Essentials of Commerce in East Africa (Book Review)

Abstract

Commerce has been a vital and indispensable instrument towards economic development in Africa and the rest of the world. This work gives a review of a book titled; Essentials of commerce in east Africa – 5th Edition by Safdar Ali Butt who discussed the essentials of commerce in the context of the East African region. The purpose of reviewing this book was to deepen understanding of commerce and its allied activities, explore the models and ways for successful commercial activities. This book is divided into three parts namely Trade, Aids to Trade and Forms of ownership whereby the author discussed issues in commerce and provided practical scenarios, questions, examples and illustrations which foster easier understanding of the focal points. Despite the remarkable discussions, the book has some flaws particularly the failure to provide a rigorous discussion on issues related to e-commerce, risks associated with international trade and mitigation measures since there are more inherent risks in export and import activities and the role of e-commerce to international business practitioners. Also, more discussion on marketing boards would have been provided by the author as these units provide essential services which if were left to the private enterprises the public might be exploited. It is recommended that the inclusion of e-commerce, risks associated with international trade and its mitigation measure and contemporary issues in the book would have significantly added more value to the usefulness of the book. Nevertheless, the book is very resourceful to university faculty members, students especially those pursuing business studies. The book also is a useful instrument to researchers, policy makers at both local and international levels and business practitioners.