A shipping line has suspended its port congestion surcharge it introduced last month, offering relief to traders who continue to decry inefficiencies and delays at the Mombasa facility. CMA CGM, one of the leading shipping groups in East Africa and the third biggest worldwide container carrier, introduced the fees in February, for all cargo to and from Mombasa except that from China, to meet the additional costs it incurred as a result of delays. The liner charged Sh5,000 per 20 feet container and Sh10,000 per 40 feet container from Mombasa to other worldwide destinations for the same kind of cargo. For cargo from global port states to Mombasa, traders paid Sh15,000 per 20 feet container and Sh30,000 per 40 feet container. Port stakeholders say the fee suspension will lower the cost of business but challenged Mombasa port operators to streamline operations to end congestion which has remained unresolved since the beginning of this year. “We are happy that port congestion surcharge to all cargo which was introduced by shipping lines about a month ago has been scrapped after long discussions but the rate of cargo uptake to Nairobi and other hinterland regions remains a major issue which needs to be addressed,” said Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) chief executive officer Gilbert Langat. Mr Langat said an increase in vessels calling at the port from Asia against inadequate numbers of wagons using the standard gauge railway (SGR) to ferry the cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi was a major setback that...

Technological advancements, financial sector innovations and recent health threats like the Coronavirus have fuelled a greater reliance and need for digital trade and online shopping. The surge in E-Commerce globally has resulted in the need for efficient payment and data management systems. The adoption of data centres provides a data management system solution that allows for efficient payment across e-commerce platforms.   What are data centres? Data centres are ICT command centres used by various businesses to provide cloud storage, data processing and applications support services. These are useful to ensure safe, efficient and reliable online markets. IT penetration in Africa is the major determinant of the growth and development of data centres. Economic and administrative prioritisation has not been directed towards investments in IT infrastructure. A norm that IT investments are concerns for the private sector and not for the government prevails throughout the continent. As such, the continent is falling behind in IT penetration as government efforts lag behind that of the private sector. Infrastructure development in IT by the private sector has hugely promoted e-commerce. With the growth of digital business, there has been a wave by organisations to develop data centres to better handle the digital sphere of doing business. Most of these data centres have been adopted in Africa’s biggest markets, like Nigeria and South Africa. This sophisticated avenue of ICT is an emerging employment sector. A competent labour force with adequate skills is required to ensure efficient management of data centres. Investment in ICT infrastructure Global...

The COVID-19 crisis has generated sudden and significant changes in the way that people work, produce, consume, trade and live. There has been the widespread turn to working from home (especially for typical white-collar activities), and the deepening reliance on e-commerce for groceries and other daily goods, which has affected notoriously traditional retail. However, with the exception of the temporary impact of the pandemic on travel and other leisure activities, activities like the use of e-commerce and working from home are not new to the world and to the people in East Africa. The technologies that have facilitated these changes have been available and were in use before the crisis. Working from home had been increasing in creative industries and other services. E-commerce companies such as Amazon, eBay and Jumia were giant corporations even before the pandemic. The use of electronic means of payment has been spearhead in many regions, notably in East Africa. What has changed has been the speed at which these changes have lately occurred. Different analysis has shown that COVID-19 has accelerated e-commerce growth by 4 to 6 years. Impact in agriculture: Digital platforms in Uganda Technology, even before the pandemic, was transforming the agriculture sector in East Africa. Biotechnology, robotics and smart warehousing have increasingly been employed to produce and commercialise products there. For example, remote sensing using drones is used in Tanzania to monitor the state of crops such as cassava, beans and maize. Of the technologies increasingly adopted by East African farmers, digital...

