Kenya, Tanzania in race for UG duty-free sugar

Tanzania has lifted the ban on duty-free Ugandan sugar imports setting the stage for heightened competition with Kenya.

Kenya has in recent days been relying on Ugandan sugar while Tanzania had put the restrictions to protect its factories.

This implies that Kenya will have to fight for stocks with Tanzania, which is seeking to bridge a 290,000-tonne shortage.

In November, imports from East African Community states stood at 6,129 tonnes, all coming from Uganda, which unlike Tanzania is a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).

Sugar imports from Uganda grew 97 percent in the 10 months to October resulting from surplus stocks in the neighbouring country.

Regulatory data shows the volumes jumped to 52,827 tonnes in October last year from 26,800 tonnes in the similar period in 2017.

This was a huge contrast from 2016 when Kenya did not get much stock from Uganda because of the poor production that affected the entire East African region.

Uganda is allowed to export a given quota of sugar to Kenya under the Comesa safeguards regime. The quota is spread across all the member states based on shortage.

In 2015, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused Kenya of denying goods from Uganda to gain access into the country, saying the move was in contravention of the East Africa Community protocol.

Kenya blocked the imports on suspicion that they were sourced from other countries.

The Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association argued Kenya had selectively denied them market access.

Kenya does not produce enough sugar and relies on Comesa member states to plug an annual deficit of 350,000 tonnes.