Kenya Mulls Introduction Of E-Platform To Ease Exports To China

 File photo of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

By Mbuthia Bashir For Citizen Digital

Kenya has set a plan in motion to unveil a new online platform that will serve as a marketplace for agricultural exports such as tea and coffee to China.

This comes after Nairobi and the Xi Jinping-led nation inked six memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on agricultural initiatives, poverty reduction, digital innovation, health and personnel training.

Both Nairobi and Beijing also intend to initiate exchange programmes by June 2021 to augment the trade of avocadoes.

According to the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Julius Opio, the online platform will reduce logistics challenges and make it easier for local farmers to sell their produce in the Chinese market.

“We’re coming from a Covid-19 impact and there are a lot of logistic challenges businesses are facing like not shipping on time or getting goods on time. We are trying to see how we can go online and build efficiencies,” Opio told the Business Daily.

Huawei Technologies, China Mobile Technology and Xingyun Group have so far expressed interest in partnering with Kenya to unveil the platform.

“We have companies giving us a platform where we can market our exports to the Chinese markets online. These are the kind of opportunities we are looking at,” Opio added.

On Thursday, the Kenya China Chamber of Commerce (KCCC) opened an office in Beijing which will play a vital role in unclogging trade barriers across the two nations.

"The last two years has been challenging to both Chinese and Kenyan business community, due to Covid-19. Our business people have not been able to import and export in large quantities because of restrictions and this has led to delays of imports and exports widening the trade balance between Kenya and China.

The Beijing office will identify export opportunities for Kenyan companies," KCCC Chairman Tim Chen said during the Nairobi China Trade Investment forum held at KICC.