In Summary On the Northern Corridor which covers Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, transporters pay an average of $1,320 (Sh132,000) per container as a national bond guarantee, $450 (Sh45,000) under the SCT, and $700 (Sh70,000) under the RCTG. For now, goods produced in a member country using SCT do not require an insurance bond. Transporters along the Northern Corridor could cut the cost of ferrying goods by more than half if countries adopt a global transit clearance regime. A report by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) shows that the system of using national insurance bond and cash guarantees or the Single Customs Territory could be causing congestion at ports of entry contributing to revenue losses due to the high cost of clearing goods. IRU, whose members include transport associations and chambers of commerce, conducted a study of four transport corridors in the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. The study undertaken by South African consultant Michael Laurence Fitzmaurice looked at the cost of national bonds, Comesa, Regional Customs Transit Guarantee and the TIR (a French acronym for international transport by road) Carnet. Though the report shows that transporters use any clearance systems available rather than choose for themselves, it asks countries to adopt a system shared across the borders. “The system should include optimum features and benefits, with the least possible risk. It must be economical and should offer reductions in the transit time and costs caused by delays in transit regimes,” says the...

Chief economist at central bank of Rwanda, Dr Thomas Kigabo stresses a point yesterday at KCC. / Faustin Niyigena Transformative regional integration could be achieved through collaboration between countries rather than through economic competition, economists and policymakers said yesterday. This was during a policy dialogue on regional integration organised by the Office for Eastern Africa of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in collaboration with the University of Bremen in Germany, at the Kigali Convention Centre. Dr Thomas Kigabo, chief economist at the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), noted that the Brexit is “a very interesting example and experience.” Throughout the initial session, examples were drawn from Britain’s exit from European Union (Brexit) and, like the other economists present, Kigabo could not pin down with certainty the likely implications but noted that these could be normal. Kigabo said: “I think that on a negative note, this [Brexit] may give some argument to some countries which want to exit regional integration. It’s really a very bad example because we have been considering the EU as a good model for integration. “Definitely, experience is showing us that it is not a good model. It has its own weakness and the reality is that UK has decided to go out. This may have negative impact on our own efforts to have our own economic bloc.” The lesson learnt from the faltering regional integration process in Europe, he said, is that when countries are negotiating a similar protocol or agreement, they need to...

The 10th EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Committee of Senior Officials for Trade, Customs, Finance, Economic matters and Internal Affairs meeting opened in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday to resolve issues that remain outstanding before the implementation of the Tripartite Free Trade Area. Delegates from 26 member countries of the three African regional economic communities (RECs) including East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) aim to resolve the issues that remain outstanding after the launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Area during a summit in Sham el Sheikh in Egypt June, 2015. Permanent Secretary Ministry of Trade Ambassador Julius Onen is leading the EAC Delegation. Onen noted that as a region, partner states have made progress on most of the outstanding issues and are ready to move forward with the finalization of the negotiations with other regional blocs. He informed the meeting that EAC had finalized all the tariff offers, however, some countries had not yet responded to the offers. It is now over a year since the Tripartite FTA was launched in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, however, member states have failed to agree on some issues including tariff offers, rules of origin, trade remedies and the ratification of the Agreement. Onen noted that Uganda is ready to ratify the TFTA Agreement as soon as all the outstanding issues are finalized so as to pave way for actual implementation, as the country stands to benefit a lot in terms of market access once implementation of...

By Zephania Ubwani Arusha — The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) will open Chapter offices in the partner states for better coordination and efficiency. The offices at the capital cities of the East African Community (EAC) member countries will also ensure increased access by EAC nationals to functions of the Eala. The decision follows the adoption of a resolution moved by an Eala member from Kenya, Mr Abubakar Zein, during a recent session of the regional Parliament in Zanzibar. The resolution also avers commitment to enhancing interactions between the Eala and relevant institutions in the EAC partner states, particularly Parliaments. "The Eala needs to be pro-active and as it experiences challenges, it needs to come up with workable proposals to enable it to scale its services," said a lawmaker from Uganda, Ms Nusura Tiperu. However, an Eala member from Tanzania, Mr Abdullah Mwinyi, said there was a need to look for funds to establish the proposed Chapter offices in the EAC capital cities. He said due to the structure of the Parliament of Tanzania, there were no offices set aside in Dodoma or Dar es Salaam for Eala. Ms Dorah Byamukama from Uganda supported the move, suggesting that Eala members should utilise offices within the precincts of Parliaments of their respective countries. (TM) Source: All Africa

International Development Secretary Priti Patel pledges more help to create jobs, build livelihoods and support the poorest people in Africa to work their way out of poverty, during visit to Kenya. As the first Cabinet Minister to visit Africa since the UK voted to leave the European Union, the International Development Secretary set out her vision for UK aid in the continent and announced new support to boost economic development. With Africa now home to the world’s fastest growing population, Ms Patel set out the importance of generating productive jobs and sustainable livelihoods, opening up markets, stimulating economic growth and increasing business opportunities to make the most of a young, vibrant working population. This provides a better alternative to risking the dangerous journey to Europe or turning to extremism, therefore tackling migration and instability, which is firmly in the UK’s interests. New support includes: Launching a new Invest Africa programme to encourage at least £400 million of foreign direct investment into the most productive sectors – such as manufacturing – to create 90,000 direct and indirect jobs in Kenya and other African countries over the next decade. This builds on the UK’s role as the largest European investor into Africa. Providing £95 million over the next four years to increase Kenya’s trade by £1.3bn, building on the success of TradeMark Africa – founded by UK aid – in breaking down the barriers to trade. This will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, stimulate further growth and generate additional revenue...

