Our fascination with Europe and Brexit is perhaps obscuring the two greatest changes and opportunities in global trade. These are happening neither in European nor Anglo-Saxon countries, but in China and Africa Next week Britain will host a Commonwealth Trade meeting in London. This is the time to start resetting the tone of Britain’s engagement with the world, post-Brexit. Pre-Brexit, many businesses from Commonwealth countries used Britain as a front door to Europe. The reasons for this were simple: there is a common language, a common legal system and Britain is inside the trading block. Soon Britain is to leave. What happens next? I did not support Brexit. Indeed I actively campaigned for Remain, however “Brexit means Brexit” and we must make this change work. To make Brexit work, we must now turn our minds to creating opportunities for post-Brexit Britain. Many have said that Britain can now “look outward” again and “re-engage” with the world. While Britain was neither inward-looking nor disengaged from the world, we must focus Britain in a global context, not just a European one. Our fascination with Europe and Brexit is perhaps obscuring the two greatest changes and opportunities in global trade. These are happening neither in European nor Anglo-Saxon countries, but in China and Africa. Firstly, in 2012 President Xi of China announced China’s One Belt, One Road policy, which is a massive multi-trillion dollar infrastructure and trade boosting program linking East Africa, Persia, South Asia and China, with an almost after-thought side route...

Forty per cent of cargo imported through the port of Mombasa will be cleared at the Nairobi Internal Container Depot, Kenya Revenue Authority has said, as the government moves to secure business for the Standard Gauge Railway. Kenya Ports Authority is upgrading the ICD at Embakasi which will increase container handling capacity to a projected 450,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units from the current 180,000 TEUs. This comes as the government moves to secure cargo for the Sh327 billion SGR expected to become operational on May 31, a move that will help repayment of the loan from China’s Exim Bank which has funded 90 per cent of the project. “At least 40 per cent of the cargo previously cleared in Mombasa will now fi nd its way to Nairobi for clearance, with signifi cant attendant benefits including speedier and cheaper cargo delivery, reduced road damage and road carnage and less pollution,”KRA Commisioner General John Njiraini said. “The ICD is therefore a key component in the overall government strategy to deliver tangible trade benefits through the SGR project. SGR’s success is therefore highly dependent on an effi cient ICD, off ering speedy cargo evacuation in order to avoid clog up of the cargo supply chain.” The taxman said it has drawn up a comprehensive ICD business strategy. It includes a dedicated team that will undergo special training “to equip them for the task ahead”. “The ICD business process will be confi gured to ensure minimum clearance delays through green channeling, pre-arrival clearance and...

The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim) has activated a Sh1.54 billion ($15 million) credit line for Kenyan SMEs to finance capital goods imports from the Sub-continent. The Indian lender signed the financing agreement with the government in July last year during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the country, and it came into effect on February 17 to run for five years. The Sh1.54 billion is being channelled through the Industrial Development Bank. Under the terms of the credit, SMEs will have to source two thirds of the goods or services under purchase from India, which will add to Indian exports to Kenya which stood at Sh208.4 billion in 2016. “The goods including plant machinery, equipment and services including consultancy services from India for exports under this agreement are those which are eligible for export under the foreign trade policy of the government of India,” said India Exim bank chief general manager Deepak Kumar in a circular issued last week. “Out of the total credit by Exim Bank under this agreement, goods and services of the value of at least 75 per cent of the contract price shall be supplied by the seller from India and the remaining 25 per cent of goods and services may be procured by the seller from outside India.” In addition to the credit line for SMEs, the Indian government agreed in July last year to open similar financing facilities for power transmission line projects being executed by Indian companies to the...

In the past, the world was clearly split into developing and developed countries – with the latter boasting the most advanced logistics ecosystems. Today, the emerging markets of Africa are challenging this divide in the fields of transportation and logistics, and in some cases leapfrogging ahead of more mature markets. From a connectivity perspective these developments are giving rise to a new image of the future for Africa – one which is very different from today. Let’s explore three key highlights from a transportation and supply chain perspective and the implications for Africa in 2030. Open skies Owing to current aviation infrastructure in Africa (or the lack thereof), what should be a three-hour journey between Algeria and Cameroon, in fact takes 24 hours, with the flight touching down in Istanbul and Turkey en route. A single air transport market for Africa is key to unlocking the opportunities the continent presents. Today, transporting goods in and out of Africa, as well as within the continent, is prohibitive in terms of both time and cost. The restrictions it places on the movement of people also makes for a highly fragmented continent. A study by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has forecast that if another 12 African economies opened their skies to each other, fares would become 35% cheaper, enabling 5 million more people to take to the skies, creating 155,000 new jobs and adding $1.3 billion to GDP. The benefits have been clearly witnessed in South Africa, where an agreement to...

The Electronic Cargo Tracking System will check dumping and deviation of goods from their final destination. PHOTO | FILE Business owners in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda are expected to save on the cost and time of transporting cargo on the Northern Corridor following the launch of a joint electronic cargo tracking system. The $4.4 million Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTs) will enable the three countries to track movement of goods along the Northern Corridor from the port of Mombasa to Kampala and Kigali. The system is expected to reduce transit time, cargo theft and diversion of goods in transit, which will then reduce the cost of doing business along the corridor. RECTs will also eliminate the need for physical escorts and monitoring of sensitive cargo, such as batteries, fuel and cigarettes. The system was officially launched by revenue authorities of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda in Kampala and will be free as the tax bodies will meet all operational costs. “The system will help us monitor goods from end to end; it will ease cargo handling, improve revenue collection and reduce diversion of untaxed goods into the market. It will lead to improved fair trade as goods that have not been taxed will not be diverted to distort the market. This will benefit our traders and assure potential investors of a level playing field in our region,” said Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner-General Doris Akol. The system comprises tracker satellites, central command centres in each of the revenue authorities in Nairobi,...

