The quest for a common market for the five member states of the East African Community comes to a reality on Friday. The heads of states will put pen to paper to the protocol giving life to a common market at a ceremony to be held in Arusha, Tanzania.

And with the move, regional traders and companies will have a wider zone to operate given the increased number of potential customers that they will be able to target to market their products.

Turning point

According to the secretariat, arrangements for the occasion that will mark a turning point for the East Africa Customs Union are complete. The protocol comes into effect on the 1st of January next year. Member states will, however, have six months to ratify it after signing which makes July 1st the earliest date by which East Africans can enjoy the fruits of the common market.

�The secretariat is expected to send the signed protocol to national governments for ratification according to their national laws,� PS David Nalo told journalists earlier in the week.

Selling bloc

Talks on the common market protocol began two years ago and its realisation has been hailed as the gateway to a global economy for the region. This has also seen several initiatives put in place by member states aimed at selling the area as a bloc market.

However the road to the protocol has not been smooth as several demands by member states had to be either met or harmonised. Among the issues that cropped up at the last stages were on rights of permanent residency, land and identity cards.

Of significance was Tanzania�s feeling that the initial clauses contained in the draft protocol were not in its favour and called for renegotiation. This resulted into the delaying of the signing. The issues have, however, been dealt with.

The EAC Customs Union initiative started in January 2005 with three partner states, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. Burundi and Rwanda joined the bloc in 2007 but started implementing the customs union in July 2009.

Been successful

The East African Community collapsed 32 years ago in 1977 following differences among the three governments. But 10 years ago the new outfit was established and has been successful in creating an enabling social and economic environment for its citizens. This has spanned a number of areas including education, business and infrastructure development.

But even as the member states move into the common market, the status of infrastructure development in the EAC region remains in focus. This has been pegged on key areas such as energy, transport, water and communication.

An assessment by the heads of governments during an investment forum in Nairobi noted that the region had achieved a limited level of development leaving huge potential for investments.

Even though the implementation of the various instruments of Customs Union faced a number of challenges during the transitional period, the region has realised benefits in terms of increased revenue, rise in intra-trade and new investments.

REGGIO CALABRIA

Italy surged to their second Fed Cup title by destroying the United States 4-0 in the final on Sunday. Flavia Pennetta charged past Melanie Oudin 7-5 6-2 in the third singles rubber to give an unassailable 3-0 lead to the hosts, who were helped by Serena and Venus Williams again opting not to compete for the US.

Italy, who first won the trophy in 2006 and overcame defending champions Russia in this year�s semi-finals, had never beaten the Americans in nine previous Fed Cup ties. �It�s incredible, the girls have rewritten the history of Italian tennis,� captain Corrado Barazzutti told reporters at the courtside before being showered with champagne.

Pennetta, the world number 11, put Italy 1-0 up on Saturday when she comfortably beat Alexa Glatch before a confident Francesca Schiavone also defeated Oudin. The Americans, who have racked up a record 17 Fed Cup titles but have not lifted the trophy since 2000, continually struggled and failed to win a set.

Oudin, 18, gave Pennetta a great early boost by netting a simple shot and surrendering her serve in the first game. Pennetta consistently dominated but suffered a wobble when Oudin broke back at 5-5 on the outdoor clay court.

The American then double faulted to lose serve in the next game and hand the advantage back to the Italian, who quickly sealed the set under overcast skies. A partisan crowd in southern Italy and some slow ball girls increasingly irritated Oudin, the top-ranked U.S. player at 49.

Super tiebreak

She fell apart in the second set and was broken three times, allowing Pennetta the luxury of dropping her own service once before securing victory to the delight of nearly 4,000 fans. �I feel like I let my team down and the whole U.S. too,� Oudin said.

The fourth singles match between Schiavone and Glatch was scrapped with Italy already having triumphed, leaving Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci to entertain the fans with victory over Vania King and Liezel Huber in the doubles.

They won 4-6 6-3 and 11-9 in a super tiebreak instead of a third set. Italy, now the top-ranked Fed Cup team for the first time while their men continue to flounder in the Davis Cup, will start the defence of the title against Ukraine in February.

source.nation.ke

Nigeria qualified for the World Cup in a tense Group Two photo finish after beating brave Kenya 3-2 at Moi International Sports Centre on Saturday. The results pushed the Super Eagles to top position in the group with 12 points after long time table leaders Tunisia were beaten 1-0 by Mozambique in Maputo to remain with 11 points.

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The Nairobi loss knocked Kenya out of the African finals after Mozambique clinched the third qualifying spot with their home win against the Carthage Eagles. Kenya led Nigeria 1-0 at half time courtesy of a Dennis Oliech goal in the 15th minute.

But Nigeria equalised in the 62nd minute through second half substitute Obarfemi Martins before Aiyegbeni Yakubu�s gave them the lead three minutes later. Allan Wanga restored parity with spectacular diving header in the 79th minute but Martins made sure of the three precise points for the Super Eagles with an overhead goal on 83 minutes.

The match was marred by crowd trouble as a section of the spectators threw water bottles into the pitch soon after the Nigeria scored their second goal concerning concern on the pitch but thankfully the situation did not deteriorate. It was desperate situation for Kenya who needed to win and rely on a Mozambique loss or draw to sneak through to the African finals.

