Lower commodities prices have had some far-reaching effects on African economies. For exporters, weaker revenue has damped growth. Consider Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and biggest oil producer. The country’s gross domestic product contracted 2.1 percent in the second quarter, following a 0.4 percent slump in the first. Adjusting to this new reality will take time for energy exporters. Most African economies, though, aren’t in the oil business. For them, lower fuel costs support growth and living standards. So fortunes are set to diverge across the continent. In fact, the narrative could change from “Africa Rising” to “Africa Tilting” as commodity exporters in West, Central, and Southern Africa struggle to find new sources of growth, while East African economies develop and integrate into a more robust—and potentially huge—regional market. From 2010 to 2014, economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa averaged 5.2 percent. After oil prices plunged in 2014, growth slowed to 3.4 percent in 2015. It’s likely to be weaker still in 2016, but the decline in aggregate terms largely reflects slowdowns in Nigeria, fellow oil exporter Angola, and South Africa. The three countries accounted for about 60 percent of sub-Saharan GDP in 2015 but less than 30 percent of its population. For Bloomberg Intelligence analysis and data on Africa. Deeper integration, better-functioning markets, and improved infrastructure could all bear fruit as the continent pursues other sources of growth. East Africa is leading the way. The African Development Bank, in its inaugural Africa Regional Integration Index Report, rated the East African Community—Burundi,...

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) is considering admitting Somalia and Tunisia into the bloc. “[The Summit] mandated the Bureau of Council to enter into negotiations with Tunisia and Somalia on terms and conditions of accession to the Comesa Treaty,” reads part of the communique after the bloc’s Summit held in the Antananarivo, Madagascar, on October 18-19. Comesa spokesman Mwangi Gakunga could not say how long these negotiations will take before a decision on the two countries’ application is reached, as this is determined by the bloc’s highest decision making body — the Heads of State Summit or Comesa Authority. “Upon receipt of the application for membership, the Authority may prescribe the conditions and such other conditions for admission which shall be communicated to the applying state. Article 3(3) of the Regulations provides that admission of membership shall be decided by the Authority,” the regulations state. In 2005, Tunisia applied for observer status to Comesa, but its application was neither discussed nor endorsed by the member states. In February, it renewed its push to formally join the bloc when it wrote to Comesa Secretary-General Sindiso Ngwenya. Mr Ngwenya said that under Article 1(4) of the Comesa Treaty, Tunisia was eligible for admission as it is “an immediate neighbour of a member state of Comesa…upon fulfilling conditions that may be determined by the Comesa Authority.” Source: The East African

Arusha — The process to establish four key institutions that will support the proposed East African Monetary Union (Eamu) has started, the East African Community (EAC) has said. The four institutions include the EAC Monetary Institute, the EAC Statistics Bureau, the EAC Financial Services Commission and the EAC Surveillance, Compliance and Enforcement Commission. Speaking here recently, the EAC secretary general, Mr Liberat Mfumukeko, said the process to lay the foundation for establishment of a monetary union were on gear. "The dream is to have east Africans trade easily using any of their currencies and eventually have an East African common currency," he said in his maiden press conference recently. He said the four institutions envisaged were needed because the establishment of a strong Monetary Union will require a robust institutional framework to ensure compliance and safeguard the convergence process. The EA Monetary Protocol was signed in Kampala, Uganda in November 2013 during the EAC Heads of State Summit after negotiations which started in January 2011. Once in place, the Monetary Union, whose protocol has ever since been ratified by the five member states of the Community, would promote and sustain a zone of sound monetary policy and prudent fiscal policies to reinforce the monetary policies. The roadmap of the Eamu provides for its establishment over ten year period, time within which, the single currency shall be realized. At the same time, the exchange rate policy shall have a convergence phase and the conversion of exchange rates formulated. Mr Mfumukeko, who...

