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Nairobi, Kenya – Fifteen years on from the launch of the World Trade Organisation, the prospect of free trade between the old and new members of the East African Community is set to become reality in 2010. Kenya’s trade with the far smaller neighbouring economies has increased by a third since 1995, and Tanzania’s trade with Kenya has risen by 300%. Economic integration is underway in East Africa. The trajectory is similar in other regions – the Southern African Development Community and West Africa’s ECOWAS. Trade has eclipsed other concerns within Africa’s regional institutions – a ‘spaghetti soup’ of overlapping mandates and memberships – for too long. No doubt trade is important, to fuel economic growth and to create more diversified economies. But for a majority of people, the benefits of these expanding regional blocs remain elusive. A new emphasis on building cross-border infrastructure, regional power and telecommunications networks, ‘development corridors’ and common regional standards is emerging to challenge the old orthodoxy. ‘Regional public goods’ such as these can enhance Africa’s regional integration project more than increased trade – and they are the most direct and effective means of improving the incomes and livelihoods of the poor. – Mark Ashurst, Director, Africa Research Institute
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• This e-bulletin offers stories from African newspapers on regional integration – from East Africa’s common market to diplomatic intervention in Madagascar’s political crisis.
Regional cooperation has grown in Africa in the last decade, but its goals are not always clear. Integration is too often seen as an end in itself. Our latest paper, Going Public: How Africa’s integration can work for the poor, calls for greater focus on poverty reduction.
The provision of regional public goods, whether publicly or privately funded, is the most effective way to achieve this objective. |
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Presidents sign common market pact The heads of state of the five East African Community (EAC) members – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – signed a protocol to establish a common economic market within the region. Residents of the member states will be granted the right to live and work anywhere in the region. They will be subject to the same laws and entitled to the same rights as national residents. Restrictions on the movement of capital belonging to nationals from the region will be removed. Member states will also harmonise fiscal policy to remove tax distortions and promote regional investment. Plans for the East African Common Market have been in motion since the creation of a customs union in 2005, but discussions stalled over the issue of land ownership. Tanzania objected to an earlier draft that included a provision for land ownership, arguing it would conflict with national laws. Under the current document, land use and access will be governed by national laws of member states. The EAC plans to introduce a single currency by 2012. Source: The Citizen (Dar es Salaam) |
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Related Stories: |
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Egyptian railway entry signals wave of new investment in East Africa Sunday, 10th January 2010 An Egyptian firm has bid for a stake in Kenya’s troubled Rift Valley Railways (RVR) despite fierce opposition from a Kenyan rival. more |
Zain expands mobile commerce in Africa Zain, Africa’s leading mobile telecommunications company, announced the expansion of its mobile banking service, ‘Zap’, into Sierra Leone, Niger and Malawi. more |
AU to push for quick solution to Madagascar crisis Friday, 8th January 2010 The African Union (AU) has revised its approach to mediation in Madagascar’s political crisis. more |
Serious gaps in infrastructure still exist in countries surveyed by the World Bank Saturday, 12th December 2009 Infrastructure gaps in power, water and transport sectors reduce the productivity of African business by up to 40%, according to the World Bank. more
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Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia get US$452m for roads
Saturday, 7th November 2009 The African Development Bank approved a US$452 million loan for the development of road infrastructure in Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. more |
Woman wins case against Niger
Monday, 27th October 2008 A regional court found the state of Niger guilty of failing to protect one of its citizens from slavery. more |
Africa Research Institute is a non-partisan think tank based in London and founded in February 2007. Our mission is to draw attention to ideas which have worked in Africa, and to identify areas where new ideas are needed. For more information please visit our website www.africaresearchinstitute.org |
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From our Archive: |
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Egyptian railway entry signals wave of new investment in East Africa Sunday, 10th January 2010 An Egyptian firm has bid for a stake in Kenya’s troubled Rift Valley Railways (RVR) despite fierce opposition from a Kenyan rival. Citadel Capital plans to purchase 49% of Sheltam, the South African-owned shareholder in RVR. The Ugandan government has expressed support for the deal, but Trans-Century, a well-connected Kenyan investment company, is fighting to block the sale. “As long as they have sufficient funds to inject in the venture, we have no problem with them. What we want is a vibrant and efficient railway,” said Uganda’s minister for works, John Byabagambi. Citadel Capital said it would invest at least US$150 million in the railway by the end of January this year, as part of a wider plan to invest between US$200 million and US$400 million in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia in 2010. “We are looking at industries that have a wide consumer base and the potential to go regional,” said Karim Sadek, managing director of Citadel Capital. Sadek said the signing of the East African Community Common Market Protocol in November 2009, with the prospect of Southern Sudan and the DRC joining the bloc, would make the region the continent’s biggest investment destination. The East African Zain expands mobile commerce in Africa Saturday, 9th January 2010 Zain, Africa’s leading mobile telecommunications company, announced the expansion of its mobile banking service, ‘Zap’, into Sierra Leone, Niger and Malawi. The service was initially launched in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in February 2009, and currently boasts more than 10 million users. Zap is