Customs & Forwarding Subject Matter Expert (Short Term Consultancy Services) at Chwezi Logistics

Background & Objectives

• Chwezi is Africa's integrated cross-border trade platform, built to serve the Great Lakes corridor and the East and Central African trade belt. The platform replaces fragmented ecosystems with a trusted digital infrastructure connecting importers, licensed clearing agents, and professional transporters. Before executing final Quality Assurance, an industry expert is required to conduct a strategic, operational review of the current staging environment to identify missing logistical requirements, compliance gaps, and process misalignment.

Scope of Work

• Strategic Workflow & System Review: Assess the practical flow of operations across the Client, Clearing Agent, and Transporter portals, ensuring real-world variables like freight types and Incoterms are captured.
• Compliance & Document Audit: Verify that the Digital Compliance & Document Vault and duty payment portals satisfy operational requirements for key revenue authorities (KRA, URA, RRA, DGDA, and OBR).
• Milestone & Escrow Evaluation: Analyze GPS milestone checkpoints for operational realism and review automated escrow triggers to ensure they do not expose parties to undue risk.
• Critical Gap Analysis: Identify missing steps or edge cases (e.g., extended customs holds) and provide a prioritized list for the development team before final QA.
• Transit Cargo Checklist: Develop a comprehensive checklist of transit cargo requirements for the Kenya/Uganda, Kenya/Uganda/Rwanda, Kenya/Uganda/Burundi, and Kenya/Uganda/Rwanda/DRC corridors.

Deliverables

• Pre-Launch Gap Analysis Report: A document detailing every missing operational requirement and workflow misalignment in the current build.
• Resolution Roadmap: Actionable, prioritized recommendations for the development team to address identified gaps before code freeze.
• Dispute & Edge-Case Advisory: A framework advising administrators on handling realworld escrow disputes and logistical delays using current tools.
• Transit Cargo Requirements Checklist: A compiled guide detailing the necessary documentation and regulatory conditions for transit cargo crossing the specified regional border points.

Qualifications & Engagement Logistics

• Experience & Mastery: 7+ years in cross-border freight forwarding and customs clearance along the Northern Corridor, with a deep understanding of EAC Single Customs
• Territory procedures and national systems.
• Vision & Communication: Ability to identify deviations from on-the-ground operational reality and translate complex logistics into clear directives for software engineers.
• Engagement Details: This is a short-term, immediate-start role (remote or hybrid in East Africa), where the consultant will receive access to live staging links and demo accounts.
• Access: The consultant will be provided access to the live staging links for the Customer Portal, Admin Portal, and demo accounts for the Client, Clearing Agent and Transporter.