26 LUA JAN - FEB 2018
Africa to roll out its first digital free trade area in 2018
Bollore Logistics transports
construction equipment for
Mali gold mine
Imperial Logistics gets revised license
for pharma bonded facilities in Africa
newS
C
ommon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) is
looking to roll out a digital free trade area - the first in Africa- modelled along the Malaysian Free Trade Zone, where parties to
a transaction are connected in real time through a web of ledgers
that are secure. The application also supports generation of an
electronic certificate of origin whose authenticity can be verified
using national information technology systems.
According to news reports, this will mark the beginning of
moving away from the current practice of manual applications
and document submission to tax bodies and other government
agencies that was causing businesses delays.
As per the reports, Comesa spokesman Mwangi Gakunga has
indicated that the rollout of the Digital FTA will happen in 2018.
Comesa has completed the design and action plan of the Digital
Free Trade Area, the Electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CO) and
their draft regulations.
The piloting of the digital FTA is expected to start in 15 of its
19 member states, enabling large and small enterprises alike to
trade using their smartphones and tablets.
According to Comesa Secretary-General Sindiso Ngwenya,
the digital economic integration will do away with long queues at
border posts for goods and people moving across borders.
The participating countries are Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda,
Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt,
Seychelles, Malawi, Mauritius, Madagascar, Swaziland, Zambia
and Zimbabwe, which are all part of Comesa’s Simplified Trade
Regime that allows traders with goods valued at $1,000 or less to
access cross-border markets duty free.T
he South Africa- based
Imperial Logistics has
recently received a revised
license for their pharma-
ceutical bonded warehouse
in Centurion. Over the
past ten years, this bonded
warehouse in Centurion,
South Africa, has oper-
ated within the Medicines
Control Council (MCC)
license exclusions, which
restricted the warehousing activities to certain donated antiretroviral.
“This will enable Imperial Logistics to provide additional services to
our clients and optimally serve the patients across the continent, whether
through commercial, donor-funded or government channels,” said Dr
Iain Barton, healthcare strategy executive.
Imperial Logistics warehouse is currently one of the only two pharma-
ceutical bonded facilities in South Africa.
Outlining the function and benefits of a bonded warehouse, Dr Barton
explained, “Also known as a customs and excise warehouse, a bonded
facility enables companies to import and store products destined for ex-
portation without declaring or clearing them through customs or paying
import duties and levies.”
Dr Barton notes that pharmaceuticals and medical device products
unregistered in South Africa may be stored in Imperial Logistics’ bonded
facility for six months, which can be extended for an additional three
months at a time at the discretion of SARS.B
ollore Logistics Canada with the local support
of Bollore Transport and Logistics Mali and
Senegal teams had transported mine construction
equipment for a Canadian company in Mali.
The Canadian mining company has completed
the construction of its 5th gold mine which is
located in southwestern Mali near the Senegalese
border, 480 km from Bamako.
This mining company is one of the fastest grow-
ing gold producers in the world, with already four
operational gold mines. This project in Mali is one
of the largest mining projects in West Africa.
For this project, more than 3,500 TEUs were
delivered to Dakar (Senegal) by sea and to Bamako
(Mali) by air. The steel structures shipped from China
was more than 300 40-foot flat-rack OOG containers.
The ‘camp units’ sent from Australia was about 100
40-foot flat-rack OOG containers. The project was
completed before time and the mine is estimated to
produce 400,000 to 480,000 ounces in 2018.
Bollore Logistics Canada has contributed sig-
nificantly to the completion of this project. Teams
located in Canada were in charge of international
transport, customs formalities and transit up to the
port of Dakar and Bamako airport. The teams in
Mali and Senegal ensured the smooth delivery of
the mine construction equipment.