The lack of geofencing of the new Voi-Taveta-Singida-Kobero link road to serve Burundi, Rwanda, and some parts of Tanzania instead of the longer Central Corridor Road that connects them to the port of Dar es Salaam is denying Mombasa crucial business.
The two countries have initiated major reforms to tackle Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) between them since President Samia Suluhu came to power; more than any previous administration. However, the lack of geofencing of a 15-kilometer stretch of road past the Taveta-Holili One-Stop Border Post has remained a pain point for several years.
For a road section to be considered geofenced, it is supposed to have inspection points, and cargo passing through it can be tracked electronically for taxation and avoidance of dumping of goods in a country. Geofencing also guards against cargo theft or loss while in transit.
The East African region has embraced this concept for several years now. The Northern Corridor route from Mombasa port to Malaba and onward to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi has been fully geofenced and the movement of the cargo is monitored through a Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) system operated by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Any slight movement of the goods out of the geofence sends a red alert for immediate action.
The absence of geofencing on that section of the Voi-Taveta-Singida-Kobero road has worked against Rwanda and Burundi, particularly as they now use the much longer route to import through the port of Dar es Salaam.
To use the Taveta route, which was tarmacked in 2018, importers are forced to use the traditional bonds system that the region has abandoned, a tedious manual process that causes costly delays that surpass any benefit that would accrue from using the shortened distance.
Bilateral trade between Kenya and Tanzania was expected to get a major boost when the road was constructed and a One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Taveta and Holili, hosting government agencies on either side of the border, was opened.
East African Legislative Assembly in a report by the Committee on Communication, Trade and Investment for oversight activity on the Trade Facilitation in the East African Community (EAC) regional ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam waded into this matter and cited it as a major bilateral trade between the two nations.
In Kenya, the new road deviates from the Northern Corridor at Voi town, making it the most important link between Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, especially for imports and exports. It was estimated that the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Taveta would reduce transit time at the two border posts by 30 percent.
“It’s a demonstration of the trust between the two countries and that the One People, One Destiny dream is slowly being realized through various East Africa Community initiatives,” Tanzania Authorities put it during the OSBP launch.
On the Kenyan side, the Holili-Taveta-Mwatate Road section is 135 km long. The section between Voi and Mwatate was not under the project since it was in good condition.
Up to 2003, at least 60 percent of the cargo destined for Rwanda and Burundi passed through Mombasa and the Northern Corridor before traders began to shun the Kenyan facilities citing congestion at the port and insecurity and corruption on the roads, which Kenya later comprehensively addressed in 2007 when it fully introduced the concept of the Container Freight Stations (CFSs) that gave the port breathing space to tackle its perennial congestion problem by expanding port facilities.
According to Justus Nyarandi, the Executive Secretary of the Northern Corridor Transit Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) headquartered in Mombasa, there is a great need to agree to geofence the Taveta Road section, which would allow the use of the single customs facility that allows some goods to be cleared and taxed at the points of entry.
NCTTCA has already presented this geofencing case to the East African Community Council of Ministers and has also roped in the Commissioners of Customs to ask Tanzania to geofence so that transporters can use RECTS instead of the tedious bond application and cancellation processes.
The annual Northern Corridor Transport Observatory Report done by NCTTCA of 2022 indicates that the port of Mombasa handled only 977 tonnes of cargo destined for Burundi, constituting 0.1 percent of the transit market, and 181,286 tonnes of cargo for Rwanda, a 4.2 percent. At over 75 percent and 12 percent for Uganda and South Sudan respectively, the two countries are the biggest transit markets for Mombasa Port.
“The volume of the Burundi cargo passing through the port of Mombasa is too low. If the geo-fencing is implemented, the volume would go up to 30-40 percent,” Nyarandi said, adding that using the port of Mombasa, Rwanda, and Burundi would cut the transit distance by between 300-400 ilometres, translating to a significant drop in the cost of fuel and reducing the cost of transport, the crossing of two border points notwithstanding.
The new route was expected to open fresh competition between Kenya and Tanzania, especially for transit cargo. For over a decade now, the two countries have strived to outsmart each other to become the preferred hub for the East African regional transit market. Rwanda and Burundi prefer to use Dar es Salaam port while South Sudan prefers Mombasa port.
Due to the emerging strength of the port of Dar es Salaam in recent years, the Kenyan government has initiated several reforms to cement its position as the gateway to East and Central Africa. For instance, it has now increased the free storage days before the return of empty containers to the shipping lines from 9 to 15 days.
Dar port ranking has been boosted by new infrastructural projects; Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) projects currently at different stages of implementation include the expansion and modernization of the Indian Ocean ports of Dar es Salaam, Tanga, and Mtwara, as well as the lake ports of Mwanza and Kigoma.
Other projects in the pipeline include the establishment of Kwala Dry Port, the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway, paving trunk roads and overhauling the operations of the Tanzania-Zambia Railways Authority (Tazara).
The expansion and modernization of the port under the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP) include strengthening and deepening of berths 1 to 7 and the RoRo terminal (berth 0) at Gerezani Creek, dredging of the entrance channel, turning circle and harbour basin, strengthening and deepening berths 8-11. The Ro-in Ro-off- RoRo terminal is for offloading vehicles and other moveable equipment, which has already been completed.
Dar es Salaam port is contributing US $357 million to the DMGP, a World Bank project financed through an International Development Association Scale-up Facility credit. The project which started in 2017 and will come to a close in 2024, will support the financing of crucial investments in the Port of Dar es Salaam to improve its effectiveness and efficiency for the benefit of public and private stakeholders.
TPA has already completed the construction of the new RoRO terminal at Dar es Salaam port which has the capacity 600,000 vehicles annually.
The DMGP will increase Dar es Salaam port’s capacity from the current 15 million metric tonnes annually to 28 million tonnes.
This article was published by Githua Kihara, an editorial consultant for FEAFFA’s Freight Logistics Magazine. For any inquiries, please contact us via email at editorial@feaffa.com or freightlogistics@feaffa.com, or reach out to Andrew Onionga directly at onionga@feaffa.com / +254733780240.
