IGIHE

Category: Business

  • Trade deal put off as Dar, Burundi balk

    The East African Community has put off the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement after Tanzania and Burundi backtracked on a regional trade deal with the European Union.

    East African Heads of States meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Thursday resolved to postpone the signing to January 1, 2017 instead of the October 2016 deadline after Tanzania insisted on a delay pending discussions on how the deal would effect the region’s manufacturing.

    The regional bloc will communicate the decision to the European Union. Kenya will ask to be spared the heavy taxes before the new deadline.

    In July, Members of the European Parliament had indicated they would be rooting for an extension of the October deadline to let Kenya lobby her neighbours to sign the deal.

    Deputy President William Ruto who represented Kenya, made the country’s case before four East African countries in an attempt to resolve an impasse that will allow tax-free exports to Europe.

    “Backtracking on the agreement will erode the credibility the region has built over the last 20 years and negatively affect prospective trade arrangements with other countries,” Mr Ruto said.

    Kenya and Rwanda were the first to sign the agreement in Brussels, while Uganda had shown willingness to sign it.

    The Deputy President met three Heads of States and a Burundian Minister in Dar es Salaam in a bid to convince Tanzania and Burundi to sign the agreement.

    He, said it would be dangerous for the region to adopt different trade styles by failing to sign.

    The two countries have been the biggest barriers to the deal. Tanzania argues that it was analysing it.

    Burundi on the other hand is furious after European countries placed an aid embargo following its disputed elections won by Pierre Nkurunziza and the violence that followed it.

    The deals were negotiated for 14 years and allow East Africa to export its products, mainly flowers and perishable goods, to Europe tax free.

    Kenya is the only country that is not classified as least developed. It depends on the agreement to enjoy tax free access to the lucrative European Union market.

    It narrowly survived being kicked out of the trade preferences after the European Parliament started talks last month leading to the signing in Brussels together with Rwanda.

    “We went to Brussels to present our case because Kenya was on the verge of being taken out of the market. We will not allow Kenya to suffer because of dynamics from other states. We have a provision that allows member states to sign at different times,” Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed told the Nation on the eve of the summit.

    Under the trade deal, EU would get unlimited market access to the bloc for the next two and half decades.

    Kenya will also not pay the 8-12 per cent taxes while selling goods to Europe.

    Peter Gachanja at his flower farm in North Kinang'op on September 9, 2016. EU is a big importer of flowers.

  • DRC, Rwandan traders revert to D’Salaam Port

    Traders from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda who had ditched the Dar es Salaam Port have reverted to the facility for clearance of their import and export goods.

    The good news to Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) ends widely circulated claims by critics over trifling cargo traffic at the East African long servicing port.

    Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa revealed in the National Assembly here yesterday that traders from the two countries had just issued a written document to confirm their trade cooperation with Dar es Salaam port authority.

    “DRC issued a letter last week confirming they will now use Dar es Salaam port as their entry port. Rwanda also expressed their readiness to use our port,” the Premier said when responding to a question by Hai MP Freeman Mbowe during questions to the Prime Minister session.

    Mr Majaliwa explained however trifling cargo traffic at the Dar es Salaam port was a global concern, blaming the dwindling business to global fall on oil and gas prices. “I met a businessman from Singapore.

    He supply ships across the globe and what he told me is that the fall in the cargo traffic at the port was a worldwide concern,” Mr Majaliwa said.

    He identified that while traffic cargo at the Dar es Salaam port had dropped, Tanzania continued to record positive revenue collections, thanks to enhanced supervision and control against tax evasion.

    Figures by TRA regarding the actual revenue collected by TPA in Tanzania Mainland as of August 16, this year shows that the government’s target was surpassed by 0.36 percent.

    Fresh figures from November 2015 to August 2016 show that revenues collected had been surpassing targets, except for April and July, this year, when collections were attained by 99.8 and 95.6 percent, respectively.

    The PM said the fifth phase government will continue working on possible mechanisms to improve the country’s economy. He however dismissed as baseless claims by Mr Mbowe that the country’s economy was sinking.

    Mr Mbowe claimed that 40 percent of companies in the country had been suspended while several others being undecided to invest in the country due to continued drop in banking deposits.

    “What are immediate plans by the government to revamp clipping economic situation in the country,” Mr Mbowe asked. The PM said the government will direct responsible authorities to assess what the legislator said but assured that the fall of cargo at the port had nothing to do with the economic situation in the country. He said after a thorough study on the current state of economy, the government will issue an official statement.

    However, he said the construction of the 15 billion US dollar standard gauge in Tanzania will open up new trade opportunities for Tanzania, charging that the government was firm and strong to serve the citizens.

