Business leaders in Kenya and Ethiopia agreed to push their respective governments to implement a bilateral trade agreement signed in 2012, Walta Information Center reported.

The leaders who met in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, on Thursday stated that the implementation of the Special Status Agreement (SSA) was crucial in developing trade between the two countries. Ethiopia’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Regassa Kefelew, was the leading Ethiopian business delegate.

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), stated that the country had a strong interest in the implementation of the SSA which would eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers in trade and improve market access between Ethiopia and Kenya.

KAM CEO, Mr. Phyllis Wakiaga, stated, “We anticipate that the co-operation would open up better opportunities for local businesses in Ethiopia and vice versa.”

Mr. Phyllis Wakiaga added that opportunities for peer learning through projects such as the tram and the standard gauge railway in Ethiopia and Kenya would set both countries on a path to economic sustainability. 

The previous year, Kenya Commercial Bank announced it had received a license to open a representative office in Ethiopia, which had previously heavily restricted foreign investors from venturing into telecommunication, banking, retail, insurance and electricity sectors.

Kenya is banking on bilateral engagements and improvement of infrastructure which includes the Marsabit- Moyale road to grow trade opportunities into Ethiopia.

Mr. Matanda Wabuyele, CEO of Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that the value of trade between the two countries increased from Sh2.2 billion in 2004 to Sh7.4 billion in 2014.

Source: Walta Information Center