Humanitarian Supply Chain & Logistics

This money will go to widening the Kampala Northern Bypass (Phase II) and construction of the Mbarara Bypass...

...The corridor links Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan, to Mombasa. The European Investment Bank...pledged more support in future. "Poor transport connections hinder economic development and regional integration in East Africa and the European Investment Bank appreciates the importance of upgrading key road links in the region."

...the works at Mbarara would involve the construction of a bypass of 14km and the rehabilitation of the existing road to national road standards. "This funding shall be vital in completing the Mbarara and Kampala projects which will eventually lead to reduced time of travel for long-distance goods transporters."

...The investments in Kampala, on the other hand, involve an upgrade of the Northern Bypass to a 21km dual carriageway.

[WFP's partnership with North Star Alliance]

...By 2005, the program had caught the attention of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) who, along with their partner, global express company TNT, had recognized that the same issues were affecting their ability to deliver food aid to communities not just in South Africa but throughout the region. To address the issue, a new organization called North Star Alliance was founded and a commitment was made to build a network of clinics (in blue shipping containers) along major transport routes across the continent...

...Across Africa and around the world, similar stories are taking shape. As we keep rolling out "Blue Boxes," simple but incredibly innovative concepts are being developed that are reshaping the way we think about issues from health and education to environmental sustainability and economic security. What's more, they're often coming from the places and people you'd least expect. As we continue to strive to meet pressing development objectives and create more sustainable environments, it's important that the public and private sectors make space for these new ideas and for the social innovators who dream them up. This will not only foster further innovation, but also create a sense of shared value in their success that will benefit all parties involved and society as a whole.

TANZANIA and Rwanda have shown there is a possibility to end the road toll impasse, as both countries are contemplating lower charges to attain a harmonised rate...However, Rwanda has reinstated the 500 USD road toll which it had suspended for one week for Tanzanian registered trucks...

...Tanzania is the shortest and affordable transport corridor for Kigali at a distance of just 1,350km compared to over 2,700km if goods were transported through Mombasa. According to Lukumay, each day between 200 and 300 trucks originating from Tanzania pass through the Rusumo border, whereas hardly 10 trucks from that country transport cargo to Tanzania each week.

The competition has been so stiff with several efficient working ports such as Durban, Cape Town, Maputo, Walvis Bay and Luanda all catering for the South Africa Sub region particularly unlocking Zambia.

May be Tanzania should rethink its position in East Africa where it is considered to be one of the strongest entities in comparison to the SADC where it sounds like an alien. What is our position in the East African Community? Of late there has been some harsh exchange of words from Rwanda to Tanzania and exaggerated by the local press from both countries.

This was followed by what appears to be unprecedented strategy of isolating Tanzania from the ongoing East African Community issues. It seems other countries of East African Community are having an unholy alliance in arm-twisting Tanzania.

They are engaged in deeper integration without Tanzania. In between, there have been two summits of which Tanzania was not invited. Even before this crisis of Tanzania and Rwanda, Tanzania has been dragging its feet in fast tracking East African political federation...

...some 42,000 have received food rations in different parts of the county, half of them in Pibor town. There have been no distributions in that town since a series of incidents precipitated a review of operations on 18 August, by which time the World Food Programme (WFP) had, according to spokeswoman Challiss McDonough, helped the majority of those in need who had managed to reach the town.

On 29 August, WFP started distributing 15-day rations of sorghum, vegetable oil, pulses and salt to some of the 23,000 people from 20 villages that have been registered in the town of Gumuruk.

"In all we hope to reach 60,000 people, the vast majority women and children in Pibor County, many of whom will need help for the rest of the year because they missed the planting season."

"This is one of the most challenging environments in terms of security and logistics - there is a dire lack of usable roads at this time of year which means many places can only be reached by helicopter, which have a limited capacity and require security arrangements on the ground to ensure safe distribution," said McDonough.

[WFP is a founding partner of North Star Alliance]

AS the East African Community (EAC) braces for major transformation in terms of trade and movement of people, the regional body faces the challenge of an increase in population traffic through transport corridors, border posts and ports, posing a high risk of communicable diseases such as HIV/Aids.

Addressing delegates when opening a two-day International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Regional Consultation on Coordinated Scale-up Comprehensive Health Programming along Transport Corridors in East Africa, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr Mbarak Abdulwakil, said there was a need to find ways to negate the potential negative impacts on health...the consultation would provide stakeholders an opportunity to engage in discussions on the potential risks which will arise due to the scale-up of transport corridors and one-stop border posts (OSBPs).

...The North Star Alliance Regional Director of EAC, Ms Eva Mwai, said the alliance had been providing health services to hard-to-reach people, especially those at high risk such as truck drivers and sex workers and primary care to communities with limited or no access to medical services.

[North Star Alliance]...had established more than 30 one-stop border post (OSBPs) clinics in Africa. In Tanzania the OSBPs are situated along the central corridor including, in Mwanza, Kagongwa, Tunduma and Kahama...IOM had helped in providing information from researches which had helped facilitate the alliance's work in addressing issues of HIV/Aids...

