Businesses urged to utilise trade agreements
Isaac Pinielo | Wednesday August 23, 2017 15:55
Kenyan High Commissioner to Botswana, Ambassador Jean Wambui Kimani made the call at the official opening of the Botswana Consumer Fair in Gaborone on Monday.
She said businesspeople from the two countries should establish long-term networks to grow trade and investment, adding that robust intra-Africa trade is vital in achieving prosperity and growth amongst African states. “The relations between Kenya and Botswana are warm and characterised by historical ties that bind the people of the two countries,” she said. According to Kimani, the various memoranda of understanding (MoU) that the two countries have signed should give both Botswana and Kenyan companies the chance to access each other’s markets.
Recently, Botswana and Kenya signed a MoU aimed at boosting trade and investment partnerships in agriculture, agri-business, information and communications technology (ICT), horticulture and manufacturing, amongst others. Other memoranda of understanding were signed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas of integrated water resources and water services, as well as the tourism and hospitality sectors. “We hope to see more trade between our countries with the signing of these MoUs,” said Kimani. Kenya’s major exports to Botswana are pharmaceuticals, vegetables, ICT materials, while imports from Botswana are spare parts, tractors and printed material.
Kimani stated that bilateral relations are often measured by the growth of trade and investment between two countries, noting that trade between Botswana and Kenya is highly in favour of Botswana. “There is a huge unexploited potential for increasing trade between Kenya and Botswana,” she said. She urged business communities in the two countries to strengthen trade and cooperative partnerships between each other. She said the Kenyan High Commission has embarked on an aggressive trade promotion of their country’s goods in the Botswana market, adding that they are committed to bringing the balance of trade which she said has for a long time been in favour of Botswana.
“We are working with Kenyan horticultural companies as well as the coffee and tea industry to ensure that we will be able to bring our exports to this market,” Kimani said.
A delegation of Botswana businesspeople recently visited Nairobi at the invitation of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance.