Projects such as the Southern African Hub Port and Railway Programme and the West African Hub Port and Railway Programmes will provide “Transport Superhighways” also called “Smart Corridors” because they will integrate transport, ICT and trade facilitation interventions such as One-Stop-Border Posts, making access for the international trade for land-locked countries quicker and cheaper, enhancing competitiveness while supporting deeper regional integration and increased intra-regional trade. PIDA is set to transform Africa and the Bank is positioned to play a catalytic role in making this transformational initiative a reality.
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Humanitarian Supply Chain & Logistics
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Issues Affecting the Delivery of Humanitarian Assistance in East and Central Africa
Curated by
Robin Landis
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The construction work for the United Nations humanitarian logistics center has been officially launched in Djibouti. 
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The government is to speed up completion of the Northern Corridor road in order to ease movement of goods from the Port of Mombasa to other countries in the region.
Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure Michael Kamau said the completion of the key road linking the region will include a by-pass in Eldoret to cost more than Sh2 billion...Kamau said they had identified the by-pass as a bottleneck delaying completion of the road that is meant to ease movement of goods and cargo from the port to neighbouring countries.
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With endorsements by Josette Sheeran (Former Executive Director of the World Food Programme)
"About seven years ago, [INSEAD] made a commitment to this topic, having very limited knowledge of the humanitarian world. Driven by the conviction that a lot could be learned from these exceptional types of operations, our group began to write case studies on humanitarian logistics with the UN agencies (Joint Logistics Centre, and World Food Program), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and FUNDESUMA. Increasingly, we realized that the professionalization of logistics in the humanitarian sector was a pressing need towards which we could contribute."
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TradeMark East Africa ( TMEA ) is funded by a range of development agencies with the aim of growing prosperity in East Africa through trade. TMEA believes that enhanced trade contributes to economic growth, a reduction in poverty and subsequently increased prosperity.
TMEA works closely with East African Community (EAC) institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil society organisations to increase trade by unlocking economic potential through:
--Increased market access; --Enhanced trade environment; and --Increased product competitiveness.
TMEA has its headquarters in Nairobi with branches in Arusha, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Kampala and Kigali.
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Once you have a cheap drug, you then need a solid, reliable supply chain so people who need the drugs are able to access them wherever they are...
...But it is not just health systems that need improvement; poor road networks, inadequate local research capacity, corruption, conflict and the remoteness of many of the areas where these illnesses are found all hinder efforts to control neglected tropical diseases.
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U.S. Soldiers are sharing logistics best practices with East African partner nations. This video tells us how the training will help African troops deliver supplies to Somalia.
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The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved $213 million to support the government's road maintenance programme, limit HIV/AIDS infections and provide road safety services to people along the Dar es Salaam Corridor. This major trunk route gives access to Dar es Salaam port for Tanzania's inland neighbours...
...The financing will support the first phase of the Southern Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Program (SATTFP), a regional multi-sector program designed to facilitate trade integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. It does this by supporting institutional, social and physical improvements along the North-South Corridor (NSC), which extends some 3,900 kilometres from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Durban in South Africa.
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Micro-retailers and other small businesses buy from wholesalers, who in turn buy from a distributor, who buys straight from the manufacturer. When a community is hit by a flood, consumers do not have access to essential goods as the small businesses have their supply chain cut off at the distributor’s end.
One solution would be to insert a social enterprise or NGO into the supply chain in times of crisis. The social enterprise plugs the gap that has arisen due to a flood by acting as a ‘pop-up middleman’. The social enterprise will have to use land that has been set aside through negotiation with local government to build makeshift warehouses. These warehouses pop up during the crisis only, and are used as containers to replenish the inventories of small businesses in the area. They would buy directly from the manufacturer and sell and deliver to those at the other end of the chain, acting as a stop-gap whilst the supply chain has been disrupted. After the flood subsides, the supply chain will revert to normal – although the land that was used for the warehouses should remain earmarked for the inevitable flood the following year.
