Exporters in Uganda were equipped with skills to increase trade with India following training on Duty Free Tariff Preference for Africa (DFTP) led by the International Trade Centre (ITC) at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, February 24, 2015. The training focusing on the theme: Taking Advantage of Trading Preferences to India was organised in conjunction with Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI). The training workshop was planned as part of the Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa (SITA), (http://www.intracen.org/sita/) project, funded by the United Kingdom (UK) and Northern Ireland’s Department for International Development. SITA shall be launched during the fourth Partnership Platform Meeting in New Delhi, India March 19-20, 2015. This follows a year-long design and identification of sectors and products to start the project. A delegation of 11 Ugandans led by the President of UNCCI, Olive Zaitun Kigongo will attend the SITA launch. During the implementation of SITA (2015-2020) Uganda exporters will benefit from Government of India’s DFTP Scheme. The scheme offers duty-free market access to exports from least developed countries on 98% of Indian tariff lines. It was established that despite a long history of economic relations between the two countries, India remains an insignificant destination for Uganda’s exports, absorbing less than 1% of the country’s total exports in 2012. The Indian DFTP scheme can become a game changer, offering Ugandan exporters a competitive edge in accessing the Indian market. There is need for technical assistance from India to Uganda in areas of agriculture mechanization,...

If you are a graduate within the East African Community, you could look beyond your country for a job opportunity. Presidents of Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda have agreed to waive working permit fees for citizens within the regional bloc. Speaking to journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Kampala, Okello Oryem, the state minister for foreign affairs said that Presidents Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) agreed during the recently concluded 9th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit in Kigali, Rwanda on March 7, 2014 that professionals should freely seek opportunities within the member states. However, Oryem said, that the waiver only applies to professionals and that member states would reciprocate the same. “Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda professionals can now work within the member states freely. However, one should be a professional. If you are a riffraff, cleaner, sweeper, office messenger or serving tea, we don’t want you in Uganda. This waiver only applies to professionals,” he said. Before the waive on permit fees, citizens within the EAC member states were required to apply for a work permit if they were to seek opportunities in any state within the bloc. At the Kigali Northern Corridor Integration projects summit, Presidents Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania) and Salva Kiir (South Sudan) attended in a move observers said would improve the joint implementation of the various infrastructure development projects that EAC leaders want to implement. The Northern Corridor brings together Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan. Tanzania, Burundi, and...

China accounted for over Sh1.8 trillion ($20 billion) worth of infrastructure development in East Africa last year, indicating the country’s growing influence in the region’s infrastructure development. New data shows that the Asian dragon’s share of the region’s Sh5.4 trillion ($60 billion) large infrastructure projects almost doubled from 19 per cent in 2013 to 31 per cent in 2014. According to the third edition of the annual Deloitte African Construction Trends Report 2014, China continues to bolster its lead in bagging mega-construction tenders in the region. “In terms of construction, China is still leading and maintains a strong foothold,” stated Mark Smith, head of infrastructure and capital projects at Deloitte East Africa. In 2013, Europe and the US accounted for 37 per cent of infrastructure construction but this share has since shrunk to 18 per cent in 2014. The report states that the number of mega-construction projects in East Africa declined by 55 per cent with the value of the same shrinking by 10 per cent, from $67 billion (Sh6 trillion) to $60 billion (Sh5.4 trillion). “Our view is that while there has been a dip in current activity, there are a large number of significant projects in the planning phase that have not yet reached financial close and are thus not yet reflecting in the statistics of projects under construction,” explained Dr Smith (pictured). In East Africa, transport projects took the bulk of the infrastructure spend accounting for 59 per cent of the projects with energy projects accounting for...