Africa’s most comprehensive mobile banking service, enabling customers to send and receive money or airtime, pay for goods or services, withdraw cash and manage bank accounts. Users are not required to have a bank account or fixed address, and the service can be accessed on the most basic mobile phone handsets. Zap is a part of Zain’s ‘One Platform’ service, which enables customers to travel to other countries where Zain operates and pay local rates for calls and services, without roaming surcharges. “The expansion of this revolutionary mobile commerce service to Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone is an extremely important step in pushing the boundaries of mobile communications ... We already saw the impact Zap has made in the economies of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and we are confident that we will see a similar impact in Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone, where formal banking services are largely restricted to urban hubs,” said Dr Saad Al Barrak, chief executive of Zain Group. Zain is currently the world’s largest mobile phone service provider in terms of geographic coverage, with more than 41.9 million customers in 16 countries. Concord Times (Freetown) AU to push for quick solution to Madagascar crisis Friday, 8th January 2010 The African Union (AU) has revised its approach to mediation in Madagascar’s political crisis. Jean Ping, chairman of the AU Commission, said the country could not return to political stability until the four largest political factions, led by Rajoelina, Ravalomanana and two former presidents, agreed on a process for holding presidential and parliamentary elections. The AU hopes to draft a compromise deal which it would present to the four factions by 25th January. The Indian Ocean island has been without an internationally recognised government since former president Marc Ravalomanana was ousted, in March 2009, in a military-backed coup led by Andry Rajoelina, then mayor of the country’s capital Antananarivo. Negotiations, mediated by the AU with the International Contact Group on Madagascar (ICG), led to the formation of a transitional government, headed by Rajoelina, in November 2009. But in December 2009 Rajoelina sacked the consensus prime minister, appointing an ally and high-ranking military official instead, and announced elections for March 2010. AU mediators have called on Rajoelina to cancel the planned March elections and return to the negotiating table. Madagascar has been suspended from both the AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the AU said it would consider sanctions against political groups which obstructed negotiations. Afrique en ligne Serious gaps in infrastructure still exist in countries surveyed by the World Bank Saturday, 12th December 2009 Infrastructure gaps in power, water and transport sectors reduce the productivity of African business by up to 40%, according to the World Bank. A new report, ‘Africa’s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation’, warned that poor infrastructure also reduced annual national economic growth by 2% a year. The survey spans 24 African countries, including South Africa, which account for 85% of the continent’s gross domestic product. The report lauded improvements in information and communication technology (ICT), which it said helped to boost economic growth by 4% per annum between 2001 and 2005. But Africa’s infrastructure lags far behind other developing regions. The need to address the deficiencies of the power sector was singled out. The cost of power in Africa is up to twice that of other developing regions, and 30 countries regularly experience power shortages. “In 1970, sub-Saharan Africa had almost three times the generating capacity per million as south Asia. In 2000, south Asia had left sub-Saharan Africa far behind with almost twice the generation capacity per million people”. The report estimates the cost of reducing Africa’s infrastructure deficit at US$93 billion per annum over the next decade, double the estimate of the Commission for Africa in 2005. The power sector accounts for 40% of the total. Business Report Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia get US$452m for roads Saturday, 7th November 2009 The African Development Bank approved a US$452 million loan for the development of road infrastructure in Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The bulk of the loan, US$326.5 million, is earmarked for the construction of the second phase of the Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor. The project involves the construction of 438km of road, including the 245km Merille river-Marsabit-Turbi road section in northeast Kenya and the 193km Ageremariam-Yabelo-Mega road section in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. Both road sections are located in semi-arid regions with poor transport infrastructure. Amadou Oumarou, the African Development Bank’s chief transportation engineer said the loan, “will promote intra-regional trade, reduce transport and shipping costs between Kenya and Ethiopia, reduce transit time for imports and exports and increase the volume of Ethiopian goods transiting through the Mombasa port in Kenya and Horn of Africa”. A one-stop border post will also be constructed on the Kenya-Ethiopia border. The remaining US$125.5 million will finance a project in Uganda aimed at improving road access for an estimated 800,000 people living in the western districts of Kiruhura, Ibanda and Kamwenge. East African Business Week Monday, 27th October 2008 A regional court found the state of Niger guilty of failing to protect one of its citizens from slavery. Hadijatou Mani, who was born into slavery and sold at the age of 12 to a friend of her mother’s ‘master’, says she was regularly beaten and sexually abused. “I am very happy with this decision,” said Mani, now 24. Although formally liberated from slavery in 2005, Mani was imprisoned for bigamy by Niger’s courts when her former master opposed her marriage to another man. He claimed that she had automatically become his wife when he set her free. Mani’s case was brought with the help of anti-slavery organisations. The Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States ordered that Niger pay Mani US$19,030 in damages. “We are law-abiding and will respect this decision”, said Mossi Boubacar, a lawyer for Niger’s government. Anti-Slavery International, a UK-based charity, estimates that 43,000 people are enslaved in Niger, despite the practice being made illegal in 2003. The court dismissed a second charge that the state legitimised slavery through customary laws which, say activists, discriminate against women. Mail & Guardian |
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