Rwanda has implemented a number of trade facilitation initiatives including, Rwanda Electronic Single Window, which has enabled faster clearance of imports and exports. By Our Correspondent August 30, 2019: At the 3rd Global Logistics Convention, $3.5 million deal was signed between Trade Mark East Africa and the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Association (FEAFFA), to raise capacity in East Africa’s logistics sector. The convention is held at the Kigali International Convention Centre, Rwanda from August 29–30. The four-year EAC Logistics Sector Skills Enhancement Program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through TradeMark Africa, and implemented by FEAFFA; will address existing skills gaps in the region that have since resulted into high costs of doing business within the community. The programme will help build skills of customs agents, freight forwarders and warehouse operators. TradeMark Africa’s director, Patricia Ithau and FEAFFA president Fred Seka signed the agreement. During the 3rd Global Logistics Convention, PS @mikesebs said that this convention will offer a unique opportunity to professionals in the transport and freight logistics sectors from all over the world while sharing best practices with transporters and logistics policy makers.pic.twitter.com/nsb0cjqJhJ - Min of Trade |Rwanda (@RwandaTrade) August 29, 2019 After the signing, Seka said the funding will facilitate introduction of a higher-level qualification that will build on the success of the certificate program, such as exposing practitioners to global practices and position them as global logisticians. “The gender gap is still prevalent in the logistics sector. Women make up to only 20 percent...

Logistics is an important sector that is central to seamless trade. Although infrastructure remains the biggest challenge to the sector, inadequate skills among professionals is another impediment. Bucyana Murekezi, Chartered Member of the International Institute of Logistics and Transport (IILT) joins CNBC Africa for more. Source: CNBC Africa

The East African Business Council has called for closer government partnership and involvement with the private sector in policy formulation to enhance the competitiveness of the EAC region. This, according to the EABC Chairman Mr Nick Nesbitt will also enhance value addition in agriculture, mining and services sectors among others as well as strengthening regional value chains. “EABC is a respected coordinator and holds respective dialogue with EAC governments with balanced regional views and policy stance,” he said. Mr. Nebsitt  was speaking during a courtesy visit to Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and highlighted the importance of fast tracking the  comprehensive review of EAC CET; Liberalization of Opens Skies;  One Network Area on Telecommunication; Harmonization of Standards in the EAC; Strengthening the EAC Secretariat on enforcement of laws; Market access with Democratic Republic of the Congo; Transport interlinkages in the region – Road, Rail and Water (lake Victoria); Inter-governmental trade dispute resolution mechanism and closer government involvement and government partnership with the private sector. “Comprehensive review of the EAC Common External Tariff (CET) is yet to be finalized four years down the line adversely affecting intra-EAC trade,” said Hon. Peter Mathuki, EABC CEO. Mr. Nesbitt further appreciated H.E. President Museveni for resolving border misunderstandings for the common good of the East African people as enshrined in the Treaty. “This will go a long way in instilling confidence to the citizens and business community,” said Mr. Nesbitt adding that a healthy and vibrant private sector will support social and economic development of the...

Ahead of the third Global Logistics Convention, in East Africa, which takes place on August 29-30 at the Kigali Convention Centre, Abhishek Sharma, TMA’s Senior Director for Transport spoke to Business Times’ James Karuhangaabout the state of the logistics sector in the region. According to the logistics expert, in the past 10 years, the status of logistics in the region has improved significantly but challenges persist and that is why such a conference comes in handy. Most importantly, he noted, it is very important that countries work very hard to reduce the cost of logistics because poor people bear the brunt more when things go wrong in the logistics sector. The excerpts; What is the situation of the logistics sector in the region at the moment? In the last, 10 years, the status of logistics in the region has improved significantly; the time and the cost has come down dramatically along both the northern corridor and the central corridor. For example on the central corridor, for Rwanda, while the average speed of truck on transit was 7 kilometers an hour it has now improved to as much as 14 kilometers an hour and so, that is doubling is speed along the corridor. This has resulted in a reduction in prices of logistic movements along the corridor. Which studies back this up? The Logistics Performance Index of the World Bank also shows a significant improvement in all the countries of the EAC on logistics. What it shows is that normally, the logistics performance of...

August 23—The regional logistics industry has been asked to work closer together in ways that will strengthen and increase efficiencies as leading French firm, Bolloré Transport & Logistics hints of building a new cargo handling complex in East Africa. “I am challenging the experts in the logistics industry to come up with feasible solutions that will improve the sector’s performance index ranking in the region,” Monica Azuba Ntege, Uganda transport minister told the Regional Logistics Expo forum on Thursday. The logistics industry includes customs clearance, freight forwarding, warehousing, transportation, port services and air cargo. Earlier this month, Philippe Labonne, deputy managing director of Bolloré Transport & Logistics said their strategy is to develop hubs in Africa.  “We have identified  eight of them, such as in Abidjan, where we are building an ‘aerohub’ so that goods can arrive by sea and be redistributed by air. It’s sort of confidential, but I can tell you that we’re looking closely at Nairobi, Kigali, South Africa,” he told the French publication Jeune Afrique. Azuba said Uganda has recorded mixed results in rankings for the movement of goods and services between 2007 and 2016.  The country’s logistics performance index ranking jumped from 83rd position to 58th, however between 2016 and 2018, its rank dropped from 58th position to 102. Kenya is the regional hub with the biggest fleets and container facilities based in that country, arranged along the Northern Corridor route from Mombasa. According to a recent report by financial services firm, pwc, intra-trade in Africa...

