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Kenya’s Stability attracted UNCTAD14 and TICAD, Don’t Mar It!
While court petitions against the 26th October presidential election still linger and the country’s captain for the next five years still mysterious, we can’t as yet forget wide global attention and warmth basking in the warmth of hosting the UNCTAD14 in Nairobi. The event, last year with over 7000 delegates from across the globe was perhaps the hallmark of big events Kenya hosted in the recent past. As UNCTAD Secretary General, Kenya’s Mukhisa Kituyi pointed out ahead of the June 2016 event, he had ‘’brought home an opportunity to help Kenyans see beyond local political tensions and realize there is more to life than incessant political profiling.’’ He was right, but perhaps his words ring truer today than they did then. The event saw delegates reach important international consensus with...
New law could clash with Kenya’s obligations to Monetary Union
After President Kenyatta signed the interest rates Bill into law, you would have expected a street festival, an extravaganza of joy and bravado. After all, legislator Jude Njomo and President Kenyatta won where former MP Joe Donde and former president Mwai Kibaki failed. Instead, across the board, we got a bag of mixed feelings, perhaps out of the sober realisation that although Parliament and the President had achieved quite a feat, the final outcome of access and low interest rates on loans is still largely unknown. But is the capping a bad thing? Well, not on the face of it. Granted, the interest rate will be capped at a maximum 14.5 per cent, but every Tom and Mary will still walk individually and humbly into the banking hall.
Forum must go beyond talk to address Africa’s food supply
Mr Strive Masiyiwa, he of the Econet fame, was at State House, Nairobi, recently to brief President Uhuru Kenyatta and apparently officially invite him to the African Green Revolution Forum, which will be held in Kenya next month. Mr Masiyiwa is not a stranger in Kenya. His name first surfaced here when the mobile telephony market cake was still hot and he was seeking a slice of that. Kenya did not work out for Econet, but that did not stop the man from prospering. Starting off in his native Zimbabwe, he has built a telecom empire that straddles the southern African region. His latest visit to Kenya was in his capacity as the chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, founded a decade ago by former UN...
Address Fears of Fake Fertilizer to Ensure Food Security
As the Kenya government and private millers under the aegis of the Cereal Millers Association engaged in a back and forth over whether the country has enough food stocks, it was emerging that the next crop harvest in the rift valley breadbasket could be less than optimum as a result of ‘’fake fertilizer’ that has led to significant crop failure. Farmers have claimed losses due to what they allege could be fake fertilizer sold to them under the government subsidy program. While government has come out to refute those allegations, those fears cannot be wished away. Increasingly, government is having to do more to feed a growing population now arguably approaching 45 million souls and growing at about 2.7% per annum. With an annual average per capita requirement of about...
Caution Needed in Ongoing ‘’highly-paid’’ Expatriate Debate
Even before President Kenyatta had landed back from the land of Seretse Ian Khama, the small twitter dove flew ahead of him with good tidings that Kenyans living in the land of the man who famously asked his party members to get him a ‘’tall slim and good looking’ lady for wife would henceforth receive fair treatment with regard to local jobs that otherwise belong to the Batswana. While addressing Kenyan professionals and business people living in Botswana, president Uhuru reportedly told the gathering (to great applause) that he had met President Khama who promised to solve the problem (of work permits) as soon as possible. Meanwhile in Nairobi, the NGOs Coordinating Board convened a meeting to cancel work permits for some foreigners working in Kenya. The irony in the...
Terrorism shouldn’t hinder free movement
Life in prison is what the young men who carried out the twin terrorist attacks in Kampala on July 10, 2010, will face, according to a judgement meted out recently. That attack came just days after the launch of the EAC Common Market on July 1. The years after that incident have been no less eventful — Westgate and Garissa University College happened in devastating fashion with several other cases of terrorism, leaving in their wake terrified citizens, affecting lives in sundry ways, and sending security organs back to the drawing board. As with international travel, related security matrices across the region have been revised, with greater surveillance on cross-border travel. Thankfully, the integration agenda in the EAC has somewhat ebbed on, helped in no small measure by enhanced cooperation...
