Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) on Thursday announced funding the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) with $3.5Million to enhance skills for customs agents, freight forwarders and warehouse providers in East Africa.
The programme, implemented by FEAFFA across East Africa, will offer timely training that is in tune with changing technologies and logistical needs, thus enabling customs agents and freight forwarders to provide competitive and high-quality end to end services.
The two institutions made the announcement as they signed a grant agreement at the ongoing Global Logistics Convention in Kigali.
TMEA, which is a non-profit organization that supports the growth of trade in the East African region, was represented by its member of the Board of Directors, Ms. Patricia Ithau and FEAFFA was represented by its President, Mr. Fred Seka.
Dubbed the EAC Logistics Sector Skills Enhancement Program, the new initiative will meet the need of the identified large skills gap in the EACs logistics sector, which has resulted into high costs to business.
Either, noted TMEA, because a freight forwarder is unaware of certain regulations, or a custom agent is not conversant with multiple country regimes.
The two partners said that they expect the programme to evolve into self-sustaining training activities through a robust sustainability model that will generate training related revenue.
“The high logistics costs in East Africa are driven not only by the high cost of inputs required for delivery of goods but also the inefficiencies and poor quality of logistics service delivery,” said Ms. Ithau.
A market study conducted by TradeMark East Africa in 2016 found that there was a lack of capacity building in the transport and logistics sector throughout the EAC region.
The study established that clearing and forwarding agents had little access to changes in regulations and new technologies adopted by relevant government bodies and these compelled shippers to understand the clearing process, an additional skill outside their core area of business.
It also established there were limited formal training opportunities in warehousing, resulting in warehouse functionaries learning the basics on the job.
Besides, the few existing logistics capacity building programs are provided in large cities; and this locks out operators at far flung regional economic centres and at major border posts to access them, noted TMEA.
JK/abj/APA