VenturesNow

Uganda begins operations at Kisumu port with fuel imports

Published

5 days ago

September 13, 2024

Kenya’s efforts to revitalise the Kisumu port’s multimodal transport system to serve East and Central Africa are paying off, as Uganda has committed to using the facility for its oil and loose cargo beginning this month.

Nairobi, which spent millions of dollars renovating the ageing infrastructure and the cargo ship MV Uhuru, set the date for the port’s operationalisation after the corresponding facilities in Uganda. Nairobi anticipates handling more goods through the port this year.

With the potential to generate $60 billion in trade annually, the Kisumu port is a part of the East African Community (EAC) infrastructure development plan. However, at the moment, only approximately 10% of this traffic is coming into the three major EAC economies—Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Compared to 60,910 tonnes during the same period the previous year, Kenya’s principal port on Lake Victoria handled 125,503 tonnes.

Charles Kitur, the manager of Kisumu Port, credited the operation’s success to important renovations that allowed the building to accommodate bulk cargo.

The purchase of vital machinery including a reach stacker, grove mobile crane, forklifts, trailers, and marine boats has increased the inland port’s effectiveness after being ignored for almost thirty years.

“The upgraded facilities have improved the performance of the port and improved trade with the neighbouring countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and those in the Great Lakes Region,” Mr Kitur told journalists.

In the six months leading up to June 2024, the lake port handled 125,503 metric tonnes of cargo, comprising 1,288 metric tonnes of commodities imported into the nation and 124,214 metric tonnes of exports, according to the most recent report from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).

The port saw a rise of 122,072.1 metric tonnes in comparison to the meagre 3,431 metric tonnes reported in the 2017 total cargo throughput report.

KPA forecasts indicate that the port’s overall cargo flow will exceed 200,000 metric tonnes by 2024. During this time, goods such as gas oil (26,186.9 tonnes), ceramic tiles (3,603.8 tonnes), steel billets (3,217.5 tonnes) and bagged fertiliser (1,367 tonnes) were supplied to other East African markets.

However, the border manager stated that Kenya only imported iron sheets.

Mr. Kitur added that more ships are stopping at the port, which has had a significant makeover since 2019, and that the renovated port has revived the marine transit corridor.

Related Topics:Featured Kenya Kisumu port Uganda

Click to comment

VenturesNow

Nigeria’s central bank issues fresh guidelines for ‘Ways and Means’ to govt

Published

10 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new guidelines on Ways and Means which limit Ways and Means Advances to the federal government to 5% of the previous year’s revenue collection.

The apex bank made the position known in its fiscal year 2024-2025 monetary, credit, international trade, and exchange policy guidelines.

“Ways and Means Advances shall continue to be available to the Federal Government to finance deficits in its budgetary operations to a maximum of 5.0 per cent of the previous year’s actual collected revenue. Such advances shall be liquidated as soon as possible and shall in any event be repayable at the end of the year in which it was granted,” it said.

The Treasury Single Consideration (TSA) system requires these advances to take into consideration Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) sub-accounts, which are linked to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

The federal government’s consolidated cash situation will be more precisely reported, improving public financial management openness and resource availability. The CBN also stated that Ways and Means Advances must be repaid by the end of the fiscal year they were awarded, encouraging short-term borrowing.

In the Nigerian context, “ways and means” refers to the Federal Government’s ability to borrow money from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This means that the government may use “ways and means” to meet short-term needs or emergencies, which is why the CBN is referred to as the “lender of last resort.”

Over the past seven years, the facility had grown 2,900% to an extraordinary N23.7 trillion by 2023. This fast surge, which exceeded legal restrictions, increased inflation and Nigeria’s debt.

The CBN Act allows the bank to grant temporary advances to the federal government for budget revenue deficits at a rate deemed appropriate, but the total amount of such advances “shall not at any time exceed 5% of the previous year’s actual revenue of the Federal Government.”

In addition, it stipulates that “All advances shall be repaid as soon as possible and shall, in any event, be repayable by the end of the Federal Government financial year in which they are granted and if such advances remain unpaid at the end of the year, the power of the bank to grant such further advances in any subsequent year shall not be exercisable, unless the outstanding advances have been repaid.”

The Senate and House recently enacted a bill to increase the CBN’s federal Ways and Means borrowing ceiling. The upper chamber of Nigeria’s legislature boosted the central bank’s loan capacity to the federal government from 5% to 10% of annual income.

Yemi Cardoso, CBN governor, announced earlier this year that the bank would stop making Ways and Means advances to the federal government until existing loans were returned. He said this is one of the bank’s key strategies to handle the country’s economic issues.

VenturesNow

Kenya, IMF discuss economic and fiscal issues

Published

15 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that it had had productive discussions with Kenya’s government on its economic and fiscal goals after widespread protests prompted it to shelve tax rises.

In June, President William Ruto abandoned this year’s finance bill, leaving the deeply indebted government with a larger budget deficit, unpaid payments, and a delay in IMF funding.

“We remain fully committed to supporting the authorities in their efforts to identify a set of policies that could support the completion of the reviews under the ongoing program as soon as feasible,” the IMF said in a statement.

Kenya signed a four-year IMF loan in 2021 and another for climate change measures in May 2023, totalling $3.6 billion. The country secured a staff-level agreement with the IMF on its seventh review in June, but the protest and finance bill withdrawal delayed the executive board’s sign-off and payout.

Public debt helps development. Governments utilise it to fund spending, protect and invest in their citizens, and improve their futures. However, too quick governmental debt growth can be a burden. The developing world which Africa forms core is experiencing this.

Kenya’s government debt was 70.10% of GDP in 2023. Kenya’s government debt to GDP averaged 56.36% from 1998 to 2023, peaking at 78.30% in 2000 and falling to 38.20% in 2012.