire Article 126 of the EAC Treaty which obliges partner states to harmonise legal training and certification and encourage standardisation...

In an effort to prevent sub-standard products from entering Tanzania, importers of lubricants will be required to obtain import permits from the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) commencing May. Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment Charles Mwijage made the announcement during his official visit to three lubricant blending plants in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania. Mwijage said there has been an influx of sub-standard lubricant products in the local market; thus TBS is compelled to implement a mechanism to stop this. “In the previous years people were importing oil lubricants without any permits from TBS, something which has brought us here, from today onwards anyone who wish to import must get permit from TBS,” he said. The minister pointed out that the use of sub-standard lubricants could potentially harm equipment and cause vehicles to break down. Mwijage urged mining and other industries to use locally produced lubricants, pointing to the potential loss of local jobs. Source: F+L Daily

The UK has outlined plans to increase its support for infrastructure development in Africa and encourage further investment on the continent. The UK's Africa minister James Duddridge told an infrastructure conference hosted by the international and current affairs think-tank Chatham House in London on 15 March: “Infrastructure is a pipeline for money. Airports, railways and roads are all pipelines for economic activity. This requires local knowledge and skills but also global expertise and help to get people and money moving.” “UK companies have skills and expertise from project design, through planning and implementation,” Duddridge said. “British architects, professional services, legal firms and capital markets are among the best in the world and stand ready to support infrastructure development on the continent.” Duddridge said there was “no quick fix” for infrastructure challenges in Africa, but part of a new UK-led ‘Prosperity Fund’ for the region, worth £1.3 billion ($1.8bn) over five years, “will be used to help Africa grow out of poverty”. Duddridge said current UK projects include supporting “critical feasibility studies” for Tanzania’s government “to secure bigger finance through the World Bank”. “With greater funding, Tanzania can improve the port infrastructure and realise the regional trade benefits that will come from improved freight corridors across Tanzania,” he said. The UK’s Department for International Development is backing a Tanzanian government programme with the World Bank to make the major commercial port city of Dar es Salaam, on Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast, “more resilient to extreme weather events”, Duddridge said. Duddridge said...

If economies had faces, then those of Uganda and Tanzania would be wearing smiles right now. The two neighbours reached a milestone when energy ministers from the nations penning a project implementation plan (PIP) on a crude oil pipeline linking them. Once completed, the project would enable over 200,000 barrels of oil to be transported per day from Uganda’s Lake Albert area to Tanzania’s Tanga port on the Indian Ocean coast ready to be supplied to the world. When signing the pact, Uganda’s Energy Minister, Irene Muloni and Tanzania’s Energy and Minerals Minister, Prof Sospeter Muhongo expressed the two state’s desire to fast track the implementation of the project, saying it is an important undertaking for the two nations in the region. Hammering the nail home, Adewale Fayemi of Total E&P Uganda, the French firm undertaking the project, cleared fears over its possible delays, saying there was no likelihood as the funds to build the pipeline are already available. President Magufuli was earlier quoted as having challenged Total to see if completion of the project could be expedited and take less than the years that have been planned. It is rather encouraging to learn that the political will is not wanting on both countries involved in the implementation of the project which, at a certain point, seemed to have been mired in high level regional politicking. On the one hand, neighbouring Kenya had her eyes on the project with the ambitious vision of linking the pipeline with Ethiopia and South...