Kenya earned Sh7.54 billion in the nine months to September last year from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) freight business. This was from the transportation of more than 3.25 million tonnes of cargo. This comes as passenger numbers dropped by almost 200,000, an indication that the train’s restrictive schedule, stiff competition from bus companies and low-cost airlines could be eating into SGR’s share of travellers. Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), as provided by the Kenya Railways, shows SGR cargo earnings in the nine months almost doubled, compared to its 2018 earnings, which stood at Sh4.09 billion. PROMOTIONAL TARRIFF The income almost doubled in April last year, after Kenya Railways ended the promotional tariff and reverted to the charges it had agreed on with the Transport ministry and the Kenya Ports Authority. China Road and Bridge Corporation runs the SGR cargo and passenger services for an undisclosed management fee. The charges saw traders paying between Sh51,275 per 20-foot container and Sh70,000 for a 40-foot container, double the promotional tariff of Sh25,000 per 20-foot container and Sh35,000 for a 40-foot container. This means the country is projected to earn over Sh10 billion in 2019 from the railway freight business, which is still below its annual operating cost of Sh18 billion. IMPROVED FIGURES August was the highest grossing month for the line, earning Kenya Railways and the Chinese concessionaire, China Communications Construction Company, Sh1.15 billion, from the 430,450 tonnes it moved. February on the other hand was its...

Problems that are hurting millions are rarely impossible to solve, with a case in point being Kenya’s severe issues in collecting customs duties correctly and clearing imports into the country through its ports in a timely and efficient manner. As it is, efforts have been made by multiple stakeholders to speed and make accurate our international trade. KenTrade has provided an information portal and its single window system as technology aides. President Uhuru Kenyatta has cleared more than 20 agencies from the ports with defined delineations of responsibilities for the remaining agencies now handling all import checks.For a decade, the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders (FEAFFA) in partnership with the EAC directorate of customs, East African Revenue Authorities (EARAs), the national associations of customs agents and freight forwarders in East Africa has been providing the East African Customs and Freight Forwarders Practicing Certificate (EACFFPC) training to customs agents in an effort to professionalize the clearance process. Yet, still, Kenya suffers impaired tax and business revenues and higher consumer prices as importers consistently and systematically incur huge extra demurrage charges on slow clearance.Indeed, the hold-ups are so often severe that studies have found many importers have been compelled to gain mastery of the clearing process themselves in order to secure their goods, although the mass of regulations, both at home and in other countries, span a huge area outside their core business.A key problem, however, is the absence of legislation to regulate and guarantee the professionalism and knowledge of our...

Mombasa-based Southern Engineering Co. Ltd (Seco) has assembled two cargo vessels for the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), with capacity to handle 2,000 tonnes of dry cargo or 72 twenty-foot containers (Teus). The barges Hapa Kazi Tu 01 and Hapa Kazi Tu 02, have been tested and certified to operate, marking a milestone in shipbuilding for the country. Seco has also secured another contract from TPA to construct and deliver three pilot boats this year. Seco shipyard general manager Sanjiv Nair said MV Hapa Kazi Tu 01 was completed on July 31, 2019 and both vessels are scheduled for delivery mid this month. “The vessels will operate around Tanga port and the surrounding coastal waters,” said Mr Nair. He added, “With local assembly, it is easier to provide after sales management at the facility’s dry dock. Local assembly also creates the growth of the needed technology, create a human resource of technical support and create more jobs with a huge economic spillover.” Completion of the two vessels brings the number of such vessels built at Seco shipyard to five, in less than a decade, after the Uganda government contracted Seco to build four vessels in 2012. The four vessels built for Uganda include MV Albert Nile 1 which is a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) modular ferry specially designed to safely transport passengers and vehicles across Lake Albert in Uganda. The others were three passenger ferries, MV Bisina, MV Obongi and MV Laropi, which are modular passenger ferries plying the Okokorio and Agule route, the Sinyanya channel and Umi route respectively. Seco was established in...