Kenya's growth outlook is positive with the economy projected to grow 5 per cent in 2021, according to the latest African Development Ban African economy outlook. According to the development finance institution, the projection of Kenya's quick rebound assumes that economic activity will normalise due to the reopening of the economy. The successful implementation of the Economic Recovery Strategy and the country capitalising on an expected improvement in external liquidity and benefiting from initiatives to meet its external financing needs will also aid the positive growth. The external initiatives could include debt refinancing, restructuring and debt service relief, and additional concessional loans. The financial institution's projection is however lower than that of the National Treasury and World Bank. The two have projected the economic growth to rebound from 0.6 per cent  last year to 6.4 and 6.9 per cent respectively. According to World Bank, Kenya’s GDP rebound will be the fastest in the East African Community where Rwanda is forecast to expand by 5.7 per cent, Tanzania 5.5 per cent, Uganda 2.8 per cent, Burundi two per cent while South Sudan is projected to contract 3 per cent. From the outlook, inflation is projected to remain within the Central Bank of Kenya’s target range of 2.5 to 7.5 per cent, and fiscal and current account deficits are forecast to narrow as a result of improved revenue collection and exports. The outlook also shows that the country's growth in remittances could have also increased it's resilience to the Covid-19 shocks. Remittances to Africa declined from $85.8...

KAMPALA – One out of every 49 women in Uganda die of maternal complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. According to UNICEF, Uganda’s mortality rate is about 440 deaths per 100,000 births, implying that about 16 mothers die every day. Even with the significant improvements made towards maternal health care especially with investment in antenatal and neonatal specialized treatment, the numbers of maternal deaths are still devastating. This poses an urgent need for quick solutions from various stakeholders to join hands in ensuring all pregnant mothers have access to quality and affordable healthcare services. To help curb this vice, Stanbic Bank together with ATC Uganda, Huawei, Vivo energy, Liberty Life, UNOC, MTN, Umeme, Uganda Communication Commission, Trademark East Africa, Total, NSSF, Crown Beverages, Uganda Breweries Limited, AFREXIM and United Nations Development Program have come together to address the four critical areas affecting maternal health in Uganda by giving hospital equipment, mothers welfare through mama kits, community outreach and sensitization and ensure health workers welfare are taken care off. As part of the drive focus area, Stanbic Bank Uganda and ATC Uganda will be donating medical equipment consisting of patient’s monitors, trolleys and dopplers ultrasound machine worth about Ugx 144 Million to Kawempe Referral Hospital to boost its maternal healthcare unit. Speaking during the handover event, Anne Juuko the Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank said, the bank through its SEE (Social Economic & Environment) priority aims at transforming every sector of the economy in efforts to drive Uganda’s growth. She explained...

With an eye on reducing cost of trade in the region, stake holders in the logistics sector have stepped up specialized training for key personnel in Uganda. A programme to offer training to customs agents and freight forwarders in Uganda that is in tune with changing technologies and logistical needs, and aims to make the country a regional logistics and distribution hub was yesterday launched at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala. The training, officials said, will enable customs agents and freight forwarders to provide competitive and high-quality end to end services. With support from Trademark East Africa (TMA) and in partnership with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) Wednesday rolled out the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program for customs agents and freight forwarders in Uganda on a pilot basis. The programme implemented by FEAFFA across East Africa, will offer timely training that is in tune with changing technologies and logistical needs, thus enabling customs agents and freight forwarders to provide competitive and high-quality end to end services. At the programme launch, TMA was represented by Damali Ssali Ag Country Director, The East African Community Secretariat and FEAFFA was represented by Mr. John Mathenge. “The new skills that will be acquired through the CPD program will be key in addressing the inefficiencies in logistics service delivery and therefore significantly contribute to reducing the high cost of transport in East Africa,” said Damali Ssali. Mathenge revealed that the CPD program is expected to address the...