  • Tanzania:1.6 million tourists expected by 2025

    The international tourist arrivals to Tanzania are forecast to total 1,632,000 by 2025, generating revenues of 5.702tri/- representing an increase of 5.8 per cent per annum.

    Travelport President and Managing Director, Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Travelport, Rabih Saab, said there are positive prospects and huge potential in the tourism sector to increase its contribution to economic growth.

    He said Travelport’s strategy is to support the growth of their travel agency business partners in Tanzania through defining technology. “Travelport is committed to support the country’s travel and tourism industries drive and growth through leveraging our travel commerce platform which is redefining travel commerce,” he said.

    Travelport is one of the leading Travel Commerce Platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for global travel and tourism industry.

    Travelport and TP Services have signed an agreement to boost the travel industry in Tanzania with expectation to generate almost 12 per cent employment opportunities and increase tourist arrivals by 2025.

    He added, “We are confident TP Services will strengthen and invigorate our business partnerships in Tanzania as they herald a new era of Travelport operations in Tanzania,” TP Services Country Manager, Sarfarazali Chagani, is responsible for the delivery of the full range of Travelport content, products and technology in Tanzania.

    TP Services has laid out plans to heighten travel agent experience and satisfaction of Travelport’s technology by offering enhanced service support and tailored product recommendations for local travel agencies. Under the agreement, TP Services will distribute Travelport’s unrivaled content including fares from approximately 400 airlines globally, branded fares and ancillaries as well as over 650,000 unique hotels properties worldwide fully bookable in Travelport’s travel commerce platform.

    “Travelport has all the right tools, as well as unrivaled leading content to support the development of Tanzania’s travel industry and deliver cutting edge solutions to local travel agencies to grow their businesses.

    Travelport is redefining travel commerce, investing over 830 million US dollars since 2012 in new technology with a clear focus on redefining travel commerce and TP Services is here to champion it amongst Tanzanian travellers.

    With this in mind, we are very much looking forward to the new opportunities ahead of Travelport and for the entire travel industry in Tanzania,” Chagani said at the signing of the agreement between the two agencies.

    Tourism in Tanzania

  • Tigo customers to enjoy free data with YokoYowe launch

    Tigo Rwanda launched yesterday ‘Yoko Yowe’ promotion where its customers will enjoy free data every morning from 6 am to 8 am following the launch of ‘YokoYowe’.

    With YokoYowe, Tigo customers can now be the first to like a post on Facebook, chat on WhatsApp, send a Tweet, post a picture on Instagram, download a favorite app or game and read the news online in the morning.

    Commenting on YokoYokwe, Tigo Chief Commercial Officer, Yaw Ankoma Agyapong, said : “Rwanda is becoming an increasingly digitized country with people who are always looking to connect to their friends, music, videos, news and events that they care about. And these connections usually start as soon as people wake up in the morning,” he said.

    “At Tigo, we want our esteemed customers’ do all the things they love to do with their data without worrying about costs. To our customers we say, wake up and be the first to say hello, catch up on news, discover a new song or learn something new. YokoYokwe is for you,”he added.

    How does YokoYowe work?

    From 6:00 am to 8:00 am, Tigo customers will enjoy free data. After 8:00 am, customers will use data from their paid resources in a data pack or on-demand. If customers do not have an active pack, they can choose one of Tigo’s interesting data packs by dialing *255# and selecting option 2 for “Internet Packs” and purchasing one of the available packs.

    To enjoy YokoYowe, all Tigo subscribers need to ensure that their Tigo SIM cards are in their phones and their phones are configured to use data on 3G or 2G depending on the type of phone. If a customer wants to enjoy YokoYowe and is not a Tigo Internet user, they can either call the Tigo Call Center at 456 or visit one of the Tigo Service Centers to get activated.

    Currently, Tigo Rwanda has over three million customers and has invested over US $310 million from 2009 to date. Tigo Rwanda provides 4G LTE on mobile for both prepaid and post-paid customers. Tigo Rwanda was awarded as the ‘Most Innovative Service’ at Africa Com 2014, for international mobile money transfers with integrated currency conversion between Tigo Rwanda and Tigo. This year Tigo Rwanda became the first telecom operator in Africa to sign the Connected Women Commitment Initiative.

  • Rwanda satisfied With Dar Port performance

    Transit Trade stakeholders from Rwanda have expressed satisfaction on the business grounds between Tanzania and Rwanda promising to continue using Dar es Salaam port for shipping in their cargo.

    A statement released by Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) said the Rwandan delegation that visited the country last month have promised to boost businesses with their Tanzania counterparts after being satisfied with the environment of doing business in the country.

