Nairobi, 5 October 2022 (TDI): The free trade of Kenya and Ghana has started today under the Guided Trade Initiative of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
The President of Kenya William Ruto has signed an agreement for bilateral trade without charging tariffs from the AFCFTA bloc countries.
He flagged off the first tea shipment to Accra, Ghana. William Ruto remarked that Kenya will cash the high demand for tea in the region. The ceremony took place at Kenyatta International Conventional Centre.
William Ruto highlighted that Kenya will have dialogues and will try to export Kenyan branded Tea to Morocco, Tunisia, and those who would be interested in importing tea.
AFCFTA Guided Trade Initiative
The free trade agreement between Kenya and Ghana was signed between the two nations with the guidance of AFCFTA, the Ministry of Trade, and the Kenya Tea Development Agency.
Moreover, Kenya has expanded its tea export to West Africa and to Central African countries. Kenya for the first time shipped its goods to Ghana in June 2022.
Also read: AfCFTA to launch Guided Trade Initiative
Additionally, Kenyan export will include Exide batteries, leather bags, textiles, fresh produce, and avocados to Ghana. Some confectionery, beaded products, sisal fiber, and incinerators are also included.
African Trade Bloc
Kenya is the sixth of the six nations in the pilot phase of the AFCFTA of the African bloc. The rest of the five are Ghana, Rwanda, Egypt, Cameroon, and Tunisia.
Ghana is one of the countries in the West African trade bloc. Furthermore, the Guided Initiative has removed trade duties and trade barriers.
The trade was being freely opened by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in the bloc countries since January 2021. But, due to some internal issues among the bloc countries, it stopped the trade.
In a nutshell, the trade will now be freely operational among the central and African countries with Kenya. The Kenya goods will be expanded to the African countries.
