For detailed information about road disruptions in Africa, please follow the reports of Bolloré and Logistic Cluster, which give the detailed situation country by country all over the world. Bolloré Logistics report; World Food Programme report; Logistics Cluster report.

For a selected summary download the file here.

Europe

Traffic remains much more fluid inside the EU countries in order to transport cargo; however, border controls are effective in many countries and long queues are reported, especially between central European countries. Waiting time can be up to 2–3 hours to cross a border. Borders between Germany and Switzerland, Hungary and Romania, Romania and Bulgaria continue to report queues and delays of around 2 hours.

Sixfold provides an excellent tool to check live information on queues at EU borders.

EU, TradeMark to track drivers online for COVID-19

A mobile application for managing truck drivers’ COVID-19 test information is set to be rolled out next month according to the European Union and Trademark East Africa (Daily Monitor, 21 July). Mr Frank Matsaert, TradeMark East Africa chief executive officer, said this will be done through TradeMark’s Safe Trade Initiative with support from the EU, which is seeking to use technology to curb the spread of COVID-19. In May, the union representing Kenyan long-distance truck drivers suspended movement of trucks to Uganda seeking assurance of their safety resulting from COVID-19-related stigma and harassment. Tensions were already high along the border after the Ugandan government imposed compulsory COVID-19 tests prior to entry, causing congestion, with queues stretching up to 30 km.

Lagos to set up e-commerce hub for agricultural producers

The Lagos State Government is planning to setup an e-commerce hub or platform for agriculture producers in the state to produce farm produce in hygienic condition for export purposes (PM News Nigeria, 26 July). The State’s Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, said “Essentially, we want to be able to make it easier for our producers, to be able to produce in a way that they do not have to go through many channels to certify their products. We want to make our certification take place in one location and then they can easily export.” She said the state government was also trying to create an enabling environment for agric-business and producers to ensure ease of doing business in the state. “When you talk about app-tech and e-commerce, I think we have a platform for that in the Eko City Farmers Market, which is suppose to connect the producers to the consumers and whosoever want to buy along any value chain that exists already. We know that there are several other platforms as well, like oja.ng; we have food.ng and a lot of platforms exist already to try to connect producers to the consumers,” she said.

Nigerian Federal Government signs agreement on transporting agricultural produce

The Federal Government has signed a tripartite agreement on the implementation of the National Transit Insurance Scheme (NATIS) to insure transportation of agricultural products across the country (The Nation, 27 July). The Memorandum of Understanding was between the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), Nigeria Association of Agricultural Product Dealers (NAAPD) and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, the Managing Director of NAIC, Mrs Folashade Joseph, said the scheme would, among other things, cater to huge losses suffered by farmers and agro dealers in the event of transitional risks like accidents.

Transnet Freight Rail introduces business corridors

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is introducing a new operating model that will bring about significant efficiencies for customers – decentralising key responsibilities to ensure a more responsive rail freight network that is better equipped to service the South African economy (Railways Africa, 24 July). Six operational ‘corridors’ will be introduced from 1 August, each with its own localised decision-making structures at operational level.