Kenya customs and trade systems

Customs computer system: iCMS

TradeMark Africa lists the Kenya Revenue Authority Integrated Customs Management System as a project that ran from 2011 to 2016. The United Kingdom, through the British High Commission in Kenya, Denmark through Danida and Finland funded it ¹. The work built 42 modules and a new KRA data centre ¹. The page presents iCMS as a response to limits of the SIMBA 2005 system and says it is now rolled out ¹.

The project page says iCMS connects to the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System and the Single Customs Territory ¹. It gives a cut in clearance times of up to 60% as a goal, not a result ¹.

The EastAfrican reported on 28 September 2021 that KRA had piloted the system at the Port of Mombasa since 2019. The phases began with motor vehicles, bulk cargo and export cargo ². KRA planned full clearance of containerised cargo through iCMS from 22 October 2021. Sea manifests for imports and exports must reach customs 48 hours before a vessel arrives or departs ².

Single window: Kenya TradeNet

The Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) says the Kenya TradeNet System was launched in Nairobi in May 2014 ³. It says the system brings together 42 stakeholders, including more than 35 partner government agencies, and has over 10,000 registered users ³.

A KenTrade public notice on its home page says it rolled out the National Electronic Single Window System in 2013 and has given services at no cost until now ⁴. It plans a nominal charge and has put draft fee reduction and exemption regulations of 2025 out for public participation. The notice states no amount ⁴. The 2013 date in the notice differs from the May 2014 launch date on the system page ^3,4.

Paying government fees

KenTrade says the single window connects to banks and mobile payment providers through the KRA iTax System and the eCitizen platform ³.

The World Bank wrote on 28 February 2017 that eCitizen was piloted in 2014 with seed funding from its Kenya Investment Climate Program. It said the government manages eCitizen through an outsourcing arrangement with a local ICT firm ⁵. The article said services grew from 8 to more than 100, with about four million registered users, over 300,000 transactions a month and over 400 million Kenyan shillings in monthly receipts ⁵. Users could pay by bank transfer, card, M-Pesa and other mobile money ⁵.

Transit and cargo tracking

A Uganda Revenue Authority official wrote in WCO News on 21 February 2019 that the Northern Corridor authority told partner states in 2014 to harmonise electronic cargo monitoring. Kenya and Rwanda agreed to adopt the Ugandan system ⁶. The Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) launched in 2017. Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda use one platform and one seal type, so seals are not armed and disarmed at borders ⁶.

Customs agent licences

KRA's public notice of 21 September 2026 says customs agent licences expire on 31 December 2026, except three-year Authorised Economic Operator licences. Renewals are due on or before 31 October 2026 through the iCMS platform ⁷. The notice cites section 145 of the EAC Customs Management Act, 2004 and regulations 149 to 152 of the 2010 regulations ⁷.

• Form C20 and a 2026 certificate of registration (CR12 or CR13) ⁷
• A valid tax compliance certificate for the company ⁷
• A Certificate of Bond and Debt Clearance ⁷
• A copy of the previous C21 licence ⁷
• A KIFWA clearance certificate for the year of application ⁷

One stop border posts

The Schedule to the EAC One Stop Border Posts Act, 2016, published on 15 April 2016, names six Kenyan pairs ⁸. The Tanzania Revenue Authority lists the four pairs with Tanzania among its working posts ⁹.

Audit findings

The Auditor-General's report on KenTrade's financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2014, signed on 27 March 2015, recorded a deficit of Kshs.216,663,884 and an accumulated deficit of Kshs.175,074,717 ¹⁰. It found negative working capital of Kshs.170,639,021 and said the agency was technically insolvent. It said the agency's future depended on continued support from the National Government ¹⁰. The directors' statement in the same report says nothing had come to their attention to indicate the agency would not remain a going concern ¹⁰. No direct management response to the insolvency finding was in the report read for this page ¹⁰.