FIRST DRAFT REPORT ON RWANDA ROAD TRANSIT TIME, …...The Rwanda road transit survey on time, cost and distance that was conducted along the two major gateways of Rwanda, the Northern

FIRST DRAFT REPORT ON RWANDA ROAD TRANSIT TIME, COST AND

DISTANCE SURVEY ALONG THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CORRIDORS

Rwanda National Monitoring Committee on NTBs

Submitted to MINICOM, PSF and TMEA

By

Safari Vincent & Theodore Murenzi

Kigali – July 2014

RWANDA ROAD TRANSIT TIME, COST AND DISTANCE SURVEY ALONG THE NORTHERN AND

CENTRAL CORRIDORS Page 2

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 10

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .................................................................................................. 17

1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 17

1.2. Background to the study .................................................................................................................. 18

2. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THE ROAD SURVEY ..................................................................................... 22

3. METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................... 22

3.1 Primary data ...................................................................................................................................... 23

3.1.1 Characteristics of data collected ................................................................................................ 23

3.1.2. Data types ................................................................................................................................. 23

3.1.3 Data collection details ................................................................................................................ 24

3.2 Secondary data ................................................................................................................................. 24

4. SURVEY FINDINGS: TIME, COST AND DISTANCE ALONG THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CORRIDORS .. 25

4.1. Findings on the Central Corridor: Kigali-Dar es Salaam-Kigali ......................................................... 25

4.1.1 Overview of the Central Corridor ............................................................................................... 25

4.1.2 Transit time and cost Kigali-Dar es Salaam- Kigali for transportation of liquid ......................... 27

4.1.3 Multiple weighridges along the route Dar – Rusumo ................................................................ 31

4.1.4 Numerous police check points ................................................................................................... 34

4.1.5 Average speed Dar es Salaam-Kigali .......................................................................................... 35

4.1.6 Dar Es Salaam - Kigali Route for containerized cargo ................................................................ 36

4.1.7 Dar es Salaam – Kigali Rail/Road Intermodal Route via Isaka .................................................... 41

4.1.8 Performance of Dar es Salaam Port ........................................................................................... 45

4.1.8.1. Indicators of volumes of freight ............................................................................................. 46

4.1.8.2. Indicators of effectiveness and productivity ......................................................................... 50



4.1.8.3. Issues at Dar es Salaam Port .................................................................................................. 52

4.2. Findings on the Northern Corridor: Kigali-Mombasa-Kigali ............................................................. 53

4.2.1 Overview of the Northern Corridor ........................................................................................... 53

4.2.2 Transit time and cost Kigali - Mombasa - Kigali ......................................................................... 55

4.2.3 Multiple weighbridges along the Northern corridor ................................................................. 59

4.2.4 Police check points along the Northern corridor ....................................................................... 62

4.2.5 Transport cost Mombasa-Kigali ................................................................................................. 63

4.2.6 Average speed between Mombasa-Kigali.................................................................................. 64

4.2.7 Performance of Mombasa Port ................................................................................................. 64

5. PERFORMANCE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CORRIDORS ........................ 70

5.1 Cargo Volume and capacity .............................................................................................................. 70

5.2 Ports dwell time ................................................................................................................................ 72

5.3 Border performance ......................................................................................................................... 74

5.4 Comparison of time spent at weighbridges and police check points along the Northern and Central

corridors .................................................................................................................................................. 77

5.5 Transport Cost of Imports from Mombasa/Dar es Salaam to Kigali ................................................. 78

5.6 Transport Cost of Exports to Mombasa/Dar es Salaam from Kigali ................................................. 79

5.7 Impact of removed NTBs on transit time and cost ........................................................................... 80

6. STATUS OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ON THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CORRIDORS ......... 82

6.1 State of Infrastructure on the Northern Corridor ............................................................................. 83

6.2 State of infrastructure on the central corridor ................................................................................. 85

7. TRADE AND TRANSPORT FACILITATION INITIATIVES ALONG THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL

CORRIDORS ................................................................................................................................................. 87

8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................. 91

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................ 94



Annex 1: Companies Interviewed ............................................................................................................... 95

Annex 2: List of truck drivers who participated in the survey .................................................................... 96



List of Tables

Table 1: Time Cost Distance (TCD) data for Dar es Salaam – Kigali Route by Road per TEU ...................... 38

Table 2: TCD Data for the Dar es Salaam – Kigali Rail/Road Intermodal Route per TEU ............................ 42

Table 3: Trend of Traffic handled by Dar Port to TTFA Member States 2007-2013 ................................... 49

Table 4: Transport cost of imports from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam to Kigali ....................................... 79

Table 5: Transport Cost of Exports from Kigali to Mombasa/Dar es Salaam .............................................. 80

Table 6: Progress in Transport Cost reduction/increase for Imports from Mombasa between 2010 and

2014 ............................................................................................................................................................ 81

Table 7: Progress in Transport Cost reduction/increase for Imports from Dar es Salaam between 2010

and 2014 ..................................................................................................................................................... 82

List of Figures

Figure 1: Trading across borders by the East African Community and other regional economic

communities ............................................................................................................................................... 19

Figure 2: EAC - Central Corridor .................................................................................................................. 26

Figure 3: Time,Cost and Distance Kigali- Dar .............................................................................................. 28

Figure 4: Time, Cost and Distance Dar-Kigali .............................................................................................. 29

Figure 5: Transport Cost Dar-Kigali ............................................................................................................. 30

Figure 6: Transit time Dar es Salaam-Kigali................................................................................................. 31

Figure 7: Average transit time at weighbridges (Dar-Kigali ) ...................................................................... 32

Figure 8: Transit time at police roadblocks and checkpoints along the central corridor ........................... 34

Figure 10: Transit Cargo to Rwanda via Dar es Salaam and Mombasa Ports ............................................. 37

Figure 11: TCD Model Results for Dar es Salaam – Kigali by Road per TEU ................................................ 40

Figure 12: T/C-D for Kigali Route by Road Excluding Port Costs and Dwell Time ....................................... 41

Figure 13 : TCD Model Result for Dar es Salaam – Kigali Rail/Road Intermodal Route .............................. 43



Figure 14: Time and Cost Comparison for the Road and Rail/Road Routes to Kigali ................................. 44

Figure 15: Overall Imports through the Dar es Salaam (mT) 2003-2013 .................................................... 46

Figure 16: Overall Imports per Country per Commodity ............................................................................ 47

Figure 17: Overall Imports per Country ...................................................................................................... 48

Figure 18: Overall Export per Country through the Port of Dar es Salaam ................................................ 49

Figure 19: Dwell Time for TICTS Containers ................................................................................................ 51

Figure 20: Dwell Time at Dar es Salaam Port 2000-2013............................................................................ 52

Figure 21: Map of the Northern Corridor ................................................................................................... 53

Figure 22: Time, Cost and Distance Kigali – Mombasa ............................................................................... 56

Figure 23: Time, Cost and Distance Mombasa-Kigali .................................................................................. 57

Figure 24: Average transit time Kigali – Mombasa ..................................................................................... 58

Figure 25: Average transit time Mombasa-Kigali ........................................................................................ 59

Figure 26: Average transit time at weighbridges (in minutes) Kigali-Mombasa ........................................ 60

Figure 27: Average transit time at weighbridges (in minutes) Nairobi-Mombasa ..................................... 61

Figure 28: Average transit time at police check points (in minutes) Mombasa-Kigali ............................... 62

Figure 29: Average transit transport cost Mombasa-Kigali ........................................................................ 63

Figure 30: : Average speed while en route between stops Mombasa-Kigali ............................................. 64

Figure 31: Average Port Dwell Time (Hrs) ................................................................................................... 65

Figure 32: Imports at the Port of Mombasa (Tonnes) by Cargo Type ........................................................ 66

Figure 33: Imports and Exports throughput the Mombasa port (2009-2013) ........................................... 67

Figure 34: Imports by Member States of the Northern Corridor ............................................................... 68

Figure 35: Imports through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Port ................................................................. 70

Figure 36: Share of Imports through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports by EAC partner states and DRC71

Figure 37: Share of Exports through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports .................................................. 72



Figure 38: Comparison of dwell time at Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports in 2013 ................................ 73

Figure 39: Average crossing time at the border of Rusumo, Malaba and Gatuna (min) ............................ 74

Figure 40: Average crossing time at the border of Rusumo, Malaba and Gatuna (hrs) ............................. 75

Figure 41: Comparison of Average transit time at weighbridges and police check points (min) ............... 78



List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

BRN: Big Results Now

CC: Central Corridor

CC-TTFA: Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency

CFS: Container Freight Services

COMESA: Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa

CT-TPM: Cross border and Transit Transport Process Management

DRC: Democratic Republic of Congo

EAC: East Africa Community

ECOWAS: Economic Community of West Africa States

ESW: Electronic Single Window

GPS: Global Positioning System

GVM: Gross Vehicle Mass

ICD: Inland Container Depots

JACAJU: Jaguar Carriers Junior

KPA: Kenya Port Authority

LLC: Landlocked countries

MINICOM: Ministry of Trade and Industry (Rwanda)

NC: Northern Corridor

NCTTCA: Northern Corridor Transit Transport Coordination Agency

NTB: Non Tariff Barrier

OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

OSBP: One Stop Border Post



PPP: Public Private Partnership

RADDEx: Revenue Authorities Digital Data Exchange

RRA: Rwanda Revenue Authority

SADC: Southern Africa Development Conference

SGR: Standard Gauge Railway

TANROADS: Tanzania Roads Authority

TCD: Time Cost Distance

TEU: Twenty-foot equivalent unit

TICTS: Tanzania International Container Terminal Services

TMEA: TradeMark East Africa

TPA: Tanzania Ports Authority

TRA: Tanzania Revenue Authority

TRL: Tanzania Railways Limited

TTFA: Transit Transport Facilitation Agency

UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade & Development

UNECA: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

UNESCAP: United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia & Pacific

WB: World Bank



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

One of the biggest challenges facing EAC businesses is inefficient trade and transport facilitation

systems covering transport logistics, administrative entry and exit procedures, processes,

operations and transit regulations. EAC businesses are concerned about these inefficiently

managed systems due to time taken to complete a trade transaction, and the attendant costs

directly related to administrative processes during movement of goods within the domestic

markets and across the borders.

Survey objectives

The Rwanda road transit survey on time, cost and distance that was conducted along the two

major gateways of Rwanda, the Northern and Central corridors was aimed at providing key

findings on transit time, cost and distance and related trade barriers that will constitute a

strong position to be used for bilateral trade negotiations with corridors management and EAC

partner states for a seamless trade and transport across EAC region.

In this survey, time, cost and distance were analyzed for transportation of liquid and

containerized cargo along the central and northern corridors using the Time/Cost-Distance

model.

Survey methodology

The survey was conducted by two experts, Mr. Safari Vincent, Coordinator of the National

Monitoring Committee on NTBs representing the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Mr.

Murenzi Theodore, transporter and representative of the Private Sector Federation.

The survey was conducted from 15th April to 16th May 2014 and the team travelled using transit

trucks to and from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports.

The team adopted a methodology that was both covert and overt in order to come up with a

realistic and factual position regarding remaining NTBs.

The team of experts further conducted a series of interviews in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and

Tanzania. The survey used both primary data and secondary data collection methods. The

survey further used both structured interviews with major transporters as well as

questionnaires with truck drivers who ply the central and northern corridors.



Findings on the central and northern corridors

The findings revealed that the cumulative cost to transport fuel products from Dar es Salaam to

Kigali is 4,746$. It is important to note that the road toll paid to Tanzania by Rwandan

registered trucks has been reduced from 500$ to 152$ with the view to harmonize road user

fee between the two country which was found to weakening the Rwandan trucking firms by

making them uncompetitive.

For the transit time from Dar to Kigali, the transporter used 183.9 hours or 7.6 days for loading

in Dar, driving, resting and offloading in Kigali while the transit time for empty fuel tanker

moving from Kigali to Dar was found to be 71.98 hours or 3 days. The total time to transport

liquid from Dar es Salaam to Kigali, excluding time for clearance in Dar es Salaam and Kigali, was

found to be 3 days.

For time consumption, weighbridges represent 2% of the total transit time. However, the two

first weigbridges from Dar to Kigali which are Kibaha and Mikese take 60% which is more than a

half of the entire time spent at all weigbridges.

On a positive note, the weighbridges have been reduced from 8 to 7. The mobile weighbridge

that was located in Kurasini at the entrance of Dar port has been closed.

As for the customs check points, they have been removed since all containerized cargo are

under the Electronic Cargo Trucking System and can be traced and monitored all the way from

Dar es Salaam to Rusumo.

Transit trucks carrying fuel are still required to stop at each customs check points namely

Misugusugu, Dumila, Isaka and Rusumo in order to be checked and allowed to proceed after

the Transit Mouvement Sheet has been certified and stamped by an official from TRA.

The transportation services along the Central Corridor by road are subject to road blocks and

check points operated and managed by the Tanzania Police Force. Drivers spent less than 10

minutes at each roadblock or check point. Surprisingly, though the team of surveyors recorded

only 2 check points in Rwanda, they constitute more than 50% of the total time spent at police

check points.

This is due to the police directive of stopping trucks at Rugende for 5 hours from 4 to 9 pm to

prevent Kigali city from traffic jam.



As for Dar es Salaam port, it is now reported that the Port has improved its operations moving

from manual to computerized handling. However congestion and delays are still challenging

transporters. This is mainly due to the increasing demand which is not proportionate to the

increase in the port capacity, mainly the equipments, staff and other port facilities such as port

berths.

The container dwell time trends increased from 2002 to 2008 and then decreased continuously

from 2008 to 2013 from 29.3 to 12 days for transit containers and 25.4 to 9 days for local

containers.

