Kenya-Namibia set to revamp trade ties

Kenya and Namibia are set to reinforce bilateral cooperation to boost trade ties between the two countries.

Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi is expected to depart China for Windhoek, Namibia, for the Mid-Term Review (MTR) meeting on several bilateral issues including, the review of several business and diplomatic protocols, and the Namibian establishment of a Diplomatic Mission in Nairobi.

While in Namibia, PCS Mudavadi will meet the Namibian Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, and Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Peya Mushelenga, a meeting his office said will bolster relations that date back to 1964.

“The Prime Cabinet Secretary will push for increased collaborations including, the review of several business and diplomatic protocols, and the Namibian establishment of a Diplomatic Mission in Nairobi,” said Jacob Ng’etich, Director Press Service in the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary.

Kenya and Namibia signed a General Agreement on Cooperation on 2nd June 1992 that established a Joint Commission of Cooperation (JCC) and established agreements on agriculture, aviation, health, and education.

Both countries are signatories to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which they have ratified. In addition, they are Members of the COMESA-SADC-EAC Tripartite Free Trade Area which is meant to accelerate economic integration for the people of the Eastern and Southern African region.

Mudavadi is also expected to push for improving Kenya-Namibia trade ties.

For over a decade, the balance of trade has been in favour of Namibia to the tune of Ksh 11.16 million, where Kenya exports an average of Ksh 106.31 million of goods, while it imported goods worth Ksh 117.76 million from Namibia.

Although Namibia has a relatively small population, thus making it a small market for retailers, it is rated the 26th most important new market for retailers, and the second most important in Africa after Botswana, per the Global Retail Development Index 2013 by AT Kearney.

Also, it normally imports about 50pc of its cereal requirements.

Mudavadi will seek to have Kenyans take advantage of the robust diplomatic relations, and visa-free protocols to invest in the cereal sector.

Kenya’s exports to Namibia include medicament for reducing pain, syringes, electrical equipment, radar apparatus, automatic data machines, petroleum products, clothing, water, and roses.

Namibia’s exports to Kenya include table salts, unwrought zinc, alcoholic beverages, mollusks, ethanol, and clothes.

The products with the greatest potential for export to Namibia include black tea and coffee.

There is also the potential to benchmark and cooperate in the fields of livestock keeping, blue economy, beef and water dam building, and water conservation.

Namibia is home to about 1,000 Kenyan expatriates, working mostly as professionals in the fields of medicine and nursing, teaching, architecture, building and quantity surveying, aviation, marine, advertising, education, transportation, handcrafts, and selling of African clothing, engineering, and business.

Kenyan-owned enterprises in Namibia include advertising firms, private schools, private hospitals and hospital training schools, engineering and building contractors, architectural consultancy, and information technology.

In addition, we have UN staff, pastors, and business people in curios and crafts.

The Prime Cabinet Secretary will follow up with Namibia on its promise to give Kenyan business people five-year multiple-entry business visas.