Nairobi — East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker Daniel Kidega on Monday called for unity and reconciliation to resolve the current South Sudan leadership crisis. Kidega told the press at a briefing held at Parliament Buildings on Monday, that they are concerned by the continued 'political confusion' in Africa's youngest state. "We are an Assembly are very concerned about the political confusion in our newest member state -- the Republic of South Sudan -- we appeal to all the concerned parties, particularly the elected government which sits in Khartoum, to make sure peace prevails and provides opportunity to the South Sudanese to be fully integrated into the EAC process." The Regional House Speaker urged the East African Community (EAC) Head of States to intervene and help restore stability adding that a crisis in any of the EAC member countries impacts critically on to the economy of all the member states. "South Sudan is part of the EAC, whatever happens in any part of the EAC, affects the totality of the community." Kidega stated. "You might be aware that when we saw some political challenges in the Republic of Burundi, the EAC swung into action through the Summit and the Plenary." Kidega however tactfully sidestepped the circumstances that led to the Kenyan government withdrawing its troops from the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UN-MISS) in response to the sacking of the Kenyan commander of the UNMISS force. "In the words of His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta, we are not...

Frank Matsaert, the TradeMark Africa chief executive, speaks during a news conference as RRA commissioner-general Richard Tusabe, looks on, on Monday, in Kigali. / Nadege Imbabazi The ongoing integration efforts across the East African Community (EAC) region largely aim at increasing trade. The efforts have involved operationalising single customs territories, reducing non-tariff barriers, creating one-stop border posts, and encouraging mass production in regional countries to export to countries in the bloc. However, despite these efforts, intra-regional trade across the bloc is at about 17 per cent, according to trade experts who say that there is great potential across the bloc. EAC comprises six countries with a population of more than 160 million. According to Frank Matsaert, the TradeMark Africa Chief Executive, though some indexes put the levels of trade in the region at 20 per cent, 17 per cent is more realistic. Matsaert said that persistent setbacks to regional trade in EAC largely comprise of non-tariff barriers which include, technical issues such as standards, logistics and police road blocks. TradeMark Africa is a non-profit company that supports the growth and trade to ensure gains for EAC residents. “The other barrier to trade is lots of paper work requirements, red tape and lack of automation in the process of intra-regional trade,” he said. Matsaert was speaking at the launch of Rwanda Trade Programme Evaluation Report by TradeMark Africa, in Kigali, on Monday evening. Matsaert noted that despite the progress with developing physical infrastructure across the region, there was still a long way to...

The East African Legislative Assembly Speaker Daniel Kidega, flanked by members of his House, addressing the press in Nairobi/CFM By LABAN WANAMBISI, NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 21 – East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker Daniel Kidega on Monday called for unity and reconciliation to resolve the current South Sudan leadership crisis. Kidega told the press at a briefing held at Parliament Buildings on Monday, that they are concerned by the continued ‘political confusion’ in Africa’s youngest state. “We are an Assembly are very concerned about the political confusion in our newest member state — the Republic of South Sudan — we appeal to all the concerned parties, particularly the elected government which sits in Khartoum, to make sure peace prevails and provides opportunity to the South Sudanese to be fully integrated into the EAC process.” The Regional House Speaker urged the East African Community (EAC) Head of States to intervene and help restore stability adding that a crisis in any of the EAC member countries impacts critically on to the economy of all the member states. “South Sudan is part of the EAC, whatever happens in any part of the EAC, affects the totality of the community.” Kidega stated. “You might be aware that when we saw some political challenges in the Republic of Burundi, the EAC swung into action through the Summit and the Plenary.” Kidega however tactfully sidestepped the circumstances that led to the Kenyan government withdrawing its troops from the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UN-MISS)...