Priti Patel is standing in the control tower of Mombasa port on the east coast of Kenya. Outside the windows she has a bird's eye view of the sprawling seaway, gateway for much of east Africa's trade. And the international development secretary is doing something that belies her reputation: she is nodding approvingly as she hears how British taxpayers' money is being spent helping a foreign country boost its economy. For this is the kind of aid that Ms Patel likes: bilateral, targeted and above all, easily measurable. You can count the freshly tarmaced roads, the newly built quays, the brand new scanners that her department are paying for to make it easier for goods to flow in and out of this port. And the aim is clear: to help support Kenya's economic development so that one day it can alleviate its own poverty without outside help. Yet there is another agenda here too. And it is very explicit. Ms Patel wants to use Britain's development muscle more explicitly in the UK's national interest. So she wants to use aid to try to slow the flow of African migrants to Europe. She wants to use aid to leverage post-Brexit trade deals and butter up potential allies in the World Trade Organization. And she wants British aid to be used specifically to foster stability and security where it can to stop bad people ending up on Britain's streets. Longstanding critic On one level this is a continuation of David Cameron's aid...

Priti Patel wants more "openness and accountability" with international aid Major multinational aid funding may be cut unless it provides better value for money, International Development Secretary Priti Patel has said. More than £4bn of UK aid goes to global organisations such as the World Bank. In an interview in Kenya with BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale, Ms Patel also said that she wanted to use the aid budget to help pave the way for trade deals. She was speaking on her first visit to Africa since she was appointed. Ms Patel witnessed what some of her department's £12bn budget is supporting on the ground. She saw humanitarian aid being delivered, via a payment card that gives Kenyan women £20 a month from the British taxpayer to buy the food they need to survive. Spending better and wasting less She said: "We have to make sure that our aid works in our national interest and also that it works for our taxpayers. Much more openness, much more transparency and much more accountability." She is about to publish a review of the work of big multinational aid organisations that spend money on behalf of the UK, and said she would cut off funding if they did not meet new performance targets by spending better and wasting less. Ms Patel was on her first visit to Africa as international development secretary"The government's approach is focused on ensuring that we drive taxpayer value - so when it comes to multilateral organisations, focus on...

In addition to the High Commission in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Uganda has opened a consulate in the coastal town of Mombasa at a colorful ceremony presided over by State Minister for Regional Cooperation, Okello Oryem. Because of the growing demand for consular services in Kenya, Margret Kafeero, the head of public diplomacy at the ministry of foreign affairs, said the new fully-fledged consulate would reduce the burden on the high commission. She said the single market protocol of the EAC and other trade policies following the integration had led to an influx into the port of Mombasa. There is anticipation that Uganda’s imports and exports will increase, which implies that the stakes are much higher for the country. “Nobody else will take care of our interests if not us,” she added. The consulate will be headed by Philip Tayebwa Katureebe who has previously served in India and other missions The post Uganda opens consulate at Mombasa Port appeared first on The Independent Uganda:. This post was syndicated from The Independent Uganda:. Click here to read the full text on the original website. Source: Nigeria Today

Africa needs trade not aid. This has been the reverberating message from many African leaders, economists and business pioneers of late. At this September’s UN General Assembly, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama and Senegalese President Macky Sall addressed world leaders with this very sentiment. The emphasis on trade over aid is in part a backlash against the modest results of development aid. Africa has received over $1 trillion ininternational aid over the past 50 years, but this has been ineffective in combating poverty and spurring economic growth in a sustainable way. Moreover, aid inefficiencies are acutely heightened where there is a lack of strong political institutions, a common difficulty across the continent. In contrast, there is a proven link between openness to trade and economic performance, an approach that has taken centre stage in the trade policies of the EU, Africa’s second largest trading partner after China. Towards a reciprocal relationship The embodiment of the shift towards trade can be seen within the context of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between a number of African groupings (Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, East African Community, Southern African Development Community and West Africa) and the EU. Essentially, the EU wants to move towards a reciprocal trading relationship with the continent, in which African regional groups gain duty- and quota-free access to the EU market. In return, over time, participating African countries will have to liberalise just 83% of their markets, as sensitive products will be protected. For example, the Economic Community...

WASHINGTON: The collapse of free trade talks between Canada and the European Union is yet another sign of increasingly stiff resistance to economic globalization. Despite seven years of talks between Ottawa and Brussels, the CETA Treaty crashed into a wall Friday (Oct 21) after being rejected by the Belgian region of Wallonia, making it impossible for the European Union to approve the deal. That was an ominous sign for another ambitious treaty, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the EU, which also faces strident opposition on both sides of the Atlantic. And one huge deal already struck, the Trans Pacific Partnership between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries, is foundering because of the refusal so far of the US Congress to ratify it. And now, both candidates for the White House, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, say they do not support the treaty. It is a sharp reversal of a quarter-century since the fall of the Berlin Wall of support in the world's leading economies for freer trade and globalization. Now, the enthusiasm for breaking down borders appears to be fizzling out. "We are seeing the results of several decades of failures by political leaders to take the concerns over trade seriously," said Edward Alden of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. For many years accusations have mounted that the progressive breaking down of trade barriers and removal of import duties in advanced economies has caused deindustrialization and huge...