A consignment of Kenyan Exide batteries worth USD 77,000 was set to be released yesterday in Tema Port, Ghana, in a historic ceremony that marked Kenya’s first exports under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
Kenya is among six countries selected to participate in the pilot phase of the AfCFTA initiative on Guided Trade formulated on the realization that trading was not taking place one and half years after the launch of the programme on 1st January 2021. The other countries include Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania.
Kenya-made Exide batteries were made by the Associated Battery Manufactures and imported by Yesudam Company Limited based in Ghana.
Last month, Kenya launched its AfCFTA implementation strategy. The 2022-27 strategy identifies priority export products and sectors for goods and services aligned with Kenya’s national development goals and aspirations, including the Integrated National Export Development and Promotion Strategy (INEDPS) and the Big Four Agenda.
“To fast-track implementation of the AfCFTA, the development of an implementation strategy is critical as it leverages deeper integration within the framework of AfCFTA to facilitate an expansion of Kenya’s trade and investment in Africa,” said Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina, Kenya’s Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development during the launch of the Kenya AfCFTA Implementation Strategy.
An ad-hoc National AfCFTA Implementation Committee (NIC) comprising Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); Council of Governors; Private Sector Associations; Relevant academic and research institutions, and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) was also established to ensure effective and coordinated implementation of the strategy.
Stephen Karingi, Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said that with the National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy, Kenya is ready to take advantage of the newly available continental market.”
On her part, Katrin Hagemann Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Kenya highlighted that the European Union (EU) is and has been a strong supporter of this ambitious integration initiative by providing financial and technical assistance to the AfCFTA negotiation processes and implementation.
She further added that the success of the AfCFTA starts in the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Regional integration is not only about liberalizing tariffs but starts with a shared belief to achieve a common goal of prosperity for all. Part of this belief must be a common and integrated market meaning competition and a strong drive to produce more efficiently and cheaply.
The launch of the Kenya AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy is one of the key action parts of the EU-funded project: ‘Deepening Africa’s Trade Integration through Effective Implementation of the AfCFTA to support Economic Integration’ with a total budget of € 8 million.
The AfCFTA provides the opportunity for Africa to create the world’s largest free trade area with the potential to unite more than 1.2 billion people in an economic bloc with a gross domestic product valued at least $2.5 trillion and usher in a new era of development.
In June this year, the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) rolled out a sensitization campaign on the AfCFTA agreement in Kenya. The sensitization, which tartgeted Clearing and Forwarding Agents in Nairobi, was conducted together with the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) with support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Over 50 agents benefited from the sensitization. According to FEAFFA, other similar initiatives will be organized in Mombasa and the rest of the EAC region.
freightlogistics@feaffa.com; editiorial@feaffa.com