East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker Daniel Kidega. PHOTO | FILE  A funding crisis that has crippled operations at the East African Community (EAC) is set to cloud debate at the Nairobi sittings of the trade bloc’s legislative arm beginning Tuesday. The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Monday said the financial crunch is so serious that the Assembly, a number of institutions and organs within the EAC have either cancelled or significantly curtailed their activities. Speaking in Nairobi on Monday, EALA Speaker Daniel Kidega said cash remission by member states had fallen way behind budget. “I know generally that there is pressure on our economies, but the point of concern here is that partner states committed to contribute money equally to the integration process. But these commitments are not coming in time and therefore affecting the EAC integration process,” he said. In the current (2016/2017) financial year, Kenya is among countries doing dismally in remittances to the EAC, having paid only 28 per cent of the Sh854.5 million that is due per country annually. Rwanda has remitted only 23.8 percent of the amount due, Tanzania 6.6 per cent while Burundi has remitted nothing. Uganda is doing better that the other partner states, having paid Sh760.3 million or 88.9 percent of the amount due. Flanked by other EALA members at the Press briefing, Dr Kidega noted that the Assembly had to suspend some of its activities in September and October due to lack of funds. Some of the affected activities are...

Arusha — Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will now be able to access firsthand information on trade and investment opportunities across East African Community (EAC) member countries, thanks to a new initiative by youth focused non-governmental organization (NGO). The Vision for Youth has launched has launched a project known as "SokoMkononi" that aims to identify challenges and enable SMEs to get information on the EAC investment and trade opportunities, the NGO's director, Ms Violet Ayubu told The Citizen yesterday. This, according to her, is because though the EAC Common Market Protocol became effective on July 1, 2010, many Tanzanians still lack information on the opportunities found in the wider regional market in other member states like Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. The common market provides the four freedoms of free movement of goods, labour, services and capital which significantly boost trade and investment and makes the region more productive and prosperous. The project, according to Ms Ayubu, is funded by EAC and GIZ. "The project commences with Tanzania and Uganda before moving to other EAC states. With it, we seek to ensure that business people are able to understand what is needed to be able to sell products between the two countries," she said. Specifically, the project seeks to educate business people about the customs, taxation requirements, rule of origin and the products allowed to be traded between countries. The NGO will also open a portal to allow online discussions between business people and get quick information on what is...

By Sophie Morlin-Yron CNN (CNN) -- Near Africa's horn on the easternmost part of the continent, a shiny new electric railway runs alongside an old abandoned track through both arid desert and green highlands. Some 750 kilometres long, the $4 billion line opened in October and links landlocked Ethiopia to the coast in Djibouti. It was partly funded and built by Chinese companies, just like the other planned lines it could soon link up with neighboring Sudan and Kenya -- where the first part of a new $13bn Kenyan railway linking Mombasa to Nairobi is taking shape. The sprawling network is planned to continue into South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, as part of transnational efforts to connect countries within East Africa. This could transform how goods and people move, and the increased number of lines is expected to boost trade in countries like Kenya, says Kuria Muchiru, Advisory Partner, East Africa, at PwC in Kenya. "Because we probably have about 4,000 trucks everyday making the trip up from Mombasa into Nairobi, and some go further on," adds Muchiru. The ports are where the magic happens, with 90% of African imports and exports conducted by sea which can be an issue for trade coming into landlocked countries. "The new lines will have access to the ports and be able to almost offload directly onto the train and then straight onto inland locations," Muchiru says. Billions in loans The new lines are part of the so-called LAPPSET rail project and the...

Trade PS Chris Kiptoo during a past media briefing in Nairobi on September 24 last year /ENOS TECHE Kenya might propose a change of rules in negotiating for the long-standing free trade deal between the East African Community and the European Union as a last option. This is if Tanzania opts out of the pact again in January during the EAC heads of state summit in Nairobi. Trade PS Chris Kiptoo has, however, downplayed growing anxiety that the south-neighbouring nation may not sign the Economic Partnership Agreement that guarantees quota and duty-free market access to the EU. Reports have indicated that Tanzanian Parliament voted against trade deal a fortnight ago, while a Tanzanian lawyer has filed a case before the East African Court of Justice in a bid to block the EPA. The EU trade arrangement for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries has been on the table since 2007. The five East African Community countries decided to negotiate the deal as a bloc in spirit of the Common Market protocol which came into force in July 2010. “The journey will continue because EPA as designed is to be signed by all for it to be implemented,” Trade PS Chris Kiptoo told the Star. “If Tanzanians have changed their minds then it will be an issue for further discussions. In January, we will have a decision taken, and if it will be a delay, if it is going to be variable geometry, we may … change the rule instead of all...