East African member states have been advised to make critical assessment of single income tax rates. A law expert, Anatoly Nahayo said recently in Dar es Salaam after launching his book titled “East African Community Tax Harmonisation.” He said the move will ease allocation of capital shares within EAC member states especially mobile capital. “Member states should find ways to agree in this matter. Otherwise, it will be difficult to shift to a common market effectively,” he said. Elaborating, he said, currently, ministers of finance in the member states have been given power to exempt tax and no one has to judge. He also said the EAC member states should debate on tax harmonisation and put in place laws that will govern it. He said there are many challenges that need to be addressed so as to create fairness particularly in employment around the bloc whereby workers move from one country to another in search of a job. There are double charges recorded to the workers moving from one country to the other especially rates charged on pensions and charged in general. Nahaya explained that if checked, all workers moving to another country within the bloc will be charged the same tax rates. Nahana further said there is no democracy to protest the decision of finance ministers to exempt individual businessmen or company. “It’s high time our local experts addressed national issues in the EAC. Currently, there is no tax harmonisation in the regional bloc,” he said. On April 9,...

Tea prices have gone up by 30 per cent in the last three months as the shortage of green leaf in factories continue to be witnessed following the ongoing drought in most parts of the country. A kilogramme of tea at the Mombasa auction traded at $2.64 (Sh240) in the latest sale last week, compared to a six-year low of $2.04 (Sh184) in December last year. The price of the commodity has been rising since the beginning of the year, raising hopes of farmers who for the last two years have been grappling with low prices. But Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA), which manages 66 factories for the small-scale farmers, said the increase in price will not have a huge impact on earnings. KTDA said the current dry spell in tea growing areas may not last for long as production will relapse to normal with the onset of long rains in March /April. “The dry spell currently being experienced across the tea growing areas may have a slight impact on the earnings,” says KTDA in a statement. In January, tea production dropped by 9.21 per cent from 117.3 million kilogrammes to 106.4 million kilogrammes, compared to the same period last year. Made tea shrunk by 4.65 per cent to 26.1 million kilogrammes at the beginning of the year from 27.4 kilogrammes last year. The agency said that the weather observations made in January and February, indicate that the coming months will experience even lower tea production levels because of the...

The impact of the deadly Ebola virus has fallen mainly on three African countries but tourism has taken a hit across the continent, tourism chiefs say. About 56 million people visited Africa in 2014, a two-percent rise from the previous year, according to UNWTO figures. However, growth lagged behind that in Europe, Asia and the Americas. And the increase was also down on the robust 4.8 percent gain a year earlier. "Africa has done well in spite of suffering from the Ebola symptoms which were associated unfairly" with Africa as a whole, UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) head Taleb Rifai said at the Berlin tourism fair (ITB) on Friday. Africa needed support, especially after the Ebola crisis, he said, adding: "It was very unfair the generalisation that happened." Marie France Adieme-N'Dja, of Ivory Coast's tourism office, said Ebola had created panic. "We have operators who have had cancelled bookings because of the fear of Ebola. However, in Ivory Coast there has not been a single case," she said. Showing off its nine national parks and 550 kilometres of sunny beaches, the Ivorian tourist office is one of many African stands at the ITB trying to woo back visitors as the epidemic appears to have been brought under control. Almost 24,000 people have been infected with the Ebola virus since December 2013, almost all in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, and 9807 of them have died, according to the WHO. The countries at the centre of the epidemic are forecast to...

China is set to be a key player in the financing of key Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP), going by a recent resolution by East African Community member states. There are 14 projects under the NCIP, including the standard gauge railway. Other aspects include ICT, oil refinery development and fast-tracking the political federation. The 9th northern corridor summit held in Rwanda last week chose China to finance the projects. Ministers of Finance and Infrastructure were also directed to take the necessary steps to start the arrangements. They were told to consolidate the financial requirement, structure and mainstream projects, appropriations in the financial year 2015/ 2016 and subsequent national budgets. “The ministers are also directed to expedite the joint mission to China to source financing as per the directive for the NCIP,” read the summit’s joint communiqué. Finance ministries in partner states are expected to coordinate funding of the projects. The initiatives, if implemented, will have a significant impact on the lives of East Africans. South Sudan and lately Burundi will ultimately benefit from this renewed commitment to the EAC integration. In attendance were Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and South Sudan’s Salva Kiir. EAC chairman and Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, Burundi’s 2nd Vice-President Gervais Rufyikiri and Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Tedros Adhanom attended as observers. President Kenyatta pointed out that greater inter-connectivity of the East African region would increase the ability of member states to trade with each other. Source: Daily Nation

