The Rwandan business community has appealed to East African Community political leaders to address insecurity along the Central Corridor to ensure a seamless flow of business. The Central Corridor links Rwanda to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

Speaking at a meeting to sensitise businesses on the single customs territory in the region in Kigali on Wednesday, Gerald Mukubu, the Director of Advocacy at the Private Sector Federation (PSF), said even though the corridor would be an easy route for Rwanda’s businesses compared to the Northern Corridor (Kigali-Mombasa), the former has a number of hindrances.

The meeting was organised by Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) in partnership with the East African Community (EAC).

"We need security for our merchandise. There is a case where some mineral products were stolen along the Northern Corridor, where a container was sealed for export as mineral products but upon reaching Dar es Salaam, we found it was cement. The culprits are still at large,” he said.

Mukubu called for a speedy removal of non-tariff barriers along the route to facilitate trade.

"We also want the harmonisation of national laws on business registration. Here in Rwanda, private companies are registered free of charge without any restriction.

"But in Tanzania for example, for a non-citizen to register a company they must have a local partner, who will take up at least  41 per cent of the shareholding in the registered company,” he said.

This makes it hard to take administrative decisions on financial management and recruitment among other business-related issues, hence, rendering cross-boarder investment difficult, said Mukubu.

However, Stephen Analo, of the EAC, said an electronic cargo tracking system will be implemented along the Central Corridor to facilitate free and safe movement of cargo to and from the port.

Addressing the meeting, Analo assured local business es that, "such hiccups will soon be addressed.”

"All we ask of stakeholders is to embrace the opportunities provided by the single customs territory. This is not for the benefit of a single state; it is for the benefit of the entire region,” he said.

Raphael Tugirumuremyi, the Commissioner for Customs Services at RRA, urged businesses to use the single customs territory to ease the shipping process.

 "They (businesses) should know that such opportunities are meant for their benefit,” Tugirumuremyi said.