Effect of one stop border post initiatives on trade facilitation in kenya- a survey of malaba, busia and namanga border posts.

Abstract

Trade facilitation is the streamlining and harmonization of international trade procedures that block the flow of goods, people and vehicles across international borders, resulting in increased costs of conducting business, delays in goods clearance, and a decrease in commodity flow. One of the main tools for ensuring that trade facilitation is completely achieved across national borders is the One Stop Border Post. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of One Stop Border Post Initiatives on trade facilitation in Kenya, with the specific objectives of determining the effect of border procedures on trade facilitation in Kenya, examining the effect of information and communication technology on trade facilitation in Kenya, and establishing the effect of the legal framework on trade facilitation in Kenya. Coordination theory, Technology Acceptance Theory and Territorialism theory are the theories that guided this study. The research utilized explanatory research design to determine the detailed causal effect between independent and dependent variables. The target population for this study was 526 employees from three agencies that are key players in everyday border customs operations: Customs, Bureau of Standards and Immigrations, as well as traders at Malaba, Busia and Namanga border stations who typically participate in the border process. A stratified random sampling technique was employed to draw the sample of 227 respondents. The primary data was collected using a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire presented on a five-point Likert scale. A Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.7 was used as a threshold to accept the reliability of the elements in the questionnaire. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version .22. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation and further inferential statistics including correlation and regression analysis were employed to describe the results of the study. The model summary results revealed that there was a 50.3 % variation in trade facilitation due to changes in border procedure, information technology and legal framework. The remaining 49.7% of factors that may affect trade facilitation are infrastructure, information availability, and border agency collaboration. The study established that Border Procedure (β1=0.477, p=0.000), Information Technology (β2=0.214, p=0.003) and Legal Framework (β3=0.164, p=0.006) all had a positive and significant relationship on trade facilitation in Kenya. This study recommended that the border authorities should establish policies to strengthen and harmonize border procedures, deploy modern ICT infrastructure in all of their operations, and provide a proper and harmonized legal framework to facilitate trade. Future research should investigate into other factors that may influence trade facilitation in Kenya, based on the findings of this study.