It The agony of trailer truck drivers and logistics companies are the multiple stoppages they have to make on roads within East Africa. According to Mr Kassim Omar the chairperson Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents, the average time trucks take on the road moving between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda is about three to four days. “Three days is a long time to be on the road with cargo. It comes with extra costs for the truck drivers, parking space and also sometimes at border points,” he explains. Last week, the three countries introduced a new Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) that is going to more than halve the time trucks spend on the road. According to Mr Dicksons Kateshumbwa, the Commissioner Customs at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), the web-based tracking system will eliminate the stops trucks have to make in the EAC member countries. “In the Northern Corridor, the average movement of goods is about 190,000 consignments that on average spends three days on the road. The cargo tracking system will reduce that time to 1.7 days (36 hours). This is trade facilitation,” he said during the unveiling of the system. The three countries have been operating their own national tracking systems and that meant on each border point, the trucks had to stop and be checked. This would lead to queues and sometimes, diversion of goods. According to URA, this process did not provide complete transit monitoring mechanisms leading to cases of dumping, delayed bond cancellation and...

Tanzania has performed impressively in making reforms to suit restriction-free capital transaction under the freedom of movement of capital as agreed in the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol. The 2016 EAC's scorecard on common market indicates that the country has made six out of 11 legal and regulatory reforms the partner states have undergone between 2014 and 2016 in the free capital transaction. The report, which was disseminated to stakeholders in Dar es Salaam yesterday looked at issues of security, credit, direct investment and personal capital as critical areas under the free capital transaction.Presenting the report, the World Bank Consultant, Ms Agatha Nderitu, said Uganda made three reforms and Kenya had the remaining two reforms. She, however, explained that the 2016 scorecard focused on 20 operations that the partner states had agreed to open for the implementation of the free movement of capital in the region. Some of the operations, apart from free capital transaction, are free movement of services in professional services including engineering, accounting and legal. Others are transport (roads and air) and movement of goods with a focus on Non-Tariff Barriers. "Generally, none of the EAC partner state is fully compliant to the areas we have looked at regarding the Common Market Protocol," she said, noting that out of 20 operations, only three of them have restrictions removed. The three areas which all member states have commonly removed the restrictions are external borrowing by residents, repatriation of proceeds from the sale of assets and foreign sale...

The Minister of Trade Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde has called on the business community to embrace the use of technology while doing business to reduce costs. Kyambadde made the call on Friday at the launch of the Regional Electronic Cargo Trucking System (RECTS) that will track goods in transit across the three East African countries. The electronic cargo tracking system was first introduced by Uganda Revenue Authority in 2013 with support from development agencies through Trademark East Africa, after its success, it was piloted in the three revenue officers of Kenya and Rwanda, hence the launch as a success project. She said most traders still prefer shortcuts to clearing goods which makes it difficult to track or help them recover in case goods disappear along the way. "Some Ugandans still think of dealing with someone informally to clear their goods faster, it’s time now for us to embrace technology to help us do business in a clear manner," said Kyambadde. She however asked the implementers to sensitize the users on how technologies like the RECTS work, benefits to business, costs or no costs for the innovation to be fully embraced by the targeted audience. The project was funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) through the TradeMark Africa (TMA) to the tune of US$4.4 million (about sh15.752 billion). According to Kyambadde the system will enhance the monitoring of transit goods along the northern corridor to, reduce costs and time, ease sharing of information and improved coordination...

South Sudan’s government said it will appoint six members of its parliament as representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly in an attempt to fulfil its obligations of becoming a full member of the regional bloc. South Sudan foreign affairs spokesman Mawien Makol Ariik, told Radio Tamazuj that once a membership fee of one million dollars is paid, the representatives will be sent to represent South Sudan at the regional parliament. “South Sudan government is almost becoming a full member in the East African Community and we just need to pay our membership fee. This month, we are expected to choose six members to represent South Sudan to East African parliament,” he said. East African heads of states agreed to admit South Sudan as its sixth member state last November during a summit in Tanzania. However, there have been concerns raised by South Sudanese after the government decided to join the East African Community which includes Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Some claim that South Sudanese will benefit from the exemption of visa payment and educational services in the region, while others who are against the decision say South Sudan has little to offer the region. Source: Radio Tamazuj  

Rwandan cross-border truck drivers have expressed optimism that the soon-to-be launched electronic cargo tracking system will not only improve the safety of Rwanda-bound consignments from the east African coast but also avert possible conflicts between drivers and traders. Issa Mugarura, vice-president of Rwanda Truck Drivers Association (ACPLRWA), who was speaking to The New Times on Tuesday following reports that Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) is set to commission the Rwanda Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) this month, said he was confident it would be a game changer. A similar system was commissioned by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) last week in Kampala. It enables interested parties to receive fulltime and real-time updates on their mobile phones. “It is a good system that ensures security of cargo and truck seeing that one will be monitored on the network, wherever they go. You cannot steal. And there is no need for going through many weigh bridges as nothing will be changed or tampered with along the way,” Mugarura said. The acting Chief Advocacy Officer at Private Sector Federation (PSF), Donatien Mungwarareba, said that in the past “not everyone was allowed” to check and monitor cargo in transit and people were not happy about this. Mungwarareba said: “Kenyan authorities could monitor but cargo owners could not. Now, our traders will have access to the system and this helps as regards transparency. There will be no room for deceit and, instead of estimating we shall now know the actual time cargo takes to move from Kigali...