Automation Saves East Africa Traders USD6.6Mn  in Time and Expense

Import and export traders using East Africa region online portals are spending less time and incurring less transaction fees while doing business with the introduction of online portals.

According to a recent evaluation report of 6 online portals in East Africa have contributed a net savings of up to US$ 6.6 million for traders in  in the region,  attributed to reduced operational costs, improved document management due to e-storage and improved effectiveness and efficiency.

Currently, the evaluated portals have on average reduced clearance time from 3.3 days to 2 hours and costs by an average of $62 per transaction from US$72 to US$ 10.

According to the report, traders reported net savings of up to KSh680.49 million improved document management due to e-storage and improved efficiency when they used the portals.

The report says on average, it takes 2 hours, down from 3.3 days previously, to clear goods with costs going down from an average of KSh7,423) to KSh6,393 per transaction.

he evaluated portals were supported by TradeMark East Africa’s Single Window Information for Trade (SWIFT) programme and included 6 portals – Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (KNCCI) portal, and the Tea Directorate (TD); in Rwanda the Ministry of Agriculture (RALIS – MinAgri), and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) portals; in Tanzania the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) while in Uganda, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) portal.

“Single Window Information for Trade programme has helped reduce time taken to acquire trade documents by eliminating periods of process inactions which are inevitable with manual processes.

Consequently, transactional costs incurred in the process of acquiring trade regulatory documents have also reduced through automating processes that previously necessitated physical movement to government offices. Now traders can access this important service from anywhere in the world.

Doing so contributes to TMEA’s mandate of reducing costs and time taken while trading, and complements our other work such as infrastructure at ports that is reducing barriers to trade,” says Frank Matsaert, CEO, TradeMark East Africa.