East Africa ranks as one of the world's most economically dynamic regions and offers “enormous potential” for investment by US companies, the US Chamber of Commerce said in a report issued on Tuesday. Growth rates in some of the East African Community (EAC) member states now rivals those of a few of the Asian countries that Wall Street has touted as “new emerging economies,” the report observes. Kenya's per capita GDP has already climbed past that of Bangladesh and Pakistan, notes the 35-page study titled “Building the Future: A Look at the Economic Potential of East Africa.” Trade with and within East Africa will be greatly facilitated by large-scale infrastructure projects now underway, the US Chamber says. It cites, for example, the standard gauge railway linking most of the region's landlocked states with Mombasa, and the Bagamoyo Port project in Tanzania, which “stands to be East Africa's largest port when completed.” While US trade with the region doubled between 2010 and 2015, it remains “marginal,” the report says. It notes that China and the European Union (EU) have much more robust trading relationships with East Africa. “Kenya, the United States’ leading trading partner in the region, imported 14 times as many goods from China than it did from the United States in 2014,” the Chamber points out. Similarly, it adds, the EU imported three times as many goods from Kenya than did the US in 2014. And the report warns that the European Union will likely become even more competitive...

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday officially commissioned the construction and expansion of part of the busy Mombasa Highway. The project road is located in Machakos County and runs in a south-easterly direction from Athi River to Kyumbu Centre, approximately 20kn away. The project is part of the Northern Corridor, which is the main transit route connecting the port of Mombasa to Nairobi and destinations further upcountry including the neighbouring countries of Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Eastern Congo. China Railway 21st Bureau Group Co won the Sh5.3 billion tender to expand the 20km Athi River to Machakos turn off into a dual carriageway. Work on the Athi River-Machakos Road is expected to be completed in 18 months. The project will be funded by the government and World Bank. ROAD EXPANSION The project will complement the ongoing dualling of James Githuru junction to Rironi and the upcoming expansion of JKIA to Likoni Road junction. The new carriageway will have a width of 7m and will carry two lanes. Shoulders will be 2m wide on the outer side and 1m wide on the side adjoining the existing carriageway. There will also be the construction of two large bridges over the Athi River, three grade separated interchanges (flyovers) to serve Athi River town, Daystar University and junction to Mua Hills. There will also be 8km of service roads constructed to provide low speed access to roadside properties in the built up area around Athi River town. The new carriageway will also include six...

By Zephania Ubwani Nairobi — Aflatoxin, a poisonous and cancer-causing chemicals produced by certain molds which grow in grains, is a barrier to food exports from Africa and threat to human health, according to a senior East African Community (EAC) official. This is mainly due to stringent regulations on Aflatoxin regulation, which limits how much produce enters the global market. "The entire African continent is susceptible to Aflatoxin contamination and that its high incidence continues to pose threat to human and animal health", the EAC deputy secretary general in charge of Economic and Social Sectors, Ms Jesca Eriyo, said in a speech availed to The Citizen. She gave the warning in her keynote address to the Second Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (Paca) Platform meeting currently underway in Entebbe, Uganda. She quoted latest report by experts, who estimate that losses from Aflatoxin in Africa have escalated to the tune of $450 million each year due to stringent standards by the European Union (EU) alone. Ms Eriyo further warned that the poisonous chemical was one of the challenges that the African continent need to address in order to achieve global developmental aspirations such as the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063. The toxic material is regularly found in improperly stored staple commodities such as cassava, chili peppers, corn, cotton seed, millet, peanuts, rice, sorghum, sunflower seeds, tree nuts, wheat, and a variety of spices. Other development goals for the continent that may be affected by the the toxic material include Sustainable...

In the good old days East African tour operators could sit back and know that eager visitors will come to sample the region’s spectacular offerings both for scenic beauty and the singular experience of seeing animals in the wild. Like clockwork, the regional industry and especially in Kenya and Tanzania, could expect good revenues in the high season and pick up some business in the low seasons by virtue of arranging special packages. Indeed the word ‘safari’ took on international prominence, because of East African tourism. To a large extent, the likes of Ernest Hemingway and such classic movies as the ‘African Queen’ also helped matters along. Today, that complacency and sense of smugness is foolhardy. The world has changed during the past half century and not always for better. International tourism is now a cut-throat industry and if East Africa wants a play an active part, it has to work for it. Economists call travel a “superior good”, meaning that as people’s incomes grow, they spend a greater proportion of it on travel. The welcome mat is not enough anymore.  You have to go abroad and aggressively flap it about to gain attention. These days you almost literally have to drag the tourists to come and it is not cheap. A television 30-second spot on a leading European, American or Japanese broadcaster can cost a couple of million dollars.  That is why when  tourism agencies ask for marketing funds, governments should not raise up their hands in despair. The...