By Eronie Kamukama and Jonathan Adengo Kampala — The East African Community (EAC) is hatching a plan to harmonise laws that will regulate cross border insolvency. Insolvency occurs when an organisation or individual is unable to pay debts on time. An insolvent company can either wind up or be restructured. Speaking to journalists an the launch of the insolvency week in Kampala, Mr Bemanya Twebaze, the registrar general Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB),said resolving insolvency is one of the areas that the World Bank bases in preparing its easing of business report. The World Bank Doing Business Report 2017 which is its 14 edition and themed 'Equal Opportunity for All' released in Washington DC on October 25, shows that Uganda moved from 122 in 2015 to 115 in 2016 out of 190 economies. Mr Twebaze, said the move is timely as countries shift towards borderless trade. "Trade across borders is a daily occurrence so what happens in a situation where a company which is trading across the region goes into liquidation," he said at the Regional Official Receivers' Forum on Wednesday. He said a common insolvency law is very vital for countries in the bloc as they attract more investments.  "Investment decisions will be taken when investors are clear about the legal regime especially on insolvency," he said. According to Mr Mustapher Ntale, the manager liquidation URSB, the current practice makes it difficult for a thriving company in one country to transfer its assets and save an insolvent company in...

Only a few hundred kilometres separate Lagos, Nigeria, from Accra in Ghana. For the thousands of traders who ply this route, the journey through Togo and Benin can take a full day, punctuated by arduous border checks, harassment and solicitations from officials for kickbacks. "Customs officials and police at roadblocks will make you unload and unpack every little package in order to delay you for hours," says Ms. Lucia Quachey, secretary-general of the African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs, an organization of more than 4 million women across the continent, producing and trading everything from textiles to pharmaceuticals and vehicle parts. "Everyone knows the intention is to force travellers to pay." Some of this activity is illegal, she says -- deliberate efforts by officials to violate the principle of free movement of people and goods within the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It is also due to the slow implementation of regional integration agreements aimed at eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers in the region. Despite pronouncements of support by politicians for regional economic ties, the reality on the ground for traders such as Ms. Quachey remains difficult. African countries are grappling to undo a legacy dominated by trade with their former colonial rulers rather than with each other. Senegal's biggest trading partner is France, while Gambia trades extensively with the UK. Although Senegal surrounds Gambia, trade between the two neighbours is minimal. The continent's railways and roads often lead towards the ports rather than link countries across regions....

  IN SUMMARY The EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 moved by Rwanda’s Patricia Hajabakiga tops the agenda of EALA’s two-week special session which begins in Nairobi on Monday. The light non-biodegradable plastic bags have been cited as top environmental nuisance across East Africa. Kenya had petitioned the EAC Parliament to introduce a levy instead of imposing a blanket ban on polythene bags as Rwanda had proposed. The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) members are headed for a major showdown as Rwanda pushes on with its bid for a total ban on use of polythene bags in the region. The EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 moved by Rwanda’s Patricia Hajabakiga tops the agenda of EALA’s two-week special session which begins in Nairobi on Monday. Use of polythene bags is illegal in Rwanda. “The Bill, 2016 aims at providing a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment through the prohibition of manufacturing, sale, importation and use of polythene materials,” EALA said in a statement last week. The light non-biodegradable plastic bags – primarily used for packaging at retail stores– have been cited as top environmental nuisance across East Africa. The civil society campaigners across the region have been united in their call for total ban on use of polythene bags which are also seen as posing health risks to citizens. This is the second time that Ms Hajabakiga will be trying lobby the regional parliamentarians to adopt the law banning use of plastic within the trading...