Uhuru Kenyatta and John Maghufuli will on 1 December launch the Namanga One Stop Border Post, marking a huge milestone in trade facilitation across East African Community.
The launch of Namanga OSBP paves way for speedy clearance of goods moving in the main trade corridor between Kenya and Tanzania. This is part of the EAC regional initiative, implemented jointly with the two East African countries, and supported by development partners through Japan International Cooperation Agency and African Development Bank.
The event opens up the border for better trade hence more revenue through Tanzania – Kenya trade. Namanga OSBP was first opened in October 2017, ushering in the era of harmonized border services between Kenya and Tanzania.
“The OSBP has since eradicated the myriad bottlenecks that stood in the way of efficient service delivery at the facility. One of the major scores realised after its establishment has been reduction in the time taken to clear people and goods from Kenya to Tanzania and vice versa,” says Ag Commissioner, Customs and Border Control Kenneth Ochola.
In 2014, for instance, it took approximately 277 minutes to clear goods destined for Tanzania from Kenya. This time has now substantively reduced to about 60 minutes thus saving valuable time.
