Kagitumba and Mirama One Stop Border Posts contributing to the ease of Doing Business • 2017-09-14

Improved physical infrastructure that is fit for purpose has often been singled out to be what will contribute to reducing the time to transport goods between Kampala and Kigali, and therefore also contribute to reducing trade costs in Africa.

400 Kms to the north of Kobero, on the border of Rwanda and Uganda, TradeMark Africa (TMA) is constructing a One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Kagitumba on the Rwanda side and Mirama Hills in Uganda.

While there are three border crossings into Rwanda from Uganda, Mirama Hills/Kagitumba is the border crossing with the least steep gradient when travelling from Kampala to Kigali.

Yet, because of a deteriorating 37 km section of road leading to Mirama Hills, most traffic uses the longer, craggier route through Katuna/Gatuna borders.

Ronald Musiga Kwezi, Head of Customs at Mirama Hills acknowledges the value of the road to the border crossing.

“When trucks use this road they are often delayed when it is flooded due to rain,”he explained.

“They can get stuck for days. So many people prefer to go the long way round to Katuna. When the road is repaired the traffic will increase and we expect it to quadruple.”

The Mirama Hills road route offers a shorter and less difficult route to Rwanda than passing through the Katuna/Gatuna border post. Operationalisation of a one stop border post at Kagitumba and Mirama Hills is expected to decrease the time for goods to be transported between Kampala and Kigali and increase the volume of traffic using the route.

TradeMark Africa (TMA) undertook the rehabilitation of the road, including the building of two bridges between the two borders, in addition to constructing OSBPs.

Beneficiaries also include women with small businesses

It’s not only trucks that will benefit from the OSBP. Cross border traders, many of whom are women, make their living on a daily basis selling things like rice or eggs.

In addition to that, for the traders operating at the border crossings, the OSBP is an exciting prospect. The clearing agents anticipate the future with increased trade, which in itself will create jobs, while the Forex Bureaux operators expect to get many more customers.

Source: Hope Magazine