Uganda wants India to emulate the European Union and open up its market to Africa. Currently, a number of African products except arms, enter the EU market without any tariffs or quota restrictions. Ugandan government officials told an Indian investment scouting mission during the recent India-Africa Partnership Conclave for the East Africa Region in Kampala, that opening up their one-billion strong market to Africa will ensure market-certainty for a continent seeking to improve its trade balance with the rest of the world.  Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who has supported the project since its inception, said, “We want India to open up its market for us and also come and help us exploit the already open markets such as the EU, US and China. That is the true friendship we are looking for.” Uganda imports mostly pharmaceuticals and electrical appliances from India and exports agricultural produce such as coffee, although India imports most of its coffee and tea from the Americas.

Meanwhile, EU has donated 17m euros to support multiparty politics, human rights and good governance in Uganda. The money was donated under the 9th European Development Fund for Human Rights and good governance programme. The money will support parliament, enhance its capacity and constitutional role, build a system of checks and balances, support political parties and develop the media.

Condoleezza Rice to Visit DRC

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo on her Middle East, Africa and Europe trip next week. Rice will also attend a trade conference in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. Rice will spend several hours in Kinshasa in the highest-level U.S. visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo since former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright went there in 1997. After visiting Kinshasa, Rice will attend a regional forum bringing together the 38 sub-Saharan African countries of AGOA in Accra, Ghana.

South Africa and Italy Business Relationship   

South Africa’s Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has highlighted the importance of strengthening and consolidating business and government relations between South Africa and Italy. Visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Massimo D'Alema met Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka at the South Africa-Italy Business Forum. "We see this forum as a (necessary) mechanism to build a business to business relationship between South Africa and Italy," Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said. She said business opportunities in the manufacturing sector, in particular, would allow South African and Italian businesses to operate jointly in a third market outside of South Africa.

President Yoweri Museveni Starts a Road Trip around East Africa

Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni started his road trip around East Africa. The overland trip will take Mr. Museveni through parts of Kenya and Tanzania. Mr Museveni, in the company of his wife Janet, was received by Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori at his Funyula home in Busia District. He awarded the VP and his wife military medals in recognition of their role in the fight against the Idi Amin regime. In Kashozi, Tanzania, Museveni will lay a wreath on the grave of the late Laurean Cardinal Rugambwa who in 1960 became the first African cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He died in Dar es Salaam in 1997 at age 85. Mr Museveni, who attended the University of Dar es Salaam, will also travel to Butiama in northern Tanzania to pay homage to the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. He is expected to hand a medal to Nyerere's widow, inspect several business establishments and lure investors to Uganda before driving back home through Mutukula-Kyotera in Rakai District.

Trade Negotiations Slow Down

Trade negotiations between Southern Africa and the European Union are progressing slowly and some sectors might not even be agreed on by the end of the year, when the signing of the trade agreement is to take place. "We don't want to be made to choose between access for our goods to the EU and regional integration in southern Africa," Andrew Ndishishi, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry said. All world trade among states must be compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The European Union however obtained a waiver from the WTO until December 2007 for its separate trade agreement it concluded several years ago with countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), among them Namibia. Due to the looming deadline, the EU has to adjust its trade agreement with the ACP countries, called the Cotonou Agreement, to bring them in line with the WTO. The Cotonou Agreement has allowed ACP countries non-reciprocal market access to EU member states at preferential tariffs since the year 2000, meaning ACP did not have to give EU products market access in return. This will change from January 1, 2008 because the EU now wants access for the goods and services offered by their member states to ACP countries. The prevailing fear is that the EU might swamp ACP with their goods. Trade negotiations with African countries are multi-faceted since the different regional trade blocs like ECOWAS, COMESA, SADC and SACU require separate agreements.

Business Leaders Adopt Geneva Declaration

Hundreds of business leaders worldwide have pledged to comply with labor, human rights, environmental and anti-corruption standards in a wide-ranging declaration on making globalization more beneficial to the world's people. At the second UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva on Friday, top executives of corporations such as Coca-Cola, Petrobras, Fuji Xerox, China Ocean Shipping Group, Tata Steel, L M Ericsson and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria adopted the 21-point Geneva Declaration, which spells out concrete actions for business, governments and UN Global Compact participants. About 4,000 organizations from 116 countries, among them trade unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and about 3,100 businesses, have so far subscribed to the Global Compact, pledging to observe ten universal principles related to human rights, labor rights, the environment and the struggle against corruption. The Geneva Declaration calls for urgent action. "Poverty, income inequality, protectionism and the absence of decent work opportunities pose serious threats to world peace and markets," it says. The Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Co., Lackeby Water Group, Nestle South Africa, SABMiller and Suez, urged their business peers everywhere to take immediate action to address the global water crisis. They launched the "CEO Water Mandate," a project designed to help companies to better manage water use in their operations and throughout their supply chains. The first Global Compact Leaders Summit took place in New York in 2004, and the next is planned for 2010.

A New Breed of Film and Television Professionals Needed

Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Information and National Orientation has called for a new breed of film and television professionals who should be equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills to prosecute the development agenda of African countries. "The teachers and students of our film and television training centers must appreciate that Africa's future does not depend on unnecessary partisan politics but on the harnessing and utilization of our resources for social mobilization, promotion of Africa's cultural values and economic development and integration," Mr Bartels stated. Mr Bartels was speaking at the opening of the eighth edition of the Pan-African Student Film and Television Festival, dubbed: "ANIWA Africa 2007". The biennial two-week festival organized by the National Film and Television Institute of Ghana (NAFTI) starts from July 9th to July 21st is under the general theme: "Championing African Excellence through Film and Television."

FAO Allocates $2million to Uganda

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has earmarked over $2million to support 4,500 households in the Karamoja sub-region and Kaberamaido district in Uganda. Percy Misika, the FAO representative in Uganda, said the three year project was co funded by the Belgian Government and the United Nations Children Fund. The money would be spend on seeds, farm implements, livestock, food processing equipment and improved storage facilities. 

James Shikwati Named One of the Most Influential Kenyans

James Shikwati, Director - Inter Region Economic Network and CEO - The African Executive online opinion and business magazine, has been named among the top 100 most influential Kenyans. In a study conducted by The Standard Group, one of the Kenya’s leading media houses, Shikwati is described as one of the people whose decisions and actions are not motivated by the publicity they could attract but by passion for what they do. The paper adds: Shikwati, a self taught economist, has been ruffling feathers at high in Kenya and abroad, with a message of Africa’s economic independence. He has reached millions of people around the world through both the local and international media. For more details see
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143970915
See an interview on this on http://www.kara.or.ke/kara_articles_1.php

Compiled by Anne Mugoya
Inter Region Economic Network