High transport costs hurting logistics firms

Ugandan logistics companies haven’t enjoyed many economic benefits from Uganda being a member of the East African Community since they are incurring a lot when it comes to transporting cargo.

According to Joram Nyanzi the chief executive officer of Gex logistics, Ugandan trucks can’t easily access Kenya due to the high charges imposed on them, leaving Kenyans to reap the benefits.

He said that Kenyan truck drivers take advantage of the situation to overcharge them since they have no any alternative.

Currently Uganda is paying the price of being land locked as the cost of transporting goods from the sea keeps going up.

According to Nyanzi, transporting cargo from Kenya to Uganda costs between $2300 -2500

depending on the quantity of the commodities which makes operating a logistics company hard.

"We incur a lots of money when it comes to paying the Kenyan truck drivers, and the situation worsened during the recent Kenyan election when business came to a standstill," he said.

Nyanzi cried out to government to at least refurbish the old railway line as they work on the plans of constructing the standard gauge railways because it was an alternative to transporting heavy cargo that helped them to reduce on the cost of transport.

"Now when you look at steel materials we can’t use road transport because it exceeds the recommended axle load. A train can carry cargo that is carried by 20 trucks at once reducing the cost," said Nyanzi.

Nyanzi said to run a logistic company requires a lot of capital yet most of the banks are still hesitant to finance new business.