Lessons EAC can learn from Brexit
The impending referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union has dragged in even the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. So high are the stakes that President Obama, while on a State visit to the UK recently, warned that a vote to exit the EU would see Britain move to the back of the queue in America’s trade negotiations with the world because, in his words “our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union”. The EU, with 28 members, is a single market that allows goods and people to move around, basically as if the member states were one country, and it has one currency, the euro, which is used by 19 of the member countries. Reaction to Mr Obama’s comments came...
Kenya should now concentrate on Lapsset, the bigger picture
.It was a show of political maturity to see President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Northern Corridor counterparts walk hand in hand at their review meeting in Kampala. If there were any sour grapes, then they did a good job of hiding it, especially after Uganda pulled the rug from under Kenya’s feet and handed the pipeline deal to Tanzania’s Dr John Magufuli. It will be remembered that the Kenya-Uganda agreement on the pipeline had been in the locker since 2012, when discussion on the building of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor picked pace. Let us put this in context. Even with its estimated generation of over 15,000 jobs during and after its construction, it must be noted that the Ugandan pipeline was to be only a relatively small...
With row over pipeline, is EAC ready for a political federation?
The confiscation by Tanzanian authorities of passports belonging to members of a Kenyan team that was visiting the port of Tanga took many by surprise. Ostensibly, it was Tanzania’s reaction to being locked out of an earlier meeting held in Nairobi to discuss Uganda’s oil pipeline route. President Yoweri Museveni was the chief guest and his country, Uganda, the “beautiful maiden” being wooed by both Kenya and Tanzania to be the preferred route choice for the pipeline. But this tit-for-tat is not new. It will be remembered that in 2015, Tanzania cut Kenya Airways’ flights from 42 to 14 per week (although this was later reversed) after Kenya denied Tanzanian tourist vans entry into the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. This was after Tanzania has denied Kenyan tour vans entry into...
It is time to rebrand the East African region
During a television interview a few years ago, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was asked why he was considered a tough leader. His answer was typical Kagame; spot-on and unhesitating. “I see the country as Rwanda Inc and every Rwandese as a shareholder and thus entitled to annual dividends.” In other words, if Rwanda were a company, it would have to pay dividends to its shareholders. President Kagame’s answer is a good analogy that the CEOs of the other East African Community member states need to heed, especially as the bloc welcomes South Sudan, as the its latest member. Mr Kagame’s answer also raises questions: what should EAC as a bloc be known for and what should the new EAC secretary general, Dr Libérat Mfumukeko’s job description include? Should we maintain...
President Museveni’s Re-election and Prospects for an EAC Political Federation
As the dust settles on the Ugandan elections with Yoweri Museveni having been declared as President for a fifth term by the country’s electoral commission, focus now shifts to what he will do for his country, but equally important, what sort of influence he will bring to bear on the EAC region as the ‘Senior-most,’ of the five EAC presidents; this as the bloc begins implementing the monetary union, and readies for a political federation. In a radio interview during the campaigns, Museveni is reported to have said that "I am here (for another term) to see whether we can help you get the East African Federation so that we have a critical mass of strength that can guarantee your future...The other time, we almost succeeded in forming the East...
East Africa Needs Magufuli’s Forceful Presence
As the EAC Ordinary Summit convenes this month, it will be welcoming a new Club Member -President Magufuli who is almost half a year into his new job after sweeping into power overcoming perhaps the most competitive yet of Tanzania’s elections since the advent of multiparty in Tanzania. By winning comfortably, Mr. Magufuli, then considered a rank outsider proved wrong the prediction by pundits that the ruling party CCM would suffer what its sister-KANU-of Kenya had suffered back in 2002 at the hands of the electorate…and despite initial skepticism from opposition voters, he seems to be winning his countrymen over (a recent poll shows his popularity has increased). This is attributed to the sweeping no-nonsense handling of issues of national importance; hospital stocks have been replenished and new equipment bought,...
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Turbulence at Kenya Airways (‘’Pride of Africa’’) and its Impact on the Region
Few things will get you into the travelling mood like Kenya Airway’s inflight theme song by Mutuma. It’s authentic. It’s fresh. It takes pride of place and it is clearly in a class of its own to be celebrated perhaps as one of the best brand songs in corporate Kenya in close rivalry with Safaricom’s inspiring ‘’Niko na Safaricom. But as far as these two of Kenya’s most recognizable brands are concerned, that is as far as their similarities go. Over the recent past, the mobile phone company has come to be described as ‘’the most profitable company in East and Central Africa.’’ Over the same period, Kenya Airways posted some of the biggest losses in this part of the region sending shockwaves all across. Things came to a head with the recent dismissal of long serving Finance Director one Alex Mbugua and the bowing out of its Chairman Evanson...