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Ethiopia has been landlocked since 1993 and subsequently lost access to its main ports in Eritrea as a result of the 1998-2000 war between the two countries. However, during the last decade, Ethiopia has pursued an aggressive infrastructural development strategy that has enhanced its transport networks -- both internally and connecting with alternative regional outlets in Djibouti, Sudan and Kenya. Moreover, Ethiopia is looking beyond access to the ports for its global exports, with an eye towards boosting exports to neighbouring countries -- especially of hydroelectricity -- and providing transit for goods from neighbouring countries, particularly South Sudan.
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From
allafrica
The Malaba, Busia (between Kenya and Uganda) and Gatuna / Katuna (between Uganda and Rwanda) border posts constitute the main and busiest border posts along the Northern Corridor, which spans between the port of Mombasa to the landlocked countries and regions of East Africa. The Malaba border post is a pilot in the East Africa OSBP program, with an average of 600 trucks per day crossing the border.
This latest SSATP study, done in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Transit and Transport Coordination Authority of the Northern Corridor, presents the outcomes of a survey of the three border posts along the Northern Corridor to establish a baseline prior to the full conversion into OSBP. During the survey period, the customs authorities in Kenya and Uganda modified selected business procedures that resulted in dramatic decrease of the border crossing times.
According to the study, crossing times that were routinely taking over 48 hours, have dropped to less than six hours. Average border-crossing time dropped from 24 hours to 4 hours.
Based on estimates of the value of time for trucking enterprises and traders, the savings generated by the improvement of the situation amounts to approximately US$ 70 million per year.
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For more than a week now, attention has been drawn to the gridlock at the Mariakani weighbridge along the Mombasa Highway, prompting fears of regional supply chain disruptions. The Northern Corridor is the busiest and most important transport route in East and Central Africa, providing a lifeline through Kenya to the landlocked economies of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Hundreds trucks transporting cargo from Mombasa have been lining up at the facility for days on end resulting in a snaking traffic jam tens of kilometres long. Regional transport stakeholders and truck drivers complain that of the five machines at the weighbridge, only two are working.
Studies show that a truck from Mombasa to Kampala, Uganda, which is a distance of 1,100 kilometres, takes five days to reach its destination. Of these five days, 19 hours are spent crossing borders and weighbridges between the two countries.
It is a situation that has seriously hindered free flow of trade in the larger east African community.
A meeting called last month iron out the challenges and agree on a regional axle load and clearance regimes appear not to have achieved much. "A closer look to the East Africa region in comparison to South Africa indicates that the cost of transporting cargo is higher by 30%," said Kenya's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of East African Community.
The EAC Vehicle Load Control Bill is expected to harmonise the weight limits for vehicles travelling East Africa's roads, increasing efficiency at weigh stations while conserving the region's road infrastructure. It sets the maximum weight limit for all vehicles on the region's roads at 56 tonnes.
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[Although this article is focused on ASIA it offers some new thinking on the role of social enterprises to reinforce the supply chain]
...over the longer term, the number of floods per year has been increasing exponentially since 1900. So, what type of supply chain can facilitate humanitarian relief and hasten economic recovery in case of floods in Asia?
Although much has been done over the millennia regarding floods, there are three gaps: firstly, there is a gap in preparedness. Despite efforts of governments and NGOs, greater attention needs to be paid to preparedness at the local level to ensure people continue to have access to essential goods during a flood. Such preparedness needs to be semi-permanent, rather than as a one-off event depending on the largesse of the government or a foreign NGO...
Secondly, there is a gap in response to "medium-sized" floods that are not large enough to attract the attention of the international or even national NGOs but still large enough to disrupt the local economy for extended periods of time.
Finally, there continues to be a gap in solutions for economic recovery rather than simply providing support during the floods at the risk of ruining the local economy. This is especially important where floods occur almost annually...
...A solution is to buttress existing supply chains by having a social enterprise temporarily work with the manufacturers on one side and micro-retailers on the other during the flood. The social enterprise could be for-profit, being set up by the manufacturers or a non-profit NGO already working in the community, or a hybrid...
...Thus, the micro-retailers would have survived the flood economically by continuing to be replenished and by continuing to be able to sell during the flood. And the flood-affected people in their communities would be well served by local micro-entrepreneurs being able to sell them essential goods using cash or vouchers...