But it all looked a tall order as Nigeria started the more composed side pressing Kenya in their own half in the early exchanges. Moscow striker Peter Odemwingie was a constant threat with his darting runs and eagerness to shot at goal.

Nigeria forced 10 corners to Kenya�s one but all were fruitless. When Stars got their first real chance on goal their top scorer Oliech was on hand to bring his qualifier tally to six. Emmanuel Ake, who played in flashed in inspiration, fed Oliech a neat through ball for the Auxerre striker to roll the ball home.

The crowd went ecstatic as Kenya began to string their passes together. But it was Nigeria who came close to scoring the second goal of the match, Peter Opiyo clearing the ball from the line in the 17th minute.

Good combination

Several minutes later Odemwingie got his return shot corner kick to test Willis Ochieng with fierce ground shot. Nigeria controlled the possession but they just did not have the cutting edge in the half.

Kenya should doubled the scores in the closing stages of the first half. Oliech, a constant menace to the Nigerians, was brought down in the box after some good combination by Peter Opiyo and Victor Mugabe but his valiant appeals for a penalty were ignored by the ref.

Oliech should have scored three minutes into time added on, leaving Joseph Yobo and Obina Mwanzeri for dead, but Vincent Enyama came out on top in the one-on-one situation.

Line-ups:

Kenya � Willis Ochieng, Julius Owino, John Njoroge, Edgar Ochieng, George Owino, Musa Otieno, Peter Opiyo, Victor Mugabe, Patrick Oboya, Emmanuel Ake, Deniis Oliech. Substitutes used � Allan Wanga, Patrick Osiako

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – We were led through a door that is usually forbiddingly closed, past a clutch of burly secret service agents, around a corner, and there he was, in a corridor leading to the Oval Office.

Barack Obama, America’s “rock star” president, greeted us with a smile and a handshake.

I had felt a little nervous before the interview, partly because we had so little time allotted, just 15 minutes to try to extract some news.

But I also felt a buzz of adrenalin. In a room that evokes history, power and tradition, we were waved to our seats by America’s first black president and a man who has caught the imagination of the world like few of his predecessors.

So what is he really like, my friends wanted to know afterward.

He seemed friendly and charming of course, but businesslike too; cautious and deliberative mostly, but sharp and amusing at times. He was very obviously proud of his daughters and maybe a little sensitive about his Nobel Peace Prize.

He was thin and angular, confident and smart, perhaps a little greyer around the temples than I had thought. I found myself noticing his Calvin Klein socks and long, black shoes.

As we walked in, we chatted briefly about a wooden carving from Burundi in the corridor, and then we sat. He was on a chair in front of the fireplace, the three of us were on couches on either side.

Obama knows my colleague Caren Bohan from his election campaign, and asked her about her son and what she was reading him.

He told us how his 11-year-old daughter, Malia, reads for herself these days, but said he was also reading her Yann Martel’s best-selling novel “Life of Pi.” A “wonderful book,” he said, that was enthralling his daughter.

“There are whole chapters that really have to do with Hinduism, Christianity,” he said. The proud father added, “There is a lot of philosophical stuff in there, but for some reason she is hanging in there.”

But, “don’t mean to use up your time on children’s literature,” he said, and we were down to business. “Who is starting?”

AT EASE WITH QUESTIONS

The interview had been pitched as a preview of the trip he is starting this week to Asia, and especially about China.

As we talked, I also absorbed the atmosphere.

The desk under which John F. Kennedy’s son had famously played seemed a little smaller than I had imagined, not quite adequate for the world’s weightiest decisions. And was the Oval Office always this yellow?.

Just behind the president, I spotted the bust of Martin Luther King that Obama requested and that has replaced a bust of Winston Churchill. I also saw another Obama choice, Norman Rockwell’s painting of the torch of the Statue of Liberty against a pale blue sky.

Obama began the interview without the clutch of aides we might have expected. His spokesman Robert Gibbs wandered in late in the interview to perch on the desk. This was obviously a president who didn’t need help dealing with our questions.

We asked about China’s currency, America’s trade gap and China’s holdings of U.S. debt. Obama warned of “enormous strains” on relations between the world’s most powerful nations if those imbalances were not fixed.

Any mistakes?

With time running out, we moved on to nuclear disarmament.

Perhaps it was my imagination, or was the president a little awkward when we mentioned his Nobel prize — an award many saw as premature — and suggested he wasn’t making a whole load of progress in stemming the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea?

“Well, first of all, I think it’s very important to say that if by lack of progress you’re suggesting we have not already eliminated nuclear weapons from the face of the earth in the first nine months of my administration, then that’s true,” he said, with a smile.

The interview was almost over. The president kept talking and was passed a note. Gibbs hovered. We had a chance for a final question.

Would the president admit to any mistakes? Bush had famously been stumped by the same question at the end of his first term, saying he could not think of any.

“Oh, we make at least one mistake a day,” Obama said smoothly, to laughter.

“I don’t think we’ve made big mistakes. I don’t think we’ve made fundamental mistakes,” he said. “There are constant sort of things that I think have proven unnecessary distractions. But in terms of the core decisions that we’ve made … I feel very good about our progress.”

And then our time was up.