KAMPALA — The government of Sweden, through its Embassy in Uganda under the Swedish Initiative for Facilitating Trade in Africa, or SWIFT, program, has partnered with TradeMark Africa to fund a digital cargo consolidation platform designed to improve regional trade for small-scale importers in Uganda.
The platform, dubbed BeezyLCL, aims to reduce high logistics costs and streamline operations for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises moving less-than-container-load cargo across regional corridors.
The deal was formalized during an agreement signing at the Golden Tulip hotel in Kampala. Implementation is being led by TradeMark Africa, the Uganda Cargo Consolidators Association, or UCCA, and the Uganda Groupage Importers and Exporters Association, with CINAT Group Ltd. serving as project consultant.
The initiative forms part of the broader SWIFT program, a five-year project running through 2028 funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency with a total commitment of 150.8 million Swedish kronor. Uganda has been allocated $2.5 million under the initiative to deploy trade-facilitation measures along the Northern Corridor.
As a landlocked nation, Uganda relies heavily on both the Northern and Central Corridors to access markets within the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
TradeMark Africa officials noted that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed core vulnerabilities in global supply chains, reinforcing the need for resilient regional trade mechanisms and supply chain diversification under the AfCFTA framework.
The organization highlighted persistent bottlenecks slowing regional trade, including rising non-tariff barriers, outdated tracking systems, elevated freight costs for consolidated cargo, and stringent compliance demands under the European Union Deforestation Regulation affecting key exports like coffee, grains, horticulture, and dairy.
The BeezyLCL system is designed to directly target these inefficiencies. Program targets include reducing trade documentation and cargo clearance processing times along the Northern Corridor by 15% and increasing monthly trade values by 30% for participating merchants operating along SWIFT trade nodes.
Additionally, the project aims to onboard 500 small and medium-sized consolidators onto the digital platform while helping formalize 120,000 informal traders.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, UCCA Chairperson Keneth Ayebare commended TradeMark Africa and the SWIFT program for addressing systemic barriers to consolidated trade growth in Uganda.
Through the multi-year investment, Sweden and TradeMark Africa aim to strengthen regional integration, lower operational costs, and build digital trade systems to bolster competitiveness across African markets.
