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[h=1]Kenya targets Dar cargo with Taveta border crossing[/h]
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A sign post showing the site of the One Stop Border Post under construction in Taveta at a cost of Sh498 million. It is expected to boost trade with Tanzania. FILE
Posted Tuesday, March 4 2014 at 20:43
In Summary
Kenya is betting on a new border post and the planned Mwatate-Taveta road to boost its share of cargo traffic even as concern grows over delay in signing a bilateral pact with Tanzania.
Officials say the completion of the Sh500 million Taveta one-stop border post (OSBP) and construction of the road joining central Tanzania will significantly change the regions trade dynamics in favour of Kenya as more cargo reverts to Mombasa Port and the Northern Corridor.
Once projects are complete, traders will have more choice with some of the Burundi-bound cargo, for instance, coming to Mombasa and leaving through the Northern Corridor, Theo Lyimo, an OSBP director at TradeMark East Africa, said in Nairobi.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) says the Taveta OSBP is 80 per cent complete and could be launched in May.
Similarly, the contract for the Mwatate-Taveta road has been finalised, with the groundbreaking ceremony expected in one month, KeNHA director-general Meshack Kidenda said.
The road, to be launched by presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Jakaya Kikwete, will provide an alternative route to Tanzanias Central Corridor.
Kenya sees the two projects as fresh fronts in its battle for control of regional cargo after losing a significant portion of Rwanda and Burundi-bound cargo to the Port of Dar in the last ten years.
Up to 2003, at least 60 per cent of Rwanda and Burundi cargo passed through Mombasa and the Northern Corridor before traders began to shun the Kenyan facilities citing congestion at the port and insecurity and corruption on the roads.
Rwanda currently accounts for 3.9 per cent of the transit traffic at the Mombasa Port, having cleared 260,238 tonnes of cargo through Kenya in 2012. Over the same period, Burundi registered 39,160 tonnes or 0.6 per cent of total transit traffic.
The OSBPs enable State agencies from two countries involved in managing border operations such as customs, standards and immigration officials to work side by side, sharing infrastructure and reducing the bureaucracy.
Among the structures at the Taveta OSBP are a police post, X-ray scanning facility, verification block, warehouse and animal holding unit.
The two States sharing the OSBP, however, have to sign bilateral deals to permit the border control agencies to work on each others side of the border. Kenya and Tanzania are yet to endorse such a pact even as they prepare to launch the Taveta OSBP in the next three months.
The understanding we have with Tanzania on the Taveta OSBP will be presented to the Cabinet at its next sitting and once approved, well launch the facility because operational procedures are ready, EAC Affairs Secretary Phyllis Kandie said on Monday in a speech read on her behalf by acting Integration secretary Alfred Kitolo.
Kenya, which is already implementing OSBPs in Malaba, intends to have at least eight such structures at its key border points.
Apart from Taveta, the same model is being constructed at Busia (60 per cent complete), Namanga (11 per cent) and Isebania and Lunga Lunga. Others are expected to come up at the borders with South Sudan and Ethiopia.
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Posted Tuesday, March 4 2014 at 20:43
In Summary
- Mwatate-Taveta road expected to open up central Tanzania.
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Kenya is betting on a new border post and the planned Mwatate-Taveta road to boost its share of cargo traffic even as concern grows over delay in signing a bilateral pact with Tanzania.
Officials say the completion of the Sh500 million Taveta one-stop border post (OSBP) and construction of the road joining central Tanzania will significantly change the regions trade dynamics in favour of Kenya as more cargo reverts to Mombasa Port and the Northern Corridor.
Once projects are complete, traders will have more choice with some of the Burundi-bound cargo, for instance, coming to Mombasa and leaving through the Northern Corridor, Theo Lyimo, an OSBP director at TradeMark East Africa, said in Nairobi.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) says the Taveta OSBP is 80 per cent complete and could be launched in May.
Similarly, the contract for the Mwatate-Taveta road has been finalised, with the groundbreaking ceremony expected in one month, KeNHA director-general Meshack Kidenda said.
The road, to be launched by presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Jakaya Kikwete, will provide an alternative route to Tanzanias Central Corridor.
Kenya sees the two projects as fresh fronts in its battle for control of regional cargo after losing a significant portion of Rwanda and Burundi-bound cargo to the Port of Dar in the last ten years.
Up to 2003, at least 60 per cent of Rwanda and Burundi cargo passed through Mombasa and the Northern Corridor before traders began to shun the Kenyan facilities citing congestion at the port and insecurity and corruption on the roads.
Rwanda currently accounts for 3.9 per cent of the transit traffic at the Mombasa Port, having cleared 260,238 tonnes of cargo through Kenya in 2012. Over the same period, Burundi registered 39,160 tonnes or 0.6 per cent of total transit traffic.
The OSBPs enable State agencies from two countries involved in managing border operations such as customs, standards and immigration officials to work side by side, sharing infrastructure and reducing the bureaucracy.
Among the structures at the Taveta OSBP are a police post, X-ray scanning facility, verification block, warehouse and animal holding unit.
The two States sharing the OSBP, however, have to sign bilateral deals to permit the border control agencies to work on each others side of the border. Kenya and Tanzania are yet to endorse such a pact even as they prepare to launch the Taveta OSBP in the next three months.
The understanding we have with Tanzania on the Taveta OSBP will be presented to the Cabinet at its next sitting and once approved, well launch the facility because operational procedures are ready, EAC Affairs Secretary Phyllis Kandie said on Monday in a speech read on her behalf by acting Integration secretary Alfred Kitolo.
Kenya, which is already implementing OSBPs in Malaba, intends to have at least eight such structures at its key border points.
Apart from Taveta, the same model is being constructed at Busia (60 per cent complete), Namanga (11 per cent) and Isebania and Lunga Lunga. Others are expected to come up at the borders with South Sudan and Ethiopia.
1 | 2 Next Page»
