(ELEGU, Uganda) – A capacity building programme for at least 600 small scale cross border traders and six trader associations has begun at Elegu, one of Uganda’s busiest crossings into South Sudan.
The initiative is a partnership between TradeMark Africa and Eastern Services Hub Limited, with support from the European Union in Uganda. Elegu handles 200 trucks daily, moving goods such as grains, fresh produce and humanitarian supplies coming from Kampala and beyond. For the traders who use it, the border is where business either grows, stalls or becomes too costly to continue.
Over four weeks, targeted training sessions will help traders strengthen their associations, improve financial management and record keeping, understand export and border requirements, market their goods more effectively and use the iSOKO digital platform to trade with better information and greater confidence.
The first session brought traders face to face with the institutions they deal with at the border, including the Uganda Revenue Authority, Immigration and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. Officials from these bodies provided guidance on customs procedures, standards compliance and regulatory requirements, helping turn policy from something distant into something traders can use.
The programme will also support more structured engagement with financial institutions, including banks and microfinance institutions, so that traders and associations are better able to present records, organise collectively and access finance on more credible terms.
TradeMark Africa has delivered cross border trade training to over 130,000 men, women and youth across 14 border crossing points. A trader who understands the rules loses less time, an association that keeps records bargains better, and a business that can show its numbers has a stronger case with a bank.
Part of the training at Elegu included exposure and instruction on how to use iSOKO, a market information and trading platform developed by TradeMark Africa. The platform provides traders with market prices, buyer information, compliance guidance, digital records and payment information, making cross border trade less dependent on guesswork and informal channels.