Kenya National Chamber of Commerce (KNCCI) has partnered with TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) to launch a trade portal that will automate issuance of the certificate of origin. The certificate of origin is an export document that confirms the country of origin of goods in a particular export shipment. The system will also be integrated to Equity Bank, thus allowing for real time payments and receipt of notifications via mobile phones or online.
Speaking during the launch of the portal, Kiprono Kittony chairman of KNCCI had this to say, “The portal is in response to the challenge exporters’ face in accessing manual certificate of origin including delays. It will enhance security of the exports documents, create more transparency and speed in the issuance of the ordinary Certificate of Origin and thereby actively play its facilitator role in enhancing a friendly trade environment.”
The system will see an increase in efficiency and transparency in business operation at the chamber. It will see a reduction in the time spent on the acquisition of the certificate from 2 days to less than 1 hour. The reductions will be realised due to the elimination of travels and physical verification required in the manual process.
TMEA has provided technical and financial support to KNCCI in enhancing trade environment, increasing market access and increased competitiveness. TMEA is spearheading adoption of ICT within key government and private sector institutions to transform their processes and increase efficiencies. The KNCCI trade portal is part of the Kenyan government digitization process, and will be integrated to the Kenya Electronic Single Window.
The website that was launched can be accessed here portal.kenyachamber.or.ke.