The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) has planned a virtual meeting to discuss Northern Corridor Observatory and Mombasa Port Community Baseline Survey findings on Wednesday 16th June this year.
The survey was carried out recently to assess the awareness of and satisfaction with the Northern Corridor Transport Observatory and Mombasa port charter communication strategy.
Northern Corridor Transport Observatory is a monitoring tool that measures over 36 indicators that track the performance of the port of Mombasa and the performance of the corridor. Last year, NCTTCA announced plans to upgrade the toolkit to improve efficiency in reporting in a collaborative initiative with the TradeMark East Africa (TMEA).
The expanded toolkit was to include a data collection tool running on mobile devices. This enhanced dashboard will have a customized Geographic Information System (GIS) with an ability to spatially feature selected indicators on the map at various nodes along the corridor.
“Key features include data mining and business intelligence capabilities aimed at supporting decision-making processes for different corridor participants. The toolkit will also incorporate a universal data exchange mechanism to automate data exchange from the sources and reports and recommendations modules as the repository for all reports and publications on the Corridor performance,” NCTTCA announced.
The new system was expected to track and report performance on the expanded infrastructure that includes the Standard Gauge Railway and Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
Flexibility and adaptability of the system enable it to accommodate data changes from different sources, future extensions in terms of indicators to be monitored, additional data sources and any additional features on data analytics and reporting.
Besides improved efficiency, the robust system is expected to support the commitment by the Northern Corridor Secretariat to transform the Corridor into an efficient, smart and green corridor through continued advocacy for full automation of systems and processes.
The Transport Observatory platform has been tracking performance along the corridor using raw data collected from the stakeholders in all the Member States of Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. Observatory report generates weekly, monthly, quarterly and bi-annual reports.
Mombasa Port and Northern Corridor Community Charter was a culmination of extensive consultations among port community stakeholders on improvement of service delivery at the Port of Mombasa and along the Northern Corridor. This initiative was led by key agencies involved in logistics with the support of the TMEA. The initial charter that brought together 25 government and private agencies was signed in 2014, each committing to certain levels of performance.
However, with time, authorities noted that while some targets were achieved, others appeared to have been overtaken by changes in infrastructure, systems, processes and policies that impacted on operations and cargo clearance processes.
Observers also noted that the initial Charter had omitted key stakeholders who needed to be part of the process. In response to these developments, TMEA supported a review of the Charter in May 2016. M/S Africa Economic and Social Development Consultants were contracted to undertake the review, which covered among others, an enhanced monitoring and evaluation framework, proposed new signatories, revised performance indicators and targets and a communications strategy.
Use of the National Single Window System will modernize and automate data collection which will improve dashboard administration and enhance performance monitoring and evaluation by public and private sector agencies, according to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works Mr James Macharia in his introductory remark on the revised 2021-2024 Charter.
“It is also expected that the reviewed results framework will offer a more comprehensive performance analysis for better policy and operational interventions, while the proposed communications strategy should lead to consistent and sustainable public engagement for all stakeholders,”
Mr.Macharia said, adding that with a fully implemented Charter, industry stakeholders expected enhanced transparency and accountability among maritime transport service providers.
“We also hope that improvements brought about by this Charter review will strengthen service quality, not only to Kenya traders but also to our neighbouring countries.”
