Regional trade and the single window system: A case of the EAC

Abstract

Overtime, there have been noted trends in the expansion of global economies; in fact, the African narrative now is Africa Rising as a result of strengthened economies in the continent and empowerment both from within and without Africa. Experts have identified that, among others, regional and international trade is one of the key drivers of growth and development in the country, regional and continent. With time, there have been efforts made towards efficiency within this sector. In fact, leaps and bounds have been achieved, which have resulted in positive results, in terms of increased efficiencies and towards the overall narrative of a Global Village. It was with this in mind that this study looked at one such aspect; technology, and to be more specific, the Single Window System. In a nutshell, the system integrates all trade-related government agencies and other private entities such as banks and insurance firms, into a single window, within which the trader can interact with these agencies. This ensures that documentation is done electronically, thus riding the process of manual submission of documents. Implementation of this idea takes a phased approach; slow integration of the different modules, to deal with change management and anticipated resistance. However, this study is going a step further and examined the viability of the successful implementation of a regional Single Window System in the East African Community (EAC), including making a reference to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) due to the existence of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW). This, plus various points of view from the trading community, built on the entire research paper.

Therefore, in conclusion, the study revealed that the region still had a very long way to go, in terms of achieving this goal, but if appropriate pre-requisites are met by the different governments of the member states, the dream can be realized.