$1.2 million a year is what business owners in Uganda are
expected to save following the launch of an electronic system that helps owners of goods, clearing agents and transporters to monitor the location and status of their cargo while in transit.

The new system launched by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is expected to reduce transit time from seven days to one. Traders will be in control of their consignments and trucks since they will receive automatic alerts. The $5.2 million system, co-funded by the Government of Uganda in partnership with the World Bank and Trademark East Africa, will monitor imports, exports, re-exports and goods in transit to other countries in the region.

Uganda and Rwanda have saved up to $469 million in the cost of clearing goods since the East African Single Customs Territory (SCT) was rolled out at the port of Mombasa in January. An EAC ministers’ report from the 5th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Meeting held in Nairobi shows that the clearance time for cargo destined for Kampala at the Mombasa port has dropped from 18 days to four, and from 21 days to six, for cargo destined for Kigali.

Source – TradeMark East Africa