The demand for air cargo on African airlines have dropped further in June compared to previous month, a new report by a global airlines trade association has shown. The demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, for the African airlines contracted by 13.8 percent in June. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) data for global air freight markets shows that this was a weaker performance than the 7.3 percent fall in demand in May. IATA said the decline was attributed to the risk of increased spread of the coronavirus on the continent especially in the month of June, causing economic shocks to the lower and middle incomes countries. Analysts worry of a rampant spread of the virus due to weak health systems and adoption of prevention measures including social distancing in the continent’s overcrowded cities and slums. More than a third of Africa's population is said to lack access to adequate water supplies and nearly 60 percent of urban dwellers live in overcrowded slums - conditions where the virus could thrive. “African airlines reported a 13.8 percent year–on-year decline in international cargo volumes in June, up from a 7.3 percent fall in May,” IATA stated. “The Asia-Africa trade lane continues to grow swiftly (from 3.0 percent yoy in May to 20.1 percent in June), but the pandemic became more severe in Africa during June.” Some of the African airlines in cargo freight operations include Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways (KQ), South African Airlines and RwandAir. And while the aviation industry was among the...

The demand for air cargo on African airlines have dropped further in June compared to previous month, a new report by a global airlines trade association has shown. The demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, for the African airlines contracted by 13.8 percent in June. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) data for global air freight markets shows that this was a weaker performance than the 7.3 percent fall in demand in May. IATA said the decline was attributed to the risk of increased spread of the coronavirus on the continent especially in the month of June, causing economic shocks to the lower and middle incomes countries. Analysts worry of a rampant spread of the virus due to weak health systems and adoption of prevention measures including social distancing in the continent’s overcrowded cities and slums. More than a third of Africa's population is said to lack access to adequate water supplies and nearly 60 percent of urban dwellers live in overcrowded slums - conditions where the virus could thrive. “African airlines reported a 13.8 percent year–on-year decline in international cargo volumes in June, up from a 7.3 percent fall in May,” IATA stated. “The Asia-Africa trade lane continues to grow swiftly (from 3.0 percent yoy in May to 20.1 percent in June), but the pandemic became more severe in Africa during June.” Some of the African airlines in cargo freight operations include Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways (KQ), South African Airlines and RwandAir. And while the aviation industry was among the...

The World Bank has agreed to a no cost extension for the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GLTFP) to December 2021. The five million US dollars project was launched in 2016 for a five-year period. COMESA’s Assistant Secretary General for Programmes Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget said the Project has been crucial in facilitating trade for small scale cross border traders by promoting the Simplified Trade Regime and providing necessary information needed to conduct business across the three project countries of Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. He added that though most traders have been affected by COVID-19 and the restrictions that have been imposed by countries, the GLTFP has ensured that Trade Information Officers are available at border posts to attend to those who are trading. COVID-19 also halted most of the project’s field-based activities such as regular visits to project countries and borders in order to hold consultations with relevant stakeholders.  The Project Team has adapted to using online communication platforms provided by COMESA Secretariat and have continued implementing the project. “The use of online meetings has had its positive effect in terms of saving resources which can be used during the no-cost extension of the project that now ends in December 2021,” said Amb. Cheluget, who is also the PSC Chairperson. Another major activity that the project is focusing on is the continued provision of technical support and coordination of activities aimed at rolling out effective implementation of the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime (STR). The STR seeks to help in...

