Minister for Industry and Trade, Dr Abdallah Kigoda.PHOTO|FILE
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The two-day meeting will look into ways to solve problems that impede efficient border operations and the clearance of goods across the borders.
Dar es Salaam.Dr Abdallah Kigoda, the minister for Industry and Trade, is an unhappy man. He is reported to be distressed by inefficiency in customs clearance at border posts in Tanzania that has reportedly led to kilometre-long queues virtually every day.
And he knows where the problem lies. According to the minister, the customs crisis is fuelled by bureaucracy and corruption. And it is costing Tanzania a great deal when it comes to transit trade, where this country should have the advantage given its strategic position in the region.
Countries that traditionally used the Dar es Salaam route--including Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi and DR Congo--are reportedly opting now for ports such as Mombasa, Beira, Durban and Walvis Bay in Namibia, according to experts. Just recently,
Dr Kigoda witnessed the inefficiency at the Namanga border post.
He told private sector and government players who are attending a two-day meeting to discuss how to improve efficiency at Tanzanian border posts: “Coming from the Kenyan side, there was not a single vehicle in sight. Reaching the Tanzanian side, it was a shocker. A long queue of trucks was waiting for customs clearance.”
At common border points with other countries, problems with clearance are more likely to be on the Tanzanian side.
In addition to inefficiency at the border posts, which are also called non-trade barriers (NTBs), police checks and too many weighbridges have made Tanzania’s transit trade less competitive. This has denied the government of billions of shillings in revenue, according to experts. Yet transit trade through Dar es Salaam port could fund a large part of the national budget, eliminating the need for foreign aid. “For us to ease the cost of doing business and compete with other countries, we must change,” Dr Kigoda added. “One thing we must fight with all our strength is corruption.”
A recent World Bank report says that loss resulting into inefficiency associated with the Dar port, which include NTB along the route, was estimated at $1.8 billion (Sh2.9 trillion) for the Tanzanian economy and $830 million for neighbouring countries in 2012.
Those losses were equivalent to approximately seven per cent of Tanzania’s annual gross domestic product (GDP), and affected a wide range of local consumers, businesses and government agencies. In an attempt to tackle the problem, the government last year ordered 24-hour service at border posts. Many of the managers at those border posts have failed to enforce the rule, though.
Yesterday, Dr Kigoda led a discussion on the implementation of the Joint border Committees (JBCs) to end the delays at borders. The committees are national-level working groups comprising government agencies and private sector players responsible for clearing goods at the border.
The two-day meeting will look into ways to solve problems that impede efficient border operations and the clearance of goods across the borders. The meeting, which ends today, will culminate in the signing of terms of reference for managing JBCs, which will be implemented by the Tanzania Trade Development Authority (Tan Trade).
JBCs have already been implemented at the Tanzania-Rwanda border at Rusumo, where the average border-crossing time has drastically been reduced from three to four days in 2009 to half that time now, according to TanTrade director general Jacqueline Maleko.
“As a result of JBCs support to improved coordination among government and private sector agencies,” she said, “the average border-crossing time at Rusumo is now less than half a day.”
The initiative, which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development, has already proved its worth and it is being touted as the best means to facilitate efficient flow of trade across borders.