    Rwanda is the second biggest user of the Dar es Salaam port among members of the central corridor. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tops the list of Dar es Salaam port users. According to the records, at least 70 percent of Rwanda cargo pass through Dar es Salaam port.

    In 2015 Rwanda imported about 819,935 tons of goods through the Dar es Salaam Port. The delegation was represented by officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of East African Community, Association of Clearing & Forwarding Agents and Rwanda Shippers Council, Rwanda Revenue Authority and Rwanda High Commission to Tanzania.

    The delegation visited key business areas such as Maersk, CMA and PIL (shipping lines), Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA), Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).

    Among important issues discussed during the two-day visit included ironing out of issues such as high container deposits required by shipping lines, Non recognition of Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) standard marks by TFDA, full implementation of the simplified trade regime and opening of Rusumo OSBP for 24/7 operations.

    Other agendas included allowing Rwandan clearing agents to operate at Dar es Salaam port, VAT charges on transit auxiliary services and issuance of Simplified Certificate of Origin at Rusumo Customs Border post.

    The Head of the delegation, a Senior Regional Integration Advisor, Ministry of East African Community, Mr Leonard Mungarulire said the delegation was able to find a common ground on various issues, build business relations and trust between shipping lines based in Dar es Salaam and the Rwanda Business community.

    “We found it to be very productive and we commit to maintain the same commitment and momentum in order to deliver tangible results and impact to our people” he said.

    The CCTTFA Executive Secretary, Mr Dieudonne Dukundane said his office is looking forward to bring more stakeholders to Tanzania, which is the key facilitator for trade in central corridor. I am happy that the delegation had successful tour and important issues were discussed and agreed upon

    This is an important milestone for Tanzania, Rwanda and Central Corridor,” he noted.

  • Kenya:Sameer Africa to cut jobs and close factory

    Listed tyre maker Sameer Africa will cut jobs after a decision to shut down Nairobi factory was reached infavour of tyre imports.

    The company has also issued a profit warning due to expected impairment and employee severance costs. The struggling manufacturer had reduced its local production due to high competition from cheap arrivals and joined the importers.

    “Regrettably, cessation of factory operations will result in a number of employees being declared redundant,” the company noted in a statement to the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

    Yana brand of tyres from Sameer Africa. Sameer Africa will cut jobs after a decision to shut down Nairobi factory was reached infavour of tyre imports.

  • Apple facing record bill for Irish tax

    Apple could be ordered to pay billions of euros in back taxes in the Republic of Ireland by European Union competition officials.

    The final ruling, expected on Tuesday, follows a three-year probe into Apple’s Irish tax affairs, which the EU has previously identified as illegal.

    The Financial Times reports that the bill will be for billions of euros, making it Europe’s biggest tax penalty.

    Apple and the Irish government are likely to appeal against the ruling.

    Under EU law, national tax authorities are not allowed to give tax benefits to selected companies – which the EU would consider to be illegal state aid.

    According to EU authorities, rulings made by the Irish government in 1991 and 2007 allowed Apple to minimise its tax bill in Ireland.

    Apple’s company structure enabled it to legally channel international sales through Ireland to take advantage of that tax deal.

    On Tuesday EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is expected to give an estimate of how much Apple will have to pay back.

    But it will be up to Irish authorities to calculate the exact amount.

    US warning

    The investigation into Apple and similar probes into other US firms have been criticised by US authorities.

    Last week the US Treasury Department said the European Commission was in danger of becoming a “supra-national tax authority” overriding the tax codes of its member states.

    Brussels was using a different set of criteria to judge cases involving US companies, the US Treasury warned, adding that potential penalties were “deeply troubling”.

    BBC North America technology reporter Dave Lee says that the US Treasury is concerned that if there is a big EU tax bill for Apple, as expected, then Apple will set off at least some of that against the tax it would be paying in the US.

    “So it’s essentially shifting billions of dollars from the US economy, from the US tax-pot, into Europe. The US says Europe simply doesn’t deserve that money, because all the hard work that goes into creating the iPhone and other Apple products… takes place in the US, and not in Europe.”

    Apple is not the only the company that has been targeted for securing favourable tax deals in the European Union.

    Last year, the commission told the Netherlands to recover as much as €30m (£25.6m) from Starbucks and Luxembourg was ordered to claw back a similar amount from Fiat.

    Apple is potentially facing a much bigger bill, but with cash reserves of more than $200bn (£153bn), the company will have little problem paying up.

    Nevertheless, Apple may have to restate its accounts following the ruling.

  • 2016 Expo extended

    The 2016 Expo that kicked off on July 27th in Kigali was expected to end on August 10th, 2016 but it has been extended by one day, according to the Private Sector Federation.