The Kenya Bureau of Standards wants the government to increase the number of more Pre-export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) agents to increase Kenya's trade with Japan. This follows the government's directive that all goods be cleared by PVoC agents, leading to delays that have hurt the trade partnership. Currently the trade balance between Kenya to Japan is 1 to 14. Japan is the major source of used vehicles in the country making up 85 per cent of car sales in Kenya. “The Government of Japan has been continuing to encourage Japanese companies to invest in Kenya through various support systems and I would like us to resolve any business challenges experienced during this dialogue,” Horie Ryoichi, Japan’s Ambassador to Kenya said during a press briefing. Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) to standards for goods destined for Kenya from abroad is done by independent service providers who are appointed by Kebs through a competitive tendering. Goods found to meet relevant Kenyan standards are issued with certificates of conformity (CoCs) by the inspection agents marking the end of the inspection process. The pre-inspection programme is aimed at speeding up cargo clearance at the ports of entry, prevent counterfeiting, and shield locally manufactured goods from unfair trade practices, among others. However due to the low number of agents, it has been slowing down the clearance. “We will continue to give world-class facilitation to Japanese and other investors in the country to make Kenya a top trade destination,” said Dennis Waweru, chairman KenInvest Board....

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The greater East Africa region could gain two million new jobs if the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - due to start in July - works as planned, according to a study the United Nations released on Thursday. The AfCFTA, which is the biggest trading bloc in the world after the WTO, is designed to bring together Africa’s 55 countries into a single market of 1.3 billion people with an annual economic output of over $3.4 trillion. That will drive industrialisation, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) said in the report, although the planned removal of tariffs on more than 90% of goods alone will not be enough. Officials must make sure businesses can move goods freely across borders and customs rules and procedures are consistent, the study warned. “What will have a big impact is making sure our borders operate seamlessly,” said Frank Matsaert, the head of Trade Mark East Africa, an organisation that promotes free trade in the region and co-produced the report with UNECA. Massive red tape and delays have crippled past attempts to integrate economies on the continent through existing smaller trade blocs like the East African Community. The 14 countries in the greater Eastern African region have some of the world’s fastest growing economies, such as Ethiopia, but the region suffers massive trade deficits. Importing large amounts of finished goods puts pressure on national currencies and hurts local industries, which are operating 20-40% below capacity because imports are cheaper, the...

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NAIROBI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Trademark East Africa, a regional trade promotion agency, said on Thursday it will raise 16.3 billion shillings (about 160 million U.S. dollars) to promote the development of green transport and logistics corridors in the eastern African region. Anthony Mveyange, director of the research and learning, Trademark East Africa, told a trade forum in Nairobi that it will source the funding from international development agencies to ensure that the transport sector in the region reduces its carbon footprint. "We will partner with national governments to implement measures that incentivize the adoption of green transport mechanisms in the eastern African region," Mveyange said during the launch of a report produced jointly by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Trademark East Africa in Nairobi. Mveyange noted that the region is served with two key transport corridors that link the area to the rest of the world. The northern transport corridor links Kenya's port of Mombasa to Uganda and South Sudan, while the central transport corridor runs from Tanzania's port of Dar es Salaam and serves Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mveyange added that the transport sector is one of the key sources of greenhouse gas emissions hence the need to promote green methods of transportation. He noted that regional integration has facilitated cross border trade meaning the volume of goods being transported has also increased. "We want to counter the emission of pollution caused by more vehicles on the road as well as...

The greater East Africa region could gain two million new jobs if the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - due to start in July - works as planned, according to a study the United Nations released on Thursday. The AfCFTA, which is the biggest trading bloc in the world after the WTO, is designed to bring together Africa’s 55 countries into a single market of 1.3 billion people with an annual economic output of over $3.4 trillion.That will drive industrialisation, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) said in the report, although the planned removal of tariffs on more than 90 per cent of goods alone will not be enough.Officials must make sure businesses can move goods freely across borders and customs rules and procedures are consistent, the study warned.“What will have a big impact is making sure our borders operate seamlessly,” said Frank Matsaert, the head of Trade Mark East Africa, an organisation that promotes free trade in the region and co-produced the report with UNECA.Massive red tape and delays have crippled past attempts to integrate economies on the continent through existing smaller trade blocs like the East African Community.The 14 countries in the greater Eastern African region have some of the world’s fastest growing economies, such as Ethiopia, but the region suffers massive trade deficits. Importing large amounts of finished goods puts pressure on national currencies and hurts local industries, which are operating 20-40 per cent below capacity because imports are cheaper, the report said.Betty Maina, Kenya’s...