Livestock and vegetable farmers are expected to be among the biggest beneficiaries of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
With leading Kenya’s exports to the UAE, including meat and meat products, fruits, vegetables, and cut flowers, the government projects that farmers will harvest huge once the economic deal comes into place.
This follows the signing of the EPA on Tuesday, paving the way for the agreement to undergo ratification procedures in Kenya and the UAE before entering into force.
President William Ruto and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, presided over the signing of the agreement, marking the beginning of the journey to formalise trade between the two countries.
State House said on Tuesday that the government was looking at the deal as a long-term initiative to grow Kenya’s trade volumes and investment, with a plan to get access to other Middle Eastern and Asian markets.
“The CEPA is a long-term agreement to increase trade volumes, strengthen economic cooperation, and stimulate investment. It focuses on creating mutually beneficial rules and procedures to govern key aspects of trade and investment, establishes an oversight framework to monitor progress and resolve disputes, and details a framework for economic and development cooperation,” State House said.
As Kenya looks at the UAE as its gateway to the Middle East and Asia, the UAE also targets to access the Eastern and southern African markets through the deal with Kenya.
The deal also goes beyond trade in goods by addressing services, technological innovation, digital trade, and sustainability, the government notes.
The government notes that the Kenya—UAE EPA is the first comprehensive economic partnership agreement for the UAE in mainland Africa.
“The UAE also serves as a key logistics and transshipment hub for the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, and the CEPA is expected to further enhance the penetration of Kenyan exports into the wider Middle East and Asia,” a statement from the government noted.
The UAE became Kenya’s second-largest trading partner last year coming second only to Uganda, after jet fuel re-exports boosted Kenya’s exports to the Middle Eastern country to Sh86.89 billion in the nine months to September 2024.
“The CEPA will also provide the UAE with investment opportunities in several sectors of the Kenyan economy, including energy, water, agriculture, health, ports, airports, logistics, human resource development, and ICT. This aligns with the Kenyan government’s policy of reducing borrowing while enhancing investment capital, foreign direct investment, and public-private partnerships,” said the State House.
The government said the agreement would create a liberalised market for enhanced trade in goods by eliminating unnecessary technical barriers to trade, accelerating product diversification and industrialization, easing customs procedures, and enhancing transparency in and understanding of the application of each Party’s sanitary and phytosanitary measures.