NEWS- Uganda’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Comoros, Madagascar, and Permanent Representative to the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Ambassador Fred Mwesigye has held talks with East African Business Council (EABC) Acting Executive Director Adrian Njau on boosting trade and investment ties between Uganda and its counterparts in the East African Community.
While speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Mwesigye emphasised the importance of fostering trade ties saying that if you can’t trade, you can’t prosper.
He emphasized the importance of developing transport and logistics infrastructure to enhance trade linkages in East African Community countries and across the continent, for businesses to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
In his remarks, Njau stated that East Africa Business Council is at the forefront of championing evidence-based policy advocacy to foster a conducive environment for businesses in the EAC region.
He said according to International Trade Centre in 2023, Uganda’s total imports of goods from the world stood at US 11.78 billion dollars, while imports from the East African Community were US 2.22 billion dollars.
Uganda’s total goods exports to the world amounted to US 6.3 billion dollars, with exports to the East African Community at US 2.2 billion dollars and the top import countries for Uganda were Tanzania and Kenya and notably, in 2023, Uganda imported US 1 billion dollars worth of gold from Tanzania.
Mr Njau highlighted said One Network Area for telecommunications, a single tourist visa, the free movement of persons using national IDs, and the adoption of the EAC Common External Tariff 2022 are tangible the achievements of the integrations process that benefit both citizens and businesses.
He pointed out that non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and tariff barriers hinder the growth of intra-East Africa Community trade, affecting business predictability and decision-making.
He noted that East Africa Business Council has engaged with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development of Kenya to ensure that the recent notice on stoppage of sugar importation into Kenya does not include brown/table sugar originating from other EAC Partner States and the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) of Kenya not to charge levies on goods originating from EAC Partner States, as it contradicts Article 15 (National Treatment) of the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Customs Union.
Mr Njau stressed that tax policies should not act as discriminatory factors discouraging cross-border trade in goods or services within the EAC. He cited unharmonized tax structures, such as higher withholding taxes on professional service providers from other East African Community countries render them noncompetitive.
He called for the ratification of the EAC Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the amendment of Article 24(2) of the EAC Customs Union Protocol to establish the East African Community Trade Remedies Committee.
He also urged the swift amendment of the EAC Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Act, 2017, to bring it into full force and added that the EAC Sectoral Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs should convene to expedite the ratification of these crucial agreements.
The Manager of Trade in Goods, Frank Dafa who attended the meeting emphasized the importance of liberalizing air transport services within the EAC to boost tourism and reduce air-flight ticket costs and also discussed the need to harmonize product standards, such as those for timber.
Other topics discussed during the meeting included organizing trade missions between East Africa and Uganda, mapping of harvest seasons, the Tripartite Free Trade Area, engagement with the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), capacity building for businesses on East African Community and AfCFTA agreements, and private sector role in joint bilateral commissions between EAC Partner States.