Burundi Needs a ‘Garden City Shopping Mall!’
As Burundi continues to teeter on the brink of an all-out civil war, with its leaders grandstanding with the AU on the merits of a peacekeeping force and President Nkurunziza saying he would consider such a force as an ‘’invading army,’’ it must not be lost on all of us that the real sufferers are the citizens of this small country that has not known real lasting peace since the 1990s. Meanwhile, as the AU digests Burundi’s official reaction, the caption on a Tupac-(the singer) –emblazoned shirt- ‘’me against the world-’’ that Nkurunziza-then an ordinary young man- wore in the ‘90s seems to have come ominously true. It’s Nkurunziza’s view of life and personal interest against those of the world around him. Burundi, a country of 11 million people must not be allowed to slide back into another civil war. It will be remembered that the 1993-2005 civil war cost...
EAC Political Federation and Prospects of HE Yoweri Museveni as our President
Recent news’ photos of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto accompanying Uganda’s HE Yoweri Museveni on the campaign trail for Uganda’s February 18th 2016 elections sent many tongues wagging as to its significance: Was it just a coincidence in the spirit of good neighborliness or did it carry political undertones of a shared political vision among the two close neighbors? Some pundits saw the gesture not just as an endorsement by Kenya’s political establishment of continued Museveni presidency but even as a deference of sorts to him as their ‘’Senior Elder’ deserving of a bigger role in the mould of President of a potential EAC Political Federation. While this thinking may not be too far-fetched, what is perhaps more important is to appreciate that the EAC Treaty has as its Ultimate milestone the attainment of a Political Federation (PF). The questions that arise then are; what would such a federation look...
Welcome to ‘’the Region!’’ It’s Booming! It’s happening! Be part of it.
Hello Citizens without Borders! Hello Businessmen without Borders! Welcome to RiimNet-Africa! Where: We seek to keep you abreast with what is happening in the Region and beyond! help you identify and tap into the opportunities that abound in the Region! We get you informed about the challenges and get you into the network of people and institutions that are tackling those challenges so your business can thrive and help you grab the opportunities beyond the Borders! We help you build and manage key partnerships and leverage regional synergies Together we Become part of the Big Picture, monitoring and ensure accountability so leaders at every level stay the Course in implementing commitments to our Treaties It is the Region. It is for the Business-Wo(Men); The Entrepreneurs; the Students; the Visitors in our ‘regional gates’ and for every Regional citizen. We all belong. Welcome! RiimNet-Africa is a regional network that brings together...
New Tanzanian Leader Must See Region as Opportunity not Source of Fear
The banning of the regional paper ‘The East African’ from circulation in Tanzania a few months ago, and shortly later, cutting down Kenya Airways’ weekly flights to the country from forty two to fourteen, (though later reversed), took many by surprise especially those who follow and believe in what the EAC Common Market, now in its fifth year since the protocol came into being (and the broader regional integration process) is meant to help bring about-free movement of goods, capital, people and services. In an era of accelerating regional integration and with Tanzania a founder member of the defunct East Africa Community that collapsed in1977 and then renewed efforts under the current EAC, Tanzania’s actions in respect of the integration process have at best been lukewarm. This explains why in recent years, perhaps frustrated with the country’s on-and-then-off again behavior, the other EAC members, under the leadership of the troika...
A look at the Recent Sugar Debate between Kenya and Uganda and the Need for Continuous Education on Broader Regional Integration Process
The ‘loud sugar debate’’ between Kenyan and Ugandan ‘stakeholders’ may now safely be in the ‘’sea of forgetfulness’’ and what was dubbed Presidents Uhuru’s and Museveni’s sugar is no longer making the headlines. But what we need to ask ourselves is whether indeed we did solve the underlying mistrust or whether we only massaged the symptoms. For those who may not have followed the ‘debate,’’ some background will help: hue and cry and a chorus of opposition was aroused after President Kenyatta came back from a State visit to Uganda in July with the news that Kenya would henceforth fill its sugar deficit with imports from Uganda, and that this would save the Kenyan national coffers a great deal of foreign currency costs expended while importing sugar from as far afield as Brazil. While Kenya’s opposition took the cue to score political mileage over the din of a government machinery...
