[ Photo: africa.businessinsider.com]
Egypt plans to import more fruits and other food products from Kenya in a move that looks set to reduce the trade imbalance tilted in favour of the North African country.
Business delegations from the two countries started a two-day trade forum, Tuesday, where new trade deals would be signed.
Kenya mainly sells tobacco, paper and paperboard, fruits and vegetable textile fibres to Egypt, with the value of the overall imports growing 8.67 percent to Sh18.98 billion between 2014 and 2020.
Exports from Egypt include vegetable and animal products, minerals, chemicals, plastics and rubber — jumped 68.13 per cent to Sh42.93 billion over the same period, highlighting a trade partnership that heavily favours the Maghreb economy.
Egyptian ambassador to Kenya Khalid Abyiad yesterday called on local farmers and businesses to tap the vast Egyptian market with increased shipments of fruits.
“Kenya is the leading trade partner for Egypt in the East African region and the opportunity for growth in the two countries are boundless. This forum is important to open up these opportunities,” he said when he opened the forum.
Samuel Matonda, CEO at Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “The key objective of this forum is that we are looking at increasing our exports to Egypt, for example tapping into the growing demand for avocadoes. We are looking at deals that will push these exports.”