The 1st COMESA Transport and logistics services industry dialogue is set to take place on 17 and 18 September 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya. The dialogue organized by the COMESA Business Council will bring together transporters, shippers, port authorities, freight forwarders, customs and clearing agencies among others.

Transport and logistics costs are a huge cost and a crucial element on the competitiveness of enterprises in the region. Sub-Saharan Africa faces the highest transport costs in the world, with key examples of the Northern Corridor where logistic costs are as high as 30-45% of the total costs of imports in terms of cost, insurance and freight. Such costs impede on the competitiveness of industry and reduce the levels of trade and regional integration.

While COMESA has designed and implemented regional and international trade facilitation instruments to ease transport and facilitate trade in the region, these include – COMESA Yellow Card, Regional Customs Bond, Carrier License, Harmonized Axle Load and Virtual Trade Facilitation System. At national level, Member States have invested in a number of infrastructure and transport development plans. However, there is still a lot to be done to improve on a seamless mechanism that can respond to the needs of business in terms of cost, efficiency and reducing time loss in transport logistics .

As a strategic response to the interests of the private sector, the CBC has convened a High Level Public-Private Dialogue, which will have the participation of the COMESA Secretary General and his Directors, Government Authorities from the region and businesses in transport and trade logistics from the region, including key speakers such as Philips Lighting East Africa, Transit Transport Coordination Authority of the Northern Corridor (NC-TTCA), GECOTRANS – DRC, TRANSMIR Egypt – Egyptian Freight Forwarders Association, Emmage Freight Ltd – Federation of Clearing and Freight Forwarders of Southern Africa , Southern Africa Shippers Transport & Logistics Council, Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (FESARTA) and Velogic Ltd-Mauritius Transporters Association.

The convening of this event arises from a call from businesses to have direct dialogue with regional trade facilitators, inorder to come up with common solutions to impediments to trade in areas of delays in transit time, cargo handling, multiple rules and requirements, cabotage rule, cargo tracking systems among others. The dialogue will encourage debates and strategic solutions on contentious issues and constraints faced by industry when moving their goods along the transport corridors. The outcomes of the meeting are;

• To develop a common position on key policy, regulatory and practical recommendations that are to be presented to the Ministers of Infrastructure in October, 2015 – for adoption and further implementation by the public and private sector.

• To formally establish a common platform for the private sector to engage policy makers on transport and trade logistics constraints in the COMESA region.