Imagine Trade Without Deposits: How Viaservice Is Freeing Working Capital Across East Africa's Corridors

As the Global Logistics Convention comes to Juba for the first time, Viaservice — official sponsor of GLC 2026 — brings a message tailor-made for the South Sudan corridor: your container deposits don't have to hold your capital hostage.

For every importer and clearing & forwarding agent in East Africa, the story is familiar. Cargo arrives at the Port of Mombasa or Dar es Salaam, and before the shipping line releases the container, a deposit must be paid — held until the empty unit is returned. For businesses moving multiple containers, that means significant working capital locked away for weeks, sometimes months, doing nothing.

On short corridors, this is an inconvenience. On the Northern Corridor from Mombasa to Juba — one of the longest trade routes on the continent — it is a structural burden. The longer the journey, the longer the deposit stays frozen and the longer refunds take. Capital tied up in deposits is capital that cannot buy the next consignment, pay staff, or grow the business.

Viaservice exists to remove that burden.

The Viaservice Container Solution

Operating in Kenya and Tanzania, Viaservice enables importers and clearing & forwarding agents to release containers without paying container deposits. Instead of the trader's money sitting with the shipping line, Viaservice provides an advance-payment facility on the trader's behalf, structured on a reimbursement basis. The container is released, cargo moves, and capital stays where it belongs — in the business.

The numbers tell the story. Since inception, Viaservice has unlocked over USD 60 million in working capital for businesses across East Africa. In 2025, the facility returned over USD 6 million to traders in Tanzania and USD 1.5 million in Kenya. In 2026, the growth has accelerated sharply: between January and mid-year alone, Viaservice has already unlocked over USD 15 million in Tanzania and over USD 5 million in Kenya — a combined USD 20 million+ in just six months, more than double the pace of last year.

For clearing & forwarding agents and importers, the impact is immediate: improved cash flow, faster clearance, no chasing deposit refunds, and the ability to handle more volume with the same capital base. At this scale, it is a material shift in how trade moves across the region.

Maersk joins the network in Kenya

2026 marks a milestone for the Kenyan market: Maersk has joined Viaservice's shipping line partnerships at the Port of Mombasa. Importers and agents can now release containers deposit-free across six lines — MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, ONE, WEC Lines, and Blue Funnel (for ESL containers) — covering most containerised traffic through the port. These partnerships reflect trust built over years: containers are tracked, obligations are honou

red, and the reimbursement structure protects all parties.

Capital Pay: built for the South Sudan corridor

Viaservice sees South Sudan as one of East Africa's most important growth markets — and has invested to serve it. Central to that investment is its partnership with Capital Pay, pairing deposit-free container release with Capital Pay's accessible payment capability and cargo-tracking technology. South Sudanese agents and importers engage the solution smoothly, with full visibility of their consignments — from the moment a container leaves Mombasa to the moment it arrives in Juba, traders know exactly where their cargo is.

Present in the region, present at GLC

Viaservice has stood with the Global Logistics Convention as an official sponsor and exhibitor year after year — and in 2026, that commitment continues at the historic Juba edition, with delegations from all three offices: Mombasa, Nairobi, and Dar es Salaam. At the Viaservice booth, visitors can walk through the solution end-to-end, with live demonstrations and one-on-one consultations throughout the convention.

To every clearing & forwarding agent and importer on the South Sudan corridor: your working capital is too valuable to sit idle as a deposit. Visit the Viaservice booth at GLC 2026 — and let us show you a better way to move trade.

Viaservice operates in Kenya (Mombasa & Nairobi) and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), enabling deposit-free container release through an advance-payment facility on a reimbursement basis, in partnership with MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, ONE, WEC Lines, Blue Funnel (ESL containers) and Capital Pay. Learn more at www.viaservice.ch