...For sure, there would be additional logistics, communication, and coordination costs for establishing and operating the proposed temporary supply chain during floods. Still, buttressing by way of a temporary direct link between manufacturers and micro-retailers via the social enterprise would enable faster and more effective humanitarian relief because these micro-retailers are already embedded in the community of affected people and also speed up economic recovery by helping the affected micro retailers sustain their business during the flood. Via Ricard Lloria
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In a "ground-breaking" ceremony yesterday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) - with the generous support of the Government of Djibouti, the Government of Canada and the Government of Finland - officially launched the first phase of building a humanitarian logistics base that will improve storage and transport of humanitarian assistance across the Horn of Africa.
The new hub, which is being built in the vicinity of Djibouti port, will enable WFP and the wider humanitarian community to dispatch humanitarian assistance more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively in the region. The port is the main gateway for food entering Ethiopia.
The Government of Djibouti graciously provided to WFP 50,000-square-meters of land for the construction of the logistics hub.
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...[The President] said that the current situation where a container takes an average of 18 days to reach Kampala from Mombasa was untenable.
...Transport and Infrastructure cabinet secretary Engineer Michael Kamau blamed Uganda for triggering the never ending traffic pile ups at the Malaba border..."The pile up that stretches to Amagoro from Malaba border has nothing to do with Kenya Revenue Authority or the Kenya Government. The problem is on the Uganda side of the border according to my findings. Uganda Revenue Authority should find a lasting solution..."
Uhuru has now ordered the formation of a cabinet sub-committee that will include all Cabinet Secretaries dealing with the Northern Corridor who will report to him during every cabinet meeting on what they are doing to improve efficiency.
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Ongoing violence in parts of South Sudan, in particular in Jonglei, has forced thousands of people to flee their homes. In recent months, ahead of the rainy season, the ICRC has distributed aid and provided health care for people suffering the effects of the violence...
...People need medical care, food, clean water and seed. We are doing the best we can to provide these basic necessities despite the seasonal logistical constraints [ICRC] ...
...Although needs, both in terms of assistance and protection, can be readily identified, the problem of access to the vast majority of the civilian population in large tracts of Jonglei state remains a source of concern...the ICRC, like other humanitarian organizations on the ground, has repeatedly sought to meet people's needs, but for a variety of reasons relating to security and logistics has not always been able to do so.
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RedR Australia’s Humanitarian Logistics in Emergencies course focuses on the importance of logistics in the provision of aid to disaster survivors as well as its place in carrying out other disaster management operations.
The course is supported by experts in humanitarian (United Nations/non-government organisations/international non-government organisations) and commercial logistics (DHL Australia). Large-scale commercial logistics operations will be incorporated into field exercises, allowing participants to apply skills and knowledge gained on the course to on-site emergency response simulations.
When 1-6 September 2013
Where Dookie, Victoria (Melbourne University Campus)
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Food commodity markets, in particular for cereals, are set to be more balanced in 2013/14, according to FAO's Food Outlook report published today.
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The Dubai Airshow is highlighting the role of aviation in providing humanitarian relief with a dedicated pavilion at this year’s show. The Dubai Airshow takes place 17 to 21 November 2013 and is moving to a new purpose built home at Dubai World Central (DWC), located in Jebel Ali, Dubai.
The Dubai Airshow has been supporting the UN World Food Programme (WFP) since 2005 and this new initiative will bring WFP and Care by Air together in a new humanitarian pavilion; which in turn will showcase more than 15 charitable organisations, air operators and supporters in order to encourage more key players to join their efforts.
The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and the UN’s frontline agency in the fight against global hunger; using its food supplies to meet emergency needs and support social and economic development in the world’s most vulnerable communities. To augment this function, the agency introduced WFP Aviation - which charters aircraft from around the globe for safe and reliable transportation of food, non-food items and humanitarian personnel.
Currently, more than 100 aircraft are operated by registered carriers on behalf of WFP Aviation, transporting in excess of 300,000 passengers and 200,000 tonnes of cargo every year for both WFP and other humanitarian organisations.
