The value of goods ordered from Coronavirus-ravaged China in January and February this year plunged36.63 percent compared with a similar period in 2019.
Kenya’s imports from China have plunged by Sh58.64 billion in the first two months of the year on the back of deadly coronavirus outbreak, signalling possible supply disruptions of household goods.
Provisional imports data from Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade), the parastatal which manages imports system, shows value of goods ordered from Coronavirus-ravaged China in January and February this year plunged36.63 percent compared with a similar period in 2019.
Cargo, largely through the port of Mombasa and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), which originated from China in the review period dropped to Sh101.46 billion from Sh160.102 billion a year ago. Kenya is a regional transportation hub, serving in part as an entry point for imports into regional land-locked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi and DRC.
Beijing responded to the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 — the disease caused by coronavirus infection — by temporary closure of business to manage the spread of the epidemic that still does not have a known vaccine. The lockdown, which has seen nearly 60 million quarantined or restricted for travel, has resulted in global disruption in supply of key household goods given that China has remained the leading global manufacturing hub for about 30 years.
A significant percentage of goods on the shelves of retail stores in Kenya are shipped in from China and other Far East countries, and a dry -up of stocks could hit consumer hardest through increased costs.
From electronics such as mobile phones and television sets and their accessories, to utensils, furniture, electrical appliances, clothes and prefabricated buildings — not to mention capital-intensive ones such as heavy machinery — Kenya is hugely reliant on China for basic household supplies.
The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) said Friday the epidemic will hit big and small business alike, dealing a heavy blow to Kenya’s economy.
“We will work with the government on economic mitigation actions during this season,” Kepsa chief executive Carole Kariuki said. “Some of our private sector players with a critical reliance on imports from some of the affected regions are activating other supply chains and sourcing options to mitigate imminent disruptions before global trade settles back to normality.”
China is Kenya’s single largest source market, accounting for about a fifth of Kenya’s annual total imports. Chinese imports to Kenya in the January-November 2019 period amounted to Sh324.90 billion, or 20.3 percent of Sh1.6 trillion import bill, slightly reduced from Sh346.87 billion a year earlier on reduced imports of machinery into standard gauge railway (SGR).
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