nature of existing supply and product market relations may be a stronger determinant of the development
of B2B e-commerce than the geographical focus of the firms’ operations.
For instance, some of the
garment firms producing for export markets operate as “Cut-Make-and-Trim” contractors and in these
cases the buyers in Europe and the US set the designs and arrange for the procurement of inputs from
suppliers. The Kenyan producers source only minor inputs such as packaging materials, usually from
local markets. In addition, many of the firms deal with a limited number of customers and have little need
to find new suppliers or customers by searching the Internet.
Another factor that appears to influence the degree of interest in B2B e-commerce is the degree of
comfort of key personnel with the technology. Most of the firms’ managers lacked the skills and know
how required to use ICT applications and there was some indication of fears about posting their firm’s
information on the web sites because of the lack of network security. In Kenya laws and financial
systems within the institutional framework are also not yet in place to support B2B e-commerce and there
is uncertainty with respect to policies that may affect the use of ICT applications.
The high cost and limited available of a network infrastructure were also cited as barriers to the
implementation of B2B e-commerce. Nevertheless, although telephone links to the Internet are slow,
unreliable, and costly in Kenya, this has not prevented a few firms from entering significantly into ecommerce supported trade. It seems that the state of the physical infrastructure is not an insurmountable
barrier to the use of B2B e-commerce, at least in some cases. Some firms were reported to have more
work than they can handle and were not looking for additional customers. Those that were looking for
customers tended to use e-mail and public Internet in a cautious way and most of the respondents did not
consider these means of communication to be a good way of establishing a first contact.
This study leaves many important questions unanswered. With the advent of the Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA), Kenya is attracting new garment firms and their B2B e-commerce practices
may differ from that of the existing firms. Given the potential for considerable change in the domestic and
international marketplace, future research is need to examine the changes in the institutional infrastructure
in Kenya, the availability of a relevant skills-base, changes in the way firms do business in the garment
sector, and the changing needs of suppliers and customers of Kenyan firms.
The institutional infrastructure comprising the legal and regulatory framework for B2B e-commerce was a
major concern of the key informants, but of much less concern to the firm respondents. The key
informants may have been more knowledgeable about the implications of a lack of an appropriate
25