Posted on November, 21, 2017 at 10:10 am
TWO East African Community (EAC) member countries-Uganda and Tanzania have taken another important step toward integration by launching One Stop Border Post (OSBP) at Mutukula, in Misenyi District.
This is a milestone in scaling up the campaign on trade development, trade facilitation and investment promotion. It was all joy when President John Magufuli launched the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) in the company of his Ugandan counterpart, President Yoweri Museveni, of the Republic of Uganda.
President Magufuli launched the OSBP on the Tanzanian side while President Museveni launched the OSBP on the Ugandan side. The opening of One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) is an important milestone in enhancing development among East African Community (EAC) member countries.
People in the EAC region should utilize the OSBPs by enhancing trade relations. Tanzania has nine OSBP facilities but only four of them named as Kabanga, Mutukula and Rusumo in Kagera Region and Holili, in Kilimanjaro Region operate in full capacity.
Some OSBPs which operate below capacity due to lack of sufficient infrastructure in the country include Kasumuro (Mbeya), Sirari (Mara), Horohoro (Tanga), Tunduma (Songea) and Namanga (Arusha).
The OSBP’s aim is to improve the efficiency of the procedures performed by the authorities at border posts by combining activities of border officials from both sides. It will eliminate the necessity of two stops for each function, for cargo and passenger vehicles crossing the border.
Time to cross the border has significantly been reduced with those crossing from Tanzania to Uganda has been reduced by 90 percent from 46 hours to 4.5 in June 2017.
Whereas, crossing from Uganda to Tanzania saving time by 66 percent from 10 hours in 2011 to 3.4 hours 27 minutes in June 2017. Loopholes for revenue collection sealed as both Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) have recorded marked improvement in their revenue collections at Mutukula.
TRA records show it has collected Tsh 27,776,716,217.00 ($12m) since August 2016 to June 2017, the time within which OSBP operations took form, compared to the year 2014/2015 where Tsh 18,646,417,015.00 ($8.1m) was collected.
URA has more than doubled its revenue collection from sh70,332,001,143 (or $20m) in 2014 to sh147,724,206,969 (or $43m) in 2017. On a daily basis, 542 vehicles (310 of those cargo trucks) pass through Mutukula border post.
Any delays would thus impose serious costs on traders who where this is the case, they are forced to pay for parking and other costs for drivers to wait at the border.
President Magufuli has called upon people in EAC to properly utilize the OSBPs positions to enhance trade relations for the benefit of all in the bloc, adding that in his leadership, trade and bilateral relations between Tanzania and other EAC nations are paramount.
The Head of State called upon the ministers of both countries to take firm and bold decisions that would promote cooperation between Uganda and Tanzania.
With the launch of the Mutukula One Stop Border Post (OSBP), speed of doing business along the Tanzania and Uganda common borders should greatly improve the economies of the two countries.
During the function at Mutukula, President Museveni urged East Africa Community member states to put emphasis on agriculture, industrialization, information communication technology and public service a tools of economic growth. Trade facilitation would lead to prosperity for all by enabling border communities to do business.
“Although Uganda will in the future purchase gas from Tanzania for industrial and domestic use, there was a need to address the limitations such as the high transport costs that limit trade between the two countries.
Tanzania has done well and repaired 770 miles of the railway line from Dar-es-Salaam to Mwanza and also repaired Pemba ferry. However, the problem comes with the 11 km from Port Bell to Central Kampala that is not repaired,” he said.
He said that there was need to reduce the transport costs with rail and water transport to boost trade between the two countries adding that rail and water transport would reduce by 60 – 70 percent the high transport costs incurred when using road transport.
President Magufuli reaffirmed his government’s commitment to partner with Uganda on development projects. The relationship between Uganda and Tanzania is very historical and the trade between our countries is promising.
The big population numbers in the two countries provide a ready market for trade. Uganda has a population of about 40 million while Tanzania has about 55 million.
The two Heads of State also agreed to cooperate on a number of electrification projects such as the Lushengezi 35 megawatts hydro power station, and the Kitageti 14 megawatts station.
The two governments also agreed to work to extend power to Nangoma, an enclave of Uganda on the south of River Kagera in Rakai District. TradeMark East Africa, with support from UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Global Affairs Canada, funded its construction and operationalization at 19.1bn/-.
Time, it has been numerously stated, is so valuable; more precious than gold and diamond. No amount of money can buy back a moment wasted. William Penn, one of the earliest advocates of democracy and religious freedom, says although time is what human beings desire most, it is also what we use worst.
Source: Daily News