Member states of the East African Community (EAC) appear to be racing against time to meet a self-prescribed deadline of December 2015 by which they pledged to have fully implemented the Common Market Protocol, which came into force on July 1, 2010. The protocol, which was ratified by all five partner states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, provides for four freedoms within the region; free movement of goods; labour; services; and capital. While the partners have done well with the other freedoms, there are sticky issues regarding certain provisions of the protocol that have made it hard to implement commitments to free movement of services and their providers; these require amendments. With these gaps still in the protocol, it’s unlikely that member states will meet their December deadline with just five months remaining. The 29th meeting of the Council of Ministers, held in September 2014 in Arusha, Tanzania, directed the EAC Secretariat to engage partner states in consultative dialogues involving various stakeholders to propose the specific amendments required to straighten the protocol. Rwanda held its consultative meeting organised by the Ministry of East African Affairs (MINIEAC) during which they engaged members of the private sector who submitted their views on provisions of the protocol that they want amended or clarified. The Minister for East African Affairs, Amb. Valentine Rugwabiza, told participants in the workshop that Rwanda was committed to work with its counterparts to seek practical solutions to enable easier cross border trade in services and to deepen...

The new Mirama Hills one-stop border post between Rwanda and Uganda, one of now 13 in the East African region, was during the week handed over to the border, security, and customs agencies from the 2 countries now manning the new facility. Funded by Trade Mark East Africa is it one of the measures taken to improve the flow of goods when trading across the region but also encourages additional travel activities by cutting down on red tape and unnecessary bureaucracy when crossing the border. Citizens of Uganda and Rwanda can travel from one country to the other using ID cards or in the Ugandan case even voter’s cards after passport requirements were abandoned when the Northern Corridor Integration Projects countries fast-tracked the movement of people and goods, something the East African Community at large had for long failed to do. Mirama Hills is the nearest border crossing between the two countries for travelers coming from Uganda. The area is expected to also see the new Standard Gauge Railway line from the border of Uganda with Kenya, via Kampala and on to Kigali, built here and due to the terrain not likely go on to Kabale from where the Gatuna border is nearest. Road developments on both sides of the border linking Uganda and Rwanda have also taken place, making travel by road easier; many people use buses between the two countries. The cost of the new border post was given as just under US$8 million and was constructed by...

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S freight volumes will probably increase by as much as 10 percent in the East African region this year, helped by accelerating economic growth and improved efficiency at major ports. “In East Africa, we are seeing increased political stability, a growing middle class, infrastructure development and oil resources that will drive growth,” Steve Felder, the Danish shipping company’s managing director for the region, said by phone from Johannesburg on Monday. Governments in Kenya and Tanzania have been increasing investment in harbors as cargo volumes grow. Kenya’s Mombasa port, the biggest in the region, competes with Dar es Salaam in neighboring Tanzania. Kenya’s economy is expected to grow by 6.9 percent this year and Tanzania’s 7.2 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund, compared with a sub-Saharan Africa average of 4.5 percent. “We are currently seeing 24 berth moves per hour at the Mombasa container terminal, which has potential to double with on-going investment in hardware, deployment of better I.T. solutions and training,” Felder said. “Productivity in the private terminal at Dar es Salaam has greatly improved over the past year to 33 berth moves per hour.” Maersk, based in Copenhagen, shipped 380,000 20-foot equivalent units in the region last year, about 35 percent of the total market, according to Felder. The company operates the world’s largest shipping container line, and employs almost 10,000 people in more than 40 African nations. Productivity Issues About 65 percent of Maersk freight in East Africa goes through Mombasa, while Dar es Salaam...

Ntungamo — Construction of Mirama Hills One Stop Border Post (OSBP) has been completed. The border post in Ntugamo District was handed over to Uganda Revenue Authority by Dott Services last week after completion. It includes key sections such as customs and immigration, a goods inspection hall, a clearing agency block and a police post, among others. At the handover, Mr Alex B. Okello, the Works ministry permanent secretary, cautioned against vandalising the post something which he said had become a serious challenge for government. The post was constructed at a cost a $7.8m with $1.2m going into interior design and $0.6m going into furnishing. The projected was funded by Trade Mark East Africa with a view of facilitating trade between Uganda and Rwanda. Mirama Hills Border Post is one of 13 posts funded by Trade Mark East Africa with a view of increasing trade in the region. Four of the 13 are in Uganda, including Mirama Hills, Malaba, Busia and Mutukula. Source: All Africa

Twenty-six African nations have created a free trade zone that spans the eastern half of the continent from Egypt to South Africa in an effort to increase the flow of goods through reduced tariffs and improved infrastructure. According to observers, the new trade bloc is expected to act as a common market with a combined gross domestic product of $1.2 trillion with the potential to generate a 25 percent increase in each individual member country’s trade profile over the coming decade. The agreement includes Egypt and South Africa, among Africa’s wealthiest countries, and some of its poorest including Mozambique and Burundi. The continent’s most powerful economy, Nigeria, located on the continent’s west coast, is not included in the new FTZ. The new bloc replaces the Tripartite Free Trade Area, comprised of the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community and the overlapping Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. According to a 2013 United Nations report, a lack of regional integration caused Africa to lag behind Asia and Europe in economic growth. If African governments want to achieve their objective of boosting intra-African trade, the report said, “they have to create more space for the private sector to play an active role in the integration process.” Source: Global Trade

