Minister of state in charge of Economic Monitoring in the Office of the President Beatrice Akello Akori has commended the operationalization of the Nairobi and Naivasha Inland Container Depots (ICDs), which she said will boost transit trade along the Northern corridor.

The Northern Corridor road network covers approximately 12.707 kilometers in length, distributed as follows; 567 in Burundi, 4162km DRC, 1328.6kmKenya, 1,039.4km in Rwanda, 3,543km, in South Sudan and Uganda  2,072km.

Akello made the remarks on Friday while leading a delegation that was assessing the multi-modal transport infrastructure along the Northern Corridor.

The aim of the tour was to understand challenges in the route so as to discuss ways of improving regional trade and transport efficiency.

Minister of state in charge of Economic Monitoring in the Office of the President Beatrice Akello Akori (L) has commended the operationalization of the Nairobi and Naivasha Inland Container Depots (ICDs), which she said will boost transit trade along the Northern corridor. (Courtesy Photo)

She also commended the seamless clearing processes at both the ICDS which she said allows trades to pay less in demurrage charges, hence increasing Uganda’s exports and import volumes.

During the same mission, Akello held discussions with officials from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), and Kenya Railways stationed at the facilities.

In order to ease trade along the corridor, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has put in place incentives targeting transit customers utilizing the two depots, which they say has made them competitive in the region.

According to KPA, they have extended special tariffs to importers using the two ICDS to further attract incentives targeting transit customers by extending special tariffs for importers utilizing the Naivasha and Nairobi depots.

Currently, transit import containers going through the Naivasha ICDs have up to 30 days of free storage before they start accruing charges.

The ICD manager Paul Bor noted that Uganda is the biggest transit market for Kenya, accounting for over 60 percent of transit cargo adding that KPA will ensure the port, along with other inland waterways, is competitive in the region.

She also visited the Port of Mombasa, and was received by Captain  William Ruto, who highlighted the impact of the  Northern Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NTTCA) adding that its implementation has streamlined the operations among member states.

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