International transparency body boss visits Kampala to follow-up on pledges ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Following Uganda’s recent validation by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Board in May this year; Mark Robinson, the Executive Director of the EITI, visited Uganda on Aug.22-23 to follow-up on the recommendations the Board suggested …
Read More »Nile Basin states to get Commission after 25 years of negotiations
ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Following South Sudan’s recent accession to the Nile Cooperative Framework Agreement and subsequent depositing of the instrument of ratification at the African Union’s Legal Council offices in Addis Ababa, the River Nile Basin will finally get a fully-fledged Commission this October. The new Commission will replace …
Read More »Lake Victoria: A battleground for environmental crime
Researchers call for harmonization of enforcement mechanisms used by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to tackle transnational crimes ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest and the world’s second-largest freshwater lake, shared by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, has become a hotspot for environmental crime, according to a new report from …
Read More »South Sudan signs Nile Treaty
What it means for river basin states ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Last month on July 8, the South Sudanese parliament – the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) – ratified the Nile Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), a modern treaty that outlines the principles, rights and obligations for cooperation, management and development …
Read More »Museveni timber export ban bites
Technocrats blame Chinese veneer processors, local tree growers blame the technocrats COVER STORY | THE INDEPENDENT | In May last year, President Yoweri Museveni banned the export of ‘unprocessed’ timber products scampering a hitherto booming wood industry. One year later, panic from Museveni’s Executive Order No.3 continues with no end in …
Read More »Uganda in race to meet new EU coffee export rules
150 days left to comply with new tough EU regulations on farmers who cut forests to grow coffee Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | With about 150 days left before the European Union (EU) market begins implementing its tough ban on import of ‘deforestation-related products,’ Ugandan farmers, exporters, and regulators are …
Read More »Africa anti-crop pest fight bears fruit in Uganda
Phytosanitary programme intends to equip all 54 countries with technology and technical capacity ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Agriculture and its related value chains drive most economies across the continent, contributing about 40% to Africa’s GDP and 15% of its exports, 75% to its intra-African trade, and 60-80% of employment. But the …
Read More »Africa Energy Bank set to finance fossil fuel projects
Continent to fund own oil and gas projects in wake of Western financial institutions’ hesitancy ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | The African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), an association of African petroleum producing countries, together with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have zeroed-in on Nigeria’s federal capital, Abuja, to host the headquarters …
Read More »Why calls for amending East African Community treaty are growing louder
ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | In response to the growing calls to have the East African Community Treaty amended to reflect its current state, regional foreign and East African Community affairs ministers have demanded the process be accelerated. This was one of the resolutions reached by the ministers from Burundi, DR …
Read More »Global neglect: Declining humanitarian funding leaves millions in peril
Ignoring humanitarian need is worsening suffering, fueling instability, and prolonging conflicts ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | For millions of people in conflict-ridden countries, their world is collapsing as the international neglect of life-saving aid reaches alarming levels, humanitarian agencies have warned. “I have never before seen such a glaring gap between …
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