Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) held its second East Africa Maritime Awards EAMA 2020 on Friday in Mombasa to recognize industry’s outstanding practices for Excellence, Sustainability, Training, Technology, Initiative, Personality and Leadership from the eastern Africa region.
The Awards were grouped into nine (9) clusters based on maritime functionalities and service offerings with a total of 27 distinct categories.
Kenya-based Del Monte won the Exporter of the Year Award. Bollore Transports & Logistics won the Best Cargo Transporter and Best Regional Cargo Logistics Provider among other awards.
ESL Forwarders won the Best Clearing and Forwarding Agent in Kenya with Best Clearing and Forwarding Agent in Tanzania going to Tahafresh Handling Limited. Kenya’s Siginon Group won the Best Warehousing Company. Best Shipping Line went to Gulf Badr Group (K) Limited; Best Shipping Agent (Liner Agency) was won by CMA CGM Kenya Limited with ELS Forwarders winning the Best Shipping Agent (Tramp Agency). Best Cargo Consolidator went to ECU Worldwide Kenya Limited.
Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Uganda Clearing Industry and Forwarding Association won the Best Private Sector Business Membership Organization in Kenya and Uganda, respectively.
Under individual categories Chief Editor for Freight Logistics magazine Githua Kihara won the Maritime Journalist of the Year Award. Martin Mwita and Hilary Makokha both of The Star newspaper were 1st and 2nd runners up respectively. Mary Ireri and Gilbert Langat won the Young Achiever Award as Lifetime Achievement Award, respectively.
KPA Ag. Managing Director Amb. John Mwnagemi said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the critical role played by the maritime sector in enabling global supply chains.
“Despite the pandemic, seafarers in eastern Africa region, and in fact all over the world, continue to make personal sacrifices to labour behind the scene to ensure food, medicines and other essential supplies reach our shores. I salute your steadfastness and resolve. Through your drive and vision you have proven your worth in the competitive maritime industry. Your hard work has won the recognition of your fellow colleagues in the industry and will no doubt be a shining example for others to follow,” said Amb. Mwangemi.
Acknowledging the participants, Edward Oswe, Chief Executive Office Marketing Society of Kenya (the coordinator EAMA 2020 event) said the team was encouraged by the growing interest in the EAMA award across the region, adding that EAMA continues to consolidate the maritime industry as it matures.
“We have seen an increase in growth of the number of entrants for the EAMA 2020 despite the pandemic. This year, we received 77 entries up from the 64 received in the previous edition – representing Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of Congo. We hope that other Eastern African countries not represented in this year’s awards will be part of the next edition of EAMA.” said Mr. Oswe.
The event was organized by KPA Authority in partnerships with the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade), Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) and East African Business Council (EABC).
It seeks to promote excellence in service delivery and adoption of best practices; appreciate exceptional contribution to the industry and regional economies; encourage innovation and healthy competition among regional industry players; and improve overall performance of the sector in in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