With support from Trademark East Africa (TMA) and in partnership with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) has rolled out the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program for customs, agents and freight forwarders in Uganda on a pilot basis. The programme implemented by FEAFFA across East Africa, will offer timely training that is in tune with changing technologies and logistical needs, thus enabling customs agents and freight forwarders to provide competitive and high-quality end to end services. The programme was officially launched at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, where TMA was represented by Ms Damali Ssali Ag Country Director, The East African Community Secretariat and FEAFFA was represented by Mr John Mathenge. Speaking at the launch Ms Ssali said “The new skills that will be acquired through the CPD program will be key in addressing the inefficiencies in logistics service delivery and therefore significantly contribute to reducing the high cost of transport in East Africa.” On his part, Mr Mathenge revealed that the CPD program is expected to address the large skills gap in the EACs logistics sector that have resulted into high costs of transport in the region and will run under the EAC Logistics Sector Skills Enhancement programme sponsored by TMA. FEAFFA has already developed the CPD policy framework and implementation guidelines and tools to guide EAC countries in rolling out the program. “The CPD program is a core of training interventions by FEAFFA that has the potential to unilaterally uplift the...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, has launched an online system to issue import and export permits and licenses in Kenya. The services will be provided by the Agriculture and Food Authority of Kenya (AFA), the government regulatory agency. The system was developed by AFA and TradeMark Africa (TMA) to automate agricultural business processes including issuance of permits and licensing. It has been named the AFA-Integrated Management Information System (AFA-IMIS), an 8-in-1 Single Window Information for Trade (SWIFT) system covering the certification and licensing of trade in cash crops. The system, according to AFA, will provide a platform for delivery of technical and advisory services, market research, product development, regulations and compliance functions for export and import of the cash crops. The development of the system was funded with a contribution of Ksh. 150 million ($1.37 million) by the Government of Denmark. The event was graced by Royal Danish Embassy Counsellor Morgen Strunge Larsen, AFA Director General Mr. Kello Harsama, TMA Senior Director for Trade Environment Mr. Alban Odhiambo and TMA Country Director Mr. Ahmed Farah HSC. Speaking at the event, Director General of AFA Kello Harsama said, “This system will help us serve the agriculture sector well. As AFA we are not only concerned with food that is coming into Kenya, but also food that is being produced in Kenya. Soon we will start surveillance on food grown in Kenya like tomatoes, to enforce regulations on pesticide use and ensure food supplied to markets from our farms...

As the UK forges a new set of global partnerships post-Brexit, questions remain over its commitment to the continent after the reduction in the aid budget. But the UK's minister for Africa James Duddridge argues that African countries see the UK as a long term partner and that historical and financial ties remain as strong as ever. The UK is in global diplomatic realignment, and not just in Europe. While the UK was close to the Chinese under previous prime minister David Cameron, the current executive under Boris Johnson is far closer to the US position; speaking up on the Uyghur genocide and on repression in Hong Kong, and backing away from including Chinese technology companies in core UK communications networks. Will this realignment be visible in Africa? Brexit diplomacy There is now a bloat of foreign powers seeking advantage on the continent, each bringing their own strengths: from the project financing of Chinese infrastructure providers, the technology of the Japanese, the price points of Turkish goods and the agribusiness competence of Brazil. “We are motoring”, says UK minister for Africa James Duddridge. He points to post-Brexit trade agreements signed with 15 African countries and the advantages that the UK can depend on, such as use of English, the attractiveness of the City of London and the long history of UK corporate engagement on the continent. “Yes, there are a lot of players, but more and more we’ll be working in consortium across countries, rather than just having a simple...

TMA’s foray into Ethiopia and Somaliland yields significant gains. The Moyale One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) interconnectivity has now been completed. Trademark East Africa (TMA) has made significant strides in unlocking the Horn of Africa’s transport corridors in Ethiopia and Somaliland. TMA launched the Unlocking Prosperity in the Horn of Africa programme in October 2018, to harness the trade and economic potential of the Berbera Corridor between Somaliland-Ethiopia. Although the region is strategically on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and trading routes, the 2018 World Bank Logistics Performance Report ranked the logistics as extremely inefficient yet raising the cost of trade. The Moyale One Stop Border Post (OSBP) interconnectivity has now been completed. It was launched in December last year in a colourful event that was officiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Dr Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister, the Federal Republic of Ethiopia at the Moyale border point. The border point is part of the LAPSSET project, and is situated approximately 800 Kilometres North of Nairobi, and 780 Kilometres South of Addis Ababa. Construction of the OSBP facility was completed in 2018, after which the facility was connected to appropriate ICT Hardware and Software to enable it to run smoothly as a modern facility. Cross-border procedures were reviewed to prepare for their commencement and staff on both sides of the border trained on the new procedures. The launch of the OSBP operations were, however, interrupted by COVID-19 induced travel restrictions, TMA said in a recent brief on the...