Sarpah/Sub-Agent Network
Mandated sub-agents

Sub-Agent Network

Mandated representatives in the EAC and Southern DRC

Apply as sub-agent About Sarpah

Sub-Agent Network

For Mandated Representatives in the EAC and Southern DRC

The Northern Corridor SCT runs from Mombasa through Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern DRC and South Sudan. The Central Corridor through Dar es Salaam reaches the same interior. Ethiopia connects via Djibouti / Berbera. The southern DRC copper belt reaches through Lubumbashi. Across this footprint there are institutional buyers — millers, fertilizer blenders, refiners, sugar processors, tea estates, cement majors, state agencies, large agro-corporates — that we cannot adequately serve from a single hub alone.

The sub-agent network is how we extend.

We work with mandated representatives in:

  • Kampala — Uganda institutional buyers (NPSCC, Mukwano, Bidco Uganda, Roofings, Tororo Cement, Hima Cement, fertilizer blenders); Northern Corridor inland off-take
  • Kigali — Rwanda institutional buyers (Bralirwa, Inyange, fertilizer importers, NAEB tea); the Kigali corridor
  • Dar es Salaam — Tanzania institutional buyers (Mohammed Enterprises, Bakhresa, Tanga Fresh, Yara Tanzania, Twiga Cement); Central Corridor lateral flows
  • Juba — South Sudan institutional buyers and humanitarian / WFP off-take
  • Addis Ababa — Ethiopia institutional buyers (private millers, Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, NFCO, fertilizer importers); Djibouti / Berbera routing
  • Lubumbashi — Katanga / southern DRC copper-belt institutional buyers; sulphur and chemicals into the mining cluster

What a Sub-Agent Does

A Sarpah sub-agent is a mandated representative in their market. The work mirrors what Sarpah does in Kenya, scaled to the local audience:

  • Introduce institutional buyers in your market to upstream originators in the Russia–CIS corridor through the Sarpah panel
  • Qualify local buyers under NCNDA / IMFPA standards — KYC, sanctions screening, regulatory credential, bank-instrument capability
  • Choreograph the documentation chain and stay close to the cargo through corridor transit, discharge at Mombasa or Dar, and onward inland delivery to your market
  • Build the relational continuity in your market — repeat cargoes, tender cycles, multi-year frame contracts

You do not take title to cargo, do not open or hold instruments, and do not warehouse. You are paid commission by Sarpah out of the seller-side IMFPA on each cargo you originate.

Commercial Structure

  • Engagement terms. Agreed with the sub-agent at appointment under the signed sub-agent agreement, structured per ICC framework, scaled to the line, the territory, the level of buyer-relationship work and the corridor complexity.
  • Mandate respected. Once a sub-agent introduces a named buyer and that buyer is logged on the Sarpah counterparty register, the introducing sub-agent's mandate is respected for the duration set in the signed agreement, regardless of whether Sarpah subsequently engages the buyer directly. The sub-agent agreement is governed by ICC rules with NCIA arbitration.
  • Territorial framework. Kampala, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Addis Ababa and Lubumbashi each carry an exclusive default for the appointed sub-agent in their appointed territory. Cross-territory introductions are permitted with prior written notice; the split between the introducing and resident sub-agents is agreed on appointment.
  • Termination. 90-day notice either side. NCNDA confidentiality and IMFPA settlement obligations survive termination per the signed agreement.
  • Conflict of interest. Sub-agents may not act as buyer or buyer-affiliate on Sarpah-introduced cargoes. Family or shareholding ties to nominated buyers must be declared at onboarding and per cargo.

What We Provide

  • Originator panel access. The vetted upstream originators across Black Sea, Baltic, Caspian and Far East corridors that Sarpah has under NCNDA / IMFPA — available to your buyers under your introduction.
  • Documentation discipline. PVoC partner coordination, KEPHIS-equivalent in your jurisdiction, country-of-origin chambers, COA, BL, insurance, charter-party scoping under UCP 600 Article 22.
  • Banking framework. The Russia–CIS-to-EA bank instrument architecture — the bank-instrument framework operating across the corridor (see /compliance for the full ICC reference) — correspondent routing options, and the practical bench of confirming-bank options as it stands in 2026.
  • Sanctions framework. OFAC / OFSI / EU CFSP / UN / national-FIU screening protocol; the carve-out architecture for fertilizer and grain; the producer-entity and UBO screening discipline.
  • Training and onboarding. Initial sub-agent briefing on the NCNDA / IMFPA discipline, the corridor specifics, the seller-side originator panel, and the document set; ongoing technical support per cargo.
  • Operational continuity. Sarpah is in the conversation through inspection, sailing and discharge with you. You don't lose your introduction at the Mombasa or Dar berth.

What We Look For

A Sarpah sub-agent is:

  • A registered local entity (company / trading house / consultancy) in the named city, with verifiable tax-ID and beneficial-ownership disclosure
  • Documented commercial track record with institutional buyers in the local market — milling, fertilizer, refining, processing, state procurement, large agro-corporate, cement, mining — depending on the line
  • Clean against OFAC SDN, OFSI Consolidated, EU CFSP, UN Security Council Sanctions and the national FIU register
  • Aligned with the mandated-agent model: introducer, not principal; documentation choreographer, not warehouse operator; commission-paid by the seller side, not fee-paid by the buyer
  • Capable of NCNDA / IMFPA discipline — confidentiality, non-circumvention, non-disclosure of upstream originator counterparty
  • Operationally local — present in the buyer relationship, fluent in the procurement and regulatory rhythm of your market

How to Start

If you fit, send a short introduction with:

  • Your registered entity name, jurisdiction and tax-ID
  • Beneficial-ownership disclosure
  • The line(s) you would represent (fertilizer, grain, edible oil, industrial, timber)
  • The institutional buyer base you have access to
  • Your existing banking relationships (the local correspondent picture matters)
  • One reference cargo or transaction you've worked, in any line, that demonstrates the procurement capability

We acknowledge within three banking days. Diligence and onboarding takes 4–8 weeks depending on the line and the local jurisdiction.

Live-deal accelerated path

If you arrive with a live cargo in hand — a buyer ready to procure, a window in the next 30–60 days — Sarpah engages on that cargo under a single-cargo NCNDA / IMFPA in parallel with full sub-agent onboarding. The full mandate completes on its standard 4–8-week diligence track; the live cargo proceeds without waiting.

Talk to us →

Sarpah operates as a mandated agent under NCNDA / IMFPA. Sub-agents in EAC capitals and the southern DRC copper belt operate as mandated representatives under sub-agent agreements that respect the same NCNDA / IMFPA discipline.