Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Between Kenya & The U.S. To Enhance Its Trade & Investment Opportunities
Posted on : Friday, 6th March 2020
Free trade improves prosperity for the citizens of all participating nations by allowing consumers to buy more, better-quality products at lower costs.
Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) signed an MoU to promote mutual interests through cooperation in the promotion of trade and investment opportunities in Kenya.
This emphasizes the need to explore opportunities between Kenya and the USA on the backdrop of the commencement of the negotiations on the free trade agreement between Kenya and the USA.
The discussion with Kenyan and U.S. business leaders and government officials was to explore how the private sector can support this bilateral effort and take full advantage of investment and trade opportunities that will arise from a Kenya-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
If successful, it would be the first U.S. FTA with a sub-Saharan African nation and potentially a model the United States will use to increase its trade and investment relationship with other African countries.
This comes as a follow up to the recent visit of H.E. President Kenyatta to the United States, where the U.S. and Kenyan Government announced the launch of talks aimed at establishing a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Florizelle Liser, President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), noted that a Kenya-U.S. FTA could build on Kenya’s success in trading value-added products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Liser mentioned that the roundtable was the first of many that CCA plans on hosting with KEPSA as a long-time partner.
“It is also an opportunity,” she said, “for the private sectors of both the U.S. and Kenya to deepen trade and investment ties in key sectors from energy to banking, construction, ICT/digital trade, health, manufacturing and services trade.”
KEPSA CEO, Carole Karuga, emphasized the importance of the growth of the FTA between Kenya and the USA stating that the increased trade opportunity for export and import would lead to the growth of the business.
Karuga pointed out that Kenya is the leader of the East African Community and went further to underscore that Kenya, among the businesses in Africa participating in global trade, is leading the pact.
Liser mentioned “We would like to use this platform to provide regular updates on ongoing negotiations, ensure private sector participation and support, and extract real-time opportunities for businesses.”
U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Kyle McCarter said they look forward to working together to create a free-trade agreement that allows Kenyan and American businesses to benefit from increased access to each other’s markets and one where both their consumers will enjoy greater prosperity through expanded choice and competition within the marketplace.
“ A successful U.S.-Kenya FTA will stand as a landmark for East Africa and for all of Africa,” said McCarter.
A Kenya-U.S. FTA would build on the success Kenya has experienced in producing and exporting a range of value-added products to the U.S. market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), while improving two-way trade, boosting commercial cooperation, and spurring investment into key sectors.
