Eight firms have been prequalified to bid for the construction of the standard gauge railway to link the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Rwanda and Burundi as the region seeks to lower transport costs. Details of prequalified firms to finance, design, build and operate the proposed 1,665km long railway are however scanty. The project will cost about $7.6 billion, making it one of the East African Community’s biggest railway project. “I cannot name the firms that have been prequalified. But about 60 per cent are from China,” said Imbuchi Onyango, a technical expert on railways at the East African Community Secretariat. The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali-Keza-Musongati railway, is a high priority project within the framework of the East African Railway Master Plan. According to the Rwanda Transport Development Authority, at least 172 km of the route will be in Burundi and 123km in Rwanda. There will be 407km of new alignment in Tanzania from Keza to Isaka, and 970km paralleling the existing metre-gauge line between Isaka and Dar es Salaam. Mr Onyango would also not reveal when governments of Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi are likely to call for the bids, saying the African Development Bank (AfDB), the major financer of the project, has to issue a no-objection note on the prequalified firms. Mr Onyango described the prequalified firms as experienced and financially sound and thus able to deliver the project in time. “The list of prequalified firms has been sent to the African Development Bank for a no-objection...

Officials representing the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam were in Washington last week seeking US public and private financing for projects to modernise shipping facilities and improve security at them. Competition between the two largest ports in the East African Community emerged as a subtle sub-text in the Kenyan and Tanzanian presentations at a business briefing sponsored by the US Trade and Development Agency. The two officials’ PowerPoint displays were also noteworthy for what they omitted. Tony Kibwana, principal security officer for the Kenya Ports Authority, said little about the $24 billion planned port project in Lamu dubbed Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor. Ntandu Mathayo Ntandu, planning manager for the Tanzania Ports Authority, made no mention of the $11 billion Bagamoyo Bay project which, if completed, would dwarf both the Dar and Mombasa ports in scope. The two port specialists’ reticence on those projects, both of that have been slow to get off the drawing boards, may have stemmed in part from China’s lead role in financing both Lapsset and Bagamoyo Bay. USTDA, the East African officials’ host, encourages US private companies to become involved with infrastructure projects in developing countries. Mr Kibwana described Mombasa as the biggest port in the region. “We aspire to be one of the leading ports in the world,” he added in his remarks to US business executives and government officials. Mr Ntandu outlined plans to expand capacity at Dar and to develop a new facility at Mwambani Bay to...

If all works out according to nature’s cycle, the skies could open up in a matter of days and usher in the season of the long rains in East Africa. Nature, however, has become quite unpredictable of late. The El Niño rains came and went last year, and people in the region are increasingly getting accustomed to extremes of the weather. That means the heavy rains could actually come, and perhaps devastatingly so. Or they could simply disappear. Either way, East Africa deserves to be prepared. All too often, millions of people are caught unawares even by a phenomenon such as the long rains that has come with certainty over the millennia. It all means our countries are extremely exposed to changes in climatic and weather patterns. And even if the rains were to come and go in just the right measure, causing an abundant harvest, that still presents a problem. Many are the times when farmers decry losses due to lack of proper storage facilities as well as markets for their products. This leads to undesired losses. It also leads to a situation where there is plenty today and nothing tomorrow, or plenty in one place and scarcity elsewhere. Perhaps the tragedy has to do with governance. There is an “eating” mentality that has laid siege to a significant portion of the elite in East Africa. This mentality assures them that every project, every budgetary allocation, and every need that arises must be fully exploited for the purpose of...

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - The government has made good progress in issuing simplified Certificates of Origin (CoO) to improve trade with other East African Community (EAC) Partner States. Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa, the Tanzania’s Prime Minister said the government has issued 3,222 simplified certificates as of June last year compared to 2,355 issued in 2014. He was addressing the East African Legislative Assembly in Arusha where it ishaving its current sitting. A CoO is a document used in international trade in printed form or as an electronic document. It is completed by an exporter and certified by a recognized issuing body, attesting that a ship consignment has been produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. The origin of a product does not refer to the country, where the goods were shipped from, but to the country, where they were made. If it happens that the products were manufactured in two or more countries, the origin is obtained in the country, where the last substantial economically justified working or processing is carried out. A common practice is that if more than 50% of the cost of producing the goods originates from one country, the local content is more than 50%, then that country is regarded as the country of origin. In case of trading blocs, such as the EAC, CoO may be allowed to state the trading bloc rather than a specific country. Determining the origin of a product is extremely important because origin is key information for applying tariffs, embargo and...

The announcement last week that construction of the Tanzania-Uganda crude oil pipleline would begin in August was received warmly by those who have the East African Community’s (EAC) best interests at heart. As a factor of increasing greater regional integration, the pipeline, (like the proposed Standard Gauge railways), will also improve the EAC’s profile as an attractive investment destination. The 1,403-kilometre pipeline will link oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert, Hoima region to Tanga port in Tanzania. According to senior Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation officials, the construction of the crude oil pipeline will be carried out by three oil firms, namely: UK’s Tullow Oil PLC, France’s Total E&P and China’s Cnooc. Once completed, the oil pipeline will be able to ferry up to 200,000 barrels per day. The project works will also lead to installations of 200km of permanent new roads and corresponding bridges, and upgrades to 150km of existing roads. Some 15,000 jobs are expected to be created. These kind of projects inspire optimism among both local and foreign investors. This is because infrastructure projects are the foundations of modern economies. They have a huge multiplier effect. For instance regional governments are currently on an aggressive move to build more power plants. Much of rural EAC lacks grid electiricity. When you put up a power plant, you not only generate employment directly through construction and operations at the power plant, but also create an industrial base around the plant who would want to tap the power. This is a...