Findings on the Northern Corridor revealed that, although the cost is generally evenly spread

along the entire route and proportionate to the distance travelled, major increase in cost was

observed mainly at the borders due to payment of road toll at Katuna and Malaba border posts

of 160$ and 200$ respectively.

Overall, the total time spent on the entire travel with containerized product from Kigali to

Mombasa is 96.17 hours (4 days) while the trip Mombasa-Kigali accounted for 221hours (9.2

days). However, excluding delays encountered in Nairobi while waiting for cargo to be loaded

and transit documents to be delivered combined with delays due to mechanical problems, the

import route accounted for 5 days.

On the return trip Mombasa-Kigali, Personal time accounted for 61% which is more than a half

of the total time. Overall, non travel time accounted for 70% of the time while real driving time

accounted for 30%. The major reason in the increase of non travel time is due to the 70 hours

spend in Nairobi before the truck was allowed to proceed to Kigali with cement loaded in

Nairobi.

The entire Northern Corridor has 8 weighbridges of which 4 are located in Uganda and 4 in

Kenya. Time spent at weighbridges contributes to the tardiness of the corridor.

Further, it is important to note that transit trucks are still weighed at all weighbridges despite

the directive of the Heads of States of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects Initiative

(Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda) stipulating that transit trucks should be weighed only once in

each transit country. Weighbridge officials are taking advantage of the ignorance of truck

drivers of this instruction and in addition still collect bribes from transit trucks.

The Northern Corridor, as is the case of the central corridor, suffers from serious delays caused

by informal stops and check points on the route.Some are officially sanctionned and others are



created to collect money to police, transit authorities and local communities. Uganda has,

however, removed all its police road blocks and is exempting transit trucks from police checks.

The major police check points along the corridor were 3 and all located in Kenya. On export

route police check points were 2.The truck was stopped by police force at Nakuru for 60

minutes and at Mombasa for 15 minutes, a total of 75 minutes for the entire export route. The

delays encountered on the import route are equivalent to only 18 minutes.

In addition bribes are still demanded by police officers. Sometime police from Mombasa do ask

transit trucks to pay 2,000 kenyan shillings equivalent to 25$ due to Mombasa Municipal

Council.

The overall cost to transport containerized products from Mombasa to Kigali is 5,000$ for a 40

feet container and 4,500$ for a 20 feet container. The transport observatory report of the

Northern Corridor 2013 set the cost to shift a 20 feet container from Mombasa to Kigali at

4,200$ and a 40 feet container at 4,800$. In all, fuel accounts for 31% of the cost, port charges

18%, mileage 10%, road toll 4% and other charges including profit 38%.

The unofficial payments or bribes represent 1% of the total cost for one trip Mombasa-Kigali

translated to 100$ by truck by trip. The same amount is also paid during the export journey to

Mombasa. This amount is big compared to the 11$ encountered on the Central Corridor. The

wighbridges attract 85% of bribes whilepolice check points attract the remaining 25%. This is

probably the main reason why weighbridge officials are resistent and relactant to comply with

the directives of weighing transit trucks only once in each transit country.

At Mombasa port, Kenya Port Authority has a target to achieve container dwell time of 72

hours by the year 2017.

The dwell time for February, 2014 was 84.08 hours or 3.5 days. Concerted effort needs to be

channeled towards reducing the container dwell time to 72 hours or 3 days.

Time and cost incurred by transporters are summarized as follows:

- It takes 96.17 hours or 4 days to move goods from Kigali to Mombasa for a distance of

1685km at a cost of 3,600$ for a 40 feet container. The average speed is 33.9km per

hour meaning an average travel distance 421km per day.



- On the import route Mombasa-Kigali, it takes 120 hours or 5 days to reach Kigali, the

final destination, for a cost of 5,000$ for a container. The average distance travelled per

day is 337km for an average speed of 23.5 km per hour.

- For the route Kigali-Dar es Salaam, the average time spent on transit route was 71.98

hours or 3 days for an average speed of 34.5km/hour and a daily travel distance of

499.1km. The related transit cost for a 40 feet container is 4,800$.

- On the return trip, for a total distance of about 1,497 km from Dar es Salaam to Kigali,

the truck used 72 hours or exactly 3 days for a total cost of 4,200$ for a container. The

average speed was 23.9km per day while the average distance travelled per day was

499km.

Findings on time and cost reduction from 2010 to 2014

The findings along the two corridors revealed that transit transport time and cost has reduced

from 2010 to 2014.

For a 20 feet container, transport cost from Mombasa to Kigali has increased by 15.3% from

3,901$ to 4,500$, the cost of transport of all other products has gone down. It has reduced by

24.1% from 6595$ to 5000$ for a 40 feet container.

It is also important to note that the number of days to import from Mombasa has gone down

from 15.6 days to 5 which is actually a reduction of 10.6 days.

As it was observed for the imports from Mombasa, from 2010 to 2014 there has been an

increase in the cost to shift a 20 feet container from Dar es Salaam to Kigali by 17.1% from

3,314$ to 4000$.

However, transport cost of a 40 feet container has gone down at 14.5% from 4,918$ to 4,200

while the days to travel have reduced from 17.5 days to 3 days.

Findings on the status of road infrastructure

As far as road infrastructure is concerned, the entire Northern Corridor road network in Kenya

is paved. Also, the majority of the Northern Corridor road network in Uganda is paved. The

sections that are not paved are currently being upgraded to paved or and the others being

renovated such as the road Katuna-Mbarara.



Most Central Corridor roads are paved. In the last decade, around 500 km of the Central

Corridor’s total 3,026 km of roads were rehabilitated and more than 500 additional km were

paved, but portions of the route especially between Nyakanazi to Rusumo need to be

thoroughly rehabilitated.

Survey recommendations

In order to reduce time and cost for transit transport and take fully advantage of the potential

benefits accorded by the two corridors, we have recommended the following:

1. Ensure that transit trucks are only weighed once in each transit country (Uganda and

Kenya).

2. Advocate for voluntary weight compliance across the region- Axle load compliance

campaign.

3. Full implementation of the presidential directive on removal of all roadblocks and police

checks.

4. Fast track implementation of the Single Customs Territory to reduce transit time.

5. Adopt the use of the Single Window system by partner states that are not using it.

6. Expedite completion and operationalization of Kagitumba, Malaba, Busia, Cyanika,

Rusumo and Gatuna One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) in order to minimize transit time at

border crossings;

7. Sensitization on regulations and procedures for clearance through customs and

immigration is needed

8. Sensitization of truckers to reduce personal time.

9. Fast track the investment in railway project to ultimately reduce the cost of doing

business.

10. Mobilize financial resources and create public-private partnerships (PPP) to finance and

operate transport infrastructure

11. Expand capacity at seaports by construction of new berths and new ports in order to

minimize multiple handling of containers through ICDs and additional costs thereof;

12. Undertake a joint and detailed review of transit fees and related charges with a view to

simplifying and harmonizing the process at the regional level.

13. Simplification and harmonization of transit documents, particularly between

neighboring countries along transit routes;



14. Minimization of customs inspections of goods in transit and simplification of customs

formalities;

15. Strengthen training in freight forwarding practices, multimodal transport and other

transport operations.



1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 Introduction

Trade and economic development of landlocked developing countries such as Rwanda highly

depend on efficiency of transit transport corridors. In spite of dynamic increase in efficiency in

the recent years as a result of the advance in EAC integration, the transit through Northern and

Central corridors of EAC still face some challenges that are affecting market access and

increasing cost of imports and exports. More cooperation and joint programmes between EAC

member countries are needed in order to further improve efficiency of corridors.

Rwanda is connected to the Indian Ocean by two major gateways; the Northern Corridor linking

Rwanda to the port of Mombasa through Uganda and Kenya and the Central Corridor which

connects Rwanda to Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania through Rusumo Border Post.

The Northern Corridor is longer with 1,685km with two major border posts to cross between

Rwanda and Uganda and Uganda and Kenya namely Gatuna and Malaba or Busia respectively in

comparison with the central corridor with a distance of 1,497km with only Rusumo border post

between Rwanda and Tanzania.

Rwanda and other East African transit and landlocked countries are still confronted with a

range of cross-border and transit transport constraints that inhibit their full participation in

globalized trading system. These constraint lead to higher delivered costs of imports while

making exports less competitive on international markets.

The costs, delays and unreliability of the corridor supply chain are to a large extent,

consequences of regulations and administrative procedures that apply to transit goods along

the links and nodes of the corridor. The current transportation costs of cargo along the corridor

are deemed high due to numerous Non-Tariff Barriers and inefficiencies along the corridor. All

these factors make access to international markets difficult for Member-States.

In recognition of trade opportunities and transport and logistical challenges prevailing in East

Africa; the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CC-TTFA) in partnership with

the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD)/ United Nations Economic

and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and United Nations Economic

Commission for Africa (UNECA) Regional Office is piloting the UNCTAD/UNESCAP cross border

and Transit Transport process Management Toolkit (CT-TPM) to provide capacity to control

authorities and transport operators in order to improve efficiency of cross border transport

along the central corridor.



The program is based on the UNCTAD’s cluster methodology and application of the ESCAP’s

Cross-border and Transit Transport Process Management - Time/Cost-Distance Methodology

(CT-TMP Toolkit).

The Toolkit will assist Northern and Central Corridor transit transport stakeholders in improving

the performance of the corridor through identification of operational barriers, the design and

implementation of readily applicable solutions, as well as the formulation of national and

corridor action plans for transport facilitation.

This and other similar measures are extremely important to monitor and analyse time and cost

along the corridors as they provide a valuable evidence of the effects of policies and serve as

lessons learned on what works when it comes to increasing the corridor efficiency

1.2. Background to the study

The costs of transportation generally within Africa are markedly higher than Asia. This places

an additional burden particularly on the economies of land-locked countries, not only affecting

the costs of imports but also making their exports less competitive in the worldwide market.

Modern business practices, such as just-in-time delivery systems and global supply chains,

underscore the importance of timely, predictable delivery. Trade facilitation—encompassing

both simplified customs procedures and upgrades to transportation infrastructure—enhances

Countries’ ability to compete in Global market places by reducing shipping delays and risk, and

lowering the cost of trading. Trade is growing rapidly among the countries of the East African

Community (EAC)—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda–expanding the volumes of

goods crossing their borders.

For some years now much concern has been raised on transit delays and inefficiencies related

to cargo clearing processes as well as constraints encountered during actual movement of

cargo along the central corridor. High dwell times at Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports,

cumbersome documentation and lengthy cargo clearance procedures as well as repeated

inspections by the multiple regulatory authorities along the transport corridors in transit

countries have been cited as impediments to smooth trade flows in the East Africa region and

the Northern and Central Corridors in particular. Inspections and stops encountered by



transporters involves stops at weighbridges, customs check points as well Police stops for

regulatory compliance with traffic routines.

In today’s globalized world, making trade between economies easier is increasingly important

for business. Excessive document requirements, burdensome customs procedures, inefficient

port operations and inadequate infrastructure all lead to extra costs and delays for exporters

and importers, stifling trade potential.

The World Bank Doing Business Report 2014 seems to give reason to the above statement. The

East African Community and its partner states are doing bad when it comes to the indicator on

trading across borders where EAC is ranked 159 compared to OECD (31), ECOWAS (133) and

COMESA (134) for a total of 185 economi

Figure 1: Trading across borders by the East African Community and other regional

economic communities

Source: Compiled from WB Doing Report, 2014

The landlocked countries such as Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi are particularly affected and in

terms of trading across borders, these countries rank among the lowest in the world.

Rwanda, for example, exporting a standard container of goods requires 7 documents, takes 26

days and costs $3245,the highest cost in East Africa followed by Burundi (2,905$), Tanzania



having the lowest cost of 1,090$ and 18 days to export. Importing the same container of goods

requires 9 documents, takes 30 days and costs $4990, the highest again the region with Kenya

having the shortest days (26) and Tanzania the lowest cost of 1,615$.

Globally, Rwanda stands at 162 in the ranking of 185 economies on the ease of trading across

borders, according to the figure above. The rankings for other economies and the regional

average ranking provide other useful information for assessing how easy it is for a business in

Rwanda to export and import goods. The ranking is no better for Tanzania and even Kenya who

are not even landlocked countries. There is need to improve the competitiveness of the whole

trade, transport and logistics chain along the central corridor in order to bring down transport

costs and hence improve competitiveness of regional economies.

Partner states of the EAC, together with other African countries, have recognized the

importance of improving these aspects of trade. The EAC and Corridor Management Institutions

with their member states have embarked upon programmes to reduce these high costs, which

includes harmonization of legislation, regulations and rationalization of administrative

procedures.

A considerable progress in increasing the corridor efficiency was made in June 2013 when the

Heads of State of Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda in Kampala reached the agreement for the three

countries to expedite partial implementation of the single customs territory along the Northern

Corridor. Since then discussion with transporters reveals that the time for trucks travelling from

Mombasa port to Kigali has been reduced from 30 days to a maximum of 6 days.

In the Central Corridor a programme by Tanzanian government under the name “Big Results

Now” is undertaking a number of measures to reduce the NTBs and create faster and less costly

transit.

While efforts have been made to improve the situation, a lot more needs to be done to ensure

that unnecessary delays along the Northern and Central Corridors are reduced and any

malpractices by all concerned stakeholders, public and private, are eliminated.

As a matter of illustration, the findings from the Transport Observatory Road and GPS Survey

2013 of the Northern Corridor disclosed that most of the stops along the corridor are due to

personal reasons.



For instance, it took about 100 hours for transporters to pick their cargo after customs release

almost the same time it takes to process an entry at one stop centre in Mombasa.

It is evident that transporters take more time at Mombasa (an average of about 7.5days) before

commencement of their journey. Part of this time includes the time they spend at the Port after

customs release and the time spend in their yards before they start their journey.

