The Role of Kenya’s Diplomatic Missions in East Africa in Enhancing Economic Diplomacy

Despite the signing of East African common market protocol in 2010 to enable free movement of people and goods, this has not been achieved to a large extent. Business corporations as well as governments face enormous challenges arising from the diminishing importance of the traditional national borders due to the inevitable aspect of globalization, technological change and developments in trading systems. This research was carried out to establish the role of Kenya’s diplomatic missions in East Africa in enhancing economic diplomacy, the relationship between diplomacy and international business in East Africa and the challenges faced by Kenya’s diplomatic missions in facilitating commercial business in East Africa. To realize the objectives of the research, the study was anchored on structural realism as the theoretical framework to give an analysis of the Kenya’s diplomatic missions in East Africa. Methodology of the research was through interview guides with open-ended questions as well as desktop review of literature materials. The research adopted Kenneth Waltz’s appreciation of realism to formulate the argument and the analysis. The recommendation of this research points to Kenya’s diplomatic missions and the important role it plays in the East Africa in enhancing economic diplomacy. However, the research appreciates critical hurdles that underscores effective performance of economic relationship more so attributed to weak institutions, corruption, governance systems and gaps in the economic policies. The conclusion of this research is that Kenya has a big role to play towards improving its relationship with East African countries in order to change the perception of economic dominance as well as streamlining policies and procedures for efficient trade and movement of people.