Kenya on Thursday started a national public participation process to get views relating to the proposed Kenya-U.S free trade deal that was announced in January 2020 by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry sent out a questionnaire requesting its members and the general public to give their views and submit them electronically.
“The Ministry of Industrialization Trade and Enterprise Development through the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry is seeking public and stakeholders comments on the proposed Kenya-U.S. Free Trade Agreement,” noted an alert sent out by the chamber.
“Kindly fill the questionnaire to aid in submitting Kenya’s interests and priorities and scope in order to facilitate the Ministry to develop and consolidate Kenya’s negotiating position.”
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau show that the value of trade between Kenya and the U.S. varies over the years but averages 100 billion shillings (1 billion U.S. dollar) a year.
Kenya exports to the U.S., mainly apparel and textile reached 520 million dollars last year, a record increase from previous years while U.S. exports to Kenya have fluctuated in value between 400 million dollars to 1.3 billion dollars in the last five years.
The free trade deal was earlier endorsed by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) whose officials met their U.S counterparts, Corporate Council on Africa, in Nairobi in February 2020 to affirm the proposed agreement.
The Kenyan body then proposed an engagement with their Moroccan counterparts being the only African country which has a free trade agreement with the U.S., a process which has already started, according to Carole Karuga, the chief executive officer of KEPSA.
Ruth Kagia, the deputy chief of staff on policy and strategy at the Executive Office of the President of Kenya said the target is to have the deal signed in 18 months from January 2020.
The proposed deal had earlier raised eyebrows in Africa which is in the process of implementing its own continental free trade area pact known as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)
“I just want to put away a few doubts because there has been a feeling that by Kenya engaging with the U.S. to have a trade arrangement, we are running away from our commitment to the African Continental Free Trade arrangement. And I want to assure you that there can be nothing further from the truth as that is definitely not the case,” Kenyatta said earlier.