This archive report was first published on 15 July 2020.
Kenya's trade with the East African Community (EAC) has shown significant improvement, with a 57.7 percent increase in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the balance of payments between Kenya and the EAC member states, including Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan, rose to Sh30.86 billion in the three months to March from Sh19.67 billion in the same period in 2019.
The volume of trade between Kenya and the EAC member states was recorded at Sh54.94 billion during the period, up from Sh46.28 billion in the same period last year.
Kenya's exports to the EAC were worth Sh42.90 billion, representing 19.3 percent of the country's total exports in the quarter, which stood at Sh222.72 billion.
Uganda remained the leading export destination for Kenya, with the country purchasing Kenyan goods worth Sh18.88 billion, an increase from Sh16.33 billion in 2019.
Kenyan exports to Uganda include pharmaceutical products, sugar, confectionary, cement, alcohol, vehicles, and iron and steel products, while imports from Uganda include milk and dairy products, beans, animal feeds, eggs, maize, and other cereals.
However, the trade disputes between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have been ongoing, with the countries disagreeing over procedures for testing truck drivers for COVID-19 disease at the common borders.
Additionally, local traders have protested that Kenya-made cigarettes entering Tanzania are charged 80 percent higher tax despite an agreement that such taxes do not apply on products made from raw materials sourced locally.
Local firms have also objected to Uganda's introduction of a 12 percent inspection fee in 2017 for Kenya's pharmaceutical exports, while Uganda-made drugs are zero-rated.
