Browsing by Author "Ouma, Lucian Basil"

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    The question of regional integration in Africa: A critical analysis of Kenya's trade, infrastructure, and security in the context of the AfCFTA
    (2021) Ouma, Lucian Basil; Black, Anthony
    Using in-depth interviews and analysis of empirical research, texts and documents, this study attempts to provide a critical analysis of Kenya's trade, infrastructure, and security in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is important since it would give interested parties a glance at how prepared Kenya is for the AfCFTA as well as offer a comparison with its continental counterparts in these areas of integration. It was revealed that that Kenya's trade is relatively integrated with the rest of Africa but is still quite some distance behind the most integrated countries. Given that the AfCFTA will lead to increasing intraAfrican trade, the study revealed that Kenya's export basket is relatively diverse suggesting that Kenyan industries could benefit from larger markets. Furthermore, despite being one of the leaders in intra-African trade, Kenya's current level of intra-African trade is still relatively low. This is due to procedural problems, customs and administrative procedures and the over reliance of imports from outside the continent. Strong political will and the application of reforms in the region has allowed Kenya to perform better than most sub-Saharan and lower middle-income countries in terms of infrastructure and how integrated that infrastructure is with the rest of the continent. However, several infrastructural challenges threaten Kenya's successful implementation of the AfCFTA. These challenges include the high cost of implementing infrastructural projects in Kenya, project delays, the politicization of infrastructure development and poor execution and management of road investments. Lastly, the study revealed that Kenya has historically been one of the more insecure and politically unstable countries in the region but there have been some improvements over the last five years. Several security and political obstacles threaten the successful implementation of the AfCFTA in Kenya and East Africa. These obstacles, which include terrorism, ethnic tensions, porous borders, and inefficient security cooperation, stand to negatively impact regional integration in the context of the AfCFTA by destabilizing trade and movement of persons across the region.