TradeMark Africa plans to spend Sh8.24 billion on infrastructure developments within the East Africa Community to boost intra-regional trade.

The regional logistics non profit company said in a statement after official release of its annual report that the money will be spent on infrastructure projects that will ease cross border trade further.

“We are focusing to invest around $85 to $90 million, which will spur investments and benefits citizens of East Africa,” CEO Frank Matasert said in the statement.

The report showed that cargo clearance processes at regional border posts across the EAC member states has eased leading to improved trade.

In the current financial year 2014/2015, TradeMark said it will focus on achieving harmonised standards for goods in the region, with 108 standards so far harmonised. Out of these, 41 were adopted as EAC standards and 42 are under consideration. The standards will represent seven of the 20 most traded goods within the EAC.

Trade improvement efforts by the non-profit organisation have however suffered setbacks due to terrorism and depreciation of regional currencies, a problem the CEO projected will continue into the near future.

Some of the breakthroughs made in the last financial year, according to the TradeMark EA report include reduction of the average time taken to clear goods at Mombasa Port to four days and number of customs declarations by up to 90per cent, leading to an increase in trade volumes, such as fuel imports into Uganda which have increased from 32.1million litres to 108 million litres.

According to the TMA 2013/2014 annual report, improved efficiency has reduced tedious formalities for traders and cargo transit times along the region’s transport corridors.

The group is working towards increasing the total value of exports by 10 per cent, and a 25 per cent increase in intra-regional trade exports when compared to total exports by 2016. Other plans for the current year include mobilisation of Sh55.2 billion for improving infrastructure and operations at the Dar es Salaam port.

Source: The Star

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.