Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

{Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Hillary Onek has said on average, Uganda receives 4,000 refugees daily mainly from its neigbouring countries.}

He made the remarks after West Nile leaders raised a red flag regarding the influx of refugees and how their presence was impacting negatively on the country’s limited resources.

The leaders during the launch of the 10 million Euros European Union (EU) Trust Fund for northern Uganda in Mungula Refugee Settlement, Adjumani District last Thursday also highlighted the continued presence of the refugees they said had led to more substantial demands on natural resources.

Mr Onek (Lamwo County MP) said Uganda is now a home to 1.2 million refugees of which 700,000 are South Sudanese.
He appealed to the international community to take keen interest in resolving the conflicts at the neighborhood, adding that being a refugee is an unpleasant experience.

He added that the only solution to refugee influx is for the development partners to push for political stability in the war affected countries to restore some calm.

“President Museveni is working hard to ensure that peace returns in South Sudan, at least I am his cabinet minister and I know what he is going through to restore peace in the youngest nation,” Mr Onek said.

Meanwhile, Gen Moses Ali, the First deputy Prime Minister, faulted Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) saying it has not done much to restore lasting peace in South Sudan.

He called for a combined effort of the UN Security Council and other players to come up with deliberate measures of ensuring that peace returns to South Sudan.

Source:Daily Monitor

{The government has banned advertising of its services, including tenders and job applications, in commercial media.}

Accounting officers have been warned, in an official memo from the Head of Public Service, that if they place their ads in the media, then they would be forced to pay the cost from their pockets.

All ministries, departments and agencies have been instructed to advertise through a government newspaper, My.Gov, which the government is circulating by inserting in the Star and People Daily.

In a memo stamped ‘secret’ to all ministries, departments and agencies, President Kenyatta’s Chief of Staff and Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua argued that the government is trying to save money.

The memo is dated February 8, 2017, apparently the same day as a special Cabinet meeting that ordered the establishment of a government paper to “articulate” its agenda to the public.

“In line with the government’s desire to cut cost in the provision of services to the public and consequent to the Cabinet decision, there will be no need for MDA’s (ministries, departments and agencies) to use resources allocated to them to advertise their services and convey requests for services from the market,” he said in the memo that was copied to Attorney-General Githu Muigai.

“In this regard, each accounting officer shall ensure that any request for services by them shall be done through ‘MY.GOV’ publication. Any officer found violating this requirement will be liable to surcharge of the amount spent, besides other disciplinary action,” he warned.

The Cabinet, according to the memo, was not satisfied with the role being played by commercial newspapers and TV stations.

“During the special Cabinet meeting held on February 8, 2017, the Cabinet discussed and approved establishment of a wide circulation newspaper to be known as MY.GOV that will articulate the government agenda in a deeper and more accurate way for a better appreciation of government’s effort to improve the livelihood of the citizens,” the memo said.

Mr Kinyua said that the new free circulating newspaper will, in addition to championing the government agenda and adverts, carry articles of government programmes and opportunities for the youth and vulnerable groups, which is allegedly not carried by commercial media.

“The paper will provide a link between the government and the citizens in providing information on government programmes and activities on a timely basis. It will create nationwide window for dissemination of crucial information on government procurement, request for services, and other vital areas.”

My.Gov was first launched as an online portal in 2015 where citizens could access news and information about government. After two years, the government has now decided to expand it to a free daily newspaper.

During the launch, President Kenyatta directed government institutions to shift from advertising using the traditional media to digital platforms.

The President said cutting reliance on newspapers and television stations for advertisements and other communication would significantly bring down the government’s spending on media.

{{ESTABLISH A NEWSPAPER}}

“We are spending hundreds of millions of shillings in advertising through the media. Let the ministries and other public bodies advertise through the digital platform we just launched and save that money for use in other things,” he said.

The My.Gov publication is the third effort by successive governments to establish a newspaper in Kenya.

In December 2011, the government ceased publication of Kenya Today, amid claims of financial misappropriation. The newspaper, which was run jointly by departments of Information and Communication, had been in existence for three years.

Two years earlier, in November 2009, Kenya Times newspaper was wound up after employees successfully petitioned the court on grounds that it owed them money. The Kanu-era newspaper was first published on April 5, 1983.

Previously thriving media sector in Kenya is shrinking, severely hit, partly by technological changes and a government advertising embargo.

Government advertising is tightly controlled by the Government Advertising Agency and is generally determined by how government officials judge coverage.

About 30 per cent of media advertising revenue comes from the government.

Source:Daily Nation

{Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni yesterday underscored the importance of agro-processing industries as the best way to reduce dependence on imports while increasing foreign exchange reserves.}

Citing the Bakhresa group of companies as a test case, he said such firms were key to a country’s economy because “they integrate different levels of production” under which something from the farm, for instance, is processed for sale in the market before the same lands on the family dinner table.

“These industries are saving money for Tanzania, for Uganda, and they also enable the country earn foreign exchange through exports,” he quipped, during his visit to the mills of Bakhresa Group in Dar es Salaam yesterday. His remarks come at a time when Tanzania is currently stepping up efforts to industrialise.

President Museveni who was in the country for a two-day state visit which ended yesterday said Africa was losing a lot of money to foreign markets through imports of both goods and services, noting that Uganda was, for instance, literally giving away to India some $1.5 million every year in the form of imports.

He added that for want of agroprocessing industries, his country was being forced to export raw maize, hence getting less money from the produce. He therefore encouraged the Tanzanian investors to explore investment opportunities in the Ugandan industrial sector, saying: “So I welcome you (Bakhresa) to Uganda …to come and process (our) maize.” Data indicates that Uganda produces four million tons of maize every year but consumes only a quarter (one million tons); the rest is exported.

He also took a swipe at the businesspeople within East Africa who only think of importing goods instead of investing in the manufacturing sector to enable the region export commodities.

The Ugandan leader commended the Bakhresa Group, saying: “a group like this is very good because if I recall what I read at the University (of Dar es Salaam where he studied), you would be what we used to call the impact of national bourgeois,” meaning these are capitalists who are good for the country because you are adding to the wealth of the country, this is different from another type of capitalist, we call a comprador bourgeois …the ones who are importing from outside.”

“The capitalists who only import are turning our countries into markets, they are agent-capitalists, and in Uganda I have a lot of those, but recently we had a conference and they confessed their sins and they say they are going to change,” he added.

The Minister for Industries, Trade and Investment, Mr Charles Mwijage, said Museveni’s tour was a result of a recent meeting of the African Heads of State held in Addis Ababa, at which they agreed that by December this year the African countries should have agreed to trade among themselves under what is called ‘Continental Free Trade Area.

’ “We and Uganda can produce and trade among ourselves. For instance, Uganda produces abundant maize and we import from them,” he said.

Mr Hussein Sufian, Director of Public Relations at the Bakhresa Group, expressed gratitude to the government for giving it opportunity to host President Museveni, saying they have had the opportunity to brief him on their investments in Uganda.

Mr Sufiani explained that the company has invested $60 million on a wheat processing plant in Uganda which is currently milling 1,100 tons per day, adding that the company now seeks to double its daily processing capacity to at least 2,000 tons of wheat.

There are also plans to invest $50 million on another plant to process at least 5,000 tons of maize daily. Meanwhile, president Museveni assured his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli that he was ready to lay a foundation stone for construction of the crude oil pipeline from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga port in Tanzania.

He made the assurance shortly before departing at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) after his two-day state visit in Tanzania. “We have had fruitful discussions with President Magufuli; we have discussed many issues including the envisaged construction of the pipeline and agreed to lay a foundation stone for its implementation,” Mr Museveni stated.

Other leaders who were present to see-off Mr Museveni included Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa in addition to heads of security and defense forces, among other officials.

Source:Daily News

{The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is ready to do business with Zimbabwe and local companies should take advantage of the cordial relations existing between the two countries to export to that country.}

DRC Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Mawampanga Mwana Nanga, said this in Bulawayo on Friday during a seminar organised by ZimTrade to present export opportunities available in Lubumbashi, DRC, to local exporters.

The seminar follows a recent market survey conducted by ZimTrade and a consultancy firm, Africa Corporate Advisor.

Mr Mwana Nanga said through exporting to DRC, Zimbabwe exporters can bring to an end the prevailing foreign currency shortages.

“DRC is a big country with a lot of investment opportunities in different sectors. And Zimbabwean exporters need to take advantage of the good political ties this country enjoys with DRC to export there. DRC’s big economy can be the answer to Zimbabwe’s quest for foreign currency,” he said.

During the breakfast session, it emerged that DRC has vast opportunities in areas such as engineering, electrical, pharmaceutical, fashion and clothing, agri-business, construction, mining and fast moving consumer goods.

Mr Mwana Nanga said his country has overtaken Zambia as the largest producer of copper on the continent producing about a million tonnes of copper annually.

“In order to produce that copper, there are things that can come from Zimbabwe; for example here in Matabeleland, the region is endowed with coal that you can take to DRC,” he said.

According to 2015 trade figures, DRC’s total import bill was $5,7 billion with Zimbabwe contributing less than one percent of that country’s imports.

Mr Mwana Nanga said Zimbabwe’s regions such as Matabeleland could tap into his country’s market by exporting products such as coal, beef, fruits, fish and kapenta and those can bring forex.

“I suggest that you (Zimbabwean businesses) can break-through the DRC market as a group easily. Land is not a problem in DRC and as Zimbabweans, you can negotiate with the DRC government so that they can give you a piece of land to build a bonded warehouse, and that can be done,” he said.

The DRC Ambassador said his country was also prepared to offer land to Zimbabwean small-scale miners and farmers in sectors such as gold and tobacco.
In light of the trade and investment opportunities in the DRC, Mr Mwana Nanga said, it was imperative for ZimTrade to now conduct a product specific market survey in sectors such as sugarcane, cement and poultry.

Earlier on, Africa Corporate Advisor director, Mr Malvern Rusike, implored Zimbabwe policy makers to review investment and trade policies that support private sector initiatives in accessing export markets.

“From the survey that we conducted in the DRC, there are a lot of opportunities in that country.

“This survey was not a product-specific survey, but it was a general broad market survey. In terms of our recommendations, there is a need for policy makers to review investment and trade policies that support private sector initiatives in accessing export markets,” he said.

Source:Chronicle