Author: Giza Mdoe

The next step in harmonizing policies and operating modules, is the need centralizing the related revenue administration and collection, because; “When we harmonize our tax administration we shall not compete with each other as EAC member states,” the sector experts reasoned.

There is also the matter of Visa fees which gravely affect the ability of traders to move between countries. It is now expected that the Republics of South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya will expedite the removal of visa fees while the rest of the EAC partner states still need to remove what was described as ‘discriminatory fees, levies, and charges’ that hinder trade and persons movement across borders.

The situation is no better across the border in Kenya, since both countries are geographically on the Indian Ocean they are major international air and water transit locations for traffickers from Asia and Latin America to Europe and the Arabian Peninsula.

As is the case for Tanzania, the report also cites corruption as a central reason behind traffickers choice of ports. As a result Kenya is also a transit country that is quickly becoming a destination for a various of drugs and especially heroin and cocaine as well as drugs that are used to produce methamphetamine.

“Heroin originating from Southwest Asia enters Kenya both from direct shipping across the Indian Ocean via south Asia and, increasingly, from countries to the south, such as Tanzania and Mozambique. Most of the heroin entering Kenya is destined for international markets, principally Europe. Cocaine enters Kenya primarily via transshipment through Ethiopia from South America,” it reads.

While others are still trying to wrap their heads around blockchains and the safety of cryptos, Africa is embracing this digital currency with both hands. So much that in Kenya, you can even buy your groceries and I mean vegetables with cryptocurrencies. That’s right, and this is not only in urban centres like the bustling capital of Nairobi, no, no, no, but it is also in the villages, upcountry. Peasants on the Coastal towns are trading in cryptos, buying and selling. Here we are not talking of mining cryptos only but rather using the digital currency for normal day to…

Even though East Africa’s two economic giants Kenya and Tanzania are seen as business rivals, the two conduct enormous trade between each other and least of all not been the trade of the staple, corn. According to the UN COMTRADE database on international trade, Kenya exports to Tanzania clocked USD 294.94 last year (2020). In fact, Tanzania has now bypassed Uganda to become Kenya’s largest export market in East Africa. Reports show that the US imported goods from Kenya worth $41.8 million in June this year and guess which country comes next, Tanzania recording an amazing $31.6 million of Kenyan…

On the bright side, even with the credit growth slowdown, it remained positive, growth still maintained and upward trajectory. This is also for both domestic credit extended to the private sector as well as the central government too.

Growth is expected to improve as the global economy normalizes over time but meanwhile, the government, through the central bank is instituting measures to increase liquidity and reduce lending rates, which in turn is expected to allow the private sector to have increased access to credit.

As part of these fiscal measures, the BoT has already issued TShs1 trillion to commercial lenders to help beef up their lending capacity and to do so at lower interest rates. This in turn is meant to encourage the private sector to borrow and increase production.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has, since taking power in March this year, embarked on a path to rebuild corroded investor confidence in the country. The new president, the first female head of state in the country, has not been shy about admitting that the investment climate in Tanzania has been poor and is worsening by the day. As such, she has publicly asked her government to do all it can to rebuild investor confidence and first and foremost, make the country’s tax regime affordable, fees and regulations acceptable and residency and work permits less bureaucratic. Lucrative investment lies in major national development projects and since the country has a list…

Tanzania may have been bumped up to low-middle income status but its housing sector speaks a lot as to the people’s well-being. According to the  Center for Affordable Housing in Africa (CAHF) the current housing deficit is more than three million housing units and majority of the urban population are not house-owners but renters, or to call a spade a spade, squatters. There is an annual demand growth of 200,000 unit with a projected cost of US$12 billion. Yet despite this high demand for housing, supply remains very limited marred by limited financing options and when available, it is untouchable due to high…

The Serengeti, home to the largest annual migration of over 1.5 million wildebeest and zebras making it your never-miss animal show on Discovery Channel, is in peril. For more than a decade now, human activity has interfered with the ‘cradle of mankind.’ This ‘Eden’ so to speak, is home to Olduvai Gorge where the oldest human fossil nicknamed ‘Lucy’ was found. The site remains an invaluable asset in furthering understanding of early human evolution and is believed to have been traversed by our upright walking ancestors, the Homo Erectus. What our two million years old ancestors must have seen every year starting early May, is the migration…

As of July 1, price for petroleum products in Tanzania increased drastically owing to the amendments outlined in the country’s new Finance Act as passed by parliament.  A huge chunk of the money you pay at the pump goes to the government in taxes; in fact the government takes anything between 30 and 40 percent in form of taxes, levies and regulatory fees.

Nonetheless, Tanzania’s Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) still attributed the price hike to global trends, in part admitting to the tax effect and in part deflecting it to global trends.

A recent report showcasing how Covid-19 has affected travel with restrictions has shown that Kenya is the recent most banned nation across East Africa. Kenyan’s are banned from travelling to at least 54 countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The East African nation is cited to be among countries due to be hit by the fourth wave of the highly contagious Covid-19 Delta variant virus. The country’s Health Ministry made the announcement recently urging its citizen to act with caution. This fourth wave is said to be much more transmissible than the earlier two varieties. It was first identified in…