Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta with
United States President Donald J Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on
the sidelines of the G7 Summit at the Greek Theatre in Taomarina, Italy,
on May 26, 2017. Mr Kenyatta will visit the US for a meeting with
President Trump on August 26, 2018. PHOTO | FILE | PSCU
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to visit Washington DC
for a meeting with US President Donald Trump at a time when America is
exploring the possibility of signing bilateral free trade agreements
with African countries.
“We are looking for African
countries interested in having a bilateral free trade agreement with us
and then we’ll determine which ones make sense, in terms of capacity and
readiness,” Peter Haas, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary for trade
policy and negotiations in the Bureau of Economic said during a
conference call ahead of his trip to South Africa.
The
US is exploring bilateral trade agreements as it thinks past the African
Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) that allows qualifying African
countries to export goods to America duty-free.
For
Kenya, such an arrangement would be a big boost given that the country
is the biggest beneficiary in the region under the Agoa arrangement.
Data
from the US Department of Commerce showed $1.5 billion in total trade
between the two countries in 2016, with US exports to the country
reaching $937 million, while imports from Kenya rose to $565 million.
Currently, Kenya enjoys preferential trade benefits under Agoa, with
exports to the US of apparel, coffee and tea.
The visit
to the US comes at a time of heightened diplomatic engagement for
Kenya, with President Kenyatta set to host UK Prime Minister Theresa May
in Nairobi on Thursday, before heading out to Beijing to meet President
Xi Jinping in early September.
“In the space of just two weeks, we will have hosted the Big
Three — the US, Britain and China — and this goes to show our standing
in the community of nations,” Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica
Juma said on Tuesday.
The president’s outing to
Washington also comes a time of renewed trade and defence co-operation
between the two countries, as the Trump administration looks to the
Kenyan leader as an ally against Islamist insurgents in the region.
“The
two leaders will discuss bilateral ties and plans to boost security,
trade and investment, among other sectors,” said Kenya’s State House
spokesperson Kanze Dena.
The White House on the other
hand said the two leaders will “explore” ways to bolster trade and
investment between the two countries, while strengthening security
co-operation.
Kenya will be keen on Washington’s intention to open negotiations over a free trade area, something that would benefit Nairobi.
Kenya
has also in recent times enjoyed defence and security co-operation with
the US, having seen an increase in its military aid allocation. This
year alone, there have been approvals for two military contracts by the
US department of defence.
In June, a contract worth
$30 million awarded to L-3 Communication for logistics support of the
Air Force C-12 fleet was approved that will see Kenya and a host of
other countries benefit.
Another contract worth $149
million to General Dynamics for foreign military sales was approved by
the Trump administration that will see Nairobi, Saudi Arabia,
Afghanistan, Jordan, Nigeria and Qatar benefit from the supply of
rockets, warheads, motors and associated components.
Nairobi
is also waiting on the delivery of its $418 million purchase of combat
aircraft order, one of the country’s single-biggest weapons deals, which
was approved in November last year.
Ms Juma on
Thursday last week held talks with Under Secretary for Defence David
Tranchtenberg and defence and security matters are said to have been
part of the agenda.
UK, China ties
British
Prime Minister May’s visit to Kenya this coming week will largely dwell
on trade and security, with the post-Brexit relationship between the
two countries’ expected to be the focus of the trade talks.
Last month, Emma Wade-Smith, the UK Trade commissioner for Africa, told The EastAfrican
that they will be seeking to ensure the continuity of the existing
trade arrangements with regional countries so as to give clarity to
businesses.
In China on September 3, President Kenyatta
is expected to join 50 other heads of state, at the Beijing Summit of
the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation.
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