The Ministry of Transport has partnered with a regional organisation that works on regional trade integration to work on improving freight service provisions along the Ethio-Djibouti corridor.

The Ministry signed an agreement with TradeMark East Africa in June for the implementation of the fleet management system, a centralised information system to regulate the trucks passing through the Ethio-Djibouti corridor, which hosts 90pc of the country's imports and exports. The organisation is expected to finalise the project by the end of June 2022.

The project will be implemented through three stages: system development, installation and implementation. With the agreement, the organisation will help the Ministry to establish the fleet management system.

TradeMark East Africa, a donor-funded nonprofit organisation working to improve trade in the region, is now conducting a study that focuses on the challenges to the freight system via the corridor, according to Tadesse Yemanu, country director for Ethiopia at TradeMark East Africa.

The organisation will also avail technological facilities to realise the implementation of the system. It will also deploy an online fleet management portal that links the importers and exporters at the Djibouti port.

In deploying the fleet management system, the company will help the Ministry institutionalise an integrated information management system that includes shipment information and the location of cargo at all times, the location of the trucks that carried the containers, and the number of goods at the port.

After the project is implemented, the customs authorities will not be required to physically check and measure the cargo trucks. It will enable the authorities to easily check the vehicles and levy tariffs via e-devices.

This will decrease the cost of transportation as well as shorten the time of shipment by reducing truck stoppages, according to Endalkachew Tsegaye, communications director at the Ministry.

“The Ministry has been challenged by the inefficient systems not to monitor the freight business vehicles along the corridor effectively,” said Endalkachew. “The system is aimed at enabling the Ministry to keep an eye on all the trucks efficiently."

In implementing the project, TradeMark East Africa will be dedicating an expert team to the Ministry. It will also facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience with the East Africa Community member states and other countries on transport issues to build the capacity of the country's transport agencies.

The Ministry lacked technical and technological facilities to actualise an integrated and efficient freight management system, according to Endalkachew.

“The availability of technical expertise and experience is crucial in easily supervising the transportation sector,” he said.

Through the electronic platforms, exporters and importers can easily access shippers and transporters from their locations online and transport their cargo at the fastest times possible, according to the framework agreement signed between the two parties.

“Speedy transportation of goods will also benefit the port as many containers shall not be concentrated there,” said Tadesse.