Uganda and Rwanda recorded a 30 per cent reduction in trade flows and 32 per cent reduction, a new Comesa Statistics on Covid-19 Impact on Trade showed.
In the first two months (April and May), in which Covid-19 spread to the area, the report published last week was prepared.
Border posts at Malaba, Busia and Entebbe have reported import declines of 35%, 28% and 24%, respectively. Imports were expected to fall by 20 per cent for the month of May.
Furthermore, the findings showed that a reduction in Uganda’s customs duties was identified among the Uganda Revenue Authority’s critical challenges, with declines of 42 per cent reported in April compared to March.
“Malaba, Busia and Entebbe recorded declined duties of 43 per cent, 36 per cent and 21per cent, respectively,” the report showed.
This report is part of a series that provides initial results on the tracking of trade flows in the Comesa region to demonstrate the commercial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Ian Rumanyika URA’s manager corporate affairs, said in an interview with reporters: “Cargo is coming into the country. China is open. It is only Wuhan city that was majorly affected. Talk of industrial cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen remained forwarding goods.”
He said all countries like Japan, India besides China, which has never stopped shipping cargo to Africa and Uganda in particular, had been clearing cargo.
Rumanyika admits, however, that in the last two months the decline in cargo supplies has been evident.
“On average with Covid-19, inflows from Malaba have dropped to about 750 trucks while Busia we clear a total of about 350 trucks. Before Covid-19, URA used to get 900 from Malaba alone every day,” he said.
Uganda used to clear about 100 cars out of Mombasa per day on average before Covid-19. But on a daily basis this has dropped to 15-20 units cleared.
Mr Rumanyika attributes this car drop to the measure taken by neighboring Kenya that limits the movement of car units that are not loaded into containers or carriers.
Imports into Rwanda fell by 32 per cent compared with March in April. Bordering Rusumo and Airport posts reported import declines of 35% and 16%, respectively.
Exports to Rwanda also declined in April by 8 percent compared with March 2020, while Uganda reported a 15 percent decline in exports compared to March in April.
According to the report, a reduction in customs duties is identified among the Rwanda Revenue Authority’s critical challenges. In April, customs duty receipts decreased by 55 per cent compared to March.
Rusumo, Kagitumba and the airport border posts reported 52 per cent, 71 per cent and 41 per cent , respectively, declines in customs duty receipts.
Both countries have put measures in place to respond to the Covid-19. For example, in Rwanda, near the border, a dry port was built that operates 24/7.
To contain the spread of the pandemic, it is extended to all customs services to facilitate faster clearance of essential and relief goods at the first point of entry.
The Government has implemented initiatives in Uganda to promote the movement of goods, transportation, persons and services.
Several of the approaches include driver testing before transiting across Uganda and using online customer interaction.