Further, the "Analytical comparative Transport cost study along the Northern Corridor Region"

by the NCTTCA found that the price of a transport service includes transport costs and costs

related to possible inefficiencies such as unexpected delays at various transit nodes. Estimates

of hidden monetary costs of the delays were at US$ 247.40 per day for a truck and US$137.00

for the goods, a total of US$ 384.40 for a loaded truck per day.

This current report thus outlines the state of transport and logistics chain within the Northern

and Central Corridors in terms of time, cost and distance after a route inspection survey

conducted by Rwanda National Monitoring Committee with the support of Ministry of Trade

and Industry (MINICOM) and TradeMark East Africa (TMEA).

The report further outlines recent efforts by EAC partner states and corridors management to

improve trade facilitation measures. It also describes the potential benefits to member States

of improved trade facilitation. The report identified the gaps that also require immediate

intervention by the Policy makers.



2. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THE ROAD SURVEY

The road survey report was expected to provide key findings that will constitute a strong

position to be used for bilateral trade negotiations with corridors management and EAC partner

states. The objectives include the following:

Identification of remaining operational barriers in the corridors,

Analysis of effectiveness of the existing policies and instruments addressing corridor

efficiency

Identification of areas where existing trade and transport facilitation instruments can be

applied or their application improved,

Formulation of well-structured and focused national action plans and corridor based

action plans for transport facilitation.

Availing accurate data time, cost and distance it takes to shift goods from the ports of

Mombasa and Dar es Salaam to Kigali using the Northern and central corridors

Measuring the impact of removed NTBs on time and cost reduction for transit transport

3. METHODOLOGY

The assignment applies the Time, Cost and Distance Methodology to generate cost/quotes or

transit time components. The assessment of NTBs and other trade issues used the Time/Cost-

Distance methodology to calculate cost and transit time components. One of the tools recently

developed to monitor the actual improvements in the corridors is Cross border and Transit

Transport process Management Toolkit (CT-TPM). It has been prepared by the Central Corridor

Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) in partnership with UNCTAD1/UNESCAP2 and

UNECA3 Regional Office for the purpose of addressing the transport and logistical challenges in

the Central Corridor.

Data was collected during two road trips along each of the two corridors (Northern and Central)

using the structured questionnaire provided by the Toolkit and interviews with various

transport operators.

1 United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD)

2 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)

3 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)



From 15th April to 16th May 2014, a team of 2 experts from the Ministry of Trade and Industry

and Private Sector Federation conducted a road survey on the central and northern corridors

respectively using transit trucks.

The road survey Kigali – Dar es Salaam- Kigali was made between 15th and 23rd April 2014 while

the trip Kigali-Mombasa-Kigali was done between 5th and 16th May 2014.

The survey used both primary data and secondary data collection methods:

3.1 Primary data

3.1.1 Characteristics of data collected

In collecting data for each trip on the two corridors, the following characteristics have been

considered;

The type of goods transported (liquids, containerized or bulk);

Exports and imports from and to Dar es Salaam/Mombasa ports

The country of vehicle registration (Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, DRC or Kenya)

The country of origin of the driver (Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, DRC or Kenya)

The possible transit routes

i. Kigali - Dar es Salaam-Kigali (via Rusomo) by road

ii. Dar es Salaam – Kigali (via Rusumo) by Road

iii. Kigali – Mombasa (via Gatuna and Malaba) by Road

iv. Mombasa - Kigali (via Malaba and Gatuna) by Road

3.1.2. Data types

The data collected included the following based on the template provided in the UNESCAP

tool kit;

The origin and destination of the cargo;

The full routing from origin to destination, with indication of the places where the

cargo was essentially stationary (such as border crossings and points of intermodal

transfer);

Mode of transport for each leg;

Distances involved for each leg;

Transit time for each leg (in hours or days);

Cost or quotes for each leg;



Questionnaires were distributed by the truck drivers and the surveyors accompanying the

drivers on the journey.

In addition to the road trip, data was collected through interviews with transport managers of

five prominent transport companies and freight forwarders that often use the central and

northern corridors including PETROCOM Ltd, Great Lakes Transport and Trade Ltd, JACAGU,

SPEDAG and PANACHE. The lists and details of persons contacted are attached as Annex 1 and

2.

3.1.3 Data collection details

Time to move a cargo from the point of departure to the point of destination comprised of

driving time, stops encountered for personal reasons, weighbridges, police checks, customs

checks, border post procedures, inland terminal procedures, vehicle breakdowns, port dwell

time, warehouses etc.

The cost section measured the cost of all inputs that make part of the overall cost to move

cargo from the ports to Kigali as the final destination. The cost structure included personal

expenses such as food and accommodation, fuel consumption, cost related to clearance of

goods, official payments such as road toll and unofficial payments such as bribes, insurance,

depreciation cost, etc.

3.2 Secondary data

Secondary data was collected from the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa and from the

transport observatories of the two corridors to compare and complement data collected during

field missions.

Progress reports of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects Initiative were explored and

analyzed so as to reflect on the progress towards elimination of NTBs that are related to trade

and transport of goods along the Northern corridor.



4. SURVEY FINDINGS: TIME, COST AND DISTANCE ALONG THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL

CORRIDORS

For purpose of accuracy and avoidance of confusion of data collected on the two corridors,

findings have been divided into two major parts: findings on the central corridors findings and

Northern corridors findings. At the end, the report will compare and analyse performance

between the two corridors.

4.1. Findings on the Central Corridor: Kigali-Dar es Salaam-Kigali

4.1.1 Overview of the Central Corridor

The central corridor is a multi-modal trade and transport corridor within the East African

Community and is a combination of road and railway network linking the Port of Dar es Salaam

to the landlocked countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the eastern part of DRC. The road

network as well as the railway line link Dar es Salaam to Kigoma and Mwanza. From Mwanza

the railway line is linked to Uganda and the Kenyan railway networks through the wagon ferries

operating across Lake Victoria from Mwanza to Port Bell and Jinja in Uganda as well as Kisumu

in Kenya.

Rwanda and Burundi are connected to the Port of Dar es Salaam by the Central Corridor that

consists of several routes. These routes include an all-road unimodal option from Dar es Salaam

to Bujumbura and Kigali. Alternatively, cargo flows along the intermodal routes made up of rail

from Dar es Salaam to Isaka then transhipped to Kigali and Bujumbura respectively by road.

Another intermodal route involves rail-lake connectivity which involves rail transport from Dar

es Salaam to Kigoma and lake transport from Kigoma to Bujumbura.

The Central Corridor has one of the best roads in East Africa as over 80 percent of the roads

from Dar es Salaam to Rusumo, Mutukula are paved and the remaining sections are under

construction. This makes the central corridor a competitive option for cross border trade

through the Port of Dar es Salaam. However, much of the road from Dodoma to Kigoma is not

paved. Apparently, the road section between Dar es Salaam Port and Chalinze is highly

congested and in need of additional lanes to facilitate a smooth flow of traffic. The central rail

network is also extensive, though in need of rehabilitation. The railway line dissects at Tabora

(Central Tanzania) where one section goes to Mwanza onward to the southern shore of Lake

Victoria via Isaka. Isaka is an Intermodal section where traffic for Burundi and Rwanda are

transhipped to road and vice versa. The other section at Tabora leads westward connecting to



Lake Tanganyika at Kigoma where the railway terminal is linked to a Port, for intermodal

services with vessels connecting to Bujumbura Port in Burundi, as well as to the Ports at

Kalemie and Uvira in the Eastern DRC.

Rwanda and Burundi are not yet connected to Railways but a feasibility study has been carried

out to improve the current rail connection between Dar es Salaam and Isaka and then extend it

to Kigali onwards to Keza – Musongati in Burundi which is very rich in nickel deposits. The

Central Corridor therefore offers Burundi, Rwanda and the eastern part of DRC, a shorter

gateway route to a major coastal port of Dar es Salaam.

Figure 2: EAC - Central Corridor

Source: Central Corridor TTFA

The Central Corridor links five (5) countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda,

Tanzania and Uganda. These countries form the Member-States that comprise stakeholders

from both the Public and Private Sectors. The transport routes of the Central Corridor consist of

road, rail and lakes. The Agreement to establish the Central Corridor Transit Transport

Facilitation Agency (TTFA) was signed on 2nd September, 2006 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by

five Ministers responsible for transport matters in all Member-States.



The TTFA was formed in recognition of the right of landlocked countries (LLC) to transit trade as

declared under specific United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/180 on particular

needs of landlocked developing countries from which other declaration and Action Programs

evolved. Its key objective is to facilitate and promote efficient, economic and cost-effective

trade flows to and from land locked countries through the Central Corridor.

TTFA’s specific objectives include the following:

i) To ensure that the routes under the Agreement are available for use by Member States

efficiently and economic additional routes to their current trade routes;

ii) To monitor the route performance through proactive collection, processing and

dissemination of transport data in order to support the planning and operations of the

Member-States;

iii) To promote best practices in infrastructure maintenance, upgrading and development;

iv) To encourage coordination and cooperation among the many players in the transport

industry among the Member-States;

v) To monitor costs and encourage reduction of transport and logistics costs associated

with transportation of goods along the corridor; and

vi) To market the corridor for its increased utilization and market share.

The central corridor thus connects the Port of Dar es Salaam to the markets of Tanzania,

Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The corridor is an

opportunity for development of EAC intra-regional and cross border trade.

4.1.2 Transit time and cost Kigali-Dar es Salaam- Kigali for transportation of liquid

The survey investigated the time and cost elements for the transportation of liquid products

from Dar es Salaam to Kigali. The case reported above involved the transportation of fuel for

aircrafts “Jet A1” equivalent to 32,732.7 liters and worth of 28,326.9$ from Dar es Salaam to

Kigali over a period spanning from 18th to 20th April 2014 on a Rwandan registered truck.



Figure 3: Time,Cost and Distance Kigali- Dar

Source: Primary data



Figure 4: Time, Cost and Distance Dar-Kigali


Although the cost is generally evenly spread along the entire route and proportionate to the

distance travelled, major increase in cost was observed at Rusumo border where the

transporter paid a road toll of 152$ considered for a single trip Kigali-Dar es Salaam which we

divided by two for purpose of getting accurate transport costs for each trip (see figure 3

between 0-200km and figure 4 when the truck was still parked before departure from Dar es

Salaam) and also for driver’s mileage collection. Major increase in time is observed mainly at

the fuel storage in Dar es Salaam where the truck was parked before loading for almost 70

hours (fig 4), overnight at Ziba (figure 3 at almost 600km) and overnight at Kibaigwa and Isaka

(figure 4 400km and 1000km respectively). The other increase in time is observed at final

destination in Kigali (figure 4) where the transporter spent 12 hours before offloading. The main

explanation is the long distances within these legs which correspond with the amount of fuel

consumed.

Increase in cost was also observed to correspond with stops where the crew rested overnight

and where they had to spend on lodging, feeding and security for the trucks.



The direct expenses to transport fuel products from Dar es Salaam to Kigali are 1,398$. To move

fuel products for a round trip (including Kigali-Dar trip) is 2,560$. The cumulative cost to

transport fuel products from Dar es Salaam to Kigali is 4,746$. The figure below presents the

spread of cost per category of expenditure along the entire route in which 26% of expenditure

goes to fuel and 5% for mileage for the welfare of the crew while the port, other expenditures

and the road toll represent 18%, 49% and 2% respectively.

It is important to note that the road toll paid to Tanzania by Rwandan registered trucks has

been reduced from 500$ to 152$ with the view to harmonize road user fee between the two

country. The harmonization happened in September 2013 after several complaints by Rwanda

transporters of being disadvantaged by the high road toll that was charged by Tanzania.

Figure 5: Transport Cost Dar-Kigali


In Tanzania, weighbridges are designed and managed by TANROADS to control overloading on

the route. Weighbridges are placed at points where additional traffic enters the main corridor.

The seamless route inspection team visited and examined the operations of 7 weighbridges

between Dar es Salaam and Rusumo. Weighbridges also affect the flow of traffic on the route

by causing time wastage.

For the transit time from Dar to Kigali, the transporter used 183.9 hours or 7.6 days for loading

in Dar, driving, resting and offloading in Kigali while the transit time for empty fuel tanker

moving from Kigali to Dar was found to be 71.98 hours or 3 days. Figure 6 below indicates the



allocation of time for different activities. Driving takes the big part of transit time that is 29% or

20.87 hours followed by clearance time in Dar es Salaam of 28% and then personnal time used

by the crew of 20%. The intermidiate stops at police, weigbridges, customs and border

constitute all together 7% which is approximately 12 hours or a half day. Bribes are still

encountered but represent less than 1% of the total transit costs.

Bribes were demanded at Isaka Customs check points after closing hours in the night with the

view to facilitate the driver to move early in the morning before the office opens again.

The total time to transport liquid from Dar es Salaam to Kigali, excluding time for clearance in

Dar es Salaam and Kigali, was found to be 3 days.

Figure 6: Transit time Dar es Salaam-Kigali


4.1.3 Multiple weighridges along the route Dar – Rusumo

For time consumption, weighbridges represent 2% of the total transit time. However, the two

first weigbridges from Dar to Kigali which are Kibaha and Mikese take 60% which is more than a

half of the entire time spent at all weigbridges as indicated in Figure 7 below.

The explanation is the congestion observed at the two weighbrdges where all transit trucks

moving to DRC, Malawi, Zambia, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda as well as local cargo are

weigned before they are allowed to proceed.



Worse enough, empty trucks heading to Dar es Salaam are supposed to weigh all the

weigbridges making them time consuming and adding to existing congestion.

As for the customs check points, they have been removed since all containerized cargo are

under the Electronic Cargo Trucking System and can be traced and monitored all the way from

Dar es Salaam to Rusumo. Transporters are hawever to buy GPS gadget each trip so that TRA

can monitor their mouvements while in transit on Tanzanian territory.

