Trade Policy Development in East African Community, the Case of the Northern Corridor, 2000 – 2013

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to make a critical analysis of trade policy development in east African community; the case study of the northern corridor, the specific objectives is to evaluate whether the northern corridor has enhanced trade cooperation between member countries, to assess how the Northern Corridor is influencing trade among member states, to explore how the Northern corridor has influenced market accessibility by the member states, to find out how the Northern corridor has influenced economic growth and challenges among the member states. The literature review focused on the research objectives and problems, thus, the areas largely explored in the literature review were on trade liberalizations in EAC region and the study will use a descriptive research design using secondary data. The researcher presents data analysis and interpretation of collected data; this is done in form of tables that clearly show the correlation the variables. The study targeted the areas of the northern corridor is utilised among the EAC and the data was collected using desktop research and analysis through content analysis. Finally, the study found that trade is growing rapidly among the countries of the East African Community (EAC)—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda by expanding the volumes of goods crossing their borders and members of the EAC, and beyond other African countries. The study gives conclusion and recommendation, in this part, it is clear that EAC, s policy makers have to strengthen policies that encourage simplified customs procedures and upgrades transportation infrastructures to enable countries compete in international markets and create more investment in the region.