The governments of Uganda and Tanzania have finalized arrangements to use the southern route commonly known as Mutukula for trade as an alternative to the Mombasa route.

Finance Minister, Maria Kiwanuka

This follows a meeting between the government of Uganda and officials from the Tanzania government held last month.

Addressing a news conference, the minister of finance Maria Kiwanuka said that they agreed that there will be no extra costs to be incurred by traders on goods that go through the southern route.

She adds that the non-tariff barriers that have been affecting trade have been minimized to facilitate free movement of goods.

The private sector that has been pushing for this has expressed happiness and optimism.

They had earlier raised concern over the possible effect of the forthcoming Kenyan elections on their businesses.