Kenya bets on portal to drive exports 6.5pc

Kenya is banking on a new e-commerce platform to drive its exports through linkage of local traders with buyers abroad amid restrictions on physical travel on Covid-19.

The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency said it targets grow the country’s annual exports by about 6.5 per cent over the next two years, aided by more efficient virtual transactions.

“As the future of everything is digital, we want to leverage technology to ensure that not even distance or time can hinder our exporters from transacting. We are thus creating an e-commerce platform that will literally offer a transactional handshake for online engagement, meetings and exhibitions,” said chief executive Wilfred Marube.

The scheme targets manufacturers, farmers, traders, small and medium enterprises, marketing agencies and international buyers, including importers, agents, retailers and wholesalers.

Only last month, 36 Kenyan vegetable and fruit companies sold Sh235.22 million worth of produce at this year’s Macfrut Digital Trade Fair in Rimini, Italy.

The three-day event, which was in collaboration with the International Trade Centre, was postponed in May due to the disruptions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kenya’s exports receipts grew by six per cent to Sh479.7 billion in the nine months to September, defying the economic knocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows.

The strong earnings performance was linked to foods and beverages exports, which accounted for 47 per cent of total export receipts.

Over the same period of last year exports earnings were booked at Sh449.6 billion.