Nairobi, 21 Feb. The European Union (EU) and Kenya today launched a two-day business forum in Nairobi to deepen their trade relations, which Kenyan President William Ruto hailed as a win-win opportunity.
The forum “demonstrates that the relationship between Kenya and the EU runs deep and goes beyond development cooperation”, Ruto said during his opening speech at the conference which brings together some 500 business people ( 250 Europeans and 250 Kenyans).
“Kenya offers a sound and conducive environment for trade and investment, with an open, liberal and business-friendly regulatory regime,” the Head of State stressed.
The Kenyan president pointed to the EU as the main destination for his country’s exports, which were estimated at 170,000 million Kenyan shillings (about 1,264 million euros) in 2021.
Similarly, 16.5% of the products imported by Kenya during that same year came from the EU, reaching 355,000 million Kenyan shillings (about 2,639 million euros).
Ruto has shown interest in further deepening economic relations between the two sides.
“Trading with the EU helps Kenya create millions of direct and indirect jobs in the coffee, tea, flower and pea sectors, which are our country’s main exports,” he said. note.
But the president also called for urgent change to make business and investment greener in Kenya and the rest of the world.
For Ruto, problems like the severe drought (the worst in forty years) rocking the Horn of Africa, including parts of Kenya, are proof that such a transformation is needed.
Kenya and the EU both hope that this forum will give a “new impetus” to the economic association agreements of the European bloc with the East African Community (EAC), made up of Kenya, Uganda , Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President Thomas Östros, who joked that he would hand over his passport to the Kenyan authorities until the end of negotiations between the EU and Kenya to ensure the implementation of this agreement, stressed that both his institution and the EU They support Kenya “in this time of unprecedented challenges” of the economic blows of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“We want to develop together, Kenya, France and the EU”, declared, for his part, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade of France, Olivier Becht, also present at this event.
Becht stressed that Kenya is not only a “market with many opportunities”, but also a country “with a very stable political system” and “important for the stability and peace” of the region.
“This is a great day for Kenya, the EU and private sector actors,” concluded EU Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger.
The forum, which ends this Wednesday, includes panels on the circular economy, digitalisation, agriculture, waste management, agricultural transformation or health, as well as opportunities for companies to meet each other. and with government officials.
Kenya stood out from 2015 to 2019 as one of the fastest developing economies on the continent, growing at 5.7% per year during that period, according to the World Bank.
Thanks to Kenya’s geostrategic location and its economic policies, this country is often identified by the international community as a stabilizing power in the Horn of Africa and a faithful partner of the West. ECE
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