    Stephen Ruzibiza, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Private Sector Federation (PSF) has told IGIHE that extending the Expo to 11th August 2016 is a way of trying to establish whether the Expo will be attended in case the usual 14 exhibition days are extended in the future.

    “Exhibition can last one moth or six months in foreign countries like China and Italy. We also want to gauge whether it can be emulated and familiarized. We inform exhibitors to continue their activities as usual since Expo days have been extended,” he said.

    He explained that next Expos will be extended following outcomes of this years’ exhibition extension noting that at least 10,000 clients attended this year’s Expo per day but final figures will be established at the closure.

    The 2016 Expo has drawn much attention for exhibiting Made in Rwanda products.

    The 2016 Expo which kicked off on July 27th, 2016 was attended by 419 exhibitors among who 271 are Rwandans while 147 are foreigners from 19 countries.

    Some participants of 2016 Expo

  • Kenyan varsity invested $3.6m on Rwanda campus without approval

    Kenya-based Kenyatta University (KU) management was Tuesday hard-pressed to explain how it spent around $3.6 million (Ksh370 million) to open a campus in Rwanda without regulatory approvals from authorities in Nairobi and Kigali.

    Paul Wainaina, the acting KU vice-chancellor, was put on the spotlight after the Kenyan Parliament’s Public Investments Committee (PIC) demanded to know how the university made the investments in Rwanda and Arusha, Tanzania.

    Prof Wainaina said the Ministry of Education in Rwanda is yet to grant KU the authority to operate in Kigali despite having sought approval a year ago.

    “We have been authorised to operate in Arusha. However, the Rwanda Ministry of Education is yet to give us authority to operate in Kigali. We have made an application,” he told legislators.

    Kenyatta University is yet to admit students in Rwanda, but plans to admit students in Arusha in September after recent approvals from Tanzanian education authorities.

    Prof Wainaina told MPs that the university has so far spent $3.6 million to purchase and refurbish a building in Kigali in readiness for educational programmes.

    “In Tanzania, we have spent Ksh53.5 million (almost $350,000) to open a campus there. We have in total spent Ksh423 million ($4.2 million) for the two projects in Rwanda and Tanzania,” he said.

    Prof Wainaina said when KU found that it could operate in Rwanda, it bought a building that it wanted to use for teaching.

    “At the time, we assumed that we did not actually need direct approval from the Treasury because the approval we got came from members of our (KU) council and the council of the university comprised members from KU, the Treasury and Ministry of Education,” he said.

    He said the KU management thought that the approval granted by the council was good enough.

    “We are now made to know that we needed the Treasury approval. We have bought the property and prepared it for teaching only to be told that we needed direct approval from Treasury,” he said.

    He said the university carried out feasibility studies before setting up the campuses in Arusha and Kigali.

  • MTN Launches Damarara Loyalty Promotion to reward customers

    MTN today announced the launch of its customer loyalty promotion dubbed ‘Damarara’, which is designed to reward MTN customers based on the usage of MTN products and services.

    The promotion will reward customers over the next three months with exciting prizes simply for staying on the MTN network and using MTN products.The prizes to be rewarded are:

    • A brand new Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
    • Motorbikes
    • Cash
    • LED Flat screen TVs
    • Smart Phones
    • Airtime
    • Power banks

    MTN Chief Marketing Officer, Yvonne Manzi Makolo, commented on the promo and said,” At MTN we are always looking for refreshing new ways to deepen our connection with our consumers.This loyalty promotion is a meaningful way we can give back and thank them for their dedication to our products and services.”

    All MTN subscribers that have spent more than three months on the network are eligible to participate. To participate in the promotion and win these exciting prizes, a customer will simply have to use his/her MTN line to make a call, send an SMS, use data and earn points. Basically any activity on one’s number makes one eligible forparticipation. The more activity on one’s number, the more points will be accumulated to be able to win the weekly and monthly prizes.

    “Customers have a unique chance of transforming their lives and we hope that they will seize the opportunities that this promo offers. We look forward to rewarding the winners with these fantastic prizes”, concluded Makolo.

    At the start of the promo, every eligible subscriber is sent an SMS showing the weekly target to attain. Every action by the customer with an MTN line is rewarded points and the customer can check the accumulated points by dialling*131.

    Terms and conditions for the MTN Damarara Loyalty Promotion are available on the MTN website www.mtn.co.rw or at any of the MTN service centres countrywide.

    MTN Rwanda wishes to alert customers to be mindful of possible scams during the period of the promotion. Customers should note that winners will be contacted via the MTN official line 0784000000. Redemption of prizes is free and winners will not be asked to make any payments in cash or in kind.

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