Two one-stop border posts linking Kenya and Tanzania are set to be officially launched in August, paving the way for improved trade flow.

The facilities in Holili, Tanzania and Taveta, Kenya are complete and in use on test basis since June, according to TradeMark East Africa (TMEA), who are the main consultants on the project.

The one-stop border post (OSBP) concept is aimed at harmonising transit clearance, with two officers from bordering countries sitting under one roof to handle transit documents concurrently in order to save time.

Currently, traders in the region are hampered by strenuous customs clearance procedures in which goods are separately inspected by officers on either side of the border leading to massive delays.

Analysts said the harmonisation of customs clearance on common borders would help to cut back on processing time and substantially reduce the cost of doing business.

The special border posts will include Taveta-Holili border and the Namanga border (Kenya-Tanzania), Busia and Malaba borders (Kenya-Uganda) and the Kanyaru-Akanyaru border (Burundi-Rwanda).

Others are the Mutukula border (Tanzania-Uganda), Gasenyi-Nemba border (Burundi-Rwanda) and Lungalunga-Horohoro border (Kenya-Tanzania).

Each post consists of an office building for the border agencies, parking for trucks, a ramp for offloading goods, an inspection and verification warehouse and other facilities.

An experimental facility erected on the Kenyan border with Uganda at Malaba has already yielded success. Prior to its establishment, truckers required two days to clear with customs officials but this has since been slashed to an average of two hours or less. A one-stop border post shared by Kenya and Uganda in Busia is also complete.

Kenya and South Sudan are also targeting a joint special border clearance point at Nadapal following the planned construction of a Sh87.5 billion highway.