News from Arusha

Kagame calls for more efficiency in regional trade at Arusha summit
BY GEORGE KAGAME
Arusha


President Paul Kagame has repeated his call for more efficient regional blocks as an effective measure for Africa to increase domestic investment and spur economic growth and development on the continent.

The president first called for cross boarder reforms in custom operations in a speech he presented to the Common Wealth Heads of States meeting in Kampala November 2007.

Speaking to a a parked hall today during the ongoing 8th edition of the Leon H Sullivan summit in Arusha's International conference centre, Kagame emphasised that only more investment and efficience of regional integration will ensure Africa's escape from poverty.

He said that the absence of regional economic infrastrcture is a major hinderance to Africa's growth and social economic transformation. Kagame lamented the unneccessary administrative bureacracy that makes doing business in Africa very difficult, he said that researchers had discovered that African investors spend a lot of time filling paper work than carrying out commercial actual transactions.

The delays, he said reduces the volume of trade on the continent and is counter productive in the fight agnaist poverty on the continent. "Each additional day an export transaction is held up in a country, that country distances itself from its trading partners by 1 percent," emphasised Kagame.

He also questioned the wisdom of a container of goods which he said in the case of Kigali costs $5600 on transport costs from Kigali to Mombassa and the cost from that sea port to Antwerp in Belgium reducing to only $1200.

He added that the delay in carrying out commercial transactions was not down to poor infrastructure in Sub Saharan Africa alone; " but also the result of regional bureacratic obstacles such as cumbersome trans boarder custom procedures, clearing, cargo inspections and corruption."

Kagame said that the above challenges are even worse for land locked countries including Rwanda; "whose products need to comply with different requirements at every boarder post."
He gave an example of one African country where preparations to for exporting involved 11 documents, 17 visits to different offices, 29 signatures and 60 days to move goods from the factory to the shop. He said that such practices have made doing business in Africa very expensive' "and our competition dismal." K

agame said as measures to solve the poor economic infrastructure the East African Community had set up the East African Infrastructure strategy 2010 which calls for the rehabilitation of major interconnecting trade corridors and renovation of airports. R


wanda and Tanzania are set to instal a railway line to connect to Rwanda to Dar Salaam to ease regional infrastructure problems said Kagame.

Ambassador Andrew Young a representative of the US government and one of the organisers of the summit sang to the tune of Bob Marley's famous song 'One love' and empasised African unity as one of the sparks to African growth investment.

James Patterson the former prime minister of Jamaica extensively quoted Pan African intellectual Marcus Garvey as he appealed for Africans on the continent and in the diaspora to unite and develop each other.
He said that Africans would be able one day to defeat poverty as they had defeated colonialism.
Leon H Sullivan was African-American cleric international humanitarian. He preached positive messages encouraging commitments and resources of the African Diaspora and friends of Africa to promote positive change in the world. He also championed self-help, social responsibility, economic empowerment, and human rights.

The Eighth Leon Sullivan Summit, whose theme is "Tourism and Infrastructure Development", will focus on education, investment, environmental sustainability, energy, infrastructure and tourism. It aims at advancing physical and economic infrastructure, especially power, transport and information technology through regional economic community discussions.

The summit is geared towards attracting investment in manufacturing, agriculture and tourism as an engine of economic growth in Africa. The summit brings together the world’s political and business leaders, delegates representing international organisations and academic institutions.