Transit trucks carrying fuel are still required to stop at each customs check points namely

Misugusugu, Dumila, Isaka and Rusumo in order to be checked and allowed to proceed after

the Transit Mouvement Sheet has been certified and stamped by an official from TRA.

Figure 7: Average transit time at weighbridges (Dar-Kigali )


All vehicles with Gross Weight of 3.5 tons and above are required to weigh.In Tanzania;

weighbridges are designed and managed by TANROADS to control overloading on the route.

Weighbridges are placed at points where additional traffic enters the main corridor. The survey

team visited and examined the operations of 7 weighbridges between Dar es Salaam and

Rusumo . Weighbridges also affect the flow of traffic on the route by causing time wastage.



A Fuel tanker weighing at Nala/Dodoma weighbridge station

On a positive note, the weighbridges have been reduced from 8 to 7.The mobile weighbridge

that was located in Kurasini at the entrance of Dar port has been closed.

Other facts about weighbridges are captured in the following box:



4.1.4 Numerous police check points

Figure 8: Transit time at police roadblocks and checkpoints along the central corridor


The transportation services along the Central Corridor by road are subject to road blocks and

check points operated and managed by the Tanzania Police Force. The issues normally

inspected for at such road blocks are, vehicle insurance, licenses, vehicle and shipment

documentation as well as vehicle condition and road worthiness (e.g. tyre condition, lights) and

Tolerance on axles : 5%

Tolerance on GVM : 0%

Maximum GVM : 56 Tons

Calibration : once a year

Overloading on axles : offload and distribute the charges

Overloading on GVM: pay fine and offload

Fine when bypassing the weighbridge: 2,800.00$

Penalty for parking in weighbridge area: 3 days free and then 20.00$ fine

Number of weighbridges towards Rusumo: 7 that is 0.46 weighbridge per 100km

Average overloading on axles: 25%

Average GVM overloading: 1%

Transit vehicles are the least overloaded

The Kurasini weighbridge has been removed



speeding. Although there are some permanent road blocks located at security sensitive

locations which operate 24 hours/day, the planning of road blocks is carried out at a regional or

district level with little or no coordination across district and regional boundaries. This opens up

the possibility of encountering relatively closely located and multiple road blocks along a

particular stretch of road. The truck drivers normally pay about 2000 Tanzanian shillings (about

1.3 USD) at most of the police check point to police for kitu kidogo. However, this is requested

by the police for traffic offences in lieu of official fine.

The box below reveals some facts about police roadblocks and checks points along the central

corridor

Drivers spent mostly less than 10 minutes at each roadblock or check point. Most of the check

points are located in Tanzania and some of them are meant for protection of local charcoals

from transit trucks with the view to protect Tanzania natural forests. The later are mainly found

at Benaco, Nyabugombe, Nyakanazi and Kintiku.

Surprisingly, though the team of surveyors recorded only 2 check points in Rwanda, they

constitute more than 50% of the total time spent at police check points.

This is due to the police directive of stopping trucks at Rugende for 5 hours from 4 to 9 pm to

prevent Kigali city from traffic jam. The directive is adhered to even though at Rugende there is

no facility such as traffic lights and toilets.

4.1.5 Average speed Dar es Salaam-Kigali

The figure below differentiates between the average speed while en route between stops along

the central corridor and the average speed per section including time spent at intermediate

stops.

Number of Traffic Police check Points towards Rusumo : 10 that is 0.67 traffic police per 100 Km

Number of Natural Resources police check point towards Rusumo: 3 that is 0.2 Natural Resources Police check point per 100 Km.



Figure 9: Average speed from Dar es Salaam – Kigali for a loaded fuel tanker


In regard to speed travelled by the truck, leg Isaka-Rusumo reflected the fastest average speed

of 53.4 km per hour mainly due to good condition of the road that has been recently renovated

and fewer personal stops within the leg. The lowest average speed was recorded between

Rusumo (Tanzania) and Rusumo (Rwanda) with an average speed of 1 km per hour due to

clearance time and lack of enough parking spaces. The average driving speed was 23.9km per

hour for a distance of 1497km.This speed is low and due to several intermediate stops and

personal stop time.

4.1.6 Dar Es Salaam - Kigali Route for containerized cargo

The central corridor is increasingly becoming the most popular route by transporters of freight

from Dar es Salaam port to Kigali as compared to the Northern Corridor which is anchored at

Mombasa Port (according to the Figure below). This trend is attributable to improvement in



road conditions along the central corridor, the longer distances and multiple border crossings

associated with the Northern Corridor.

Figure 9: Transit Cargo to Rwanda via Dar es Salaam and Mombasa Ports

Source: TTFA

Import containers to Rwanda encounter a considerable amount of dwell time at Dar es Salaam

port due to a number of factors including lengthy documentation and clearance procedures and

capacity constraints within the port systems. In 2012 transit containers recorded an average

dwell time of 14.4 days at Dar es Salaam Port. The first half of 2013 indicated a slight

improvement in dwell time for Rwandan containers at an average of 13.1 days. Despite this

improvement, port dwell remains the major contributing factor to cargo delays along the

central corridor. The port dwell time on imports to Kigali accounts for 77% of the total transit

time between the cargo discharge at Dar es Salaam port and arrival at final destination in Kigali.

Travel time and intermediate stops accounts for the remaining 23%.

Based on data collected for this study; the journey for a truck travelling by road from Dar es

Salaam port to Kigali ranges from 43 to 150 hours. The average effective travel time from Dar es

Salaam to Kigali is about 97 hours while official checks at intermediate points (weighbridges,

police and customs checkpoints) take a total of about 7 hours.



Based on data collected for this study; the freight charge for a light container from Dar es

Salaam to Kigali by road ranges from 2,100 USD/TEU4 to 4,000 USD/TEU. And the average

freight charge for a heavy container to Rwanda is between 4,200 USD/TEU and 5.000 USD/TEU.

The transport observatory report of the Central Corridor 2013 set the cost to shift a 20 feet

container from Dar to Kigali at 2,100$ and a 40 feet container at 4,200$. Other costs associated

with container movement from the port to Kigali include port charges at 240 USD/TEU, Freight

Forwarders’ fee of between 200 and 250 USD/TEU as well as shipping line charges amounting

to 215 USD/TEU.

The table below presents the findings on transit times and costs associated with the import

container (TEU) from Dar es Salaam Port to Kigali by Road, the data is based on both secondary

and primary data collected during the study.

Table 1: Time Cost Distance (TCD) data for Dar es Salaam – Kigali Route by Road per TEU

Leg Mode Distance

(km)

Cum.

Distance

(km)

Cost

(US$)

Cum.

(US$)

Time (hrs.) Cum.

Time

(hrs.) Travel Dwell

At Dar es

Salaam Port

Road 0 0 735 735 0 346 346

DSM Port –

Kibaha

Road 35 35 56 791 2.30 0.17

348

Kibaha-Mikese Road 127 162 203 994 8.33 0.27 357

Mikese-Dumila Road 104 266 166 1160 6.82 0.25 364

Dumila – Nala Road 215 481 344 1504 14.10 0.45 379

Nala – Njuki Road 225 706 360 1864 14.75 0.17 394

Njuki –

Mwendakulima

Road 291 997 466 2330 19.08 0.33 413

Mwendakulima

– Nyakahura

Road 249 1246 398 2728 16.33 0.13 429

Nyakahura –

Rusumo

Road 65 1311 105 2833 4.27 4.83 339

Rusumo –Kigali Road 164 1475 262 3095 10.75 449

4 TEU: A twenty-foot equivalent unit, an approximate measure defining the capacity of the

standard intermodal container



Source: TTFA

TCD Model Output: The TCD model results as shown in the Figure below, clearly indicates that

substantial time along the Dar es Salaam –Kigali logistics chain is consumed at Dar es Salaam

port. The average travel time from Dar es Salaam to Kigali is about 97 hours. However, taking

97 hours to cover a distance of 1475 is an issue of major concern since it translates into an

effective travel speed of just 15 km/hr which is by all standards too low. As compared to

findings of previous studies (Corridor Diagnostic Study) the Central Corridor has attained some

improvement in terms of transit time from Dar es Salaam to Kigali, partly due to the

improvement in road condition.

Nonetheless, the 15 km/hr speed is still too low, given the fact that the trunk road from Dar es

Salaam to Kigali is paved. This is another area which can be improved upon by focusing on

drivers rest patterns and addressing areas related to restrictions on night travel either from

security concerns or regulatory requirements as well as time wasted at intermediate stops and

checkpoints.



Figure 10: TCD Model Results for Dar es Salaam – Kigali by Road per TEU

Source: TTFA

The figure below shows the TCD model results when the port dwell time and port costs are

excluded from the computations related to freight movement from Dar es Salaam to Kigali by

road. Results in this figure indicate a substantial reduction in terms of both time and costs

associated with container flows along the Central Corridor to Kigali. In this result the total cost

of the flow is reduced from 3,095 to 2,360 USD/TEU which translates into 24% cost savings and

the total time of the flow is reduced from 449 to 103 hours giving a 75% reduction in total time.

This implies that efforts directed at time and cost savings at the Dar es Salaam port will result

into substantial improvement of the Central Corridor performance and competitiveness.

Nonetheless, the travel-time remains lengthy and the speed too low. The 15 km/hr speed is by

all standards still too low, given the fact that the trunk road from Dar es Salaam to Kigali is



paved. This is another area which can be improved upon by focusing on drivers rest patterns

and addressing areas related to restrictions on night travel either from security concerns or

regulatory requirements.

Figure 11: T/C-D for Kigali Route by Road Excluding Port Costs and Dwell Time

Source: TTFA

4.1.7 Dar es Salaam – Kigali Rail/Road Intermodal Route via Isaka

This route entails a rail-road intermodal connectivity between Dar es Salaam Port and Kigali

with an intermodal interchange at Isaka in Tanzania. An import container is transported by rail

from Dar es Salaam to Isaka for a distance of 982 kilometres. At Isaka, the container is

transhipped to road truck for haulage from Isaka to Kigali for a distance of 594 kilometres via

Rusumo border crossing. Applicable charges, dwell time and transit times for this route are

summarized in the Table 2 below.



The TCD analysis in this section is based on secondary data from recent studies as well as

current railway tariff as provided by TRL management.

As per TRL tariff, the freight cost for a 20 feet light container from Dar es Salaam to Isaka is

1,690 USD/TEU and the same is charged 800 USD for the road segment from Isaka to Kigali via

Rusumo. Other costs associated with container movement along this route include handling

charges at Isaka Dry Port of about 80 USD/TEU. The transhipment process at Isaka Dry Port

takes on average 36 hours.

The table below present the data on transit times and costs associated with the import

container (TEU) from Dar es Salaam Port to Kigali by rail/road intermodal link via Isaka, the data

is based on both secondary and primary data.

Table 2: TCD Data for the Dar es Salaam – Kigali Rail/Road Intermodal Route per TEU

Leg Mode Distance

(km)

Cum.

Distance

(km)

Cost

(US$)

Cum.

(US$)

Time (hrs.) Cum.

Time

(hrs.) Travel Dwell

At Dar es

Salaam Port

N/A 0 0 735 735 0 346 346

DSM Port –

Isaka

Rail 982 982 1690 2425 98 444

At Isaka N/A - 982 80 2505 0 36 480

Isaka –

Nyakahura

Road 265 1247 430 2935 16.33 0.26 497

Nyakahura –

Rusumo

Road 65 1312 105 3040 4.26 4.83 506

Rusumo –

Kigali

Road 164 1476 266 3306 10.75 0 517

Source: TTFA

TCD Model Output:

Port dwell still remains the major component of the total transit time from when the container

discharge from the ship at Dar es Salaam Port to arrival in Kigali. The effective travel time from

Dar es Salaam to Kigali is about 130 hours, with 98 hours consumed on railway movement from

Dar es Salaam to Isaka while the additional 32 hours are spent on road leg from Isaka to Kigali.

The effective travel speed for railway from Dar es Salaam to Isaka is just 10 km/hr, which is too



low for any rational transporter. This is another area which can be improved upon by focusing

on improvement of the railway infrastructure and operational efficiency.

The intermodal interchange at Isaka is another node with incremental time and costs of about

36 hours and 80 USD respectively. Both the time and costs incurred at Isaka can be improved

upon in order to make this route more competitive. Model results for this route are shown in

the figure below.

Figure 12 : TCD Model Result for Dar es Salaam – Kigali Rail/Road Intermodal Route

Source: TTFA

Modal Comparison: Time & Cost comparisons on Roads Vs Rail

The time and cost comparison for the two routing options to Kigali shows clearly that the all-

road option has a clear advantage over the intermodal rail/road option both in terms of cost



and time savings. While it costs 3,095 USD/TEU to transport a container by road from Dar es

Salaam to Kigali by road, it costs 3305 USD/TEU when the intermodal option is used. In this

regard the intermodal rail-road option is about 7% more costly that the road option. Likewise, it

takes longer to transport freight by using the rail/road option as compared to road only option.

This current situation helps to explains why many transporters still prefer road transport as

opposed to rail. The detailed comparison for time and costs for the two routing options by

components of the logistics chain is as shown in the Figure below.

Figure 13: Time and Cost Comparison for the Road and Rail/Road Routes to Kigali

Source: TTFA



4.1.8 Performance of Dar es Salaam Port

Dar es Salaam Port container terminal, TICTS

The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) presently owns Dar es salaam, Tanga, Mtwara Ports and all

lake ports in Tanzania. Tanzania Ports Authority was established on 15th April 2005 following

the repeal of THA Act No. 12/77 and enactment of TPA Act No. 17/2004.

To establish and coordinate system of Harbours.

