By Our Reporter

President Yoweri Museveni has been sucked into an on-going internet deal war between his cabinet ministers and some government agencies.

In a January 8, 2018 letter, Museveni ordered all government ministries and agencies to henceforth procure all their internet services from the highly indebted Uganda Telecom (UTL).

The letter is copied to the vice president, minister of Finance, minister of state for Privatisation and Investment, minister of ICT, minister of state for Industry and the attorney general. Museveni says the UTL liability “situation is not as bad” as has been portrayed by “corrupt officials that had been sucking the company, paying themselves huge salaries.”

According to the president, there are efforts and a well-calculated scheme to devalue UTL so as to sell off the company’s assets. A recent probe by the parliamentary committee on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) discovered that UTL is indebted to a tune of Shs 698 billion as of December 2016.

This includes, Shs 88.5 billion owed to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Shs 27.8 billion owed to Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and Shs 10.6 billion owed to National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in form of unremitted workers’ money, accumulated interests and penalties.

However, Museveni in his letter says “all debt owed to government department and agencies should be converted into shares held by UDC on behalf of government.”

Ever since the ousting of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, UTL has been facing economic turmoil. Libya’s state-owned UCom, held 69 per cent of the shares in UTL – with the Uganda government owning the remaining 31 per cent. In March 2017, Uganda government took over full ownership of the company.

According to parliamentary committee on ICT, UTL even under-reported the money owed to NSSF. The MPs claim the liability is as high as SHs 18.3 billion as of March 2017 and not Shs 10.6 billion as reported by UTL management.

However the president has a different view.

“The situation of the company is not that bad. The company has a lot of assets including a shareholding of 9.13%in the West Indian Ocean Sub-Marine Cable. They also have infrastructure to transmit and store electronic data. Therefore, I direct that there should be no more sales of assets of the company. Instead, I fully accept Hon. [state minister of Finance for Privatization and Investment Evelyn] Anite’s proposal and direct as follows… ” Museveni wrote.

“… As far as far as internet services are concerned, all government agencies and departments are directed to only use the channel in which UTL has shares”, ordered.

Adding; “UTL should be encouraged to partner with the Chinese company that wants to make mobile phones here; they also can be encouraged to use the local minerals such as Coltan, which I understand are crucial for making telephones… UTL network should be revamped and used to restore data.”

Compulsory purchase of UTL services was first mooted by Anite in June 2017, when, while officiating at the UTL staff blood donation drive at the Constitutional Square, she said that it would become compulsory for all Ugandans to own a UTL sim-card, the same way nationals own national IDs.

“It is going to be compulsory for Ugandans to hold a UTL line just as it is for you to have a national ID, you must have a Ugandan line. That is the spirit of patriotism”, she said then.

According to parliamentary committee on ICT report, there were efforts to convert UTL’s debts into equity pari-passu as a measure to balance sheet UTL, which “was gravely erroneous.”

ENTER NITA-U

Meanwhile, Museveni’s directive to order government ministries to purchase internet services from UTL has not gone well with National Information Technology Authority of Uganda (NITA-U), the body currently providing internet to 322 government entities.

Recently, NITA-U was accused by an Internal Security Organisation (ISO) whistle blower of inflating its procurement and sale with the aim of fleecing taxpayers. NITA-U denied the accusations saying it is a scheme to portray the agency in bad light.

On ditching them for UTL on providing internet to government, NITA-U officials are questioning the capacity of UTL to provide internet services to government ministries, arguing that “all core equipment of UTL has reached end of life – meaning UTL does not have maintenance or support contracts for its core network”.

NITA-U also claims that currently, UTL is still on 2G network and would need to upgrade to 3G/4G network which would require more than $100 million of taxpayers money.

In October 11, 2017, the permanent sectary/secretary to treasury Keith Muhakanizi wrote to the solicitor general (SG) Henry Obbo seeking legal interpretation on why his earlier directive to government ministries to purchase internet services from UTL had been ignored.

In response to Muhakanizi, Obbo on October 26, wrote that the NITA Act provides that NITA-U is the mandated body to provide internet services to government and e-government regulations.

According to Obbo, a directive to purchase Internet services would be in violation of the role of ministry of ICT under which NITA-U falls, the lead ministry mandated to implement ICT interventions in Uganda including providing the infrastructure for government data, internet and voice services.

