It has been suggested that when B2B e-commerce is based on the public Internet and the use of a World
Wide Web interface, the primary sites for transacting between firms are ‘e-hubs’. Kaplan and Sawhney
(1999) define e-hubs as, ‘neutral Internet-based intermediaries that focus on specific industry verticals or
specific business processes, host electronic marketplaces, and use various market-making mechanisms to
mediate any-to-any transactions among businesses’. One expectation is that these hubs will support
international trade in a wide variety of products. Another is that they can facilitate access to logistical
services, customs clearance services, quality assurance services, etc., thereby reducing the costs and
increasing the availability of these services for producers in developing countries. When firms register
with e-marketplaces or e-hubs, there is an expectation that they will introduce electronic ordering and
invoicing applications so that ultimately all aspects of the trading process are supported by e-commerce.
Although B2B e-commerce is increasing in importance worldwide, particularly in the industrialised
countries, there are fears that firms in developing countries may not be able to reap the potential benefits
because of their low levels of technological development and the relatively high costs of implementation
(including network infrastructure and software, training, production process reorganisation, etc.). Very
few empirical studies have been undertaken to examine the experiences of B2B e-commerce in
developing countries. The literature which does attempt to explain the difficulties firms in developing
countries face when they attempt to implement B2B e-commerce suggests that a combination of factors
make it very difficult for most firms to take full advantage of the new electronic means of trading (Paré
2001; Humphrey 2002; Moody 2001; UNCTAD 2001a, 2001b; Hammond and Kohle 2000; Verhoest and
Hawkins 2000; Telematica Instituut 2000).
In addition, there appear to be a number of external
constraints associated with the way B2B e-commerce solutions are being developed by firms in the
industrialised countries and with the distinctive characteristics of different products and the organisation
of production and delivery to market (Goldstein and O’Connor 2000; Maitland 2001).
In this Kenyan case study, we examine what a small sample of garment producing firms are actually
achieving in terms of B2B e-commerce enabled trade once they acquire some form of network
connectivity. We examine the types of networks and electronic services that are in use. These may entail
little more than access to the Internet via an analogue modem to send email messages or they may involve
more sophisticated connection to World Wide Web servers using either the public Internet or private
Extranets and Intranets. We also examine the kinds of information firms seek to access, how they choose
to communicate with their trading partners, and whether they have conducted any part of the preparation
or completion of a sale online. The study is also designed to elicit insights from representative of firms
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