•It targets Kenyan sellers who include manufacturers, farmers, traders, SMEs, marketing agencies, and international buyers.
•The platform will have accurate, relevant and up to date information to promote Kenya as the destination of choice for export, trade, investment and tourism.
Image: FILE
The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency(KEPROBA)is developing a robust e-commerce platform that will link Kenyan exporters to buyers from across the world.
This, as it targets to grow help grow the country's exports by 6.5 per cent annually by 2022, through diversifying Kenya’s export products and markets, as outlined in its three-year strategic plan.
The initiative is part of the agency’s strategy to leverage on information technology and go digital in promotion of exports and marketing the country.
KEPROBA was established in August 2019 after the merger of the Export Promotion Council and Brand Kenya Board, and it is tasked with implementing export promotion and nation branding Initiatives and policies to promote Kenya’s export of goods and services.
Under the eCommerce initiative, the agency seeks to adopt non-traditional means in export and country marketing, away from physical exhibition even beyond Covid-19 era, it said in a statement.grow
The move is also geared towards narrowing the balance of trade deficit through an envisioned annual export growth rate of 25 per cent by the year 2022 as enshrined in the Integrated National Export Development and Promotion Strategy (INEDPS).
Kenya’s exports declined by 2.9 per cent to Sh597 billion in 2019, from Sh614 billion in 2018.
This year, nine months exports to September closed at Sh480 billion,from Sh450 billion same period last year, an increase of Sh30 billion.
This represented a 6.7 per cent export growth despite the disruption occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, that has affected the global supply chain.
Assuming that the export values from October to December 2020 will remain the same as those in the same period in 2019 , where exports were worth Sh146 billion, this year could clock Sh626 billion, representing an increment of 4.7 per cent from the previous year’s performance.
“As the future of everything is digital, we want to leverage on technology to ensure that not even distance or time can hinder our exporters from transacting,” said Wilfred Marube, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency.
He said the e-commerce platform will offer a transactional handshake for online engagement, meetings and exhibitions.
“In some markets, we shall go virtual, while in others we just need to provide an assurance that the key products are being delivered.Covid 19 has given us an opportunity to diversify our markets at a click,” he said..
Marube reiterated that the development of this platform is to continuously inform,provide linkages between buyers and sellers and wholesomely promote Kenya and its products.
“As an agency charged with promotion of Kenya exports in the global markets, we have had to re-look at our promotion models and take advantage of information technology to ensure that we deliver on our mandate,” he said.
“Export promotion is not just about exhibiting. It is also about offering A-Z support to exporters and linking them to markets, and this is exactly what we have done here,” he added.
The Platform targets Kenyan sellers who include manufacturers, farmers, traders,SMEs, marketing agencies, and international buyers who include importers, agents,retailers, and wholesalers.
It will literally be Kenya’s gateway window to the world and will enlist all verified Kenyan exporters with their list of products.
It will also have accurate, relevant and up to date information to promote Kenya as the destination of choice for export, trade, investment and tourism.
For successful implementation, the agency has had a series of stakeholder engagements at different levels since they will be the key users of the platform.
The engagements are thus meant to create awareness for exporters in preparation for their listing on the platform.