Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA) and TradeMark Africa (TMA) brought together representatives from government agencies, revenue authorities, and private-sector actors in Kisumu, Kenya, for a two-day workshop focused on redesigning the border posts at Busia, Malaba, and Lwakhakha. The workshop is part of a series of stakeholder engagements under the prefeasibility study to develop a cost-recovery mechanism for border posts in East Africa, funded by the European Union under the EU Global Gateway Initiative.
Across the Northern Corridor, which moves 40% of East Africa’s trade, border posts are struggling to cope with rising traffic. In Busia, a 21% year-on-year growth in vehicle volumes has overwhelmed both hard and soft infrastructure. In Malaba alone, traffic volumes reach nearly 1,700 trucks daily, causing severe congestion and long queues that contribute to costly delays across the region’s trade routes, not to mention the human toll: drivers stuck in queues, small traders waiting to cross, and the overall impact on regional competitiveness.
The Kisumu convening translated this evidence into practical design solutions for next-generation One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs). The workshop structured deep breakout sessions in which customs officers, strategists, and infrastructure specialists worked collaboratively to reimagine border operations as faster, smarter, and better connected to regional trade demands.
The proposed solutions include dynamic traffic management, digital scheduling systems, AI-enabled scanning, 3D scanners, integrated cargo inspection and weighing platforms, improved approach roads and processing yards, and the introduction of “Green Lanes” for compliant operators willing to pay for these express services. Together, these innovations present a new model for border performance that goes beyond physical infrastructure to prioritise real-time coordination across the corridor, promoting regional integration.
In parallel, the prefeasibility study will test a cost-recovery financing model that mobilises private and development finance without requiring sovereign guarantees. This approach links user fees directly to service improvements, providing a pathway to sustainably finance OSBP upgrades at scale.
In the coming weeks, TCA and TMA will consolidate workshop input, finalise border-specific designs, and validate user-fee scenarios with traders and transporters.
Through continued partnership between governments, regional bodies, and the private sector, the Northern Corridor can become a model of efficiency and integration for the rest of the continent.
