Trade has slowed down in East Africa as drought, electoral politics and interest rate capping law in Kenya take their toll on the region’s economy.
The instability saw the volume of containerised trade in East African region grow by only one per cent in the first quarter of the year, a new report show.
The East Africa’s edition of Maersk-Trade Report shows Central Corridor — which runs through Tanzania — recorded fall of 12 per cent on containerised cargo volumes.
By comparison, trade volumes on the Northern Corridor, which runs from Mombasa port to Uganda, South Sudan and parts of Rwanda, grew by 1 per cent.
“While conditions in the East Africa region have continued to be challenging due to political instability, ongoing macro-economic headwinds and drought conditions affecting certain countries, we’re seeing healthy competition between the two corridors,” said Maersk Line eastern Africa managing director Steve Felder.
Central Corridor serves Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and parts of Rwanda recorded a marginal one per cent growth.
According to the report, imports passing through the Northern Corridor recorded a year-on-year growth of six per cent compared to seven per cent three per cent of the first quarter of 2016. Exports, however, declined one per cent compared to 10 per cent last year.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
