Taveta one stop border post now operational • 2017-08-14

The Holili/Taveta One Stop Border Post between Kenya and Tanzania is now operational.

Long trips due to waiting times at borders, red tape and crowding will now be a thing of the past for passengers and vehicles between Kenya and Tanzania using the new Holili-Taveta border crossing facilities.

According to the senior director One Stop Border post/Integrated Border Management at TradeMark Africa (TMA) Mr Theo Lyimo, OSBP’s will create new possibilities for economic growth and people enhanced mobility across borders.

INCREASED TRADE

“The efficiency they give will lead to increased intra-regional trade in Africa. They also result in improved efficiency of customs services and other government agencies by avoiding unnecessary duplication of clearance procedures, he said.

TMA is an organisation that is supporting the construction of 13 OSBP’s and operationalisation of 15 OSBP’s in Africa.

The operationalisation has seen the traders now queue only once to exit and enter either of the countries and experience faster clearance.

This is expected to reduce average border crossing time for Kenya bound vehicles from an average of six and a half hours to an average of four and a half hours. Similarly, it is expected that crossing time for Tanzania bound vehicles will be reduced.

In May 2010 the EAC adopted the OSBPs Bill, which sets the legal framework and shows political commitment to establish up to 15 one stop border crossings in the five partner states and South Sudan.

Source: Daily Nation Kenya