The Mirama Hills-Kagitumba one-stop border post has been opened to facilitate fast movement of goods and traders between Uganda and Rwanda. The initiative, part of the East Africa Trade and Transportation Facilitation Project, aims at modernising and strengthening Customs administration and border control agencies in the region to reduce non-tariff costs on trade and smuggling at the border. Officiating the opening of the facility last Friday, Uganda's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Mr Alex Okello, said traders were being strained by delayed clearance that at times took a day or two at either side of the border. He said the delay would at times breed corruption, besides smuggling as impatient traders tried to find the fastest means to cross the border. “...the cost of doing business will come down, there will be easy coordination which will ensure transparency,” said Mr Okello. The facility worth $7.8 million has among others, Customs and immigration blocks, warehouse building, clearing agents block, goods inspection and verification block and a police station. TradeMark Africa, funders of the project, handed over the facility to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). TradeMark is also funding 13 similar projects in the East African countries, four of which are in Uganda. URA's Customs commissioner Mr Dickson Kateshumba said the border post will have a 24-hour manpower to see that the objectives of putting up the facility are achieved. Source: The East African

Last month, representatives of Maersk were invited to share their East Africa project in front of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, hosting the fifth year review of Aid for Trade – a concept to support developing countries and their governments in recognising the role trade plays in their countries’ development. Maersk Line pointed out that the journey of a container encompasses a maze of processes and paperwork that greatly complicates a simple task of moving cargo from A to B, with these complications being cost-heavy due to lost or inaccurate information. "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," the group said. "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." 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...

Restrictive legal and regulatory policies coupled with poor infrastructure and logistic services are holding back East Africa’s manufacturing sector, says the Africa Development Bank The East Africa’s manufacturing sector report released on Friday shows manufacturers continue to experience problems in cross border trading and starting and closing a company. It shows productivity remains inhibited by a problematic energy supply and costly transport due to poor road network, limited availability of rail transport and poor logistics in ports. “From a regional perspective... the poor performance on trading across borders is particularly detrimental to the prospects for achieving rapid industrialisation,” it reads. The countries that were covered include Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Seychelles. According to the report, the contribution of manufacturing in the economies of these countries is relatively small, ranging from 3.8-11 per cent of the gross domestic product, compared to the levels between 30-40 per cent in industrialised countries like China and South Africa. The report shows manufacturing in East Africa is dominated by food and beverages, largely basic processing of agricultural output and the production of more refined consumer products such as soaps, perfumes and cosmetics. It shows Kenya has a comparative advantage in food and beverages, leather products, textiles and clothing, and in non-metallic mineral products including cement and ceramics. Rwanda has an edge in processed tea, Tanzania in textiles, Uganda in cement, clay and ceramics and the Seychelles in processed fish products, mainly tuna. According to the report, the limited role that manufacturing currently...

Malaba One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) is expected to be completed by August. It will maximise free flow of goods and services across Kenya and Uganda. The post bordering the two countries will enable government agencies from both countries to provide services under one roof. “Goods from Kenya will be cleared from Ugandan post while those from Uganda will be cleared from the Kenyan post,” said Michael Chai, a consultant in charge of construction of Kenya post, adding that the building will be ready for use by August. “This will increase efficiency. The post will have officials from both countries who will clear the goods at one centre,” said Manager Custom’s Field Service Division- Eastern Region Uganda Geofrey Balamaga. “The centre will be used for coordinating transit clearance as two officers from Kenya Revenue Authority and Uganda Revenue Authority will work from one station and handle transit documents and clearance of good and services at once.” Balamaga said the OSBP aims at deepening the East Africa Community integration. Other one-stop border posts in the country include Busia and Malaba borders (Kenya–Uganda) the Namanga border (Kenya-Tanzania), Holili-Taveta border and and Lungalunga-Horohoro border (Kenya–Tanzania). Holili-Taveta OSBP is complete, awaiting bilateral agreement between Kenya and Tanzania to operationalise it. Trade Mark East Africa is funding the projects. Source: Standard Digital

KAMPALA - Government has been cautioned against signing international trade and bilateral agreements without scrutinizing their impact on indigenous business firms. Kyambogo University senior lecturer, Milton Ayoki, said trade agreements seek to favour foreign business firms or multinationals. He said government should only sign agreements as long as it takes interest on the survival of local business firms. Ayoki pointed out that 50 per cent of local enterprises can hardly survive their fifth birthday due to competition driven by foreign firms. He was speaking during an interface meeting between policy makers, civil society organizations, MPs and members of the private sector at Golf Course Hotel in Kampala. The interface meeting organized by Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) was aimed at addressing the development challenges of Uganda in the context of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), South African Development Community Tripartite and other bilateral trade agreements. Responding to the senior lecturer's concern, Dr. Abubaker Moki – an official from the Cabinet secretariat and Office of the President – pointed out that government cannot cancel trade and bilateral agreements it has signed. "Cabinet can't unpack signed agreements; instead we engage and negotiate – that's where we can influence.” To increase access and understanding of signed agreements which come in the form of multinational, continental, regional and bilateral, the government probes to find out who are the likely beneficiaries, explained Moki. "Once the agreements have been signed, we...