“Furthermore”, the SG wrote “rationalization of the ICT services under ICT ministry was based on the decision of cabinet on ICT services utilisation under cabinet minute no. 261(CT2012).

“It is our opinion that the implementation of the directive does not pass the test of NITA Act, regulations and cabinet decision of 2012 that led to the designation of Ministry of ICT through NITA-U as the primary agency in provision of internet services to government.”

Source: allafrica.com

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday canvassed for the speedy establishment of a single, unified market structure in Africa to increase trade, create more jobs and reduce poverty.

The president made the call while presenting Nigeria’s position in favour of the report on the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area, CFTA, and related issues presented by President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic, during the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to Mr. Buhari, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, action on the initiative should begin now.

“It is Nigeria’s position that as African leaders and principal architects of our Union, we must now speed up action to conclude the negotiations and establish the CFTA,” he said.

Noting that the continent has missed the timeline set by the African Union, AU, in January 2012 to establish the CFTA in 2017, he said African leaders still had the opportunity to set it up by March 2018.

Justifying Nigeria’s vote for the CFTA, the President said: “In a rapidly changing global economy, with much uncertainty, we believe that the establishment of a CFTA would provide Africa with tremendous opportunity to achieve significant growth driven by intra-African trade.”

According to him, while the stakes in setting up CFTA are no doubt very high, the benefits are wide-ranging and significant.

“The primary objective is economic mainly, for trade in goods and services on the continent. A single, unified market would lead to a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement amongst African Union Member States.

“If we integrate Africa’s market for trade in goods and services, we will not only double intra-African trade, but also negotiate with other regions or continents on trade matters,” he said.

Mr. Buhari argued further.

“If we increase our trade, we grow faster, create more jobs and reduce poverty. Thus, with CFTA, our continent will be more integrated, united and prosperous.

“CFTA will carry significant welfare gains associated with increased production, consumption and revenue. It will generate more economic growth, enhance efficiency and support enterprise and innovation.”

The Nigerian leader urged his African colleagues to also look beyond the economic benefits of the CFTA as this will “be another step in uniting Africa and consolidating the architecture of the African Union.”

“The establishment of the CFTA is also the first step for the African Union in the implementation of ‘Agenda 2063’ for the socio-economic transformation of the continent as well as being a building block in the achievement of the goals of the 1991 Abuja Treaty on the African Economic Community.”

President Buhari, who commended President Issoufou on his role as the “AU Champion for the CFTA”, whose work “has significantly advanced our goal to conclude and launch the CFTA,” also lauded the technical support provided by the AU Commission, with Nigeria serving as the Chair of the Negotiating Forum and Chairperson of the AU Ministers of Trade.

Source: allafrica.com

By Sunday News Reporter

THE World Economic Forum (WEF) has listed Tanzania top in inclusive economy among African countries in 2018.

Inclusive growth is economic growth that creates opportunity for all segments of the population and distributes the dividends of increased prosperity, both in monetary and non-monetary terms, fairly across society. According to a report released by WEF through its project the ‘Inclusive Development Index (IDI)’, Tanzania has been ranked top in inclusive economy in Africa due to strong implementation of various economic policies, which enabled ‘wananchi’ to participate fully in economic activities.

The Inclusive Development Index (IDI) is an annual assessment of 103 countries’ economic performance that measures how countries perform on eleven dimensions of economic progress, in addition to GDP. It has three pillars; growth and development; inclusion and; intergenerational equity sustainable stewardship of natural and financial resources.

The IDI is a project of the World Economic Forum’s System Initiative on the Future of Economic Progress, which aims to inform and enable sustained and inclusive economic progress through deepened public-private cooperation, thought leadership and analysis, strategic dialogue and concrete cooperation, including accelerating social impact through corporate action.

Other countries in the list of 10 best in Africa with their ranking position in brackets worldwide include Ghana, which emerged (52), Cameroon (53) and Burundi (55). Others in the list include Namibia (56), Rwanda (57), Uganda (59), Mali (60), Senegal (61) and Nigeria (63).The WEF has also ranked Tanzania the 48th country in Emerging Economies in the World.

The statistics on Tanzania’s performance reflects President John Magufuli’s plans to ensure the country owns its economy. In different platforms, the Head of State has been encouraging and insisting on the establishment of industries and engaging in various economic activities. So far, various Tanzanians have managed to establish both small and big industries, which is in line with the government’s economic policy to build up an industrial driven economy.

