The trade exchange between Egypt and Kenya witnessed a growth of 4.5% during the first half of this year to reach $303 million in exchange for $290 million, year-on-year, despite the negative repercussions of the pandemic on global trade, said Khaled Mansour, Head of the Commercial Office in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Mansour added that Egyptian exports to the Kenyan market increased to about $2020 million during H1 of 2020, compared to $193 million year-on-year. On the other hand Egyptian imports from Kenya rose to about $99 million, compared to $97 million.
He explained that the most important Egyptian exports to the Kenyan market are sugar, cement, soap, nappies, electrical appliances and pasta, while Egypt's most important imports from Kenya are tea, which represents 90% of total imports, and other agricultural commodities.
This came during a seminar to review the national strategy for moving towards Africa, in the presence of the Minister plenipotentiary commercial at Egyptian Commercial Service Abdel Aziz Al-Sharif at the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce headquarters.
On his part, Tarek Kashoua, head of the Egyptian Commercial Office in Khartoum explained that although Egypt and Sudan signed COMESA and Arab Free Trade agreements, there is a list of 43 commodities which are subject to customs.
Kashoua pointed out that the volume of trade between the two countries does not amount to the strong historical ties between the two countries, noting that the volume of trade last year amounted to $862 million, of which $496 million were Egyptian exports to Sudan, and $366 million were Egyptian imports from Sudan.
He stressed that the current stage is witnessing a close rapprochement between the political leadership in the two brotherly nations, a major key in increasing trade and investment.
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Moreover, Mohamed Abdallah, Director of the Commercial Representation Office in the Zambian capital Lusaka said that the Egyptian exports to the Zambian market amounted to about $16 million in 2019, and $ 8.1 million in H1 2020.
Abdallah pointed out that Zambia's imports register $7 billion annualy. South Africa is its largest supplier, then China, the UAE and India," he said, noting that challenges caused by the pandemic could give Egypt an opportunity to reshape the trade structure in Zambia.
"COVID-19 contributed to the decline in the exports of South Africa and China to Zambia, which is a good opportunity for Egyptian products to make up their way to the African continent in light of its association with the COMESA Agreement and the customs exemptions it provides," he concluded.
On his part, Ahmed El-Wakil, President of the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce said earlier that the relations between Egypt and African countries are strong, adding there are mutual economic relations between the two parties.
He pointed out that the aim of the symposium is to shed light on the volume of African investments, and the various cooperation protocols and opportunities between Egypt and the African countries.
On the other hand, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) data revealed on Sunday that the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries increased by 1.4% in 2019, while imports dropped by 4.6% on an annual basis.
The Nile Basin countries include Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Wanda, Burundi, Eritrea.
The agency added in a statement issued on Sunday that the total value of exports to the Nile Basin countries amounted to $1.22 billion in 2019, compared to $1.20 billion in 2018, an increase of 1.4%.
CAPMAS stated that the total value of imports from the Nile Basin countries amounted to $640 million in 2019 compared to $670 million in 2018, a decrease of 4.6%.
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