Tanzania is the best route for transit goods in the region, according to a new survey by the World Bank.

It takes more time to move goods within Kenya compared with Tanzania, a fact that favours the latter. Kenya dropped 23 places to position 122, according to the worldwide Logistics Performance Index (LPI) survey for 2012, while Tanzania rose seven places to position 95 in 2012, to become the top ranked nation in the region.

Rwanda was ranked at position 139 up from 151 while Burundi ranked last at position 155. Uganda, which was ranked position 66 in 2010, was not ranked this year.

The LPI scores countries based on six components that trace how easily and quickly goods are cleared at the port, to how easily they are transported, by road or rail, within the country or in transit.

The score also takes into account the competence of logistics service providers and the ability to track and trace consignments. Finally, it measures if the goods reach their destination on time.

Based on the scores, Tanzania’s port of Dar es Salam is the best route to ship goods in the region.

Hasten reforms

The fact that Kenya — which has been the preferred route in the region — has lost the logistics battle to Tanzania means that there is now pressure on Kenya to hasten reforms and development along its transport corridor from the port of Mombasa to the border points of Malaba in the west and Namanga with northern Tanzania.

According to George Song’e, the airfreight manager at Siginon Aviation, the major contributor to Kenya’s poor performance is the delay of goods clearance at the port, weighbridges and border posts.

“The extended dwell time at the port not only affects operations (congestion) but also has a ripple effect on the entire supply chain,” said Mr Song’e, adding that despite the presence of fibre optics in Kenya since mid-2009, the cost of doing business keeps escalating.

“Kenya still needs to improve its processes and regulations. Also, track and trace facilities have been limited to few players in the industry due to high costs associated with developing such tools and without shipment visibility, few international organisations are comfortable with contracting local players.”

He said that Kenya needs to embrace more technology initiatives like e-Freight to allow shipment processes to commence prior to arrival of cargo to reduce dwell time.

Already, the inefficiency at the port of Mombasa has seen countries in the hinterland opt to import goods through the port of Dar es Salaam. For example, it takes between 7-14 days to clear goods at the port of Mombasa, compared to a maximum of nine in Dar es Salaam. Recent data from the Kenya Ports Authority shows that Mombasa handles 20 per cent less cargo — 552,000 tonnes — destined for northern Tanzania and the inland countries of Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the DR Congo.

The port of Dar es Salaam has increased its market share in East Africa, handling 16 per cent more containerised cargo last year, thanks to road improvement, eating into Mombasa’s share. The Dar port handled 475,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2011 compared with 415,000 TEUs the previous year.

In East Africa, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi incur the greatest costs due to their distance from the region’s ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

On average, the World Bank estimates that traders in Rwanda and Burundi spend $5,000 to import a single container, a cost that Rwanda says constitute 40 per cent of the price of retail goods imported into the country.

Businessmen across the region have also complained of numerous roadblocks and weighbridges along the Central and Northern Corridors, that not only delay the delivery period, but also increase costs.

Kenya however has the most roadblocks in the region, with about 36 roadblocks between Mombasa and Kigali in Rwanda, compared with 30 between Dar es Salaam and the Rusumo border with Rwanda; Uganda has nine between Malaba and Katuna border points on its border with Rwanda.

“Kenyan road infrastructure is wanting considering it handles traffic for about eight eastern African countries including North Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan and South Sudan, Eritrea, DR Congo and Djibouti, yet it has one lane highways,” said Thomas Opiyo, the business development manager at DHL Supply Chain.

“Any breakdown blocking one lane could result in delays of up to 24 hours hence the need to develop a network on the major highways with at least dual carriage ways or three ways in one direction.”

The region’s poor ranking also has to do with the low usage of railway facilities.

Whereas railway is generally cheaper and more reliable than road in regard to bulk cargo long haul, less than 10 per cent of the 20 million tonnes of goods imported through Mombasa actually gets transported using railway.

Currently, it takes 16 days to cover the 1,400-kilometre journey from Mombasa to Kampala , a journey that should take  about seven days. If such gains are attained, it will enable RVR move 20 million tonnes through the port every year.

The 2012 ranking sees the logistics-focused city-nation of Singapore leapfrog Germany, the leader in 2010, to take the number one spot, while the US makes a strong move from number 15 globally in the 2010 report to number 9 in 2012.

The top five countries are Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Germany and Netherlands.

The first World Bank LPI report was released in late 2007 and the second in 2010.

The report notes the growing attention many countries are paying to improving logistics capabilities, mentioning Morocco’s recent creation of a public-private charter on logistics development, South Africa joining the US in publishing an annual state-of-logistics report, and Indonesia and Malaysia creating national logistics strategies.

It also notes that China is among the few countries with a bureau for logistics development, and the US launched a Supply Chain Competitiveness Council, in co-operation with the Chamber of Commerce, last year.

Additional reporting, Peterson Thiong’o