SUMMARY The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said cruise ship sector will bounce back once Covid-19 pandemic is contained. Like almost every sector of the economy, tourism has been adversely affected by the effects of the pandemic. Kenya’s Sh1.3 billion cruise ship terminal is lying idle at the Port of Mombasa with six cruise ships which were expected to call this year cancelled due to the disease. Kenya is looking beyond the challenges posed by Covid-19 as it seeks to position the country as a top cruise tourism destination globally. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said cruise ship sector will bounce back once Covid-19 pandemic is contained. Like almost every sector of the economy, tourism has been adversely affected by the effects of the pandemic. Kenya’s Sh1.3 billion cruise ship terminal is lying idle at the Port of Mombasa with six cruise ships which were expected to call this year cancelled due to the disease. KPA principal communication officer Hajji Masemo said the prospects of the country’s cruise tourism look bright, noting that the agency is collaborating with the Cruise Africa, an association that incorporates the Indian Ocean, to market cruise tourism. He said for Kenya to tap the full potential of the sector, the Port of Mombasa needs a “home vessel”. "This means the ship will be domiciled here, start her journeys from Mombasa to other destinations,” he said. The cruise sector, Mr Masemo added is one of the fastest growing maritime segments in the world. "It is growing at...

Mombasa, 20th August: The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Simon Mordue conducted a two-day visit of Mombasa during which he handed over Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to Kenya Ports Authority to support its fight against COVID-19. The Ambassador was hosted by Mombasa Governor H.E Ali Hassan Joho, Permanent Secretary Ministry of East Africa Community (EAC) Kevit Desai, Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Rashid Salim, and TMA Kenya Country Director, Ahmed Farah. Today’s PPE’s delivery will meet the needs of 2,730 Kenya Ports Authority staff, Port Police, Kenya Revenue Authority staff, Port health staff and sustain them for 60 days. The 2730 staff were prioritised as they are the first responders and most vulnerable dealing with port health, first aiders and handling of cargo as it arrives. The PPE’s include Reusable masks, Hand sanitisers, Hand washing points, Disinfectant spray, Infrared Thermometer, Reusable Safety Boots, Full protective PPE for front line health workers, N95 face masks and face shields, as agreed with KPA in consultation with KRA and port health and advice from medical agencies at regional and international levels. The European Union is the largest donor to Kenya’s component of TMA’s Safe Trade Emergency Facility (STEF) programme with a contribution of KES 600 million (EUR 5 million). Its under this programme that the PPE delivery has been made as part EU’s wider support for mitigation against the spread of COVID-19 and promotion of continous safe trade in Kenya. The delivery to Port of Mombasa is critical as the port...

Transnet CEO Portia Derby has said the state-owned rail and port operator is eyeing regional trade as an increasingly important part of its business strategy, as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to depress global economic activity. Derby was speaking during an online webinar at the Southern Africa Transport Conference on Wednesday morning. “The linkages in SADC are crucial for South Africa. For South Africa to grow, our region also needs to grow. The north-south corridor is an important priority for us, and we will continue to push on that front, ” said Derby. In a frank assessment of what is expected in the coming year, Derby said she was not sure that the optimism around overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic by 2021 was warranted. She said she would personally expect a return to normality when the world successfully develops and distributes a vaccine. While the global slump in demand at the start of the pandemic affected Transnet’s operations, Derby said that entity proactively sought out advice from other countries to formulate its response plan. “When we started to see the flu spreading, we spoke to Singapore. It gave us a bit of a head start. We set up a command centre led by some amazing South Africans. Whenever a new regulation came out, we addressed it quickly insofar as its impact on our operation.” This yielded benefits, said Derby, as Transnet only had to completely close for three days during the lockdown. In April Transnet Port Terminals said its port utilities were only...

Transnet is embedding the “new normal” of the Covid-19 environment for the staff of its freight and transport operations and is dismantling a command centre it set up during the earlier lockdown to make it part of regular operations. CAPE TOWN – Transnet is embedding the “new normal” of the Covid-19 environment for the staff of its freight and transport operations and is dismantling a command centre it set up during the earlier lockdown to make it part of regular operations. This was according to Transnet chief executive Portia Derby, who spoke about the impact of the pandemic on the freight and logistics environment at an SA Transport Conference and International Road Federation-hosted webinar yesterday. Derby said the pandemic had a big impact on trade flows. Some vessels had been delayed at Cape Town harbour due to infections among port workers. Sometimes, vessels would by-pass Cape Town on their return route, and vessels calling at South African ports faced problems in meeting their European port schedules. At one stage, workers had to be brought in from Durban to help boost Cape Town’s port operations, she said. She said the transport and logistics sectors still faced some tough months. She questioned the view among many economists that gross domestic product (GDP) growth would suddenly recover to 3.1 percent in 2021, from the GDP decline of up to -9.3 percent that was expected this year. She said virtually every country in Africa with which Transnet dealt had a large budget deficit and high debt,...

