The Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade, and Industry, Salim Mvurya, has underscored the need for a cohesive regulatory framework to realise the Northern Corridor Integrated Projects (NCIP) under the Commodity Exchange Cluster.
NCIP seeks to create a single window commodity exchange for East Africa for Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Southern Sudan under the commodity exchange cluster.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Director and Head of Regional Trade at the State Department for Trade, Elizabeth Miguda, during the commodities exchange cluster regional meeting held on Tuesday in Nairobi, the CS said coordinated legislation would enhance trade by facilitating smoother transactions, reducing compliance costs, and eliminating trade barriers.
CS Mvurya noted that a unified commodity exchange was not only a platform for trading but also a catalyst for regional integration, economic development, and sustainable growth, and therefore policies from the four partner states should be aligned.
“Creating a single commodity exchange for East Africa is an essential step towards realising the region’s full potential that can only be achieved through policy coherence and collaboration among the partner states,” he said.
The CS also called for the establishment of a robust infrastructure that works for all the member states to support the unified commodity exchange.
“We not only need roads and storage facilities but also digital infrastructure that enables efficient trading and sharing of information. East Africa has abundant resources, including minerals, agricultural products, and human capital, and we can leverage on this diverse expertise, resources, and knowledge to establish infrastructure that works for all partner states,” added the CS.
Speaking at the same event, Chief Technical Advisor Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Head of the Rwandan delegation, Dr. Alexis Kabayiza, said Rwanda was committed to the implementation of NCIP to reduce trade barriers and spur regional development.
Kabayiza said the commodities exchange offers a pathway to overcome food trade barriers and food availability in the region and called on the member states to harmonise standards and operationalise the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS).
“Rwanda has already established WRS that receives and stores grain for farmers, traders, cooperatives, brokers, and trading companies,” he said.
The head of the delegation reiterated CS Mvurya’s sentiments on the need to put in place the necessary and sufficient infrastructure to provide a conducive environment for trade that will reduce the cost of exchanges.
Cleopas Ndorere, Uganda’s Commissioner of External Trade, said the commodities exchange will provide market access for the member states, especially for agricultural products.
Ndorere also underscored the need for policy coherence, both legal and institutional, to achieve the NCIP commodity exchange vision.
“It is also important to set up the necessary physical and digital infrastructure, harmonise the standards for the infrastructure, and build on the human resource capacity,” he said.
By Roselyne Kavoo