Trade mark East Africa has signed a 470 million shillings partnership with two trade and business bodies in the region. 

By Drake Nyamugabwa East Africa Business Council (EABC) has received US$ 3.2 Million from Trademark East Africa aimed at reducing trade barriers in the East African Community through supporting the implementation of a 3 year programme dubbed “Integrating Public-Private Sector Dialogue (PPD) for Trade and Investment in East Africa Community (EAC) Programme”. The East African Business Council (EABC) officially signed a US$ 3.2 Million financing agreement with TradeMark Africa (TMA) on 20th august in Nairobi. The partnership will support EABC’s advocacy efforts of improving coordination, reporting and resolution of Non- Tariff Barriers along the corridors; harmonization and adoption of East African Standards/ Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures; improve adoption and harmonization of Customs and  Domestic Tax-related policies and trade facilitation in the EAC. Hon. Peter Mathuki, EABC CEO says that in order to strengthen and sustain EAC’s trade and investment, it is critical that an enabling environment is in place to guarantee growth and predictability adding that Public‐Private Dialogue plays a crucial role in addressing constraints, providing short‐term stimulus with long‐term impact and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. “We appreciate this partnership with TradeMark Africa as it will support EABC to evaluate and monitor EAC policies to ensure they work for businesses at ground level and create momentum to accelerate needed the policy reforms to the business and investment climate in the EAC. Inadequate trading regimes restrictions on the export of certain commodities, and lack of product diversification and the existence of Non-Tariff Barriers continue to hamper intra-regional trade which is still low...

The East African Business Council (EABC) has signed a $3 million(Sh308.8 million) financing agreement with TradeMark Africa (TMA) to help address trade barriers in East Africa. A similar trade deal worth $1.5 million (Sh154.4 million ) has also been signed between the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and TMA. This will support implementation of a three year programme, “Integrating Public-Private Sector Dialogue (PPD) for Trade and Investment in East Africa Community (EAC) programme”. The partnership will support EABC's advocacy efforts of improving coordination, reporting and resolution of Non Tariff Barriers along the corridors, harmonization and adoption of East African Standards, Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, improve adoption and harmonization of Customs and Domestic Tax-related policies and trade facilitation in the EAC. Public‐Private Dialogue plays a crucial role in addressing constraints, providing short‐term stimulus with long‐term impact and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. The project will enhance advocacy and dialogue on transport and logistics, trade facilitation, customs and tax, standards, and NTBs in a bid to increase trade and investments in the EAC. Also, the programme extends beyond the EAC and incorporates the COMESA, COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). “Inadequate trading regimes restrictions on the export of certain commodities, and lack of product diversification and the existence of NTBs continue to hamper intra-regional trade which is still low at 20 per cent compared to other RECs,” EABC CEO Peter Mathuki said. The EABC is a key convenor of high‐level regional Public‐Private...

The East African Business Council (EABC) has secured US$ 3.2 million financing from TradeMark Africa Africa (TMA) to support trade initiatives mainly addressing barriers in the region. This will support  implementation of a three year programme,“Integrating Public-Private Sector Dialogue (PPD) for Trade and Investment in East Africa Community (EAC) Programme”. The partnership will support  EABC’s advocacy efforts of improving coordination, reporting and resolution of  Non- Tariff Barriers along the corridors; harmonization and adoption of East African Standards, Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, improve adoption and harmonization of customs and  domestic tax-related policies and trade facilitation in the EAC. To strengthen and sustain EAC’s trade and investment, it is critical that an enabling environment is in place to guarantee growth and predictability. Public‐Private Dialogue plays a crucial role in addressing constraints, providing short‐term stimulus with long‐term impact and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. The project will enhance advocacy and dialogue on transport and logistics, trade facilitation, customs & tax, standards, and NTBs in a bid to increase trade and investments in the EAC. Also, the programme extends beyond the EAC and incorporates the COMESA, COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) “Inadequate trading regimes restrictions on the export of certain commodities, and lack of product diversification and the existence of NTBs continue to hamper intra-regional trade which is still low at 20 per cent compared to other RECs SADC 40 per cent,”said Hon. Peter Mathuki, EABC CEO. The EABC is a key convenor of high‐level...

The East African Business Council (EABC) on Tuesday signed a US$ 3.2 million financing agreement with TradeMark Africa (TMA) for support in implementing a three-year programme focused on the simplification and harmonization of trade procedures in the region. The partnership will support EABC’s advocacy efforts of improving coordination, reporting and resolution of non- tariff barriers along the corridors; harmonization and adoption of East African standards or sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures; improve adoption and harmonization of Customs and Domestic Tax-related policies and trade facilitation in the region. “We will coordinate, set the agenda and facilitate evidence-based research on public-private dialogues to reducing barriers to trade in the EAC region,” said Peter Mathuki, the EABC Chief Executive Officer. “We appreciate this partnership with TradeMark Africa as it will support EABC to evaluate and monitor EAC policies to ensure they work for businesses at ground level and create momentum to accelerate the needed policy reforms for the business and investment climate in the EAC.” As noted, public-private dialogue plays a crucial role in addressing constraints, providing short-term stimulus with long-term impact and contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction. The project will enhance advocacy and dialogue on transport and logistics, trade facilitation, customs and tax, standards, and NTBs in a bid to increase trade and investments in the region. The programme also extends beyond the EAC and incorporates the COMESA, COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). “Inadequate trading regimes restrictions on the export of...