Regional Economic Integration Support (REIS) Programme, funded by the European Union, has been a catalyst for the rapid development of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) management in the region over the past fifteen months. Aimed at facilitating the improvement of trade in agricultural commodities within the region and internationally, fostering compliance with regional and international multilateral trade agreements and creating awareness of SPS measures amongst farmers and agro-food processors; the Programme is supporting meetings of the regional SPS Coordinating Committee (SADC SPS CC), the Livestock Technical Committee (LTC), the Plant Protection Technical Committee (PPTC) and the Food Safety Technical Committee (FSTC); and it is also facilitating workshops to raise awareness on SPS issues amongst food and agriculture stakeholders.

The resolution of outstanding issues under the Economic Partnership Agreements, among others, will no doubt facilitate regional trade in Africa, writes Eromosele Abiodun. In the years before the global financial crisis in 2008, global trade increased exponentially. While African countries benefited from this increase, their share in world trade has remained low. Africa’s export trade amounts to only about three per cent of world exports. This poor trade performance partly relates to trade protection outside Africa against African products, but it also stems from constraints that inhibit trade within Africa. With the expectation of a generally moderate recovery of the global economy and of world trade, it is even more important than before to foster African countries’ trade with economies both outside and inside Africa.

A Mauritian energy and manufacturing firm, Omnicane, is set to invest about US$250 million in various sugar plantation projects in Savelugu in the Northern Region, following the conclusion of a test that proved the project’s commercial and production viability. The five-year project, which is planned to produce more than 100,000 tonnes of refined sugar annually, is expected to yield job prospects for residents in one of the most poverty-endemic areas in the country.

Kenya on Tuesday called on African governments to urgently expand their ports so as not to lose out on the resurgent global maritime trade. Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) chairman Danson Mungatana told a regional maritime conference in Nairobi that most of the African ports are experiencing between 10-12 percent growth. "Over the last decade, the global maritime trade has been expanding. It is expected to grow by an average 7.5 percent over the next six years to around 840 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) in 2016," Mungatana told delegates drawn from various countries in the region at the East Africa Transport Infrastructure Conference.

RWANDA long-haul truck drivers have expressed optimism after the Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe pledged Tanzania's commitment to removing all bottlenecks along the Central Corridor. The Central Corridor connects Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and DR Congo to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The drivers have persistently complained of several non-tariff barriers that include roadblocks, weighbridges, corruption and theft that have hindered free movement of labour and goods along the corridor. "We discussed various issues and he assured us that if any Rwandan transporter faces any challenge along the way, they should report to him directly," one of the driver, Issa Mugarura said.

A new report by the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa shows that the port of Dar es Salaam is the most expensive for importers in the region, besides being the slowest in clearing goods. Dar es Salaam charges wharfage as a percentage of the value of the cargo, 16 per cent for domestic imports, 12.5 per cent for transit imports and 1 per cent for domestic and transit exports. The report also shows that weighbridges, police checkpoints and heavy traffic in major cities like Nairobi, Eldoret and Kampala were the main causes of delays on the two transport corridors in East Africa and urges East African governments to invest in infrastructure and provide incentives for the private sector to provide more efficient transport and logistics services.

Recent news reports indicate that trade among East African partner states is growing by leaps and bounds. This is a positive development that regional leaders should seek to build upon and encourage. Rwandan exports to other East African Community countries, for instance, grew significantly in the first half of this year despite a poor showing in global markets. Exports to the EAC amounted to $97.8 million in the first half of 2014, up from $70.7 million in the same period last year. This represented a 38.6 per cent increase. Imports to Rwanda from the regional bloc, on the other hand, increased by 3.7 per cent from $239 million to $247.8 million in the same period.

Rwanda is ranked first with a score of 3.52 in this year’s East Africa Logistics Performance trade survey.  The survey pities the East African Community member states against each other in a bid to establish deterrents of effective trade within the region.  The 2014 Logistics Performance Survey (LPS), annual report published by the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA), shows Uganda and Tanzania take the second and third positions with aggregated scores of 3.07 and 2.89, respectively. Kenya is placed number four with a score of 2.82 and Burundi is at position five, with an aggregated score of 2.78.