Trademark East Africa (TMEA) in collaboration with the Rwanda’s government have developed a system known as RESW (Rwanda Electronic Single Window) to enable speedy delivery of documents within the agencies.
The project that cost US$3.3 million is simply a virtual link between the government clearing agencies and traders aimed at reducing the time it takes cross border traders to sign official paper work, as well as to modernize trade links and boost regional business.
It is also said to save traders about US$9million a year used on clearance costs in addition to saving them about 56 percent of the time initially used in processing the documents.
Ben Kagarama, commissioner at the Rwanda Rvenue Authority, said he is confident that the move will not only pave way for similar systems in East African countries and Rwanda a cheaper trade destination, but also ease the “red tape snarling trade.”
TMEA ‘s directot Mark Priestley said the time taken to clear goods will reduce by an estimated three days, and that they are delighted to be funding the trade facilitation
He added that the move brought Rwanda closer to other ports such as the port of Dar es salaam in Tanzania, and port of Mombasa in Kenya, which will not only lead to accountability and direct savings for business, but make more information available to the public.
TMEA is an organization that provides long-lasting platforms for scaling-up of aids to trade in East Africa.
