• Ahead of the trade house Ghana will host a 3-day Business Expedition to showcase products it will be looking to bring into Kenya.
• Currently, finishing touches are being put in place for the completion of the Ghana Export Trade House in May 2023.
Image: ENOS TECHE
Ghana has announced plans to tap into the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to boost business relations with Kenya.
As part of the initiatives, the West African state will set up an Export Trade House (ETH) in Kenya to facilitate business ties between the two nations.
Ahead of the trade house Ghana will host a 3-day business expedition to showcase products it will be looking to bring into Kenya.
Over the years’ trade barriers between the East and West African states has been low due to regulatory barriers.
However, with AfCTA, the biggest free trade area in the world a lot of African countries are now increasingly trading by themselves.
Kenya and Ghana were the first 2 countries that signed their AfCFTA ratification agreement on the same day.
“The overarching purpose of this Trade House is to serve as a one-stop wholesale outlet in the Eastern bloc of the continent for all Made in Ghana Products,” said Ghana’s High Commissioner to Kenya Damptey Bediako
He added that the move will affirm Ghana’s commitment to making intra-Africa trade through the AfCFTA a reality.
In September last year Kenya shipped its first consignment of locally made batteries to Ghana, two months after it was picked among seven countries to pilot the continental free trade area that seeks to unlock the movement of goods and services in Africa.
Kenya Exports to Ghana was US$10.3 million (Sh1.4billion) in 2021, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.
The main products that Ghana exported to Kenya in the same period were Cocoa Powder, Rubber, and Other live plants, cuttings and slips, mushroom spawn.
“Through the Ghana Export Trade House the west African state is seeking to increase availability of Ghanaian products strategically into the Kenyan market and consequently promote items Made in Ghana to the Eastern and Southern parts of Africa,” added Bediako.
Currently, finishing touches are being put in place for the completion of the Ghana Export Trade House in May 2023.
The expo has been coordinated by Ghana’ Ministry of Trade & Industry, The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), The National AfCFTA Coordination Office (NCO) and The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA).
The High Commissioner to Kenya says that the Trade House, situated at Sameer Business Park. Will be the one stop shop for all Ghanian products entering Kenya.
Ghana’s top exports over the years has been cocoa, gold and oil with its top markets being China, Switzerland, India, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates.
Products that Kenya has identified for trading under AfCFTA include tea, exide batteries, confectionery, leather bags, incinerators, beaded products, vehicular filters, textiles, sisal fibre, avocadoes and fresh produce.
The expansion into other continental trade blocks comes amid a shrinking East African market for Kenyan products, with Uganda –which has been the biggest buyer for Kenya supplies— warming up to Tanzania.
“Additionally, Kenya happens to be the biggest market for East Africa and with the Business Expo, we are hopeful to establish a collaboration with Kenyan Businesses also interested in partnering with Ghanaian businesses” added the high commissioner.
The move comes even as Kenya was ranked as the top country in Africa by expatriates to get started and settle due to language, ease of finding housing and cost of homes.
The The Expat Essentials Index by InterNations gives the country an edge as an attractive destination for companies seeking to enter the continent.