This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
Published on October 8, 2019, Kenya's Treasury CS Ukur Yattani announced plans to establish more One-Stop Border Points (OSBPs) along the Kenya-Ethiopia border to facilitate trade and increase revenue.
The government aims to implement a free trade agreement with Ethiopia, which is expected to bring in additional revenue. To achieve this, the state is working on establishing more border points to improve the speed and efficiency of moving goods across the border.
For instance, the establishment of the Busia border point in 2017 reduced average vehicle time from 1 hour 26 minutes to 39 minutes, as reported by Trade Mark East Africa.
Moreover, the increased border points will reduce barriers to trade between the two countries, making it easier for businesses to operate.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will install facilities such as scanners and intelligent cargo verification tools to detect substandard cargo and misdeclarations. This will help eliminate fraud and smuggling at the border.
“Movement of goods across the borders in undesignated crossing points amounts to smuggling,” said KRA commissioner Kevin Safari.
CS Yattani urged Kenyans to take advantage of the recently opened border point in Moyale to increase trade between Kenya and Ethiopia. He noted that traders are not utilizing Moyale and five other border points to their full capacity.
“We should see more trade volumes passing through the OSBP at Moyale – an indication of robust business activity between Kenya and Ethiopia. Unfortunately, we are not witnessing this,” said Yattani.