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - Last week, leaders of the East African Community (EAC) met in Arusha, Tanzania. There were two main items on the agenda. First, the induction of South Sudan as a full member state; and second, the launch of the shiny new EAC passport. Of the two, the latter is arguably more significant. According to a press statement, he gave a score-card of the deliverables during his tenure at the helm citing five key areas in the EAC broad vision and remarked that under his five year tour of duty, the bloc had witnessed significant achievements. His successor is Burundi national, Dr. Libérat Mfumukeko. On the Customs Union, Amb. Dr Sezibera remarked that sustained campaigns to ensure realization of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) had duly paid off. “Today, should one visit the Port of Dar es Salaam right here, you will witness revenue officials from the rest of the Partner States clearing goods,” he said. “The time within which it takes to clear goods has reduced tremendously. At the central corridor, it now takes 3 days, down from the 18 days while in the northern corridor, there is a significant reduction from 21 days to 5 days,” Amb. Dr Sezibera said. On the second item, he said that there was sustained pressure to rid the region of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and such, were paying off while the port clearance times were also reduced from three weeks to under 10 days. On the Common Market, a third item on...

Arusha — In a bid to improve trade with other members in the East African Community (EAC), Tanzania has issued 3,222 simplified certificates of origin (CoO) as of June last year compared to 2,355 certificates issued in 2014. This was revealed in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa in his address to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) currently holding a plenary session here. A CoO is a document used in international trade in printed form or as an electronic document. It is completed by an exporter and certified by a recognised issuing body, attesting that a ship consignment has been produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. The origin of a product does not refer to the country, where the goods were shipped from, but to the country, where they were made. If it happens that the products were manufactured in two or more countries, origin is obtained in the country, where the last substantial economically justified working or processing is carried out. A common practice is that if more than 50 per cent of the cost of producing the goods originates from one country, the local content is more than 50 per cent, then that country is regarded as the country of origin. In case of trading blocs, such as the EAC, CoO may be allowed to state the trading bloc rather than a specific country. Determining the origin of a product is extremely important because origin is key information for applying tariffs,...

IN SUMMARY Traders are saving up to $300 (Sh30,600) per transaction through more efficient joint clearance of cargo by EAC partner states at Mombasa port. An audit of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) system that was recently adopted by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania also showed that cargo clearance time at the port has dropped to an average of four to six days, from 18 to 22 in 2013. Under the SCT deal that began in 2014, clearing agents within EAC have been granted the rights to relocate and carry out their duties in any of the partner states as part of a strategy to improve flow of goods and curb dumping. Traders are saving up to $300 (Sh30,600) per transaction through more efficient joint clearance of cargo by EAC partner states at Mombasa port. An audit of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) system that was recently adopted by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania also showed that cargo clearance time at the port has dropped to an average of four to six days, from 18 to 22 in 2013. “Customs documentation requirements have been reduced by over 50 per cent and one customs agent is required to clear goods right from the Port of Mombasa or Dar-es-Salam to the Ugandan destination,” the Uganda Revenue Authority revealed in a performance update. The SCT system allows joint collection of Customs taxes by the East African Community partners. Under the SCT deal that began in 2014, clearing agents within EAC have...

Outgoing East African Community (EAC) Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, has decried the use of money by politicians seeking public office in the regional bloc, saying this was fuelling corruption and stalling development. At 4th Annual East African Community Secretary General's Forum held in Dar es Salaam on Friday, Dr Sezibera said corruption would remain a curse in the region as long as leaders used their financial muscles to buy votes. "Voters in the region tend to elect people on the influence of money. Corrupt candidates will always be corrupt leaders," he said. The function ran under the theme 'Good Governance and Constitutionalism'. Dr Sezibera noted that corruption was still rife in the EAC member states, and a stumbling block to good governance. He commended President John Magufuli for his relentless efforts to fight the vice for the betterment of wananchi. The outgoing EAC boss urged other leaders in the region to emulate President Magufuli's stance on graft. He also echoed the President's statement at the just ended 17th Ordinary EAC Heads of State Summit that it was high time leaders focused on ensuring residents benefitted from integration. He said: "Integration is not just about words, but putting things into action to improve people's lives in the region." Meanwhile, the Head of TradeMark Africa-East African Community (TMA-EAC), Mr Jason Kap-Kirwok, said his organisation will organise more seminars on good governance to member states for citizens to enjoy fruits of the integration. Source: allAfrica

In Egypt more than 1,500 public and private business delegates and state leaders agreed in February to mobilize massive investments for the implementation of Africa’s largest trading bloc which was created last year by 26 African countries with a total of 620 million consumers and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) nearing $1.2 trillion. The agreement crowned the “Africa 2016” investment forum held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm El Sheikh. Business leaders convened with government officials and heads of international organizations to discuss trade and investment as engines of progress. African heads of state and government from Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Sudan and Togo took part in the forum. No official figures relating to the amount of these investments were released. An Egyptian diplomat talked to IPS on condition of anonymity. Corruption comes first on the list of impediments to investment along with instability, the source said. “The volume of trade between African countries does not exceed 10 percent of the continent’s foreign trade, and will not increase unless tariff barriers are reformed and needed infrastructure is built, such as roads and ports to transport goods, among other,” added the diplomat. Along with the installation of giant power generation plants, a 7,000-kilometres-long Cairo-Cape Town railways line is among large projects that attract private investors. ‘Development is no longer a dream’ “Times have changed in Africa,” said the Business for Africa Forum’s concept document submitted to the meeting. With interest in the continent growing exponentially, some of today’s...