Lack of infrastructure remains a major challenge for cross-border traders – especially in the more remote regions of southern Africa – but 3G data communication and satellite technology are coming to the rescue. According to Michael Henning, general manager of software provider Easyclear, their systems are working well despite the lack of infrastructure, thanks to mobile communication solutions. “South Africa ranks quite high when it comes to connectivity and technology on the continent, with worldclass infrastructure and users encouragingly knowledgeable when it comes to technology. Our software enables the users to interact with the South African Revenue Service (Sars) via EDI for the submission of their customs declarations and ACM manifests electronically and seamlessly, as well as integrate with 3rd party software solutions for the facilitation of trade across borders,” said Henning. In areas where there is less infrastructure the system however has been able to operate relatively well with 3G data communication and satellite technology. “Revenue authorities across the continent are modernising and improving their systems for revenue collection and risk mitigation by upgrading or changing software,” he said. “A recent example of this is Botswana Unified Revenue Service’s (BURS) change from Asycuda ++ to TradeNet. As a software service provider we are actively engaging with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland revenue authorities and other regional stakeholders to integrate with their solutions – or at the very least with the agents’ software – for the seamless transfer of data to facilitate trade by reducing the risk of data capture errors in the declaration process.” According to Henning it is imperative that countries on the continent continue to implement reforms to reduce the risk and effort of doing business on the continent. “The biggest challenges remain completing border compliance procedures along with high transport costs, inefficient border crossing procedures, and roadblocks en route – all making logistics on the continent challenging and expensive,” he said.