Strengthening Policy Dialogue and Inclusivity is Vital for Sustainable Regional Growth and Development
There has been persistent concern that Africa’s place at the high table of development and better livelihoods for her people remains unoccupied largely due to a challenging and unpredictable business policy environment. But a keener observation perhaps is that it is not for the lack of policy, per se, but rather a policy environment that is more often ad-hoc and exclusive. This partly explains the rather cautious investment attitude by private sector players despite the numerous opportunities that now exist especially in light of a bigger and liberalized market era as well as opportunities arising courtesy of regional integration. From agriculture and food security, through the energy and manufacturing sectors to Information, communication and transport infrastructure, regional investment opportunities have never been better. Democratic space has also expanded and steadily, institutions are beginning to take the place of autocratic rule. However, due to the below-par investment, production capacity remains low...
Regional cooperation a useful tool for enhancing food security
It doesn’t matter if you call it, posho, sadza, nshima or simply ugali, and it won’t matter whether you are in a café in downtown Harare or Capital Centre in Uptown Lilongwe. The language at mealtime across the Eastern and Southern Africa region is virtually the same. The feel of the meal may vary from a thick porridge if you are eating at Garwe (crocodile) Restaurant in Harare to a hard mix if you are enjoying your fish and ugali at Ranallo on Kimathi Street in Nairobi. What doesn’t change is that maize and its variations form the meal of choice in this part of the world. So much so that its availability has become synonymous with food security and in the aftermath of the Arab Spring (specifically the Tunisian ‘trigger’ of the spring), food security has become synonymous with national security. This explains why the commodity is such a...
COUNTRY PROFILES
UGANDA
Visit Uganda Uganda is a landlocked country bordered by Kenya in the east, Sudan in the north, Democratic Republic of the Congo in the west, Rwanda in the southwest and Tanzania in the south. Uganda’s total land area is 241,559 sq km. About 37,000 sq km of this area is occupied by open water while the rest is land. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, which it shares with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is located on the East African plateau, averaging about 1,100 meters (3,609 ft) above sea level. The plateau generally slopes downwards towards Sudan explaining the northerly tendency of most river flows in the country. Although generally equatorial, the climate is not uniform since the altitude modifies the climate. Uganda’s elevation,...
KENYA
Background Kenya lies across the equator in east-central Africa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Kenya borders Somalia to the east, Ethiopia to the north, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. In the north, the land is arid. The southwest corner is in the fertile Lake Victoria Basin, and a length of the eastern depression of the Great Rift Valley separates western highlands from those that rise from the lowland coastal strip. Paleontologists believe people may first have inhabited Kenya about two million years ago. In the 700s, Arab seafarers established settlements along the coast, and the Portuguese took control of the area in the early 1500s. More than 40 ethnic groups reside in Kenya. Its largest group, the Kikuyu, migrated to...
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
The United Republic of Tanzania includes the Indian Ocean islands of Pemba and Zanzibar and the mainland territory, covering a total area of 1,0219,090 km², and is located on the east coast of Africa between the great lakes of the African Rift Valley system in the central part of the continent and the Indian Ocean. Tanzania has a common border with Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west; and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country encompasses a variety of physical features; from a narrow coastal belt with tropical beaches it rises to an extensive plateau covered by savannah and bush at an elevation of about 1,000 meters above sea level. The plateau region is fringed by narrow...
BURUNDI
Burundi(pronounced [buˈɾundi]), officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its size is just under 28,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,700,000. Its capital is Bujumbura. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.
RWANDA
Visit Rwanda "The land of a Thousand Hills", Rwanda is a green undulating landscape of hills, gardens and tea plantations. It offers tourists a one of a kind journey - home to one third of the world remaining Mountain Gorillas, one third of Africa’s bird’s species, several species of primates, volcanoes, game reserve, resorts and islands on the expansive lake Kivu, graceful dancers, artistic crafts and friendly people. Rwanda is a thriving, safe country with one of the lowest crime rates in Africa. All major attractions are located within 1-5 hour drive from the capital, Kigali. In a short vacation, a tourist can reach volcanoes, rainforests, savannah, lakes and the beautiful city of Kigali. Located in the heart of Central and East Africa with easy access to bordering countries of...