"This is important because there are so many challenges facing long-distance truck drivers, some get infected and might not have proper places to access medical services; that is why we established the OSBPs along the corridors."

...Uganda is also a beneficiary of the World Bank's East Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project - which started in 2006 - to tackle delays, inefficiency and other problems plaguing the northern corridor from Mombasa.

According to the bank, about $199m have been spent on the project. It has seen port security improved and provided facilities for information sharing at Mombasa, and supported the single customs territory - expected to ease flow of goods within East Africa after the first port of entry.

The port of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania may be just 1,380 kms from Kigali by road, but officials there have until now looked on helplessly as almost all Rwandan business slipped passed it to the Kenyan Port of Mombasa, a journey that is about 400kms longer through Uganda.

Slightly above 50% of Rwanda's shipments go through the Northern Corridor route; Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali, and the recent removal of police roadblocks, reduction in the number of weighbridges and improvements in cargo handling at Mombasa is making the route even more user friendly to Rwandan traders...

...A study done by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2009 on impediments to trade in the region says that in Kenya and Tanzania, the average bribe paid per transaction to a policeman or a customs official is $30 while in Uganda it is between $100-150 per consignment.

Tanzania and Burundi were not part of the Kampala meeting, but Dar too seems to have woken up to the reality that trade barriers are counter-productive.

"Nowhere in the world do we see such massive projects being undertaken concurrently, considerably boosting Dubai's aspiration to be one of the biggest logistics hubs of the world," said Professor Valerie Lindsay, Dean of Business and Management, UOWD. "This growing sector will need a large number of professionals with local expertise. At UOWD we were among the first academic institutions to foresee this need and launch a program designed to produce such professionals."

The Master of Science in Logistics (MSc Log) program at UOWD is designed to develop an employee's ability to analyse an organisation's supply chain operations, its strengths, weaknesses, structure and performance and to undertake the design of supply chain systems. The program also teaches managers to apply quantitative techniques for logistics and transportation related decision-making and to understand the impact of information technologies on logistics and supply chain issues...

Rwanda has kick-started plans to construct a railway line that will link the country to Kenya's Mombasa port through Uganda...the Ministry is currently conducting a feasibility study to determine the cost of the project, the route of the railway line, how those affected will be compensated and the appropriate technology to use to deliver the project on time.

...After the Kampala meeting in July, Uganda was given the responsibility to lead the railway line development, Rwanda was tasked with the responsibility of fast tracking the single customs territory, single tourist visa and use of East African Community national identity card projects while Kenya is to spearhead the implementation of the oil pipeline and electricity generation.

Ethiopia is a key zone for growth within Sub Sahara Africa [Charles Brewer, Managing Director of global logistics firm DHL].

"For the past three years, the East African community has sustained high GDP growth, outpacing other Sub Sahara Africa countries and weathering the global recession. According to sources like the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the region is set to post an economic growth rate of 6.3 percent in 2013, up from 5.7 percent in 2012" ...

Ethiopia's investment in infrastructure was cited as the main driver of business and investments into the country...The massive investment on infrastructure makes it easier to move goods within cities like Addis Ababa and conduct businesses across borders...

According to DHL, Ethiopia is - alongside Kenya - the largest market for the company in East Africa.

According to a World Bank report, Ethiopia's economy was the 12th fastest growing in the world.

DHL says it is working with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to increase their connectivity and help them to understand paperwork, legislation and expertise needed to grow beyond Ethiopia's borders and export.

There have many new developments on the Northern Corridor Route linking Kenya's port of Mombasa to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DR Congo over the past three months. The changes are all aimed at improving the flow of goods to the landlocked countries, especially Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. Clearing and forwarding agents are some of the major key stakeholders in this business.

INTERVIEW with Chairman of Rwanda Freight Forwarders Association (ADR) on what the new developments mean for business in the region and people in general.

FOUR East African presidents this week opened a bigger, deeper ship docking facility at the Port of Mombasa that will enable larger vessels to dock, as the region seeks to increase capacity to handle growing volumes of trade.

The port is relied on for the bulk of imports and exports by East African countries and also serves parts of Ethiopia and Tanzania, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo...

...The expansion of port facilities is being complemented by the planned construction of a new 820km high-speed standard gauge railway line running from Mombasa across the country to the lakeside city of Kisumu.

...The Kenyan government has allocated $260m for the project, including a new railway development levy of 1.5% on all imports. Additional funding was committed by the Chinese government during Mr Kenyatta’s visit to China last week. China pledged $5.2bn in concessional loans and grants for Kenya’s rail project.

The Presidents of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have directed their respective finance ministers to come up with a comprehensive mechanism showing the financing of proposed regional infrastructural projects...

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta, Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni also set timelines on the projects which include the Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali railway track, Eldoret-Kampala-Kigali oil pipeline and a regional power transmission line...

...The Presidents agreed to consider Burundi and South Sudan as part of the framework after they attended the summit as observers.

This implies that five regional countries are likely to work together in fast-tracking the regional projects aimed at accelerating the socio-economic development of the regional peoples.