Browsing: East Africa Community (EAC)

Five East Africa Community member countries have together amassed more than $100 billion in foreign and domestic debt, stretching their repayment budgets to the limit.

The rapid loans build-up has pushed East African countries close to a debt crisis, putting the region’s long-term economic stability at risk.

Kenya and Burundi have the highest loan distress profiles compared to other EAC countries with their debt -GDP ratios projected to exceed 60 per cent this year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers a 50 per cent debt to GDP ratio to be within the tolerable limit for developing economies such as the EAC members.

In its latest Regional Economic Outlook report, IMF warned that some EAC countries are already facing increased foreign exchange and refinancing risks which he advised that it is important to enhance a debt management frameworks and transparency.

Kenya’s debt-to-GDP ratio is on its way to hit 61.6 per …

Rwanda has maintained its position as the leading country in East Africa on the ease of doing business, the latest World Bank ‘Doing Business 2020’ shows.

This is despite dropping nine places to 38 globally from 29 last year.

READ  ALSO:How Rwanda has strategically positioned itself as an investment hub

Kenya comes in second in the region and 56^th globally, having improved five places from position 61 last year.

READ:Kenya ranks 61 from 80 in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business

Uganda and Tanzania come a distant 116 and 141 globally respectively while DR Congo and South Sudan are near the bottom ranking 183 and 185 respectively, out of the total 190 in the index. This places them third fourth fifth and sixth respectively in the region.

Indicators that make Rwanda top include starting a business which has been made easy by exempting newly formed small and …

East Africa Community (EAC) plans to have a single East African currency by 2024 has collapsed, sending member countries back to the drawing board.

The East Africa Community (EAC) Council of Ministers, the central decision-making and governing organ of the EAC, resolved that the five years deadline by which the region was supposed to have created a monetary union and adopted a common currency is not attainable.

The Council, which had a day-long meeting in Arusha, resolved to draw new timelines to achieve the ambitious target of creating an EAC Monetary Union, which is one of the four pillars of regional integration.

The EAC is behind its plans in setting up relevant institutions to support a single currency. The East African Monetary Institute (EAMI), the equivalent of a regional central bank that was supposed to be up and running in 2015.

Member countries were supposed to comply with the EAC…

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) have agreed to promote sustainable peace and development along the two countries’ borders, in a latest pact signed by the two East Africa states.

The programme dubbed Cross-Border Sustainable Peace and Development seeks to end hostilities among the three neighbouring communities and enhance development in the region by promoting non-violent interactions and collaborations.

The three communities are Turkana, Pokot and Karamojong which live along the Kenya-Uganda border.

The UN-supported intervention that will be led by a ministerial committee co-chaired by Kenya and Uganda will be implemented in the region to reduce tensions resulting from access to shared resources such as water and pasture.

Speaking during the launch ceremony in Moroto town, President Kenyatta welcomed the agreement saying it will help spur development in the region which has for many years suffered unnecessary communal conflicts.

“This programme, in cooperation with the UN, is a …

The East African Business Council (EABC) has secured US$ 3.2 million financing from TradeMark East Africa Africa (TMEA) to support trade initiatives mainly addressing barriers in the region.

This will support  implementation of a three year programme,“Integrating Public-Private Sector Dialogue (PPD) for Trade and Investment in East Africa Community (EAC) Programme”.

The partnership will support  EABC’s advocacy efforts of improving coordination, reporting and resolution of  Non- Tariff Barriers along the corridors; harmonization and adoption of East African Standards, Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, improve adoption and harmonization of customs and  domestic tax-related policies and trade facilitation in the EAC.

To strengthen and sustain EAC’s trade and investment, it is critical that an enabling environment is in place to guarantee growth and predictability.

Public‐Private Dialogue plays a crucial role in addressing constraints, providing short‐term stimulus with long‐term impact and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction.

The project will enhance advocacy …

The Kenyan business community is now hopeful Tanzania will uphold its commitment of opening up its borders for trade under the Single Customs Territory (SCT), after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Tanzania this weekend.

The diplomatic and trade relations of the two countries had last week plummeted following remarks by a Nairobi politician, which indicated foreigners would be thrown out.

Emotions ran high among legislators of the two countries, after Kenyan-Starehe MP Charles Njagua’s remarks on foreigners.

The legislator on June 26, turned the heat on foreign traders accusing them of taking over key city markets, while they harassed. He threatened to flash out foreigners and have them deported.

Njagua’s sentiments were not well received in Tanzania where a heated debate ensued in Parliament, with legislators threatening a diplomatic action against Kenya.

READ ALSO:Tanzania’s ‘jilted lover’ attitude hinders uniting East Africa

Tanzania’s opposition leader Freeman Mbowe said though Hon.Njagua …

Kenya

As the East Africa Community (EAC) member states gear towards becoming net oil and gas exporters, a latest industry report has sent mixed signals on how the region is performing in the development of its oil projects.

It has emerged that Kenya has made major development in the first half of this year compared to her neighbour Uganda which is still lagging behind in its oil projects, mainly exploration and the planned construction of a pipeline linking its oil fields to the Tanga Port in Tanzania.

Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) which has operations in both countries, through Joint Ventures, has noted that significant progress has been made over the first six months of the year in Kenya on both the Early Oil Production Scheme (EOPS) and the Foundation Stage of “Project Oil Kenya.”

“In May 2019, EOPS production was increased from 600 bopd (barrels of oil per day) to …

The Kenya shilling is arguably the strongest currency among the East Africa Community (EAC) member states, giving the region’s economic power house a competitive edge over her peers in international trade. 

READ:Here are Kenya’s biggest trading partners

However, the country has been operating a managed shilling than a free float currency, running a risk of making its exports more expensive in the short run as compared to competitors, eventually causing a reduction in export earnings and the economy’s growth, a report by Amana Capital has established.

Amana’s “Kenya’s Economic Puzzle – Putting the pieces together” report highlighted that 10 years ago, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 97 but has since shot up to 192 to date, meaning what the value Ksh100 (USD0.99) could buy in January 2009 can only buy 50 per cent of that now.

This translates into a 50 per cent devaluation of the purchasing …

The two have agreed to implement a Single Customs Territory (SCT) to enhance clearance of goods and promote trade

After close to two years of a trade tension between Kenya and Tanzania on free market access of locally produced goods, the two neighbours have agreed to call a truce.

Back-to-back trade talks have seen the two agree to open their borders for trade while they move to jointly implement a Single Customs Territory (SCT), as agreed, to enhance the process of clearance of goods.

The SCT is a step towards a full customs union, achievable by the removal of restrictive regulations and reducing internal border controls on goods moving between partner states. The ultimate goal is the free circulation of goods.

The tiff

The two East Africa Community (EAC) member states have recently been entangled in a trade raw on local content which led to a tit-for-tat ban on some …