Dennis Ndonga

This book presents the papers, report and outcomes of the 2nd WCO ESA Regional Research Conference which was hosted by the Regional Training Centre (RTC) Kenya on the 23rd and 24th November, 2017, at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies (KSMS) in Nairobi, Kenya. It was co-organized by the ROCB and the RTC Kenya and attended by more than 200 participants from 20 nations. Participants included researchers and officials from various Customs administrations in the East and Southern Africa Region, WCO ESA Regional Training Centres (RTCs), the WCO, the African Union, the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, Regional Economic Committees (RECs) (the East African Community), the Government of Australia, Kenyan ministries, the private sector, academia, and other cooperating partners. The theme of the conference was “Impacts and Implication of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the WCO Mercator Programme to the ESA region” and covered the following topics: Impacts of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in East and Southern Africa; Data Analysis for Effective Border Management in East and Southern Africa; Best Practices in Digital Customs in East and Southern Africa; E-commerce as a Driver for Economic Growth in East and Southern Africa; Securing and Facilitating Trade in East and Southern Africa; and Regional Integration: Addressing Levels of Intraregional Trade in East and Southern Africa. The Governing Council of the World Customs Organization, East and Southern Africa region, established the regional research programme aiming to build institutional capacity and the body of knowledge in customs through research. The objective of the programme is to encourage research on topical themes for customs in East and Southern Africa. The programme also aims to develop a body of knowledge to guide the decision-making process concerning trade facilitation and regional economic integration in the Region. It is also hoped that the research programme and the results from findings from the research initiatives will assist countries in sharing experiences, ideas, knowledge, and information on new innovations to improve Customs operations while creating new inventions to continue modernizing customs to ease facilitation of trade in East and Southern Africa. The envisaged output from this process will always be the publication of an e-book (and book) consisting of a consolidation of papers presented during the conference.