Kenya: The Single Customs Territory (SCT) regime introduced by East African countries a year ago has reduced the cost of doing business by about 50 per cent in the East Africa region, according to Kenya Revenue Authority ( KRA). The system has reduced the time taken to move cargo across the region from 18 days to three between Mombasa and Kampala and 21 days to six between Mombasa and Kigali. Addressing Mombasa port users at a Mombasa hotel, KRA Chief Manager Customs Service Department, Ebby Khaghuli said it has taken political goodwill to achieve the high performance in cargo delivery in the East African Community (EAC). In a presentation on the SCT status, Ms Khaghuli said the new system was achieved through great sacrifice by the states because no consultants or donors were involved in the process. She said the human and financial resources were met by each customs administration. The system is being implemented by revenue authorities in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi amid protests from Kenyan clearing and forwarding agents who claimed it has cost them jobs and business opportunities. "An analysis in EAC region has shown that the SCT has reduced the cost of doing business by about 50 per cent since implementation and the time taken to move cargo across the region from 18 days to three from Mombasa to Kampala, and 21 days to six days from Mombasa to Kigali. It takes political goodwill to achieve what has been achieved in the EAC region," Khaghuli...

East African ministers and secretariat members hold 800 meetings each year. That is an average of three meetings each day, all aimed at navigating the complex nature of the East African Community’s integration process. For 11 years now, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and more recently, Rwanda and Burundi, have been on a journey towards achieving regional political and economic harmony. Over this time, the value of the region’s combined product output has risen to Sh6.8 trillion ($75 billion), according EAC’s Secretary General Richard Sezibera. But behind the relative success of the process lie many missteps and criticisms. The most recent is the diplomatic tussle between Kenya and Tanzania on tour van access to airports and tourist sites. TradeMark Africa (TMA) is one of the institutions in a caucus of government ministries, development partners, civil society watchdogs and non-governmental organisations forming a support system for the EAC’s delicate walk towards regional integration. Business Beat sat with TMA’s Chris Kiptoo (country director) to discuss the integration process and the opportunities and challenges that exist. How far, in your opinion, would you say we are from achieving our regional integration goals. Considering the complexity and scope of the integration agenda, and the fact that integration requires ceding some degree of national sovereignty, the EAC partner states have made substantive progress in achieving regional integration goals. Indeed, EAC is often seen as one of the economic blocks that has made the greatest progress across the continent. The EAC region is now a common market, ushering...

East African member states have been advised to make critical assessment of single income tax rates. A law expert, Anatoly Nahayo said recently in Dar es Salaam after launching his book titled “East African Community Tax Harmonisation.” He said the move will ease allocation of capital shares within EAC member states especially mobile capital. “Member states should find ways to agree in this matter. Otherwise, it will be difficult to shift to a common market effectively,” he said. Elaborating, he said, currently, ministers of finance in the member states have been given power to exempt tax and no one has to judge. He also said the EAC member states should debate on tax harmonisation and put in place laws that will govern it. He said there are many challenges that need to be addressed so as to create fairness particularly in employment around the bloc whereby workers move from one country to another in search of a job. There are double charges recorded to the workers moving from one country to the other especially rates charged on pensions and charged in general. Nahaya explained that if checked, all workers moving to another country within the bloc will be charged the same tax rates. Nahana further said there is no democracy to protest the decision of finance ministers to exempt individual businessmen or company. “It’s high time our local experts addressed national issues in the EAC. Currently, there is no tax harmonisation in the regional bloc,” he said. On April 9,...