Prof Honest Ngowi of Mzumbe University’s School of Business said the WEF statistics indicate that Tanzanian economy is in the right path to be owned by majority Tanzanians, which will help to minimise the gap between the haves and the have nots. The renowned economist said inclusive economy enables many people to participate in their own economy and in various activities, which is healthy for the country’s development. According to Prof Ngowi, some countries have strong and good economies, but it belongs to few people and thus creates a big gap between the rich and the poor.

University of Dodoma (UDOM) lecturer, Dr Paul Loisulie, said Tanzania has good economic policies and that for a long time; poor implementation has been an obstacle and a barrier to success. He said Dr Magufuli has been leading in the proper implementation of economic policies and that the results are now being recognised at international levels. However, the don said the success should be considered a challenge for speeding up economic activities and maintaining the position.

“This should be a challenge to us; we must find out what has been missing and make sure we maintain this position and ensure every Tanzanian participates in economic growth activities,” he said.

Various international organisations recently have been releasing reports that give kudos to Tanzanian economic growth. Some of these organisations include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and Goldman Sachs of United States of America (USA).

The organisations predicted that while the world’s economy is expected to grow at an average of 3.0 to 4.0 per cent, the Tanzanian economy is predicted to grow at the rate of between 6.5 and 7.0 per cent in 2018. Also, Tanzania economy is listed among the best five growing economies in Africa.

Source: allafrica.com

The African Union describes its long-awaited Single African Aviation Transport Market (SAATM) one of its flagship projects in the continental body’s blueprint Agenda 2063. There is certainly a lot of enthusiasm about its launch on Monday during the just concluded African Union Summit. But what exactly is this much-talked about initiative? New Africa’s Tom Collins is in Addis Ababa and witnessed the launch.

So far 23-member states including Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa have adopted the single market which came into full operation with immediate effect following its launch on Monday at the just concluded AU summit in Addis Ababa.

“ The SAATM is very important for the overall development of the continent… we must move as fast as we can to realise the full implementation of this project,” the incoming AU Chairperson – Rwandan President Paul Kagame – said at the launch.

The SAATM is a de-regulated and harmonised air space, allowing planes to fly freely between AU member states who have agreed to the initiative.

“The market starts operating right away. Those eligible airlines which have been designated by their countries are free to operate within states without regulatory restrictions. Competition regulations, consumer protection rules, the institutional framework and dispute resolutions for governing the entire market are already in place,” explained David Kajange, AU Head of Transport and Tourism Division.

Single market benefits

Much can be gained from a de-regulated single African air market. “The market will enhance interconnectivity, reduce costs and make it easier to integrate our economies, trade and tourism,” said Kajange.

In the past, state protectionism driven by fears that national carriers will not be able to compete with larger airlines, has meant high taxes and tariffs for those wishing to land and transfer on African soil. Rather than prop up Africa’s smaller players, the reverse is true and larger international and African carriers have dominated, being the only ones able to stay afloat. Within this context very few African carriers are able to fly inter-state and governments have spent large amounts of money bailing out their airplanes. If more African planes are to able to fly to more African countries and with greater regularity, then increased competition will significantly reduce fares and improve service for the consumers, and the sector in general will benefit.

A study in 2015 by the African Civil Aviation Commission and the International Air Transport Association found that full liberalisation of the air sector in 12 of the continent’s biggest economies would add $1.3bn to their output. Rwandan Transport Minister Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye pointed to the benefits saying: “For us, because we’ve opened our airspace for two to three years now, we’ve seen our tourism revenue double. We hope now that with all the other countries joining it will continue to increase.”

Policy versus reality

However, Kagame’s comments around the need to ensure full implementation offer a sobering reminder about SAATM’s protracted history and perhaps caution against premature celebration.

The single aviation market has been a key policy recommendation for several decades in Africa. The idea itself was formalised in a declaration dating back to 1988 which proposed the principles of air service liberalisation, known as the Yamoussoukro Declaration.

The declaration was adopted in 1999 by 44 African countries and became fully binding in 2002 at the AU’s precursor, the Organisation of African Unity. Yet in reality little action was taken. Then in 2015 a declaration on the establishment of the SAATM was adopted at the AU assembly and 23-member states signed their ‘Solemn Commitment’ of its implementation.

With only half of the member states committed there has been some pushback, and it would serve to remember that this time round as compared to the Yamoussoukro declaration, even fewer countries have put paper to pen.

Source: African Business Magazine