Briefing:250,000 USD for Burundi cross border- trade advocacy, COVID-19 refugees, and more
RegionWeek Newsletter Vol III, Issue #123 | Thursday, September 10, 2020
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Dear RegionWeek Reader
The National Assembly met in plenary this Thursday, September 10, 2020, to analyze and adopt the bill revising Law No1 / 22 of December 30, 2011, on the reorganization of higher education in Burundi. The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Gaspard BANYANKIMBONA was the guest at Palais des Congrès in Kigobe to present the explanatory memorandum.
According to the Minister of Education, the bill will help to improve the quality of University education in Burundi to meet the requirements of East Africa and the market standards. It will also help ensure that the diplomas awarded in Burundi are the same as those awarded in the East African Community and around the world.
The new law will also allow the creation of a national agency to review the requirements and the distribution of diplomas and degrees for University professors.
Rwanda-Burundi
This Thursday, over 120 Burundians who were stranded in Rwanda due to Covid-19 border closure were able to return home. After a long wait in Rwanda. They entered through the Gasenyi Nemba border post, in Kirundo province (north of the country) after they were granted a special authorization.
COMESA
COMESA Secretariat has released a schedule of its annual policy meetings which will be conducted between now and the end of the year. For the first time in history, the meetings will be virtual as possibilities of conducting them physically fade in the midst of COVID-19.
The first policy organ to meet will be the 40th Intergovernmental Committee on 23-24 November and the 40th Council of Ministers meeting on 26-27 November 2020. Prior to these, a series of technical and sectoral ministerial meetings have been lined up from mid-September leading up to the policy organs.
They include the 36th Trade and Customs Committee (27- 29 October)
The 11th Meeting of the COMESA Ministers responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs (1-2 October),
The 12th Joint Meeting of the Committee on Transport, and communications, Energy and Information Technology & 12th Infrastructure Ministers Meeting (20 – 23 October),
The Ministerial Meeting of the COMESA Fund Committee (9 November),
The 23rd Meeting Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General (09 November)
The Administrative and Budgetary Committee (11-12 November)
EAST AFRICA
The Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) and the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burundi (CFCIB) signed on Wednesday, September 9, a memorandum for the execution of the project "Advocacy of the private sector for the fluidity of cross-border trade"
The project aims to facilitate trade through public-private sector dialogue; to find appropriate solutions to obstacles related to the exercise of cross-border trade and product certification. The 2 years project will cost 250,000 USD.
TradeMark East Africa works closely with East African Community institutions, national governments, the private sector, and civil society organizations to increase trade by unlocking economic potential through reducing barriers to trade and increased business competitiveness.
In Burundi between 2010 and 2017, TradeMark East Africa funded a total of 28 projects valued at $ 61.7M. TMEA program in Burundi focuses on investment in high potential areas and offers a mechanism for supporting vulnerable groups that have been socio-economically disadvantaged as a result of the Burundi crisis, thus integrate them into regional trade players.
Thanks for Reading!
Fabrice Iranzi, RegionWeek.com
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