Comesa lobby urges South Sudan trade reforms

Comesa Business Council stakeholders during a workshop at Nairobi Safari Club on September 17, 2015. The business council wants South Sudan to remove restrictions on movements of goods and people to boost trade along the Northern Corridor.  

In Summary

• The Common Market of East and Central Africa (Comesa) Business Council says the troubled nation has trade-restrictive regulation and restrictions on the movement of persons.
• The Northern Corridor links the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi with Kenya’s port of Mombasa.
• South Sudan is a key player in the Northern Corridor but is not a member of the East Africa Community or Comesa.

By OTIATO GUGUYU
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Regional business lobby wants South Sudan to remove restrictions on movements of goods and people to boost trade along the Northern Corridor.

The Common Market of East and Central Africa (Comesa) Business Council says the troubled nation has trade-restrictive regulation and restrictions on the movement of persons.

“There is need to lobby South Sudan on trade facilitation reforms to facilitate trade for the Northern Corridor,” said a resolution of the first Comesa Business Council regional transport conference held in Nairobi on September 17.

NORTHERN CORRIDOR

The Northern Corridor links the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi with Kenya’s port of Mombasa.

It also paves way to markets in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and northern Tanzania.

Kenya, Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda are party to the Northern Corridor Transit Agreement to streamline customs control, documentation procedures and transit.

South Sudan is a key player in the Northern Corridor but is not a member of the East Africa Community or Comesa.

BUSINESS COUNCIL RESOLUTION

The resolution which will be presented to the ninth joint meeting of the committees on transport, communication, information technology and energy on October 26 in Ethiopia is part of a raft of proposals to improve business along the corridor.

More than 60 participants from companies and associations from 15 countries in the Comesa region participated at the dialogue.

The business council which is made up of freight forwarders, logistics companies, cargo handlers, transporters and truckers called for the support of a Pan-African logistics information hub which will be a depository of documentation required for movement of goods between countries.

The businesses say they face challenges of documentation incurring extra costs due to delays when different countries ask for different information and documents.

They also complained about countries using different weighbridge equipment, overload control certificates, differing axle load limits and vehicle dimensions.