The International Climate Fund (ICF) has signed an agreement with the Ethiopian Revenues & Customs Authority (ERCA) to provide 4.3 million dollars for the establishment of an Electronic single window system.

The system will be used to expedite international trade by helping stakeholders access documents needed for customs clearance in one location.

The deal was signed on Friday, December 13, 2013, at the Sheraton Addis, by Beker Shale, director general of the ERCA, and William Mkapa, CEO of the ICF. Mkapa was the former president of Tanzania.

The ICF's funding covers nearly 59pc of the 7.3 million dollar project. The ERCA managed to secure funding of 600,000 dollars from the International Financial Corporation (IFC) - the financial arm of the World Bank. The Ethiopian government is expected to cover the remainder of the cost, amounting to 2.4 million dollars.

The deal with the ICF has, however, taken over a year to materialise. A major impediment came with the change of leadership at the ICF, which halted the project for a while, according to a high level official at the ERCA close to the project.

The deal was not the ICF's first project with the ERCA. The former has previously worked with the ERCA to introduce e-filing systems. The ICF, which describes itself as a donor funded private sector development institution, is involved in improving the investment climate in Africa. It has also worked with the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) in launching online trading.

The funding will be used for project implementation and the purchase of technology, which will enable traders to access all licenses and documents required for clearance from a single location.

This technology will establish a central data repository, which all stakeholders can access, as well as providing a platform for payments of duties and fees to be made electronically, according to the project overview document the ERCA disseminated at the signing ceremony.

"The depository will be helpful in developing trader profiles for risk management at different agencies," the document also states.

Although the Authority had called for and accepted proposals from four technology vendors as early as November 2012, a final decision on who will be the technology provider has not yet been decided, according to officials from the ERCA.