He has not only achieved significant milestones in his journey as a professional customs agent in Tanzania, but his enthusiasm in the freight forwarding industry is reckoning if the achievement of his leadership has brought the Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (TAFFA) as its President in just a few years is anything to go by.
After taking over following the demise of Stephen Elias Joseph Ngatunga, who served as TAFFA President and where he deputized him, Urio has never turned back. His achievement has not been a mean feat. It was his stellar performance that saw him anchor well his leadership for TAFFA when he was re-elected last year, in what many among his fraternity would describe as a major vote of confidence.
One of Urio’s best performances was convincing the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to extend the license of the clearing agents in Tanzania to 3 years, a move that has earned him confidence among his business associates. TRA required the holders of the customs agents to renew their licenses every year, which locked them out of many lucrative businesses.
“This was a huge trade hindrance. With the extended period, customs agents from Tanzania have earned respect globally and won a lot of confidence. With a one-year license, we were not able to transact globally and win trust. The long-term licenses have now improved our financial relationship with institutions as it has improved our loan risk assessment. Overdrafts are now forthcoming, enabling us to compete at a global scale,” Mr. Urio said.
Another thing that he has enumerated as his key achievement is his success in taking back some of the clearing agents’ jobs that were taken over by a government-owned entity—an estimated 40 percent of the total cargo. The newly-created Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (TASAC) was granted exclusive rights to regulate and operate the clearing and forwarding industry in Tanzania in 2019. This meant that TASAC would act as both a regulator and a shipping agency operating in Mainland Tanzania.
In March 2021, the agency announced plans to execute its mandate of clearing and forwarding additional products that included fertilizer, industrial and domestic sugar, edible or cooking oil, wheat oil products, gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and chemicals or any liquid-related products. This move was detested by stakeholders in the private sector, who termed it retrogressive and would lead to massive job losses for the agents.
Mr. Urio spearheaded advocacy to safeguard the interests of the logistics sector by deterring conflicts of interest by the regulator. TAFFA held several engagements with the government through the Ministry of Transport to reconsider the move to allow for fair competition that would promote trade and protect the jobs of customs agents in Tanzania.
In 2022, TASAC announced amendments to the law that had initially given the industry regulator an exclusive mandate to clear goods, a move that provided relief to over 1000 clearing and forwarding firms in Tanzania.
“We thank the government for heeding our call. This amendment will provide business and employment opportunities to our members and the industry at large,” said Mr. Urio.
He also pulled off a similar feat when he pushed for the removal of an Internal Memo of August 2018, which required that all government agencies and project imports be cleared by the Government Clearing Agency, which operated under the Government Procurement Service Agents (GPSA).
Mr. Urio has been very vocal in helping TAFFA create huge networks to gain locally and internationally for the delivery of services and the welfare of its members. This has been achieved not only locally but also internationally. Today, TAFFA is a member of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), a voice of the private sector and the umbrella body for private sector associations and corporate bodies in all sectors of the economy, including trade associations. TAFFA is also a member of the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (TCCIA) and also sits as a member of the Port Performance Improvement Committee and many other state-managed entities.
“We are pleased that many government institutions have appreciated our role in harnessing revenue generation at the ports, border posts, and airports,” Urio said.
Mr. Urio who is also the current Vice President of the Eastern and Southern Africa Freight Forwarders Associations, has played a significant role in promoting the training of the customs agents in the East African region, first by serving as the Vice Chairman of the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Association (FEAFFA), which offers the mandatory East Africa Customs Freight Forwarding Practicing Certificate Course (EACFFPC). Mr. Urio also helped TAFFA’s Institute of Shipping and Logistics take shape. The institute has since acquired offices at Tango Towers, where it has four classes, a staff room, a library, and students’ restrooms for various activities.
“We are very glad that the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) has granted us US $ 40,000 to upgrade the institutes to professionalize the sector,” Mr. Urion said.
Another significant milestone is the opportunity for FIATA to host FIATA-RAME in 2025 in Zanzibar. The vote was taken last year in a meeting held in Brussels. Mr. Urio said that TAFFA won by getting 80 percent of the votes. This confidence was in line with the recognition of TAFFA, which has been anchored on strong rules and conduct captured by its constitution and came into fruition after a long journey that started in 2018.
But who is this, Edward Urio? In the early 1990s, as a young boy, he developed an interest in logistics from various trips he would make to Tanzania during the school holidays to visit his father. He would go to his working station at the port of Dar es Salaam and would enjoy seeing him undertake various tasks related to his work, including occasional visits to the docking ships.
One day, out of many of his visits to the port in Tanzania, his father took him with him to attend a party he had been invited to aboard a ship. This was an opportunity he had yearned for for a for a long and would help him set his eyes on becoming an industry captain in logistics.
“Although I had seen many operations that my father carried out, boarding a vessel was so fascinating and fulfilling that I strongly felt that I needed to work in the logistics industry,” Urio fondly recalls, adding that his choice of a career was very clear, and this is what made him enrol at Bandari College in Mombasa to take an Advanced Diploma in Shipping Management and Freight Forwarding.
When he graduated, he took internship programmes at Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and later Maritime Mackenzie, a Mombasa-based clearing and forwarding firm, marking a journey that would years later see him build one of the biggest clearing freighters in the East African region.
“My dad registered a clearing and forwarding company in 1991. He experienced initial challenges since he had other commitments requiring his attention. He therefore relegated all roles to his other business partners. The firm could not survive for long, leading to its closure. However, after making a raft of changes, which included having new directors in place, he reopened the firm in 1995. It did not take my father long before he invited me to work for the company, promising me to solicit clients and ensure the company grew,” Mr. Urio said.
Shortly into the market, Urio picked up some industry hiccups, such as poor customer service, poor delivery services, and a lack of efficiency. The company capitalized on this as a rallying point. Apart from assisting in clearing and forwarding, they offered extra services, including offering free pieces of advice on matters of taxation, among other critical issues.
“This was a deliberate attempt to add value to what we were offering. From then on, these clients became our main ambassadors. They informed others that working with us would free them from stress, assure efficiency, and ensure that our company was well connected,” Urio said.
Urio said that two things they held too dear to date were delivery and efficiency. In the logistics industry, time management is important. Apparently, between 1996 and 1998, many people did not have adequate information regarding shipping, including how to import cars from abroad. This was when companies were being introduced to computers and websites, and online shopping technology took off in the logistics industry.
This article was published by the editorial team at FEAFFA. For any enquiries, contact us via Email: editorial@feaffa.com/ freightlogistics@feaffa.com / onionga@feaffa.com Tel: +254733780240
