Abstract:
International or cross-border trade remains one of the most controversial
elements of international relations for decades now. Despite the need for working systems to
enhance cross-border or international trade between Kenya and Tanzania at the Namanga
One-Stop Border Post, there are indications that the border point could be facing challenges
in terms of collaboration, coordination, and communication among border agencies from
across the two countries. The main objective of this paper was to explore the impact of border
management practices on international trade between Kenya and Tanzania, a case of
Namanga One-Stop Border Post at the Kenya-Tanzania common borders. The following
specific objectives were addressed: to examine the effect of collaboration between state
border agencies on international trade between Kenya and Tanzania, to assess the impact of
coordination between state border agencies on international trade between Kenya and
Tanzania, and to examine the influence of communication between state border agencies on
international trade between Kenya and Tanzania. The paper utilized secondary data to
address its objectives where the systematic literature review was anchored on export base
theory. The literature review noted that there is no doubt that border management practices
play a significant role on international trade between Kenya and Tanzania, especially with
reference to Namanga border point. To a greater extent, there is no harmonization of the
operations of key border control agencies for effective facilitating of trade between the two
countries. It also emerged that there are inadequate collaboration efforts, ineffective
coordination, and weak communication strategies for strengthening international trade
relations between Kenya and Tanzania. Therefore, a lot still needs to be done where the two
governments and other key non-state stakeholders in international trade can operate under
harmonized policy and practice structures for enhanced interstate trade facilitation
