Kenyas exports will now enter the 27-member European Union market duty free after the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) entered into force, on July 1, 2024. The move has now granted Kenyan exports a market reach of 500 million and in return Kenya will have to open its markets to EU products gradually over a 25-year period. In a statement on Monday, Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano confirmed that the EPA is now in force.
With the EPA, Kenya will now be granted duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market for all its exports, including coffee, flowers and minerals. "The agreement will boost bilateral trade in goods, increase investment flows, strengthen the ties between reliable partners, and facilitate mutually advantageous economic relations sustainably, stimulating job creation and economic growth," said Miano.
According to the CS, the EU-Kenya EPA is the most ambitious deal negotiated with an African country in terms of sustainability and can serves as a template for other sustainable trade agreements.
The rise was partly contributed by the increase in domestic exports of cut flowers and avocados to the Netherlands and beans to France. Similarly, foreign export earnings from the United Kingdom rose from Sh44.6 billion in 2022, to Sh54.7 billion in 2023, largely driven by an increase in domestic exports of tea and cut flowers.
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