TPSF to get $400,000 for freight, logistics platform

DAILY NEWS Reporter

TANZANIA Private Sector Foundation will receive a $400,000 grant from TradeMark East Africa to support operations of a national platform launched in Dar es Salaam over the weekend to bring together policy makers and industry stakeholders to collectively tackle the challenges of the logistics and freight industry.

Speaking during the launch of the platform, TMEA Country Director, John Ulanga said the grant would support activities of the platform which is hosted by TPSF which is intended to foster best practices and play a critical role in the logistics sector.

Currently East Africa’s trade corridors are characterised by long transit times and high costs. Freight costs per kilometre are more than 50 per cent higher than costs in the United States and Europe, and for the landlocked countries, transport costs can be as high as 45 per cent of the value of exports.

"This platform is aimed at addressing these challenges and improving the region’s competitiveness,” he said.

The national platform is expected to allow players to innovate, add value and strategise in order to realize the common objective of making the logistics and freight industry more efficient, sustainable, and innovative and ultimately increase the country’s competitiveness in order to secure economic growth and alleviate poverty.

The Platform is also expected to deal with logistics inefficiencies, delays in the movement of goods and services, challenges in implementation of national and regional logistics policies, and harmonisation of documentation requirements by customs in the country.

Other challenges the platform will address are related to effective advocacy on security of goods and personnel, simplifying customs procedures and avoiding delays.

The focus will have to be on intensive advocacy especially on customs delays, corruption and extortion and inconsistent freight rates, etc The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Works and Communication, Professor Faustin Kamuzora said the government was keen to engage with the industry in developing the freight and logistics sector.

Maintaining and strengthening the position of Tanzania as a destination of choice for other land locked countries will require Tanzania to have the right policy framework and make the right choices as alternative routes progressively improve in terms of security and costs.

"The government will offer its full support to the platform to ensure the efficiency of freight and logistics services in Tanzania is achieved,” he said.

Tanzania’s demand for domestic transport is expected to increase by 16 per cent in 2020. Dar es Salaam port throughput has increased from 7.4 million tons in 2007 to 14.26 million tons in 2014.

The target for 2015/16 has been set at 18 million tons (BRN) with, however, declining actual figures reported in the third and fourth quarters of 2015/16.

Dar port is also an important transit point for many African nations granting access to maritime travel and trade through the Indian Ocean. The country is poised to achieve between 7 per cent and 8 per cent GDP growth over the next few years.

In 2012, fourteen (14) percent of the imports and exports of Tanzania’s landlocked neighbouring countries experiencing a GDP growth averaging 7 per cent passed through the Dar Port. This is expected to grow further as the region undergoes economic expansion.