Samir Sajet, Regional Safety Officer, WFP highlighted the role of events in building support for their cause, saying: “Exhibiting at air shows especially the eminent Dubai Airshow, helps us raise awareness about the necessity of having all hands on deck in the fight against hunger, and in turn assists us in reaching out to the aviation industry to showcase how aviation can be deployed within a dignified noble cause it also provides us with an opportunity to meet various potential operators that might be willing to put their services into the greater good of mankind.”
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As a senior United Nations official in Afghanistan during the 2001 invasion, Antonio Donini saw firsthand the damage done as a result of humanitarians allying themselves with warring parties...
There is a risk of the same mistakes being made in Somalia, he said, as the West throws itself wholeheartedly behind the new government.
Donini was speaking in Nairobi at the launch of his book, “The Golden Fleece: Manipulation and Independence in Humanitarian Action”, which focuses on the manipulation of humanitarian aid to achieve political, military and other objectives.
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The Humanitarian Logistics Association (HLA) assembly in Bangkok this year was attended by a diverse crowd including HLA board members, the Fritz Institute, UN agencies, the Red Cross, various major International NGOs as well as local NGOs, representatives from food banks in the region, representatives from the academic world, and representatives from the commercial sector, such as the RMA Group and World Cargo Alliance. The theme of the day was capacity building, so many of the sessions were geared around the structured certification program for humanitarian logistics that the HLA has helped to put in place in recent years.
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In Summary
The negotiations on a joint oil project will be the second between Uganda and the Juba government; after the latter withdrew from the first discussions sometime last year and partnered with Kenya.
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From
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A sharp rise in infrastructure spending can be expected as East African Community (EAC) member states attempt to respond to private sector protests against escalating business costs and delays to infrastructure upgrades. These mounting calls will include pressure for governments to adopt new approaches towards financing infrastructure schemes, including greater use of build-operate-transfer (BOT) schemes.
The five-member EAC is facing mounting private sector criticism over the slow pace of critical infrastructure upgrades, which are threatening to undermine the region's hydrocarbons-fuelled growth prospects. Congested ports, inadequate power supplies, and poor road and rail networks have left the EAC with the world's highest transport costs. National and regional efforts to identify key infrastructure deficits -- particularly in transport and energy -- have been underway for more than a decade. Many of the initiatives designed to eliminate them have been slow to reach implementation, and lag way behind schedule.
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Kenya National Highway Authority (KenHa) Manager of Special Projects Paul Omondi told Xinhua in Nairobi that currently due to a congested road network, the journey takes at least three days. The 204 million U.S. dollar project aims at providing an alternative route to trucks ferrying cargo to the hinterland countries that rely on port of Mombasa for international trade. The Northern Transport corridor runs from Kenya’s Indian Ocean coastline through Uganda and Rwanda before terminating in Burundi. KenHa is also constructing one stop border posts so that cross border trade is more efficient. Nairobi Southern Bypass Project Resident Engineer Saleh Parpia said that the twenty nine kilometer road will be completed by July 2015. The Chinese Exim Bank has agreed to provide 85 percent of the finance required through a concessional loan, while the Kenya government will pay for the remaining 15 percent...the expressway is part of plans to improve the country’s road infrastructure so as to position the nation to achieve its national development blue print, Vision 2030. .
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As of April 2013, DP World has a portfolio of more than 65 marine terminals across six continents, including new developments underway in India, Africa, Europe, South America and the Middle East....
...To a question about growth potential in the Middle East, Africa and Asian markets, he said the company will continue to focus on its key markets.
Referring to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s review of maritime transport released in December 2012, he said a total of 60 per cent of world seaborne trade by volume was loaded, and 57 per cent unloaded, in developing-country ports during 2011 when global port throughput expanded at a rate of 5.9 per cent.
This remarkable shift away from previous patterns of East-West trade is reflected in DP World’s sustained focus on emerging markets. We will continue to focus on the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific, South America and the Middle East, which drove our volume growth in 2012...
“We constantly explore opportunities around the world. We don’t comment specifically on any unless there is something to announce...we continue to see opportunity in high growth emerging markets such as Africa, Central and South America and Asia.”
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