To provide facilities relating to Harbours and provide harbour services

With the approval of the Minister, to construct and operate new Harbours

To construct, operate and maintain beacons and other navigational aids

To carry on the business of stevedore, wharf age or lighter man.

To act as a warehouseman to store goods, whether or not the goods have been or

are to be, handled as cargo or carried by the Authority

To consign goods on behalf of the other persons to any place either within or

outside the United Republic

With the approval of the Minister, to act as carriers of goods or passengers by land

or sea, and



To provide amenities or facilities that the Authority considers necessary or desirable

for persons making use of the facilities or services

4.1.8.1. Indicators of volumes of freight

The volume of cargo that is handled through the port of Dar-es-Salaam has been increasing

over the years from 4,953 Million Tons in 2003 to 11,379 Million Tons in 2013 (figure 15). This

is over a doubling of the volume of cargo handled in just 10 years. From 2003 to 2012, the

overall volume of cargo handled has increased by 142% that is an average of 14.2% per year.

The local cargo has increased by 99% while the transit cargo has increased by 296%.

However, there is a minor decreasing of volume of cargo for year 2013 vs 2012 of 0.05% in

total. The local volume decreased by 0.03% and transit volume decreased by 0.08%.

Figure 14: Overall Imports through the Dar es Salaam (mT) 2003-2013

Source: NC transport observatory report, 2013

Of all imported cargo through the port of Dar-es-Salaam, containerized cargo accounted for just

about 36% while liquid based imports taking the lion share of the imports at just about 41% and

loose cargo accounting for 23% (figure 16). The unusual upsurge in the volumes between

February, 2013 and March, 2013 can be attributed to the electioneering process in Kenya that

affected the Northern Corridor. This can be corroborated by the increase in the volume of

cargo handled that was in transit to Uganda. Above all the volume of cargo through the port

went up by averagely about 15%.

Breaking the cargo volume by country further reveals some new dynamics at play in terms of

how country based cargo makes use of the port of Dar-es-Salaam. No single country has over

10% volume of cargo in transit to its territory. This is an important area of investigation; to

establish why the volume of cargo in transit is considerably lower compared to cargo consumed

locally in Tanzania. While the length of the corridor has been mentioned as one of the main



causes of the low volume of cargo transiting through the corridor, other factors that make the

corridor expensive should be addressed, and in particular the time it takes to transit in

Tanzania.

Figure 15: Overall Imports per Country per Commodity

Source: TTFA

As far as the share of imports through Dar es Salaam port is concerned, Tanzania dominates

with 66% more than half of total imports, followed by other countries such as Zambia and

Malawi, followed DRC 7% and Rwanda taking 6% ahead of Burundi 3% and Uganda 2% (Figure

16).



Figure 16: Overall Imports per Country

Source: Built based on data from CC Transport Observatory Report, 2013

Comparing import and export volumes through the port reveals an evident picture of the

nature of the central corridor member states economies. These economies are net importers

with very negative balance of trade. Tanzania is again the biggest exporter with a share of 46%,

followed by others (Zambia, Malawi, etc) accounting for 36%, DRC 16% and finally Rwanda and

Burundi accounting for 1% each as indicated in the figure below.



Figure 17: Overall Export per Country through the Port of Dar es Salaam

Source: Built based on data from CC Transport Observatory Report, 2013

Concerning the growth of the traffic through Dar es Salaam port, Uganda has increased its

traffic over the last 7 years more than any other country with a rate of 293% for the period

2012-2013. This is mainly due to the improvement of road conditions. Spectacular increase was

observed in the year 2013 due to uncertainly of the outcome of presidential elections in Kenya

and experience from the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya which led to loss of transit cargo.

Table 3: Trend of Traffic handled by Dar Port to TTFA Member States 2007-2013

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Average

Growth

2012 Vs

2013

Tanzania 4,502,976 4,597,449 5,139,251 5,638,082 6,329,769 7,416,364 8,533,191 15%

Uganda 38,214 67,302 23,930 32,708 66,233 62,482 245,541 293%

Burundi 155,943 193,108 167,693 341,364 356,151 308,723 350,424 14%

Rwanda 88,586 177,257 110,987 272,426 356,606 561,329 680,057 21%

DRC 555,782 632,157 506,310 711,499 838,304 1,022,327 1,117,248 9%

Source: TTFA

Rwanda growth was also observed throughout the 7 years period with the 2 past years

accounting for 21% ahead of Tanzania 15%, Burundi 14% and DRC 9%.



4.1.8.2. Indicators of effectiveness and productivity

The indicators of effectiveness and productivity are generated from data collected from TICTS

and TPA for the time spent by containers at the port (Dwell time).

As part of its effort to transition the United Republic of Tanzania from a low to a middle-income

economy, starting with the 2013/2014 Financial Year, the Government of Tanzania, with

support from Development Partners, is adopting a Big Results Now initiative, based on a model

of development that has proven successful in Malaysia. This comprehensive system of

development implementation, described as a “fast-track people-centered growth ‘marathon’”

focuses on six priority areas articulated in the Tanzania National development Vision 2025:

energy and natural gas, agriculture, water, education, transport and mobilization of resources.

The strategy has also been adopted by Rwanda and Nigeria. Big Results Now was unveiled by

President Kikwete in February, 2013.

In the BRN, the Government of Tanzania will embark on the rehabilitation and upgrading of the

central railway line, expansion and improvement of Dar Port; expansion and improvement of

some road sector, the missing links, the port access road; improvement in systems and

procedures in all logistics areas. The first phase will end in 2015. By the end of 2015, we expect

reduced cargo dwell time form the current figure of 12 days to 5 days for containers in transit;

truck transit time to 2.5 days; increased handling capacity at Dar Port and improved road

connections and reduce road blocks (weighbridge, police and TRA) along the corridor to 3.

These outputs make the Key Performance indicators of the transport component.

The BRN target of 5 days container Dwell time is still far from reached insofar only 20% of

transit containers are delivered within 5 days BRN target.

The destination countries should also set the maximum time for customs clearance and for

offloading trucks in order to absolutely reduce the time taken by trucks at destination. This

contributes significantly to the increase in transportation costs to the extent that it is

considered as a dock time of trucks. The main challenges facing the corridor in terms of

effectiveness and productivity are mainly activities around the port of Dar-es-Salaam and the

border posts, and include: the slow customs procedures by TRA (T1 delivery), the slow port

procedures in Dar es Salaam, the slow customs procedures at destination, and the traffic

congestion of the port of Dar es Salaam.



Figure 18: Dwell Time for TICTS Containers

Source: TTFA

The container dwell time trends increased from 2002 to 2008 and then decreased continuously

from 2008 to 2013 from 29.3 to 12 days for transit containers and 25.4 to 9 days for local

containers. This is the result of establishment of private Inland Container Depots (ICD) where

local containers are directly transferred, thus playing a large part to relieve congestion in the

port.



Figure 19: Dwell Time at Dar es Salaam Port 2000-2013

Source: TTFA

4.1.8.3. Issues at Dar es Salaam Port

It is now reported that the Port has improved its operations moving from manual to

computerized handling. However congestion and delays are still challenging transporters. This is

due to the increasing demand which is not proportionate to the increase in the port capacity,

mainly the equipments, staff and other port facilities such as port berths. Specifically, the

congestion is due to:

- Insufficient container storage space

- Long container dwell times resulting in yard congestion

- Sharp increase in container volumes

- Poor inland transport especially railway systems

Other challenges at the Port of Dar es Salaam include:

- Issue of theft of Containers of minerals and fertilizers

- The port is not open for 24/7 (contrary to what is claimed) due to TRA which closes at

10pm.



- Very limited parking space: trucks that park along the road are obliged to pay penalties

to the city council

- There are long waits to access containers.

- High container deposits fee and delay in reimbursements

4.2. Findings on the Northern Corridor: Kigali-Mombasa-Kigali

4.2.1 Overview of the Northern Corridor

The Northern Corridor transport System links the NCTTCA Members States of Burundi,

Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan with the sea port of

Mombasa in Kenya. The Corridor also creates trade links with other countries in the region

namely Tanzania (Northern part) and Ethiopia.

Figure 20: Map of the Northern Corridor

Source: wwww.google.com



The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA) gives NCTTCA Permanent

Secretariat the mandate to coordinate activities along the Corridor in order to facilitate

trade, movement of persons, vehicles and goods and hence stimulate regional integration

through economic and social development in the territories of the contracting parties. The

Northern Corridor has also been mandated to initiate programs aimed at turning the Transport

Corridor into an Economic Development Corridor. Apart from many other responsibilities, the

Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) is mandated to

contribute to sustainable social and economic development of its member states through an

integrated transport system that promotes national, regional and international trade.

The growth in the NCTTCA Member states has been slowed by high costs of doing business;

high costs of transportation, numerous Non-Tariff Barriers, delays and associated

administrative costs on the transit logistics chain. This has necessitated various key policy

makers to initiate reforms in the corridor logistics chain. Resent initiatives along the corridor

has been the issuance of a directive for weighbridges to weigh trucks carrying goods in transit

only once at the point of entry and exit, implementation of the single customs territory,

removal of police roadblocks etc. The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination

authority endeavors to monitor the impact of the reforms initiated through the Transport

Observatory.

In the recent past, the Secretariat has worked closely with the Mombasa port community to

develop a dashboard that is envisioned to be the monitoring tool for the Port Charter that the

stakeholders have jointly develop and plan to sign.

The following are objectives of the NCTTCA:

To facilitate trade movement of persons, vehicles and goods in domestic, regional and

international transport.

To stimulate economic and social development in the territories of the member States

To transform the Corridor into Development Corridor which, in addition to offering safe,

fast and competitive transport and transit services that secure regional trade, stimulates

investment, encourage sustainable development and poverty reduction.

To implement strategies for accelerating economic and social growth along the Corridor

while ensuring environmental sustainability.

NCTTCA with the support of Member States takes measures to expedite the movement of

freight along the Corridor, minimize incidence of customs fraud, simplify and harmonize

documentation and procedures relating movement of goods in transit, improvement of



transport infrastructures and facilities among other initiatives. In order to effectively monitor

and evaluate the performance of the Northern Corridor, the NCTTCA Secretariat with the

support of TradeMark East Africa launched a Transport Observatory to improve exchange of

information and monitor movement of cargo along the Corridor.

4.2.2 Transit time and cost Kigali - Mombasa - Kigali

The containerized cargo analyzed in this study involved a Rwandan registered truck from Kigali

to Mombasa and Mombasa to Kigali via Gatuna and Malaba border post, with pay load of 28,2

tons which was effectively on transit from 3rd to 5th May 2014 Kigali-Mombasa and from 6th to

16th May 2014 loaded with cements of 28,250 tons from Nairobi.

As far as time compared to distance travelled is concerned, results from the graph below show

that although time spent along the route generally increases with distance travelled for

containerized product from Kigali-Mombasa, there are legs along the route which

comparatively take more time spent compared to distance covered (see figure 22).

The case of specific interest here includes Leg Gatuna – Katuna due to the border crossing

which took 5 hours and the segment Katuna-Lukaya which can be attributed to the

weighbridges of Mbarara and the Lukaya and overnight rest at Lukaya. Much time was also

spent at leg Malaba (Uganda) – Malaba (Kenya) due to overnight resting and personal time

which took almost 14 hours plus border crossing, immigration and customs procedures and

long queue taking all together 20 hours.

Although the cost is generally evenly spread along the entire route and proportionate to the

distance travelled, major increase in cost was observed mainly at the borders due to payment

of road toll at Katuna and Malaba border posts of 160$ and 200$ respectively.

The same characteristic for time and cost is also observed on the return journey Mombasa-

Kigali with border crossings taking a lot time and personal time specifically overnight rests as

indicated in Figure 23 below.

For the return trip the only difference observed is the increase in time in Nairobi where the

truck driver waited for about 70 hours for cargo before proceed to Malaba with cements

collected from a factory in Nairobi.



In regard to the combined time and cost involved and distance travelled, the figure below

shows that both time and cost increase progressively with time keeping slightly below the cost

and then above the cost throughout the entire route.

Figure 21: Time, Cost and Distance Kigali – Mombasa

Source: Primary Data



Figure 22: Time, Cost and Distance Mombasa-Kigali

Source: Primary Data

Overall, the total time spent on the entire travel with containerized product from Kigali to

Mombasa is 96.17 hours (4 days) while the trip Mombasa-Kigali accoutered for 221hours (9.2

days). However, the import route accounted for 5 days excluding delays encountered due to

mechanical problems and delays in Nairobi while waiting for cargo to be loaded and transit

documents to be delivered.

Personal time for the tip Kigali-Mombasa including resting accounted for 41%, while

weighbridges accounted for 2%, border crossing 10% and police check points less than 1%.

Overall, non travel time accounted for 53% of the time while real driving time accounted for

47% as presented in the figure below.

This can be improved upon by focusing on drivers rest patterns and reducing time at

intermediate stops with the view to decreasing non driving time.



Figure 23: Average transit time Kigali – Mombasa


On the return trip Mombasa-Kigali, Personal time accounted for 61% consuming more than a

half of the total time, while weighbridges accounted for 2%, border crossing 7% and police

check points less than 1%. Overall, non travel time accounted for 70% of the time while real

driving time accounted for 30% as presented in figure 25 below. The major reason in the

increase of non travel time is due to the 70 hours spend in Nairobi before the truck was allowed

to proceed to Kigali with cement loaded in Nairobi.



Figure 24: Average transit time Mombasa-Kigali


4.2.3 Multiple weighbridges along the Northern corridor

The entire Northern Corridor has 8 weighbridges of which 4 are located in

Uganda(Mbarara,Lukaya,Magamaga and Busitema) and 4 in Kenya

(Webuye,Gilgil,Mlolongo/Athi River and Mariakani). Time spent at weighbridges contributes to

the tardiness of the corridor. The Mbarara and Magamaga weighbridges contributed to the

least delays along the corridor during the study period for Kigali-Mombasa trip with 5 minutes

eac while Lukaya and Mariakani were the worse in delays making a total of 1 hour. Their

average time spent on the export journey was 14 minutes. If all weighbridges were removed

from the corridor, it would contribute to an average reduction in delays per transaction by

about 100 minutes or 1.6 hours for the export route as indicated in figure 26 below.



