Buhari visit signals revival of stalled trade deals

Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari will make his maiden visit to Kenya on Thursday. PHOTO | AFP 

By GERALD ANDAE, gandae@ke.nationmedia.com

Kenya and Nigeria are this week expected to revive a raft of investment and military deals that have stalled for eight months since Goodluck Jonathan exited the helm of Africa’s most populous state.

President Muhammadu Buhari makes his maiden visit to Kenya on Thursday during which he is scheduled to hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta and attend a memorial service for Kenyan soldiers recently killed in Somalia.

“President Buhari will discuss trade issues with his Kenyan counterpart, picking up where the previous negotiations by the previous government of Nigeria had reached,” said State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu.

At the tail-end of his rule, President Jonathan and President Kenyatta’s administration agreed on mutual co-operation between the Foreign Service Institute of Kenya and the Foreign Service Academy of Nigeria.

The two states also concluded an agreement for the establishment of a Joint Commission for Cooperation in July last year to enhance bilateral co-operation in areas of mutual interest that include trade, tourism, education, energy, agriculture and technical co-operation.

Last week, President Kenyatta said his pacts with Nigeria included the opening of a market for tea farmers in the West African nation.

Under the agreements, the agencies of the two states were also meant to share information and keep direct contact in an effort to combat international terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering.

READ: Nigerian, Somali Heads of State to join Kenya in mourning slain soldiers

Both states are currently battling religious extremism. On Tuesday, Mr Esipisu said the agreement signed in 2014 also promises Kenya a platform to learn from the Nigerian expertise and build capacity in oil exploration.

“With the discovery of viable oil deposits in the country, Kenya has been working on developing her commercial oil production and such co-operation will go a long way towards achieving that target,” he said.

Cabinet secretary for Industrialisation and Trade Affairs Adan Mohamed said Kenya’s major interest in the coming meeting will be to discuss how the country can get access and benefit from the big Nigerian market.

“We want to use this opportunity to ensure that we get access to Nigeria, which is the biggest market in the continent,’ said Mr Mohamed.

The CS Tuesday held a meeting with the members of the private sector to discuss the issues that they will be laying on the table at the trade talks.

Mr Mohamed noted that the two countries operate under two different business blocs, with Kenya being a member of the East Africa Community while Nigeria is a member of the Economic Community for the West African States (ECOWAS), and that it is important for the Kenya’s business community to form new partnerships with their Nigerian counterparts.

The government says that good relations between Kenya and Nigeria have enabled a number of Nigerian companies to set base in the country.