The mapping of numerous documentary requirements in the journey of flowers and avocados from growers in East Africa to retailers in the Netherlands was the first step of a new partnership between Maersk Line and TradeMark Africa, a not-for-profit organisation working to accelerate poverty reduction in the region through trade growth. The aim of the partnership is to identify ways to reduce trade barriers for Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and perishable products out of East Africa, and to support companies in East Africa to gain easier entry to the world market. The group explained, "More than 30 individuals or institutions are involved in handling documentation and there are about 200 different communication interactions in the process, with public officials and between different companies (…) Consequently, the time spent waiting on paper stamps and email replies costs just as much as the actual shipment, which simply is not a feasible or productive way to do business. For producers in Kenya all of the paperwork and its processes increase their total cost and limit their market access significantly." Source: Brussels Office Weblog

On 10 June 2015 the TFTA was signed in Cairo, uniting three of Africa’s principal trading blocs: the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The TFTA consists of a US$1.2 trillion free trade area, incorporating 26 African nations,[1] a population of 632 million, and an area of 17.3 million square kilometres, stretching from Cape Town to Cairo. During recent years there has been much talk of the potential benefits of creating an integrated African commercial bloc; the TFTA may be seen as the first tangible sign of action being taken. Following signature of the TFTA, negotiations to broaden its territorial ambit to West African nations opened on 15 June 2015 at the African Union (AU) summit in Johannesburg. According to the AU, the ultimate aim is to establish an intra-continental market benefiting from a youthful, fast-growing population of about 1 billion and a combined GDP of US$3 trillion. Objectives and actions under the TFTA The overall aim of the TFTA is to remove barriers to trade and to ease the movement of people between its signatory nations. According to a statement issued by South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry, the TFTA nations will now work towards agreeing and ratifying tariff rules in line with the agenda agreed at the launch of the trade bloc. The TFTA is founded upon three main pillars: market integration, infrastructure development and industrial development. The first actions to be taken...

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and immigration officers have been warned against condoning the increasing vices of bribery and smuggling of goods on Mirama Hills and across the Uganda border to Rwanda. PS Okello viewing the architectural design of the facility The warning was sounded by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport, Mr. Alex B. Okello, last week when he officiated at the technical handover of the Mirama Hills One Stop Border Post (OSBP) URA in Ruhaama Sub County in Ntungamo district. The official commissioning of the two border posts (Kagitumba and Mirama Hills) will be done by the presidents of Rwanda and Uganda later in the year. Mr. Okello called for transparency in whatever is done at the border post. “This is an investment that has been put up by the Government of Uganda to ease transportation of goods in and out of the country. Let’s make this facility work for the people, including the local community. Avoid bribes here from smugglers and ensure transparency to all users,” Okello stated. He urged the combined work force of URA, Immigration, Police and other government officials at the border post to ensure efficiency of the border post and increase business in order to realize high revenue collections by URA, in addition to learning the tricks used by business men who try to smuggle in goods and dodging taxes. PS Okello hands over the facility to URA Commissioner Customs Dickson Kateshumba He commended the work of Dott services, the...

KENYAN President Uhuru Kenyatta has added his voice on the need to remove barriers that hinder international trade. Mr Kenyatta’s call comes hardly a month after the African Union Assembly launched the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiations during the 25th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Governments on June 15 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The launch of the CFTA negotiations was preceded by a high level panel discussion on the CFTA. The objective was to discuss the importance and benefits of the CFTA for the continent. Currently, it is documented that Africans trade only 12 percent of their merchandise among themselves. That is why Mr Kenyatta, one of the champions of the CFTA, has continued to highlight the importance and critical role the CFTA is for the continent. Speaking in Ndola on Saturday when he graced this year’s Zambia International Trade Fair, Mr Kenyatta appealed to officers working at international borders to work extra hard in implementing instruments that can enhance trade between Zambia and Kenya. President Kenyatta, who has also called for the continued signing of multi- and bilateral agreements that promote international trade among nations, knows the benefits of the CFTA: prosperity, job creation for youth, peace, security and agricultural development. Cross-border trade is an integral part of the modern world economy and international markets are an important platform for the exchange of goods and services. Economists say that there are gains from trade for countries involved. And with six out of the 10 fastest-growing economies...

Work permits will no longer be needed to seek employment in any of the East African Community states, Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said yesterday. Kaimenyi said all that one needs to work in the host country is a national ID card. "This has become possible under a memorandum of understanding signed under the auspices of the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project," he said in a statement. Kaimenyi said the agreement allows free movement of labour and services within any of the member states. He said students studying in universities in member states will pay same tuition fees and in local currencies as those in host countries. He said partner states agreed to undertake skills audit for the standard gauge railway and form a consortium comprising universities from the region to carry out skills audit for other NCTIP projects. Source: All Africa