Nairobi diplomacy pays off with rise in EA exports

Kenya’s exports to key East African Community’s markets hit a three-year high in first nine months of the year, provisional data shows, partly helped by Nairobi’s efforts to ease trade tensions with its regional trade partners.

Earnings from goods sold to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda rose 8.06 percent to Sh88.34 billion in the January-September 2019 period compared with Sh81.76 billion over the same period last year.

This is the highest since Sh90.46 billion posted in the same period in 2015, according to the latest data collated by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

Exports to Rwanda grew fastest at 25.14 percent to nearly Sh16.89 billion, followed by Tanzania which bought goods valued at Sh24.44 billion, a 10.23 percent jump over a year earlier. Kenyan traders, however, struggled to expand markets for goods in Uganda, the biggest regional trade partner accounting for more than half of exports’ earnings among the top three EAC countries.

Exports to Uganda were nearly flat, rising two percent to Sh47.02 billion.

Kenyan factories have in recent years struggled to grow exports in regional markets largely due to tariff and non-tariff barriers fuelled by mistrust and long-standing trade disputes, particularly with Tanzania and, in some isolated cases, Uganda.

Manufacturers have also blamed multiple fees and levies, relatively high power charges and inefficiencies at factories for piling up the cost of production.