Kenya’s exports to other African countries rose 20 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2022 as the east African nation’s efforts to expand its trade ties with various nations paid off, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said in a report released on Wednesday.
The exports increased from 68.7 billion shillings (587 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2021 to 702 million dollars in the period under review, the apex bank said.
Exports to Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) contributed to the surge. Kenya had signed various cooperation agreements with the DRC last year as well as launched a trade mission to deepen economic ties.
Similarly, in December 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzanian counterpart Samia Suluhu Hassan signed three agreements and five memoranda of understanding to strengthen bilateral ties.
To Tanzania, Kenya exported goods worth 119 million dollars in the first quarter of 2022, an increase from 70 million dollars in a similar period in 2021. On the other hand, exports to DRC rose to 33 million dollars in the first quarter of 2022.
Other top destinations of the country’s goods are Uganda, Egypt, Rwanda, and Somalia.
Kenya’s exports to other African nations in 2021 stood at 2.54 billion dollars and have surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels, with Kenya mainly exporting tea, coffee, oil (re-exports), animal, vegetable fats and oils, and live animals, among others.
