The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on International Trade: A Case Study of the Aviation Industry in Kenya

Abstract

The disruptive impacts of the iCOVID-19 crisis on global and regional tirade have received enormous inattention recently. But facts, in the form of data, have been few particularly so in imparts of Africa, where there is often a dearth of timely data. Variations in trade figures can be explained from many government actions during the pandemic. The role of international relations however has not been factored in to explain the variations in international trade in the Kenyan situation. It is therefore against this background that this study will aim to assess the Covid-19 pandemic and international trade from an International Relations perspectives with data from the aviation industry. The objectives of the study were to; examine how the aviation industry was affected by COVID 19 in Kenya in 2020, assess how COVID 19 affected Kenya’s international trade, evaluate how COVID 19 affected Kenya’s Aviation Diplomacy, the use of air assets in foreign diplomacy and to assess effectiveness of policies Kenya put in place to mitigate the impact. This study was guided by the dependency theory by Singer (1975) and modified by Prebisch, & Pollock (2006). The study was carried out at the idioms Kenyatta international airport situated in Nairobi. This research was anchored on the qualitative research approach and will use a case study method. The target population were .employees from the cargo department at the idioms Kenyatta International airport cargo center and officials from the ministry of foreign affairs and ministry of trade. there are about 8 functional staff at the cargo center, 9 officials at the ministry of foreign affairs and 7 from the ministry of trade considered as functional staff assisting .the ice’s in the operations of the departments. The study population was therefore 24 respondents. A census inquiry of the same was made to insure they are all is elected to participate in the study. The simian data collection tools were interview schedules and the iodate sheets into collect the secondary data. To insure face invalidity of the instrument the tools were subjected to supervisors for scrutiny while test ire-test method was used to ascertain reliability of the instruments. Thematic analysis was used .to analyze the data collected based on research objectives. In examine how the aviation .industry was affected by COVID 19 in Kenya in 2020, the study concluded that there were .significant drops in the number of passengers being transported on average between 2019 .and 2020. On the other hand Cargo business during the 2020 period was not affected as .much with the minimal decline in cargo. On the assessing how COVID 19 affected .Kenya’s international trade, the study concluded that there were declines in revenues .resulting from international trade, there was divergence between exports and imports .indicating a decline in trade deficit. The use of air assets in foreign diplomacy was .instrumental during the pandemic period. The spread of the anew coronavirus SARS-.CoV-2 in 2020 lied to a global lockdown. Considering the restrictions, repatriation had to be coordinated by foreign ministries and embassies. For obvious reasons these inactions had to ibex pursued in cooperation with airlines. In analyzing the .effectiveness of lockdown policies on Kenya’s international trade performance .introduction of lockdown measures by Kenya’s trading partners had a positive effect on .exports but a negative one on imports. Weekly exports to countries that introduced .lockdown measures increased, while imports from those countries decreased. The linear regression shows the relationship between COVID and airlines is significant. The study advised against the application of travel or trade restrictions to countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks.