Kenya Ports Authority held its second East Africa Maritime Awards EAMA 2020 ON September 17, 2021, in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa to recognize the 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 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.
Congratulating the winners 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 labor 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,” Amb. Mwangemi said.
Acknowledging the participants, Edward Oswe, Chief Executive Office Marketing Society of Kenya (the coordinator of the 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 the 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.” Mr. Oswe said.
The event was organized by Kenya Ports 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 the exceptional contribution to the industry and regional economies; encourage innovation and healthy competition among regional industry players; and improve the overall performance of the sector in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
WINNERS
| Category | Winner | 1st Runner-Up | 2nd Runner-Up | |
| 1 | Exporter of the Year, Importer of the Year | Del Monte (Kenya) | – | – |
| 2 | Best Cargo Transporter | Bollore Transport & Logistics | Siginon Group | – |
| 3 | Best Regional Cargo logistics provider | Bollore Transport & Logistics | Siginon Group | |
| 4 | Best Clearing and Forwarding Agent | Bollore Transport & Logistics- Uganda | ESL Uganda Ltd | RI Distributor(Ug) |
| ESL Forwarders (Kenya) | Siginon Group – Kenya | Speedex Logistics- Kenya | ||
| Tahafresh Handling Limited (Tanzania) | – | – | ||
| 5 | Best Warehousing Company | Siginon Group | Bollore Transport & Logistics- Uganda | – |
| 6 | Best Shipping Line | Gulf Badr Group (K) Ltd | CMA CGM (K) Ltd | – |
| 7 | Best Shipping Agent (Liner Agency) | CMA CGM (K) Ltd | – | – |
| 8 | Best Shipping Agent (Tramp Agency) | ESL Forwarders (Kenya) | – | – |
| 9 | Best Cargo Consolidator | ECE Worldwide Kenya Ltd | – | – |
| 10 | Private Sector Business Membership Organization(each participating country) | Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Kenya)
|
Ogefrem (DR Congo) | Kenya Association of Travel Agents |
| Uganda Clearing Industry & Forwarding Association | — | — | ||
| 11 | Auxiliary Service Awards | Cotecna Protection Limited | Simpet global logistics Services | – |
| 12 | Environmental Protection | Gulf Badr Group (K) Ltd | ||
| 13 | Occupational Health & Safety | Bollore Transport & Logistics | ||
| 14 | Innovation | Siginon Group | ||
| 15 | Maritime Journalist | Githua Kihara | Martin Mwita | Hilary Makokha |
| 16 | Young Achiever | Mary Ireri | – | – |
| 17 | Lifetime Achievement | Gilbert Langat | – | – |