A set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to help reduce spread of Covid 19 among the logistics service providers in the East Africa region have been developed. This comes at a time when the region had been progressively easing tough restrictions that were spelt out in March this year when the first cases of coronavirus were reported.
The Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA), the umbrella body of the clearing agents in the East Africa’s countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya, is being supported by Trademark East Africa (TMEA) and has already finalized development of the procedures that will guide industry players’ activities to prevent further spread of the virus.
These measures target the cargo road trucking- drivers, crew and transporters; warehousing, Container Freight Station (CFSs) and Inland Container Depots (ICD). The other set of measures are targeting customs clearance and freight forwarders sector.
The SOPs were developed by a consultant and a team of industry experts in cargo transport, Warehousing, Freight Forwarding and Customs clearance, according to FEAFFA.
“The SOPs are being sent to different stakeholders for circulation to their members. We will use electronic media platforms and other information, communication and education materials as well as social media platforms to reach all operators” FEAFFA President Fred Seka said.
Logistics players have remained critical ensuring sustenance of supply chain on provision of essential goods in the region. This has helped the region to have raw materials for vital components of the economy and availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to fight Covid 19.
“The SOPs will guide all day-to-day activities to ensure seamless movement of goods and services across the borders, support efforts by East Africa Community Partner States in harmonizing regional approaches against Covid 19 as well as support the regional and global protocols to tackle the pandemic’’ Seka added.
The latest data indicates that the situation is likely to remain dire in the coming days hence the need to ensure strong vigilance and avoid compromising the gains of the industry.
The latest statistics showed that at almost 7,000, Kenya had recorded the highest number of Covid 19 cases in the region followed by South Sudan at 2021, Rwanda at 1063 and Uganda at 902. Tanzania and Burundi have recorded 509 and 170 cases respectively.
Kenya is the biggest transit market for Uganda that constitutes about 30 percent of the total cargo volume through Mombasa port. Rwanda and South Sudan also uses Mombasa port- importing a significant proportion of their imports through the facility.
Regional countries have been yearning for a fully functional environment. The over 100 days Covid 19 period has shaken region economies significantly.
Tanzania’s economic growth is expected to drop to 2.5 per cent in 2020 from 6.9 per cent last year, the World Bank said last month, citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Separately, Uganda’s economic growth is expected to decline by more than half in the financial year to June 30 due to the effects of the COVID-19 crisis, the country’s statistics office said last month.
The growth is expected to have slowed to 3.1 per cent, down from 6.8 per cent in the previous year, mainly due to reduced global demand following the coronavirus outbreak.
Mining and quarrying activities contracted by 2.8 per cent during the period compared to 33.4 per cent expansion in the year ended June 2019 while growth in sectors like manufacturing and construction slowed sharply.
In Kenya, the first major economic impact due to COVID-19 was the volatility on the country’s stock market. Most investors have since the onset of the pandemic indulged in a net selling position with a preferred option of purchasing fixed income securities due to uncertainty in the market.
The Kenyan government temporarily suspended all international flights starting 25 March 2020 until further notice as a precaution against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
The drop of the cargo volumes passing through the port of Mombasa is a good indicator of the impact of Covid 19. The facility has recorded a significant drop in the recent months due to strict Covid 19 restrictions being employed on the global supply chain with regional landlocked neighbours shying away from importing cargo due to the prevailing high costs associated with movement delays.
The total cargo volume handled by the port in the month of May stood at 2,371,220 which is a huge drop as compared to 3,169,740 in January this year. The total throughput in the five months of this year dropped by 4.7 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
The liquid bulk cargo recorded the highest drop of 12.5 percent while conventional cargo lowest at a drop of 1 percent. Containerized cargo recorded a drop of 4.1 percent with dry bulk cargo recording an increase of 1.7 percent.
