The Busia One-Stop-Border-Post (OSBP) between Kenya and Uganda is officially open.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta, commissioned the border post over the weekend, with Musevini highlighting that it would speed up trade integration in East Africa.
The Busia OSBP is an East African Community (EAC) initiative, supported by development partners through Trademark East Africa, to the tune of around US$10 million.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), the implementing authorities in the respective countries, said in a joint statement that the “streamlining of activities” had led to a reduction of the average border crossing time from over 72 hours to less than six hours.
Based on estimates of the value of time for trucking enterprises and for traders, the savings generated by the improvement of border crossing in East Africa represent approximately US$70 million per year.