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 15 – The Africa Union is betting on top digital solutions among them PanaBios – a bio-surveillance and bio-screening suite -, to ensure continuity of business in the region, in the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. The technology maps COVID-19 hotspots throughout the continent and builds risk models that create a base for standardized protocols to prevent transmission of the disease. Using similar risk models tied to testing across the continent, PanaBIOS makes it possible to verify the health status of international travelers across borders, at a time when air travel has resumed. The technology will see travelers use test results from one country to satisfy port clearance requirements in another country through their personal PanaBios app, which is already available on the PanaBIOS website. The technology will thus simultaneously help ease port congestion (by obviating the need for testing on arrival) and prevent importation of new Covid-19 cases at ports of entry. Furthermore, it provides the means to track vaccine administration and also adverse reactions, in a bid for transparency and confidence rebuilding in the wake of growing paranoia about vaccines. This will however only be important when vaccines for Covid-19 are widely available. Of more immediate use is the potential of the platform’s machine learning algorithms to serve as rapid screening measures to help with school reopening, workplace safety and cross-border travel through the meshing of testing-related data and geolocation intelligence. The move comes as African countries are getting ready to reopen their borders and...

The African Union announced that the first commercial deal under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to take place on January 1, 2021 as outstanding discussions will take place online. In April, the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Wamkele Mene said implementation of the free trade agreement will not be able to commence on July 1 as planned due to the disruptions occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic. The AU maintains that the AfCFTA will offer Africa an opportunity to reconfigure its supply chains, reduce reliance on others and speed up the establishment of regional value chains which will boost intra-Africa trade. A report by the World Bank said the successful implementation of AfCFTA would mitigate negative COVID-19 effects on economic growth by boosting regional trade and reducing trade costs. It added that most of the AfCFTA’s income gains are likely to come by cutting red tape and simplifying customs procedures. Furthermore, it said, the AfCFTA could also help increase resiliency to future economic shocks by replacing regional agreements, streamlining border procedures and prioritizing trade reforms. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the AfCFTA is, by the number of participating countries, the largest trade agreement since the formation of the World Trade Organisation. Its implementation will form a $3.4 trillion economic bloc with 1.3 billion people across the continent. Read the original article Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of TradeMark Africa.

The Regional Integration and Trade Division at United Nations Economic Commission for Africa released a report entitled “Facilitating cross-border trade through a coordinated African response to COVID-19”. The report provides a critical assessment of existing border restrictions and regulations, with a view to providing guidance on how to strike an appropriate balance between curbing the long term spread of the virus and facilitating emergency and essential trade, according to United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Stephen Karingi, Director of Regional Integration and Trade Division, commenting on the report, noted that COVID-19 may become the new normal for some time, forcing African Governments to adapt and innovate in order to facilitate new safe ways of conducting cross-border trade. Maintaining trade flows as much as possible during the pandemic will be crucial in providing access to essential food and medical items and in limiting negative impacts on jobs and poverty. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, nearly all African countries have imposed various degrees of restrictions on cross-border movement of goods and people, including suspension of international flights, quarantine requirements for entrants, and closures of land and maritime borders. Under a set of strict regulations, these closures target reducing movement of people while allowing exemptions for the movement of emergency and essential freight supplies. Such regulations typically cover mandatory testing, sanitizing trucks, limiting the numbers of crew members, and designating transit resting areas. These restrictions and regulations have helped in the continent’s COVID-19 battle, but they have also had negative impacts on cross-border trade...