Kenya is seeking ways to take advantage of the turnaround in exports, which have risen faster than imports for the first time in over five years. It appears that falling energy prices helped fuel a 13 per cent year-on-year fall in Kenya’s total import bill in September.
In contrast, exports rose 24 per cent year-on-year, mainly due to a 58 per cent jump in the value of tea exports as prices rose despite significant fall in volumes.
This has shifted focus on the slump of Kenya’s export sector which has seen growth in the manufacturing sector stagnate at 11 per cent of the GDP for over ten years. A new department of commerce and international trade at the Ministry of Industrialisation will this week meet stakeholders to discuss how to exploit the opportunities in value-added exports.