Kenya – UK Trade Pact Births Duty-Free British Products

[McCauley Wycliff]

The Kenya – UK trade pact has opened doors for British firms to ship in goods, duty-free, for 25 years. The goods, both finished and unfinished, exclude agricultural and industrial products.

Kenya exported KSh49.5 billion goods to the UK last year, up from KSh39.7 billion in 2019, while imports from the UK dropped to KSh29.3 billion from KSh35.3 billion during the same period.

Kenya imports machinery, vehicles, nuclear reactors, pharmaceutical products, boilers, printed books, articles of pulp, paper and paperboard, pictures and beverages, paper and board newspapers, spirits and vinegar, miscellaneous chemical products, electrical, electronic equipment, textile articles, sets, worn clothing, ships, boats, and other floating structures from the UK.

Kenya is offering to open 82.6% value of total trade to the UK over an extended transition period of up to twenty-five years with a seven-year moratorium, which constitutes raw materials, capital goods, and intermediate products. The government, through the National Export Development Agenda, is seeking to enhance Kenya’s market share in the UK by 5% by 2025, translating to $10.2 billion (Sh1.1 trillion) up from the current exports to the UK, which stood at KSh39 billion for the last five years running 2015 to 2019.
Betty C. Maina, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary,

The Kenya – UK trade pact provides full duty-free and quota-free market conditions for goods originating from East African Community (EAC) partner state(s) into the UK market on a secure, long-term and predictable basis.