President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi used a Nairobi business forum on November 22, 2018, to press the private sector to move faster on trade and investment between the two countries.
The leaders spoke at the Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel during a Kenya-Mozambique business forum, where Kenyatta said the commercial relationship was growing too slowly despite the size of the market and the opportunities available.
He pointed to 2017 trade figures showing that Kenya imported goods worth $31 million from Mozambique, while exports to Mozambique stood at $12 million. Kenyatta said the two countries were already trading mainly in manufactured goods, which he described as a sign that Africa’s industrial base was strengthening.
Earlier the same day, the two presidents witnessed the signing of a bilateral agreement that removes visa requirements for citizens of both countries. The move is meant to make travel easier and support business links.
Kenyatta urged Kenyan companies to widen their export base and look more closely at opportunities in Mozambique, especially in mining, oil and gas. He also said Kenyan cement firms had begun importing coal from Mozambique, which he cited as evidence that trade was already expanding.
He invited Mozambican traders and investors to consider Kenya, describing the economy as open, safe and friendly to business. Both leaders said better infrastructure would be key to improving intra-African trade, which they noted remains low.
Nyusi told the forum that Kenya and Mozambique share deep historical and cultural ties, saying the relationship between the two peoples stretches back more than a millennium. He called on private sector players in both countries to lead growth in areas such as agriculture, agribusiness, minerals and tourism.
“We should enhance partnership between our private sectors,” President Nyusi said, adding that Mozambique could share its experience in fishing with Kenya.
Nyusi also said Mozambique would take part in the Blue Economy Conference scheduled for Nairobi from Monday the following week. He said he would lead the Mozambican delegation, with 11 Heads of State and 8,000 delegates expected at the event.
The forum was attended by Deputy President William Ruto, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya and other government officials.
Later, Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta hosted a State Banquet at State House, Nairobi, in honour of President Filipe Nyusi and Mozambique’s First Lady, Isaura Nyusi.
At the dinner, Kenyatta said Kenya and Mozambique were bound by shared culture, language and history. “We are one people bound by a common history, one culture and love for one Africa,” he said.
He added that the similarities between the two countries made it easier for their people to interact, and said the two governments would also cooperate in fighting terrorism and organised crime.
Nyusi said he was impressed by Kenya’s democratic space and encouraged Kenyatta to keep up the principle of separation of powers. He also thanked Kenya for its role in helping bring the Mozambican civil war to an end, saying: “Kenya, to Mozambique, is not just another country. It is part of our history,” he said.
He praised Kenya’s achievements and mentioned Prof Wangari Maathai and Kipchoge Keino among the country’s notable figures. Deputy President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga were among the guests at the State House dinner.
Nyusi was scheduled to travel to Mombasa and Kwale Counties on Thursday. In Kwale, he was expected to meet members of the Makonde community, which President Kenyatta had officially recognised as Kenya’s 43rd ethnic group the previous year. The Makonde came to Kenya from Mozambique in the 1950s.
President Kenyatta said he would work closely with President Nyusi to ensure the agreements signed between Kenya and Mozambique were implemented successfully.
