An analysis of the operations of export trade Promotion Organisations in Kenya
Abstract
Export Trade Promotion in Kenya has gained a lot of importance over the years
due to its contribution to Kenya's participation in international trade. It requires
the cooperation and partnership of various stakeholders including government
agencies,the business community and the private sector in order to pave the way
for growth of trade and exports from all the key sectors in the country. The study
has examined the selected export trade promotion organisations in Kenya that
have been incorporated in the last few decades. The objective of the study is to
examine the current operations of export trade promotion organisations and to
determine the extent to which they are effective in their service delivery.
The research instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire with open ended
and closed ended questions. To achieve the objective of the study, primary data
was collected from the selected export trade promotion organisations in Kenya and
secondary data was sourced from publications, newsletters, annual reports and
previous studies. A list of these organisations was obtained from the export
promotion arm of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Analysis of data indicate that all the organisations strive to promote Kenya's
external trade to a good extent. They do this by developing trade promotion
strategies that focus on Kenya's premier export products. Some of the strategies
include capacity building in international trade, provision of targeted market
intelligence information and identification of trade opportunities using new
technologies. The findings from the analysis-also reveal that these organisations
face many challenges in their daily operations. These challenges include funding
and resource constraints, bureaucracy, lack of skilled staff and unclear guidelines
in the working environment. The organisations have been proactive in formulating
ways to address these challenges including approaching donors for technical
assistance, training and funding, developing strategic plans to steer their
operations and forming joint collaborations with other export trade promotion
organisations in order to have a greater impact on Kenya's international trade and
to boost economic growth in Kenya.
Citation
MBASponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
University of Nairobi School of Business, College of Humanities and Social Sciences