Philip Mwakio A heavy machinery loads one of the fourteen containers loaded with primary schools laptops at the Siginon yard in Miritini soon after they arrived at the port of Mombasa on board a ship, September 23, 2016. The containers were transported by road to Nairobi where they will be distributed to public primary schools country-wide. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD]The Port of Mombasa handled 21,458 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) at its two container terminals in the week ending October 5. In a weekly update on port operations, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said eight container ships called in to discharge 10,551 TEUs and load another 10,907 TEUs. A TEU is used to describe a ship’s cargo carrying capacity, with a standard 40-foot (40x8x8 feet) container equal to two TEUs (each 20x8x8 feet) A breakdown on imports showed the port received 1,849 TEUs for the local market and 3,799 TEUs for transit, with Uganda maintaining its lead position, accounting for 2,795 TEUs. Tanzania-bound cargo came in a distant second with 326 TEUs, followed by South Sudan with 238 TEUs, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 234 TEUs, and Rwanda with 110 TEUs. A total of 9,681 TEUs were delivered by road, against just 270 TEUs by rail. “The ship average working time was reported as 1.88 days, up from 1.62 days the previous week, while the dwell time was 3.46 days,” KPA said. The total container yard population reported a significant decline to 10,810 TEUs from 12,489 TEUs the previous week....

Tanzania has pulled out of the East African Community (EAC) common visa, in a move described by analysts as a plan to protect itself from economic competition from the region’s other nations. The decision effectively locks out Tanzania from ‘coalition of the willing’, an initiative by the region’s nations of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to promote tourism and enable their nationals to freely engage in business without restricted movement, Jamhuri News reported. The visa is valid for three months. It was set to woo tourists form across the globe into the three nations as it markets the region as a single tourism destination. Several foreign tour operators had in the past complained about the immigration hardships they faced at the respective border entry points into the nations. The pull-out by Tanzania will however not affect the remaining nations from signing a cooperation pact on tourism to enable tourists move between the three nations using a common visa that will be charged $100 (10,122), $5 than the before. Tanzania’s decision to pull out of the common visa comes three months after it pulled out of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EAP) with the European Union (EU). The trade pact is meant to help the EAC members to directly export products into the EU market. The Tanzanian government took the decision to protect its local industries. The confusion surrounding Britain’s withdrawal from the EU bloc also informed the decision,Daily Nation reported. Uganda followed Tanzania, a decision which stopped the signing of the trade...

By Sylivester Domasa The government will soon announce new speed limits on certain roads that could cover sections by up to 110 kilometres under a new classification system approved by the East African Community (EAC) to facilitate road traffic and promote intra-regional trade. The regional bloc has Okayed a maximum speed limit of 110km/h; up from 80kms-, Tanzania Road Safety Week Chairman Mr Henry Bantu told reporters in Dar es Salaam over the weekend. However, as the government contemplates the new rule, the transport safety and operations expert says the new changes will push the government to increase road reserves -- a key parameter in road safety. "The new changes means the road reserves will be increased to 25 metres from the current 20... this will give enough space for unexpected road crashes to hit pedestrians near the road," he noted. "It will not be possible that while Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan have approved 110km/h Tanzania maintains 80kmph. To easy trade flow the government will be forced to change the speed limits," he detailed. The 'Daily News' could not independently establish the roads that will accommodate new speed limits. However, it remained certain that all the highways connecting Dar es Salaam to upcountry regions and neighbouring countries will be affected. Efforts to get clarification from the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the new development proved failure, but automobile industry watchdog agencies said there are more than reviewing the road reserve. Tanzania Child Rights Forum (TCRF) Legal Officer...