THE RECENTLTY inaugurated ne-Stop Border Post (OSBP) facility at Kagitumba at the Rwanda-Uganda border has reduced clearing time from five to 3.45 hours. During his trip to Nyagatare District on Monday, President Paul Kagame visited the border. The OSBP started operations in December 2015 and has already seen a 25 per cent reduction in clearing time, according to TradeMark East Africa (TMEA). TMEA, with support from UKAID and the Canadian government, funded construction of the OSBP at the tune of $11.3 million. The border post boasts of a customs and migration block, inspection and warehouse block, sheltered parking yards, internal roads, among others. Speaking to The New Times, Eric Kabeera, head of communications and marketing at the Private Sector Federation (PSF), said Kagitumba border is a gateway for Rwanda’s exports and imports and the OSBP is a prolific initiative that facilitates doing business between Rwanda and other regional countries. “The OSBP has significantly reduced the time traders used to spend at the border by 25 per cent from five hours to 3.45 hours and this is a great achievement for the business community,” he said. “The OSBP eliminates bureaucracy at the border and enhances efficiency and effective movement of goods and services.” An OSBP is a one-stop form of border crossing point jointly managed by countries, with migration officials from both neighbouring countries sitting under one roof on either side of the border. This allows travellers to stop only once, thus eliminating double clear once. In a statement, TMEA said time reductions are estimated to hit 30 per cent by June and that various initiatives are being undertaken to popularise the border crossing to attract 60 per cent of the Northern Corridor traffic. To improve physical connectivity, two bridges were constructed; one serving cargo and passengers going to Uganda and the other for those entering Rwanda. The Ntungamo-Mirama Hills route offers a shorter and less difficult connectivity from Kigali to Kampala. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
