Kenya and Tanzania are under renewed pressure to harmonize their port procedures and charges to ease flow of shipment to landlocked states in East Africa. Kenya and Tanzania are under renewed pressure to harmonize their port procedures and charges to ease flow of shipment to landlocked states in East Africa. A latest audit of operations at the Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports revealed challenges to traders from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda which affected the overall performance of trade in the region. Source: NTV Uganda

SUCCESSFUL implementation of road projects in the East African region requires firm country commitment and prioritisation, the alignment of national and regional objectives and sufficient engagement and consultation with stakeholders. According to the Director of Infrastructure at the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat Philip Wambugu it was also important to harmonise design, construction and operational standards in the region. This is in addition to having clearly defined and coordinated roles, he said, of national and regional institutions at both implementation and operational stages. The EAC senior official said this in his keynote address to the first Africa Bitumen/Asphalt Forum 2015 in Nairobi over the weekend. The two-day forum brought together more than 120 participants from 25 countries. They are drawn from the various areas of refining, trading, shipping and consulting. The theme of the conference is, "New Frontiers in Global Bitumen Market." Road projects, Wambugu said, are hampered by challenges of insufficient resources; inadequate frameworks in terms of legislation and strong capital markets for mobilisation of funds; slow harmonisation of policies and their implementation at national levels; low levels of voluntary compliance; and insufficient automation. "One of the critical problems that the trucking industry has been having is the lack of return cargo. A truck travelling from Mombasa or Dar es Salaam drops goods in Kigali or Bujumbura but is not allowed to pick return cargo, meaning that you pay for both ways as the transporter," said Wambugu. Officiating at the opening of the meeting Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Transport...

Lusaka- Trade proponents are arguing that the enhancement of regional integration and creation of a grand Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) among the three Southern and East African economic trading blocs cannot be delayed any longer as the global market is yearning for more products from the continent while the groupings need to increase intra-trade among member countries. In recent years, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as well as the East African Community (EAC), have been seeking to join forces in fostering regional integration through trade. Commonly known as the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), the integrated market will comprise the COMESA, the EAC and SADC. The establishment of a single and enlarged market is expected to boost intra-regional trade and deepen regional integration through improved investment flows and enhanced competition. In fact, this integrated arrangement will create a combined population of some 625 million people covering half of the member states of the African Union (AU) and a Gross Domestic Product of about US$1.2 trillion. SADC, COMESA and EAC have agreed to hold the tripartite FTA summit in Egypt to kick start the process, with the gathering scheduled for the end of May 2015. Africa’s longstanding vision is to be an integrated, prosperous and united continent. This vision was supposed to come closer to reality in December last year when the largest integrated market covering 26 countries in eastern and southern Africa (the Grand FTA) was initially earmarked to...

While the business community is upbeat about benefits to accrue when Kagitumba-Mirama Hills One-stop Border Post (OSBP) on Rwanda-Uganda border opens in April, there is need to extend financial services to enable people make full use of the new facility. This was noted Thursday as the Minister for East African Community Affairs, Valentine Rugwabiza, visited the border post to assess progress on the construction of the 24-hour OSBP. The project aims at facilitating easy movement of people and their goods by reducing the time transporters spend clearing goods. It is projected that this will in turn improve intra-regional trade as well as boost revenue collection. Gerard Mahoro, a customs officer, told the minister that while all is set for the April launch, "the picture will not be complete if basic financial services such as banking and insurance are not here to facilitate trade." The nearest commercial bank, Banque Populaire du Rwanda, is 10km away in Matimba trading centre while insurance firms such as Corar and Radiant are far away in Nyagatare. Construction of the OSBP, with $10.5 million funding from TradeMark Africa, is at 95 percent. By April, all the infrastructure-customs and immigration offices, police post, customs inspection sheds and warehouse, clearing and forwarding offices will be ready. Also to be built are roads, water treatment and storage tanks, parking yards and staff quarters. Immigration officials say over 233, 000 tourists crossed this border point in 2013/14. Rugwabiza urged the people to work together and make full use of this...

Kenya’s exports to the East African Community have fallen, largely due to stiff competition from cheap Chinese imports and its own unfavourable tax regime. A survey by the Ministry of East African Community Affairs shows that the volume of Kenya’s exports to the EAC has declined sharply with the major challenge being unfair competition from Chinese traders and the country’s value added tax (VAT) system that has become an impediment to export business. According to the survey, competition from Chinese goods and the unfavourable tax regime account for over 25 per cent and 10 per cent of the total decline in Kenya’s exports to the EAC countries respectively. Other taxation measures such as the industrial development fee (IDF) as well as the railway development fund make Kenyan manufactured goods 5 per cent more expensive than imports from Comesa and SADC countries, according to the report seen by The EastAfrican. Electronic single window The report further says that the implementation of an electronic single window system to facilitate cross-border trade is yet to boost trade. It points out a number of obstacles in the implementation of the platform, particularly related to the understanding of the system itself, the complexity associated with compliance requirements, project support requirements and overall change management programmes. “This explains the further decline in Kenyan exports, particularly to Uganda in 2014,” says the report. “In fact, one of the biggest impediments to the implementation of the SWS was frequent system downtimes that significantly delayed the export process,” the...

Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi are yet to secure internal approvals for the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) to operate in East Africa, five years after the deal was struck. This has left companies with cross-border investments paying tax twice on their incomes. The DTA among the EAC member states was signed on November 30, 2010, but there has been little progress in terms of fast-tracking internal approvals by member countries, including securing Cabinet or parliamentary sanctions to implement the pact. Countries must seek either Cabinet or parliamentary approval to adopt international treaties. The initial deadline was July last year, but it was extended to November 2014 after all the EAC member countries failed to meet the timelines. The agreement is expected to lower taxes and increase cross-border investments. “We expect everybody to be ready by now because that was the last deadline,” an official from Kenya’s National Treasury who did not want to be named said. Only Kenya and Rwanda are ready for the operationalisation of the agreement. Kenya’s Principal Secretary in charge of East African Affairs John Konchellah said the two countries have deposited their internal consent documents with the EAC Secretariat and dismissed fears that there is lack of commitment from their regional counterparts. “Basically there is a lot of goodwill on the integration of the EAC because it is in the interest of everybody that we go in that direction,” Mr Konchella told The EastAfrican last week. Currently, EAC governments tax income earned by investors both in the...

Four Kenyan one-stop border posts are nearing completion and will officially be commissioned by April, setting the stage for faster clearance of goods and travellers. According to Moses Orwa, the project manager of the Lunga Lunga post, the post is almost complete while senior communications manager at Trade Mark East Africa Nelson Karanja said operations at the Holili post in Taita Taveta would start soon. Malaba and Busia will be completed by July and end of the year, respectively. “One-stop border posts envisage a scenario where all exit and entry formalities are handled at one location – in the country of destination, an initiative that will save time and cut down on costs,” said EAC principal secretary John Konchellah. The time taken to clear trucks at the Lunga Lunga border post is expected to reduce by more than 48 hours. It sometimes takes more than two days for a truck to cross the border but once the facility is complete, trucks will take between 20 to 30 minutes or a maximum of two hours during peak time. Currently, clearance of a bus with an average of 60 passengers takes more than two hours but with the new system, the time taken could fall to 45 minutes, according to Kenya Revenue Authority officials at the border. “Effective border management can turn around the economy of an area because it is a catalyst to development. Residents of this area should also know that they are key to the success of the border...

URA projects spur tax compliance but challenges remain Only a few months in her job as Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner General, Doris Akol is desperate to win the hearts and minds of taxpayers. On Jan. 20, she left her capacious office to lead a team of her officials to a visit of traders i n Kampala’s busiest trading hub, Kikuubo, in Kampala. Of course she expected to hear complaints – taxpayers often have many complaints. She listened as the taxpayers went through a litany of the challenges they face. Some of the traders indeed expressed their dissatisfaction with URA’s e-tax system powered by Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA World). Akol admitted that the ASYCUDA network had issues but added that they were expanding capacity of their servers to manage the challenges. Earlier, Akol and URA hosted six Ambassadors of the Netherlands to the various countries in the East African Region plus DR. Congo. They wanted to observe and get a report on the performance of key projects or reforms which their country through Trade Mark East Africa had supported. The projects in question include; ASYCUDA World worth $5.834mn, Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) worth $0.2mn and Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) worth $2 mn. Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Alphons Hennekens, the Ambassador to Uganda, expressed satisfaction with the progress the revenue body had made in fostering regional integration. “We will continue to partner with you so that the East African Community becomes a reality,” he said. Richard Kamajugo,...

KIGALI, Rwanda - The refurbished Kagitumba border facilities are 95% complete and soon will become a modern One Stop Border Post. The project is funded by TradeMark Africa (TMA) which has channeled $10.5million on the Rwandan side. The Rwanda Minister of East African Community Affairs Amb. Valentine Rugwabiza last week was given a guided tour of the complex to access the progress and mobilize all the stakeholders especially other EAC members to find out how ready they are for the border post. “The EAC, which Rwanda is a member is really at the corner of Rwanda’s economic strategy and the economic development since it represents more than 20% of Rwanda’s global trade. This is why we are focusing mainly on border posts which make it much easier to trade with our neighbors than it is to trade with far away countries,” Minister Rugwabiza said soon after the tour at the border post. The Kagitumba border post is shared between Rwanda and her neighbor in Uganda. The construction of the One Stop Border Post at Kagitumba and Mirama border follows the Summit Directives regarding the implementation of One Stop Border Post in EAC which is one of the trade facilitation projects provided for in the Customs Union Protocol. The objective of this infrastructure project is to reduce border-crossing bureaucracy through eliminating double clearing on both sides of the border and reducing time it takes to cross the border hence easing doing business, transport and moving of people between two countries. “We...

Border facilities at the Kenya-Uganda main posts being overhauled and improved. The Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda, Alphons Hennekens recently said, “The integrated border system which will be supported by this facility will eliminate duplication of services on both Uganda and Kenya side and this means elimination of delays and time wastages at the border. One thing I know about investors, is that they hate bureaucracy in trade. What they want is to come here, pay their taxes and do trade without bein delayed by systems. I am convinced that Uganda is on track as far as trade and development are concerned.” Alex Mbanga, the site supervisor at the facility, said there are many expected advantages from the facility which is 80% complete and due to be fully functionally in March, this year. “This integrated border system will enhance service delivery by coordinating all clearance agencies thereby eliminating duplication of services at the border which will definitely reduce on transit time thus attracting more investors in Uganda. The harmonized procedures on Kenyan and Uganda’ side creates predictability in times of time and money on the side of the trader. This is good for Uganda and the East African Community,” he said. Edith Mwanje, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of East African Community Affair, said, “We are moving forward. I can now say we are heading for better days. The integrated community of East Africa is a very demanding system. When the statesmen thought of creating a one bigger community, they did not...