By Gabriella Mulligan.
Business reporter
The image is from B Mwangi.
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For the past ten years, Benson Ndumu Mwangi has been driving trucks in East Africa.
A truck driver for 10 years, he has been on the roads of East Africa.
Some of the roads in Kenya are difficult to navigate, causing mechanical issues and delays.
He says that some areas have a high risk of theft.
There is hope that a new African free-trade area will spur improvements in the industry.
The African Continental Free Trade Area is in its first year of operation. 54 African countries were included in the deal.
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The aim of the free trade deal is to cut tariffs on 90 percent of goods within five years.
The goal is to boost trade by creating a single continental market for goods and services and to allow free movement of people for business purposes.
The tariffs on most products will be eliminated over the course of five years.
The World Bank predicts that the move will boost exports by 81%.
The deal has boosted investment in technology firms that promise to smooth the flow of trade.
Amitruck connects the sellers of goods with the trucking firms on the continent. More than 6,000 truck drivers are working with the start-up.
Amitruck image source.
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The Amitruck service gives customers access to drivers.
Customers use an app to enter their delivery needs. That will prompt quotes from the drivers, cutting out the middleman.
Replacement vehicles are on stand-by to make sure deliveries are not held up by mechanical problems.
The founder and chief executive of Amitruck believes in better logistics as a key contributor to Africa's development.
Mr. Mwangi says that innovation and the creation of affordable products for the African market by local companies is likely to be what lifts Africa out of poverty.
In order to trade across African countries, companies will need to develop supply chains.
Other firms offer air and maritime transportation. Booking offices, customs agents and form filling are some of the things that have traditionally been involved in transporting cargo by air or sea.
Nigeria'sMVX is trying to simplify the booking process and offer real-time tracking of consignees.
The image is fromMVX.
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Tonye Membere-Otaji, founder ofMVX, says that Africa still lacks efficient logistics.
A sender used to have to find and book their own goods inspections, use an export agent, find containers and shipping space, arrange customs clearance and more. The whole shipping process is arranged by the partner companies with the help ofMVX.
Tonye Membere-Otaji, founder and chief executive ofMVX, says that a positive trade agreement is nothing without an efficient logistics system.
He says that the area is still lacking.
Africa only accounts for 2% of global trade, and is home to approximately 17% of the world's population.
It will take more than technology platforms to improve on that.
Cross-border trading is almost impossible in Africa because of its poor infrastructure.
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Miishe Addy says that Africa's transport sector needs more investment.
The agreement will fail without better ways for companies to move their goods around.
Miishe Addy, co-founder and chief executive at Jetstream Africa, says that progress will be driven by both the public and private sectors.
The good news is that governments on the continent are making massive physical infrastructure investments that are essential to this progress.
The country's main cargo port, Tema, is being expanded with a cost of over one billion dollars.
The port will be able to handle some of the world's biggest cargo ships thanks to the public-private investment.
A new bridge was opened this year to ease border congestion between the two countries.
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The bridge over the Zambezi river links two countries.
More needs to be done to cut red tape.
Fees and duties could all be changed to support local industries and production.
Mr Membere-Otaji says that Nigeria needs to facilitate and implement policies that enable African entrepreneurs easy access to capital and create regulations that make it easy and profitable to trade and do business in Africa.
The government needs to make the environment friendly for businesses to thrive.
Improvements can't come fast enough for truck driver Benson Mwangi.
There are long lines at the borders. He says that at times it can get you stuck at the border for a day or more.