East African governments could be forced to raise taxes for their citizens as they move towards a common currency. Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have agreed to keep the gross public debt ceiling at 50 per cent of GDP in net present value terms as part of the EACs primary macroeconomic convergence criteria. Countries are expected to observe and maintain the criteria for three consecutive years in the run-up to the adoption of the monetary union and single currency in 2024. “This means that government spending will be controlled and countries will not be allowed to borrow beyond the set limit, forcing them to look for the other ways of generating revenue to fund their projects,” said Peter Njoroge, director of economics at Kenya’s Ministry of EAC Affairs, Commerce and Tourism. “The majority of countries look to raising taxes for their citizens to generate funds to run projects. They also include the other groups of citizens that were previously not in the tax bracket, such as non-governmental organisations, to generate revenue.” According to Mr Njoroge, the 50 per cent ceiling is likely to constrain EAC countries from undertaking huge infrastructure projects to avoid exceeding the debt ceiling. Alternatively, countries may be forced to phase the implementation of the huge projects in such a way that they do not break the debt ceiling thus projects take longer to implement. “In a way, it will instil fiscal discipline among partner states,” he said. “But the agreed upon ceiling will start applying...

East African partner states are working towards ensuring people can move and work freely in the region by December 31. Immigration and labour experts from Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya have jointly proposed harmonised classification, procedures, forms and fees for issuance of entry/work/ residence permits for the EAC citizens into the partner states. This is expected to be adopted before December 31. But the partner states have divergent views on the harmonised work permit classifications for non-EAC foreigners, including diplomats, employees of international and civil society organisations, refugees, and foreigners seeking permanent residence. Mary Makoffu, EAC director of social sectors said that although the partner states have divergent views on foreign classifications, consultations are ongoing and a final report is expected in September for review by the EAC Labour ministers before it is presented to the Heads of States in November for approval. “The divergent views on some of the proposed classes will give guidance on the way forward in harmonising the classification of the work permits,” said Ms Makoffu. Tanzania was of the view that class D1 and D2, involving diplomats and employees of international organisations respectively, should not be provided for in the harmonised classifications since they are covered in other protocols. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda said that the classification should be maintained. “EAC countries need to prioritise harmonising procedures and work permit fees, labour laws and review their social protection Acts for their citizens to ease the free movement of labour in the region,” said...

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and TradeMark Africa have signed a memorandium of understanding (MoU) to boost trade in East Africa. According to a statement issued, the MoU signed in Geneva, Switzerland will help to boost trade in the region through collaboration trade and gender, trade facilitation, including customs automation and trade portals and improving port infrastructure. "UNCTAD is excited about this new partnership with Trade- Mark East Africa. This partnership reinforces UNCTAD capacity to assist East Africa in the implementation of trade enhancing reforms," the Deputy Secretary General for UNCTAD, Joakim Reiter is quoted as saying during the contribution agreement signing ceremony. Speaking at the signing ceremony, TradeMark CEO Frank Matsaert noted that trade infrastructure is critical to East Africa's prosperity and in creating the much needed jobs in the region. Currently, East Africa's trade corridors are characterised by long transit times and high costs. Freight costs per kilometre are more than 50 per cent higher than costs in the United States and Europe and for the landlocked countries, transport costs can be as high as 45per cent of the value of exports, he said. "We are delighted to enter into a MoU with UNCTAD which provides a platform for cooperation between our two organisations. This will help us work together with our partners in the EAC in a more coordinated way in such areas as implementing the Bali TFA and women in trade," he said. Source: All Africa

The National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has approved 32 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), whose products will now bear the body’s ‘S’ and ‘Q’ marks for standards and quality respectively. Acquiring either of the two UNBS’ marks means products from these small-scale manufacturers will have attained the required quality and safety standards for local and regional markets. At least 32 owners of the MSMEs, engaged in food processing, bakery, wine brewing, bottled water and honey packaging, received certificates for their enterprises at the UNBS headquarters. Amelia Kyambadde, the minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, who presided over the award of certificates to the companies, noted that many SMEs had failed to compete in the market because they produced low-quality products that were poorly packaged, labelled and sometimes unsafe for human consumption. Government has set particular emphasis on developing and making SMEs competitive as one of the avenues to boost its domestic tax base and create employment opportunities. Currently, SMEs provide employment to more than 2.5 million people in manufacturing, service, commerce and trade sectors, according to government figures. They account for 90 per cent of the entire private sector. The latest MSMEs’ certification followed several months of rigorous training of entrepreneurs and testing their products in UNBS labs, after receiving a three million Euros (Shs 11bn) boost from Swedish Development Agency (Sida) and TradeMark Africa. Working with the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), the ministry of trade, industry and cooperatives identified the 32 MSMEs from Sheema, Apac, Lira, Masaka,...

Geneva – July 1st, 2015 – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and TradeMark Africa have signed an MOU which is aimed at boosting trade in East Africa through collaboration on Trade and Gender, Trade Facilitation, including Customs automation and trade portals and improving port infrastructure. [caption id="attachment_8117" align="alignleft" width="600"] From Left to Right, TMA CEO Frank Matsaert and UNCTAD Deputy Secretary General, Joakim Reiter, exchanging MOU documents in Geneva.From Left to Right, TMA CEO Frank Matsaert and UNCTAD Deputy Secretary General, Joakim Reiter, exchanging MOU documents in Geneva.[/caption] Speaking during the contribution agreement signing ceremony in Geneva, the Deputy Secretary General for UNCTAD Joakim Reiter said: “UNCTAD is excited about this new partnership with TradeMark Africa. This partnership reinforces UNCTAD capacity to assist East Africa in the implementation of trade enhancing reforms”. Speaking at the signing ceremony, TradeMark CEO Frank Matsaert noted that trade infrastructure is critical to East Africa’s prosperity, and in creating the much needed jobs in the region. Currently East Africa’s trade corridors are characterised by long transit times and high costs. Freight costs per kilometre are more than 50% higher than costs in the United States and Europe, and for the landlocked countries, transport costs can be as high as 45% of the value of exports. “We are delighted to enter into a MoU with UNCTAD which provides a platform for cooperation between our two organisations. This will help us work together with our partners in the EAC in a more coordinated way...