Lukaya weighbridge in Uganda. Transporters are still required to weigh at every weighbridge

station

Figure 25: Average transit time at weighbridges (in minutes) Kigali-Mombasa

Source:Primary data



For the import route Mombasa-Kigali, Lukaya and Busitema weighbridges contributed to the

least delays along the corridor during the study period with less than 30 minutes all together

while Magamaga and Webuye were the worse in delays making a total of almost 95 minutes.

It is important to note that only trucks on import route from Mombasa are weighed at

Busitema. Trucks on exports are not required to weigh on this weighbridge. Also, figure 27

which is specific to imports of cement from Nairobi to Kigali does not include the weighbridges

of Mlolongo/Athi River and Mariakani which are located between Nairobi and Mombasa.

Their average time spent on the import journey was 14 minutes. If all weighbridges were

removed from the corridor, it would contribute to an average reduction in delays per

transaction by about 175 minutes or 2.9 hours for the export route. Currently, Kenya has

removed two weighbridges at Eldoret and Maimaihu which has reduced them from 6 to 4.

Further, it is important to note that transit trucks are still weighed at all weighbridges despite

the directive of the Heads of States of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects Initiative

(Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda) stipulating that transit trucks should be weighed only once in

each transit country. Weighbridge officials are taking advantage of the ignorance of truck

drivers of this instruction and in addition still collect bribes from transit trucks.

Figure 26: Average transit time at weighbridges (in minutes) Nairobi-Mombasa




4.2.4 Police check points along the Northern corridor

The Northern Corridor, as is the case of the central corridor, suffers from serious delays caused

by informal stops and check points on the route.Some are officially sanctionned and others are

created to collect money to police, transit authorities and local communities. Unofficial stops

delay transit transport and add cost to transit transport which is passed to the shipper.

Uganda has removed all its police road blocks and is exempting transit trucks from police

checks.

The major police check points along the corridor were 3 on the import route during the survey

period at Mombasa, Voi and Limuru (see figure 28 below) while on export route police check

points were 2 and located at Nakuru and Mombasa. The truck was stopped by police force at

Nakuru for 60 minutes and at Mombasa for 15 minutes, a total of 75 minutes for the entire

export route. The delays encountered on the import route are equivalent to only 18 minutes.

In addition bribes are still demanded by police officers. Sometime police from Mombasa do ask

transit trucks to pay 2,000 Kenyan shillings equivalent to 25$ for Mombasa Municipal Council.

Figure 27: Average transit time at police check points (in minutes) Mombasa-Kigali




4.2.5 Transport cost Mombasa-Kigali

The overall cost to transport containerized products from Mombasa to Kigali is 5,000$ for a 40

feet container and 4,500$ for a 20 feet container. The transport observatory report of the

Northern Corridor 2013 set the cost to shift a 20 feet container from Mombasa to Kigali at

4,200$ and a 40 feet container at 4,800$. In all, fuel accounts for 31% of the cost, port charges

18%, mileage 10%, road toll 4% and other charges including profit 38%.

The following figure is the graphic representation of the cost structure for transporting

containerized goods from Mombasa to Kigali.

Figure 28: Average transit transport cost Mombasa-Kigali


The unofficial payments or bribes represent 1% of the total cost for one trip Mombasa-Kigali

translated to 100$ by truck by trip. The same amount is also paid during the export journey to

Mombasa. This amount is big compared to the 11$ encountered on the Central Corridor. The

wighbridges attract 85% of bribes whilepolice check points attract the remaining 25%. This is

probably the main reason why weighbridge officials are resistent and relactant to comply with

the directives of weighing transit trucks only once in each transit country.



4.2.6 Average speed between Mombasa-Kigali

In regard to speed travelled by the truck, the leg Gatuna-Kigali reflected the fastest average

speed of 64.8 km per hour mainly due to good condition of the road and few stops within the

leg. The lowest average speed was recorded at Nairobi and Kampala where the truck passed

overnight and at Gatuna and Malaba border posts due to clearance time. Finally the road

section in Katuna-Kampala has the lowest speed of 31.6 km per hour and this is mainly

explained by lower speed used in the leg due to the old road Ntungamo-Mbarara and the

ongoing construction of the road Katuna-Mbarara as recorded in the figure below.

The average speed for the trip Mombasa-Kigali is 23.5 km/hour.

Figure 29: : Average speed while en route between stops Mombasa-Kigali


4.2.7 Performance of Mombasa Port

For years, the Port Mombasa has been known as “the city of merchants”. Due to its location,

strategically placed midway between South Africa and the gulf of Eden the Port has

experienced tremendous traffic through the years.

The Port of Mombasa is the gateway to East and Central Africa, and is one of the busiest Ports



along the East African coastline. The Port provides direct connectivity to over 80 Ports

worldwide and is linked to a vast hinterland comprising Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern

Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia by

road. A railway line also runs from the Port to Uganda and Tanzania.

4.2.7.1 Container Dwell Time at the Port of Mombasa

The dwell time measures on average how long containers stay at the port from the time they

are offloaded to the time they exit the Mombasa Port.

Local cargo goes to the CFS in Mombasa and these CFS give different free storage periods.

Figure 30: Average Port Dwell Time (Hrs)

Source: NC Transport Observatory Report 2013

KPA has a target to achieve container dwell time of 72 hours by the year 2017.

The dwell time for February, 2014 was 84.08 hours as indicated on the above table. Concerted

effort needs to be channeled towards reducing the container dwell time to 72 hours.

4.2.7.2 Cargo Throughput at the Port of Mombasa

Throughput projections inform investment in storage facilities and expansion of the port

infrastructure. Figure 32 shows imports by cargo type at the port of Mombasa by type of cargo.

The rate of containerization has slightly increased to 35% in 2013 from 27% in 2009.



Figure 31: Imports at the Port of Mombasa (Tonnes) by Cargo Type

Source: Built based on data from the Northern Corridor Transport Observatory Report, 2013

4.2.7.3 Imports and Exports throughput the Mombasa port

Imbalances between imports and exports have impacts on transport costs. For container

transportation, trade imbalances imply the moving of empty containers that have to be taken

into account in the total transport costs. The figure below shows the total imports and exports

through Mombasa Port.



Figure 32: Imports and Exports throughput the Mombasa port (2009-2013)


Total imports through Mombasa port was about 20.08 million tonnes for the year, 2013 while

the total exports were 2.23 million tons. Total throughput grew by about 17%. The data shows

significant transport rate imbalances along the Northern Corridor. The trade balance is strongly

negative (more imports than exports) therefore transport costs for imports tend to be higher

than for exports since there is no backhaul.

This shows that the region is a net importer, this is also a factor that makes the region very

uncompetitive compared to other world markets and economies. Figure 34 shows the share

of imports by users of Mombasa port.

http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch7en/conc7en/maritimefreightrates.html



Figure 33: Imports by Member States of the Northern Corridor


Economies of scale affects transport costs. The larger the quantities transported, the lower the

unit cost. Low volume to Rwanda and Burundi together with the fact that fewer transport

operators from there use the Northern Corridor means high transport cost.

Kenya is the dominant importer using Mombasa port with a rate of 69% followed by Uganda

with 22% and DRC 3%. Imports by Rwanda represent only 1% of the total share of imports

through Mombasa Port.

4.2.7.4 Issues at the Mombasa port

The Port of Mombasa is run by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) which is a state corporation with

the responsibility to maintain, operate, improve and regulate all scheduled sea ports on the

Indian Ocean coastline of Kenya.

A number of issues concerning the port were raised by transporters. They include among other

things:



o Increase in port charges/tariffs

o Very limited parking space: trucks that park along the road are obliged to pay penalties

to the Mombasa city council

o Charges by Container Freight Stations and ICDs are not harmonized with port charges

o High container deposits fee of 2,500$ per container and delay in reimbursements

4.2.7.5 Launch of the port of Mombasa community charter

President Uhuru Kenyatta of the Republic of Kenya launched the port of Mombasa community

charter on 30th June 2014. Kenya Port Authority is undertaking major port reforms to transform

the port of Mombasa into a World Class Regional Hub. The charter is an outcome of the earlier

Port stakeholders’ Initiative and underscores the strong partnership and collaboration of the

Mombasa Port Community.

The genesis of the charter was to leverage against the successful forestallment of congestion

during the Christmas and New Year Holidays in 2011/2012 and therefore grow business

progressively and in a sustainable manner. Since then port productivity has improved and

container dwell time to 3.5 / 4 days from 10 days. Transit time of container loaded trucks to

Malaba is consistent at less than 5 days from 8 days.

The key performance indicators (KPI) in the charter have been obtained through an all inclusive

process focused at developing a measurable and enforceable charter with performance

dashboard, an implementation mechanism, management and reward and sanctions.

The purpose of the port charter is as follows:

1. Establish a permanent framework of collaboration that binds the Port Community to

specific actions, collective obligations, targets and time lines;

2. Compliment the individual institutional service charters by way of adoption where

appropriate, in a holistic approach along the Mombasa corridor

3. Introduce, educate and publicize to cargo owners, traders, labor unions, civil society and

the general public the best industry practices and guiding principles, and inculcate

acceptable behavior by all citizens participating in international trade;



4. Develop and implement a self-monitoring mechanism to ensure implementation of

collective community obligations. The senior managers of the participating port

community entities shall voluntarily submit themselves to sanctions for breach of any of

the collective obligations

TradeMark East Africa has pledged to provide continued support to the proposed performance

review process that will, on quarterly basis, provide the stakeholders with comprehensive

analysis of their performance in respect of commitments enshrined in the Charter.

5. PERFORMANCE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CORRIDORS

5.1 Cargo Volume and capacity

The volume of cargo handled at the port depends largely on traffic and level of investment. In

this regards, comparison of traffic data on imports and exports at Mombasa and Dar es Salaam

ports will provide an overview of the share of exports and imports through them.

Figure 34: Imports through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Port

Source: Compiled from data from Transport observatories



In the year 2009, Dar es Salaam port port share of the total imports from the two ports were

31% while Mombasa handled the majority share of 69%. The figure above shows a tremendous

increase at the two ports up to the year 2012 where Dar Port represented 38% while Mombasa

had decreased its share to 62% of the total imports though statistics show an increase in

tonnage handled at the port. The year 2013 has known a slight decrease in tonnage handled at

the port of Dar es Salaam as well as in pertentage accounting for 36%. Mombasa however had

increased its share to 64% as well as in total tonnage up to 20,075,662 probably due to new

trade facilitation initiatives introduced in 2013 by the Northern Corridor Integration Project

Initiatives.

Concerning the share of imports by EAC countries and DRC, they are depicted graphically in the

figure below:

Figure 35: Share of Imports through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports by EAC partner states

and DRC


From the above figure representing only the year 2013, it is clear that the majority of shares of

imports are dominated by countries where ports are located. Uganda imports come mostly

from Mombasa at 95% and Dar Port receiving only 5%. Rwanda, Burundi and DRC get their

imports mostly from Dar es Salaam port at a rate of 75%, 84% and 63% respectively.



Mombasa port dominates also exports as it is for imports. The share of Mombasa port is of 55%

below the share of imports while Dar port accounted for 45% of the total share through the

two ports as indicated in the figure below:

Figure 36: Share of Exports through Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports


Information collected during this survey revealed that port oriented transit traffic from Rwanda

faces similar obstacles as import trade discussed in preceding sections. Export trade via the

Northern and central corridors is predominantly carried by road due to unreliability of the

railway transport system that would offer an intermodal option. One important observation

was that due to imbalance in trade characterised by more imports than exports, export

containers were likely to be charged lower freight costs by road hauliers. Thus exporters

enjoyed between 10 -15 percent lower transport charges on exports as compared to imports.

5.2 Ports dwell time

Though it is clear that Rwandan transporters prefer the central corridor, its performance in

terms of service delivery and cargo time release is critical. This survey reveals that the road

alternative of the central corridor is not the fastest in service delivery compared to the

northern corridor.

The graph below shows that the road alternative on the Central Corridor offers the slowest

service delivery in terms of dwell time in comparison with the road alternative of the Northern



Corridor. It is worth to note that this matches the perception that while the distance from Kigali

to Dar es Salaam is shorter (hence the lowest prices to ship through Dar Port), the faster

service is offered by the alternative through the port of Mombasa given its faster processing

time.

Figure 37: Comparison of dwell time at Mombasa and Dar es Salaam Ports in 2013


The above figure shows that it takes approximately 3.5 days to clear a transit cargo at Mombasa

port while it takes 12 days on average to clear it at Dar es Salaam port. Local cargo at Dar port is

cleared within 9 days on average.

For purpose of speeding up clearance time the port and decongest them, the two ports have

created Inland Containers Depots where local cargo is transferred and cleared to give space to

cargo in transit.

In the “BIG RESULT NOW “, Tanzania has set a target to reach 5 days as dwell time for

containers in transit instead of current average of 12 days for transit containers and 9 days for

local containers.

At the Port of Mombasa, KPA has a target to achieve container dwell time of 72 hours by the

year 2017.



5.3 Border performance

The border posts are another node along the logistic chain. Customs clearance at the border

can represent significant delays. There are two components that are analyzed within a border

post: Immigration and customs.

Figure 39 shows an average border crossing time at the border posts of Rusumo, Malaba and

Gatuna of approximately 115, 350, 230 minutes respectively on the import route.

The big amount of time spent at Malaba is due to a big traffic of trucks cleared at that border

heading to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and South Sudan.

