Export agency shifts online in Chinese market push

Kenya is set to cut down investment in “brick-and-mortar” trade forums in favour of online platforms in its bid to expand market for farm produce in China, the exports and branding agency has said.

The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (Keproba) said it is considering more deals with Chinese online marketing firms and cutting budgets for trade expositions in the world’s most populous country.

A majority of Chinese buyers initiate and close deals online as opposed to retail chains, Keproba chief executive Peter Biwott said.

Showcasing Kenyan farm produce on giant e-commerce platforms such as Beijing-headquartered JD.com will boost their visibility not only to Chinese consumers but also to the global markets, he said.

“Adoption of online technologies would be critical since eight out of 10 Chinese consumers are online buyers,” Mr Biwott said.

Nairobi sees the large Chinese market as key to achieving an ambitious target of growing her sluggish exports by an average of 25 percent every year under Integrated National Exports Development and Promotion Strategy, unveiled in July 2018.

Since establishing a trade development technical working group to facilitate negotiations on expanding opportunities and review of deterrent tariffs and non-tariffs, through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in November 2018, Nairobi has actively participated in trade fairs in China.

The fairs include China International Import Exposition (November 2018), Road and Belt Forum (April 2019), Forum for China and Africa Co-operation (June 2019) and first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (July 2019)

The two countries have since signed a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Protocol, setting stringent agricultural health standards that Kenyan produce have to meet to access the world’s second-largest economy.

Coffee, specialty tea, cut flowers, vegetables, avocados, french beans, legumes (such as peas, beans and green grammes), herbs, mangoes, peanuts and macadamia are some of the farm produce Kenya has identified as having huge potential for growth in China.

While tea and coffee have been penetrating the Chinese markets, new ones such as avocados are struggling to gain direct access due to the stringent export rules.

“The first frozen avocado exports landed in China in September and we are working closely with exporters to ensure this opportunity is increased and Kenya gains a larger slice of the pie,” Mr Biwott said.

“Some of the strategies include scaling up trade promotion activities and linking Kenya exporters to Chinese buyers. We also want to create exporter-buyer frameworks that would deliver more goods and services by Kenyans to China.”

China bought goods worth a record Sh7.48 billion compared to Sh4.30 billion in the same period of 2018, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicates.