The Logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT) is a completely new development finance instrument for innovative business projects proposed by the private sector wishing to operate in the transport and logistics sector of the East African Community - EAC (comprising Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania). Funded by TradeMark East Africa (TMEA), LIFT is designed to build on the strengths of the pr
ivate sector – namely its creativity, speed of response, delivery capability – and seeks to help empower the private sector in pushing the boundaries of innovation in new directions to impact on improved efficiency of transport and logistics services and reduction in the transportation times incurred for shipments of goods to and from the EAC. LIFT will co-invest with the private sector in projects that have the potential to achieve this but may be too risky to undertake without TMEAs support. It is open to businesses throughout the world that are operating or will operate in the EAC. It is a competitive facility which will support the most promising projects. LIFT will allocate financial support to test the commercial viability of projects proposed by businesses to catalyze investment in disruptive innovative technologies or improved practice that will have a significant impact on the efficiency as well as competition of the overall transport and logistics sector across East Africa, reducing the high time and costs currently incurred by companies in this region.