Figure 38: Average crossing time at the border of Rusumo, Malaba and Gatuna (min)


Rusumo is the fastest border crossing for Rwanda as it takes on average 115 minutes to clear a

cargo at the border.



Taking the total amount of time required to clear goods at the borders of the corridors, the

fastest is the central corridor with only one border post accounting for 1.9 hours and the

slowest being the northern corridor with two border posts accounting for 9.3 hours all together

combined as shown the graph below.

Figure 39: Average crossing time at the border of Rusumo, Malaba and Gatuna (hrs)


The procedures for Importation into Rwanda from/through Uganda and Tanzania, including

required documentation, are as follows:

Importer obtains documents from the Supplier. He then forwards the documents to his Clearing

Agent. The documents are as follows may include among other things:

One copy of the Suppliers Invoice (Mandatory for the case of Rwanda)

Negotiable Bill of Lading duly signed by the Shipper and him on the reverse((Mandatory for the

case of Rwanda)

One copy of the Packing List (Mandatory for the case of Rwanda)



Original Fumigation Certificate if the shipment consists of second hand Clothing or Foodstuffs

Phytosanitary Certificate if the cargo of consist of Grains or other planting materials

Health Certificate

Sanitary certificates on livestock

Certificate of origin

Bank payment receipt

Quality certificate for some enlisted goods

For the procedures for exportation from Rwanda to/through Uganda and Tanzania, the

procedures are as follows:

Exporter obtains documents from the Supplier/s He then forwards the documents to his

Clearing Agent

Goods Imported and Cleared at the border (high level mapping)

Police

Immigration

Warehouse

Clearing agent

RBS/MINAGRI

Bank/Cash

Customs

29/05/2012

Entry Gate

Check Register vehicle

Offload Goods

Produce Arrival Notice

Prepare Customs Declaration

Verification of Declaration

Payment

Quality Assurance Goods

Approve & Stamp

Receive documents

Check and Stamp travel document

Release order

Load goods from warehouse

Exit Note

Exit Gate



Customs Officer charged with Exports receives an export declaration with supporting

documents from the Clearing Agent.

The Customs Officer verifies both the Customs entry (declaration) and the attached

supporting documents such as invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, certificate of quality

to check the conformity on standards, etc.

If there is no inconsistency and that the goods are not being exported contrary to the

export control regulations, the Customs officer followed by issuance of receipt and

acceptance of an entry in ASYCUDA ++ system.

The officer will validate the release order, print and issue the exit note to the clearing Agent

The Customs officer must ensure that containers are sealed before they are released.

Goods in Export (high level mapping)

Police

Migration

Clearing agent

Customs

Bank/Cashier

29/05/2012

Entry Gate

Register vehicle

Prepare Customs Declaration

Payment for foreigner transporting

vehicles(case of Burundi)

Verification of Declaration

Receive documents

Check and Stamp travel document

Release order

Exit Gate

Execute Transit bond

5.4 Comparison of time spent at weighbridges and police check points along the Northern and

Central corridors



The comparison of time spent at the intermediate stops specifically weighbridges and police

check points is critical to get an idea of where much time is spent along the two corridors.

Figure 40: Comparison of Average transit time at weighbridges and police check points (min)


From the above figure, it is clear that, as far as weighbridges are concerned, much time is spent

on the Northern Corridor with 175 minutes in comparison to 125 minutes on the central

corridor. As discussed in the previous sections, Uganda and Kenya together have 8

weighbridges still active and still weighing transit trucks compared to 7 in Tanzania.

However, the Northern corridor consumes less time on police check points with only 18

minutes compared to 151 minutes consumed along the central corridor.

5.5 Transport Cost of Imports from Mombasa/Dar es Salaam to Kigali

The cost is a very important factor in corridor performance measurement. However, the cost

along the Northern and Central corridor depends largely on the distance and on availability on

cargo to be collected by the truck on the way. As mentioned earlier, the cost of imports is high

due to the fact that truck comes back to the ports empty and thus double charge importers.



The table below shows the current status of transport costs of import cargo along the two

corridors.

Table 4: Transport cost of imports from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam to Kigali

Route

Km

Cost

Containerized

cargo

Bulk

(US$)

Liquid Time

(hours)

Time

(days)

Average

Distance

per day

(Km)

Average

speed

(Km/h)

20

feet

(US$)

40

feet

(US$)

Mombasa-

Kigali

1,685 4,500 5,000 4,500 5,000 120 5 337 23.5

Dar-Kigali 1,497 4,000 4,200 4,000 4,746 72 3 499 23.9


From the above table, it is evident that cost along the central corridor is lower compared to the

cost along the northern corridor for containerized cargo, bulk and liquid. This is due to the short

distance from Kigali to Dar es Salaam of 1497km compared to 1685km long distance to

Mombasa with a difference of 188km. This is also observed in time spent. Currently it takes

only 3 days to shift goods from Dar es Salaam to Kigali and 5 days from Mombasa.

For purpose of comparison, it costs 9,250$ to move a 40 feet container from Dubai to Kigali.

The transport cost from Dar es Salaam to Kigali represents 45.4% of the same cost.

It takes 9,670$ to shift a 40 feet container from China to Kigali. 43.4% of the same cost is used

to move the same container from Dar es Salaam to Kigali.

Efforts should be directed to reduce time as well as cost as they impede to smooth transit and

cross border trade along the corridors.

5.6 Transport Cost of Exports to Mombasa/Dar es Salaam from Kigali

As for the exports, the northern corridor performs better probably due to the fact that

containers moving tea or coffee to Mombasa get imports either from Mombasa or Nairobi on

the way back. It takes 4 days on average to move a container to Mombasa while it takes only 3

days to carry it to Dar es Salaam as shown in Table 5 below.



Table 5: Transport Cost of Exports from Kigali to Mombasa/Dar es Salaam

Route

Km

Cost

Containerized

cargo

Time

(hours)

Time

(days)

Average

Distance

per day

(Km)

Average

speed

(Km/h)

20

feet

(US$)

40

feet

(US$)

Kigali-

Mombasa

1,685 1,900 3,600 96.17 4 421 33.9

Kigali-Dar 1,497 3,600 4,800 71.98 3 499.1 34.5


5.7 Impact of removed NTBs on transit time and cost

It is evident that time to transport goods to and from the ports has significantly reduced. The

reduction in cost and time is a consequence of concerted efforts from EAC partner states,

corridors coordination agencies, development partners as well as other stakeholders involved

in advocacy for trade facilitation such as the private sector and the civil society.

The trade and transport facilitation initiatives have made tremendous impact on reduction of

delays and cost along the corridors for transit goods.

In order to quantify the time and cost that have been reduced, comparison was done against

the baseline data contained in the study carried out by Nathan Associates in 2010 entitled

“Corridor diagnostic study of the Northern and Central corridor of the East Africa”

commissioned by the East African Community, COMESA, SADC, TTFA and NCTTCA.

The study was conducted from November 2009 to September 2010 and aimed at measuring the

current state of performance in terms of time, cost and reliability and to identify bottlenecks

and potential solutions.

This survey did not compare the current figure with indicators on trading across borders of the

World Bank for two main reasons:

- first the world bank report does not specify which route is used in determining time and

cost to export and import and thus does not help us to trace them all along the corridor



- Secondly the report does not provide much details on the different types of products

imported and exported through the ports though their transport cost is different

The table below reveals the progress in cost and time reduction or increase from 2010 to date

for import from the port of Mombasa.

Table 6: Progress in Transport Cost reduction/increase for Imports from Mombasa between 2010 and 2014

Route

Km

Cost Containerized cargo Bulk

(US$)

Liquid Time

(days) 20 feet

(US$)

40 feet (US$)

Mombasa-Kigali 1,685 4,500 5,000 4,500 5,000 5

Nathan Associates

study 2010

1,685 3,901 6,595 6658 6,463 15,6

Difference in cost

reduction/increase

+

15.3%

- 24,1% - 32.4% -22.6% -10.6


The above table shows that apart from the 20 feet container transport cost from Mombasa that

has increased by 15.3%, the cost of transport of all other products has gone down. It has

reduced by 24.1%, 22.6% and 32.4% for a 40 feet container, liquid and bulk respectively.

It is also important to note that the number of days to import from Mombasa has gone down

from 15.6 days to 5 which is actually a reduction of 10.6 days.

While we discuss the imports through Mombasa, it is quite interesting to look at the same

aspect of cost and time on the central corridor.



Table 7: Progress in Transport Cost reduction/increase for Imports from Dar es Salaam between 2010 and 2014

Route

Km

Cost Containerized cargo Bulk

(US$)

Liquid Time

(days) 20 feet

(US$)

40 feet (US$)

Kigali-Dar es

Salaam

1,497 4,000 4,200 4,000 4,746 3

Nathan Associates

study 2010

1,497 3,314 4,918 4,661 4,661 17,5

Difference in cost

reduction/increase

+

17.1%

- 14,5% - 14.1% +1.8% -14.5


As it was observed for the imports from Mombasa, there has been an increase in the cost to

shift a 20 feet container from Dar es Salaam to Kigali by 17.1% as well as an increase in

transportation of liquid at only 1.8%.

Only the cost of a 40 feet container has gone down at 14.5% and the cost of a bulk at 14.1%.

6. STATUS OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ON THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL

CORRIDORS

The efficiency and capacity of transport modes has a direct impact on transport costs. Poor

infrastructure translates to higher transport costs, delays and negative economic

consequences.

A more reliable transport system can handle more movements’ hence lower transport costs.



6.1 State of Infrastructure on the Northern Corridor

The Northern Corridor is a multimodal transport system that includes pipeline, railway, road

transport and inland waterways. About 95% of goods from the Port of Mombasa use the road

network to transport and this has overstretched the capacity of the existing road network. The

development of the standard gauge railway is expected to shift a large percentage of the cargo

from the roads. Rail, when managed properly is considered more economical, efficient and

environmentally friendly compared to the road alternative thereby reducing the cost of doing

business in the region.

The construction of the Mombasa-Kigali railway line will be completed in March 2018.

The Heads of State of Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda meeting in June 2013 in Kampala tasked

Uganda to spearhead the development of the railway line from the Mombasa port.

The leaders agreed to undertake the development of a standard gauge railway (SGR) as a

regional project.

The railway line to be built by the China Communications and Construction Company will run

from the Mombasa port to Malaba, Kampala and then Kigali – a distance of 2,935km.

The new line is expected to reduce the cost of freight from the port of Mombasa to Kisumu by

at least 75% from about US$1,648 to US$353 per 20 feet container.

The completion of the Mombasa-Kigali project is scheduled for March 2018, but the Mombasa-

Malaba railway will be accomplished by 2017.

The railway line will allow cargo trains and passengers’ trains to attain speeds of 80kph and

120kph respectively.

One of the priority projects specified in the Infrastructure Master Plan of the Northern Corridor

Secretariat is the establishment of OSBPs at the border crossing points along the Northern

Corridor. The completion of all earmarked border posts is expected to drastically reduce border

crossing time. It is envisaged to construct OSBPs at Malaba, Gatuna and Cyanika border posts.

The construction of OSBPs at Busia and Kagitumba/Mirama Hills is quite advanced.



The designated Northern Corridor road network is approximately 9,840 Km. The Corridor is

important for social- economic development of the NC member states of Burundi, DRC, Kenya,

South Sudan and Uganda.

The entire Northern Corridor road network in Kenya is paved. Also, the majority of the

Northern Corridor road network in Uganda is paved. The sections that are not paved are

currently being upgraded to paved or and the others being renovated such as the road Katuna-

Mbarara.

The old road Gatuna-Mbarara being upgraded



Finally, the majority of the Northern Corridor road network in Rwanda is also paved. The road

Kigali-Gatuna is in good condition and has been recently refurbished.

The road Kigali-Gatuna being upgraded

6.2 State of infrastructure on the central corridor

Most Central Corridor roads are paved and rated as “sound”. In the last decade, around 500 km

of the Central Corridor’s total 3,026 km of roads were rehabilitated and more than 500

additional km were paved; as a result, 86 percent of Central Corridor roads are now paved

overall. Nearly the entire corridor through Tanzania was rated by Aurecon Engineering as

“sound” (acceptable riding quality based on pavement roughness) in 2010, but portions of the

route especially between Nyakanazi to Rusumo need to be thoroughly rehabilitated, which was

rated “poor” (i.e., time, cost, and reliability is inefficient and uncompetitive according to global

standards). The section from Rusumo border post to Kayonza in Rwanda is being tendered for

an upgrade and the rest of the road section to Kigali is rated good.



The big section of the central corridor road is in good condition

The construction of an OSBP at Rusumo border post is far advanced and will end in September

2014. The OSBP is expected to decongest the border post and reduced significantly delays

caused by double customs clearance at the two sides of the border. The launch of the OSBP is

planned in November 2014. Parking yards are also being constructed.

Rail transportation along the Central Corridor is run by Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL). In the

past five years, TRL traffic has fallen 30 percent from previous levels. The decline can be

partially explained by a lack of investment in new infrastructure, leading to unreliable service

that has driven customers to use road transport instead of rail.



7. TRADE AND TRANSPORT FACILITATION INITIATIVES ALONG THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL

CORRIDORS

By lowering transaction costs and simplifying procedural barriers, trade facilitation reforms

boost countries’ competitiveness and hence have the potential to trigger further trade

integration and expansion in trade flows. Following successful rounds of tariff liberalization,

trade facilitation has gained momentum as a key trade development instrument.

Analysis by the OECD (2005) has shown that a one percent reduction in trade transaction costs

would amount to a seven percent rise in income in Sub-Saharan African countries. From

another perspective, according to studies undertaken by the World Bank (2008), each

additional day in the export lead-time of a given country reduces trade by more than one

percent; in other words, each one-day delay is equivalent to a country distancing itself from its

trade partners by about 70 km.

Although policy makers in most developing countries recognise that facilitating trade is in the

best interest of their countries, it is not fully carried out and implemented. This is due to the

lack of physical and human resources, as well as infrastructure, necessary for creating the

customs environment required for implementing new border procedures.

While trade facilitation directly covers trade procedures, the condition of transport modes has

also emerged as a key area of concern, due to the significant impact that transport time and

cost of delivering export and/or import consignments from a consignee to the destination has

on a firm’s overall competitiveness. A well maintained and connected multi-modal transport

system therefore impacts directly on time and cost of delivery, and therefore competitiveness

of firms at the local, regional and international market.

One of the biggest challenges facing EAC businesses is inefficient trade facilitation systems

covering transport logistics, administrative entry and exit procedures, processes, operations

and transit regulations. EAC businesses are concerned about these inefficiently managed

systems due to time taken to complete a trade transaction, and the attendant costs directly

related to administrative processes during movement of goods within the domestic markets

and across the borders. Key trade facilitation issues of concern include at-the-border processes

and behind-the-border processes.

At–the-border measures include customs and trade documents, customs clearance procedures,

border control, and release of goods; while Behind-the-border measures include product



standards and conformity assessment measures, e-commerce, trade finance and transport and

marketing logistics services.

Within an EAC context the major concern regarding “at-the-border processes” is inadequate use

of information technology which leads to inefficient operations at entry and exit ports, while

the major concern related to “behind the border” processes is the poor status of physical and

market infrastructure. A summary of these concerns includes:

Slow and un-harmonized clearance procedures and formalities at the EAC ports of

entry/exit.

Cumbersome customs procedures and documentation.

Slow and inefficient movement of goods in transit (by rail, road, pipeline and lake

transport)

Poor road infrastructure and facilities along the Northern and Central corridors.

Occasional non-acceptance of EAC/COMESA certificates of origin and

documentation.

Cumbersome visa requirements

Road toll charges and border toll levies.

Restrictions on multi-modal transport modes.

Occasional incorrect tariff classifications, and

Rwanda as a landlocked country attaches a lot of interest in Trade Facilitation more especially

in the area of transit. This is because issues related to border crossings and the smooth flow of

goods are vital to Rwanda’s economic success as Rwanda’s imports and exports face problems

in transit before reaching their final destination.

In an effort to facilitate trade and simplify the processes of doing businesses in Rwanda and in

the region, the following initiatives are being implemented by Rwanda or/and other EAC

partner states:

Introduction of Rwanda Electronic Single Window system to reduce clearance time. The

Electronic Single Window is a facility that allows all parties involved in trade and

transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point. It

was launched in February 2012 and is being implemented. This major trade facilitation

initiative is anticipated to reduce the time it takes to clear goods by an estimated 3 days

or by 40%. Not only will this bring Rwanda several steps closer to the ports of Dar and

Mombasa but will lead to direct savings for business estimated to be $6-9 million/year



and introduce greater transparency and accountability into the whole chain of clearing

goods

One Stop Border Post (OSBP) is a concept which combines activities of 2 countries at a

Single location to remove unnecessary obstacles which hinder legitimate trade. Under

this concept there is a single stop at the entry border that reduces clearance time as a

result of reduced number of stops at borders. Currently two borders with Burundi,

namely Ruhwa and Nemba/Gasenyi are operating an OSBP. Two OSBP construction

projects are almost at their completion that is Rusumo and Kagitumba while two others

are at infant stage; Cyanika and Gatuna border posts.

Introduction of the Single Customs Territory: Goods imported into the Customs Union

shall be entered only once in the country of destination and released at the first port of

entry to the destination Partner State. This will reduce the turn around time for trucks

from 18 to 7 days from Mombasa to Kigali. It will also allow removal of all road blocks;

single weighing of transit trucks and reduce customs documentation and declaration.

Use of none intrusive cargo scanners to reduce time for physical verification of goods

Extended working hours: Moving from 12 working hours to 24/7 operations; main

borders operate either 24 hours (Gatuna, airport, Malaba, Busia, etc) or 16 hours

(Cyanika, Nemba, Rusumo)

Use of Electronic Cargo Tracking System to truck movement of cargo along the

corridors for safety of cargo and anti-dumping.

Pre-clearance System: declarations are processed before the arrival of consignments at

the borders and quick documentary verification is conducted upon arrival of

consignment;

Rwanda is also using Revenue Authorities Digital Data Exchange (RADDEx): which is a

computer system that facilitates exchange of Customs data between EAC Partner States.

In this case all advance information is accessed before arrival of goods in Rwanda. This

system reduces delays in cargo clearance by avoiding the duplication of data capturing

at the border posts

Automation process: ASYCUDA World (Automated System for Customs Data) has been

rolled out to all Rwanda major Customs Offices. Transit bonds acquittals done



immediately on arrival at destination post. Customs computerization speeds up the

clearance of goods and reduces delays in deliveries to customers;

Simplified Certificate of Origin: Simplified Certificate of Origin ensures that Customs

border posts bordering with our neighboring countries facilitate small scale cross-border

traders. This simplified Certificate of Origin is issued basing on a common list of

approved goods imported by small scale cross border traders with a commercial value

not exceeding US$2000.

Port of Mombasa Community charter: the charter seeks to provide an innovative

monitoring and evaluation framework with a performance dashboard for ease in

analysis, policy and operational decisions and interventions.

Big Results Now: In the BRN, the Government of Tanzania will embark on the

rehabilitation and upgrading of the central railway line, expansion and improvement of

Dar Port; expansion and improvement of some road sector, the missing links, the port

access road; improvement in systems and procedures in all logistics areas. The first

phase will end in 2015. By the end of 2015, we expect reduced cargo dwell time form

the current figure of 12 days to 5 days for containers in transit; truck transit time to 2.5

days; increased handling capacity at Dar Port and improved road connections and

reduce road blocks (weighbridge, police and TRA) along the corridor to 3. These outputs

make the Key Performance indicators of the transport component.



8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

It can be broadly concluded that the survey is both important and timely it is intended to

greatly contribute to the performance of the northern and central corridor in terms of service

delivery, infrastructure upgrading and development and improvement of trade and transport

facilitation in the emerging EAC in general and NCTTCA and TTFA member states specifically ay

the time when the Single Customs Territory is being implemented. Indeed the national cluster

approach to addressing the corridor challenges is practical and pragmatic. The evidence-based

research approach that builds on existing documentation and deeper investigation to inform

the work of all concerned stakeholders will raise awareness of users, managers and policy

makers of the corridors in time/cost distance analysis, a skill that is needed for improvement of

the corridors. The successful implementation of the recommendations will help to address all

remaining challenges, reduce time and cost for transit transport and take fully advantage of the

potential benefits accorded by the two corridor gateways.

In this regard, we are recommending the following:

1. For Northern Corridor stakeholders (Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya)

i. Follow-up to ensure that transit trucks are only weighed once in each transit country

(Uganda and Kenya).

ii. Upgrade all weighbridges to reduce further the time at weighbridges.

iii. Advocate for voluntary weight compliance across the region- Axle load compliance

campaign.

iv. Full implementation of the presidential directive on removal of all roadblocks and police

checks.

v. Fast track implementation of the Single Customs Territory to reduce transit time.

vi. Adopt the use of the Single Window system by partner states that are not using it.

vii. Expedite completion and operationalization of Kagitumba, Malaba, Busia, Cyanika and

Gatuna One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) in order to minimize transit time at border

crossings;



viii. Sensitization on regulations and procedures for clearance through customs and

immigration is needed

ix. Sensitization of truckers to reduce personal time.

x. Fast track the investment in railway project to ultimately reduce the cost of doing

business.

xi. Mobilize financial resources and create public-private partnerships (PPP) to finance and

operate transport infrastructure

xii. Expand capacity at seaports by construction of new berths and new ports in order to


xiii. Undertake a joint and detailed review of transit fees and related charges with a view to

simplifying and harmonizing the process at the regional level.

xiv. Simplification and harmonization of transit documents, particularly between

neighbouring countries along transit routes;

xv. Minimization of customs inspections of goods in transit and simplification of customs

formalities;

xvi. Strengthen training in freight forwarding practices, multimodal transport and other


2. For stakeholders of the central corridor (Rwanda and Tanzania)

i. Rwanda should to review the requirement to stop trucks at Rugende for 5 hours. In the

short run, Government could consider to put in place facilities like toilets, small

restaurants and lights to serve the waiting truck drivers;

ii. Harmonization of working hours among agencies involved in clearance and facilitation

of movement of goods at Dar es Salaam port, intermediate stops and border crossings

with a view of attaining a 24/7 working routine for transit transport along the Northern

and Central corridors mainly at the Ports and borders

iii. Carry out an in-depth study to examine the causes of continued high dwell time both at

Dar es Salaam Port. This should lead to actions on specific indicators in order to

substantially reduced port dwell time;



iv. Expedite establishment of a one-stop shop clearance centre at Dar es Salaam port to

enable all agencies involved in cargo clearance to work under one roof to serve time in

the clearance processes and promote collaborations;

v. Fast track the set up and implementation of Single Customs Territory in Tanzania

vi. Prioritize rehabilitation of the central railway line from Dar es Salaam to Isaka

vii. Expedite construction of the new railway line from Isaka to Keza/Musongati in Burundi

and Kigali in Rwanda;

viii. Expand the highly congested Dar es Salaam – Chalinze road section by adding additional

lanes in order to minimize delays associated with that part of the central corridor route;

ix. Expedite construction of the proposed Dar es Salaam southern bypass (Dar es Salaam –

Kisarawe – Chalinze). This will help to divert port oriented traffic away from congested

city roads in Dar es Salaam;

x. Expand capacity at seaports by construction of new berths and new ports in order to


xi. Expedite the construction of the One Stop Border Post at Rusumo border post and the

parking yard which are known to be responsible for causing traffic congestion at the

border.

xii. There is need to move to 24/7 operations at Rusumo border post to speed up clearance

of goods

xiii. Tanzania should provide police patrol specifically in the sections of the central corridor

where insecurity cases are frequently reported to ensure adequate safety of cargo and

people

xiv. Consider reducing the number of weighbridges to at least two for transit trucks at the

entry and exit points to facilitate speedy movement of cargo along the corridor in order

to reduce time loss and cost on speculation for overloads.

xv. Efforts should be made to fast track the project on developing the Electronic Single

Window (ESW) at the port and borders to speed up process of clearing transit goods.



xvi. Fast track the implementation of the TTFA project on One Stop Inspection centre that

will put in place facilities for transporters as well as combine police check points,

weighbridges and customs checks at one identified centers along the central corridor.

xvii. Consider extending working hours at Nyakahura weighbridge station and Isaka

customs check point to 24 /7 hour operations

xviii. Undertake a joint and detailed review of transit fees and related charges with a

view to simplifying and harmonizing the process at the regional level.

xix. Simplification and harmonization of transit documents, particularly between

neighboring countries along transit routes;

xx. Minimization of customs inspections of goods in transit and simplification of customs

formalities;

xxi. Strengthen training in freight forwarding practices, multimodal transport and other


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. 1st Annual Report of the Central Corridor Transport Observatory, April 2014

2. Corridor Diagnostic Study of the Northern and Central Corridors of East Africa, Volume

2: Technical Papers, Corridor Diagnostic Study of the Northern and Central Corridors of

East Africa, Volume 2: Technical Papers, April 2011

3. Cross Border and Transit Transport Process Management,CT-TPM Toolkit, UNCTAD-

UNECA-UNESCAP, January 2014

4. East Africa Rising: Experiential Survey on Non Tariff Barriers along the Northern Corridor

(Kigali-Mombasa), May 2013

5. Improving trade facilitation in East Africa Community Country, East Africa Business

Council (study conducted by Imani Development), August 2010

6. Issues Paper on Current NTBs encountered by Rwanda along the central corridor, Jan

2012 (MINICOM)

7. Seamless Transport Inspection Survey along the Central Corridor, TTFA, March 2014

8. Trade Facilitation in East African Community – Recent Developments and Potential

benefits – By U.S. International Trade Commission, July 2012



9. Transport Observatory Report of Northern Corridor Transit Transport Coordination

Agency, April 2014

10. World Bank Doing Business Report, 2014

Annex 1: Companies Interviewed

Name Designation Company Contact

1 Laurent Transport manager TACT 0788300756

2 Allan Transport manager Etelect 0788300052

3 Bonaventure Transport manager Merez 0788306626

4 B. Venu Gopal

Reddy

Transport manager Petrocom 0788400044

5 Karangwa Transport manager Azam 0788866840

6 Jean Baptiste

Gasangwa

PSF Resident

Representative

Mombasa Port +2542223293

7 Aaron

Nzeyimana

Business Development

Management

SPEDAG

Interfreight

0788751065

8 John Masasi Marketing Manager Tanzania

International

+255754454236



Container Terminal

Services Ltd

9 David

Rwigema

Member Rwanda Freight

Forwarders’

Association

(RWAFFA)/ADR

+250 788 307425

Annex 2: List of truck drivers who participated in the survey

Names Nationality Contact

1 Abdirahim Tanzanian +255759807744

2 Kevin Tanzanian +256785124936

3 Radjabu DRC 0788448471

4 Bachir Tanzanian +25575585959367

5 Abdikharim Rwandan 0731874111

6 Amani DRC 0788863978

7 Mazehe DRC 0788426220

7 Cyprien Rwandan 0788527237

8 Hakim DRC 0788610830

9 Kharim Tanzania +255764429141

10 Janvier Rwandan 0788866840

11 Innocent Rwandan 0788358852

Documents

FIRST DRAFT REPORT ON RWANDA ROAD TRANSIT TIME, …...The Rwanda road transit survey on time, cost and distance that was conducted along the two major gateways of Rwanda, the Northern