Kenya on Monday signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union that will guarantee duty-free access for its farm produce into its biggest export market, according to Reuters.
European goods entering Kenya will see tariffs reduced over a 25-year period under the agreement, officials said at a signing ceremony in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
“Today is a very proud moment for Kenya, and I believe a very proud moment for the European Union,” Kenyan Trade Minister Moses Kuria said after signing the accord with EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, Aljazeera reports.
Dombrovskis said EU companies had invested 1 billion euros in Kenya in the past decade but that there was “a strong appetite” to do more business.
The deal took seven months to negotiate, making it one of the fastest the EU has ever struck, officials from both sides said.
Kenya, Africa’s seventh-largest economy, is a major exporter of tea, coffee, flowers, fruits and vegetables. The EU accounts for 21% of its overall exports.
“Beyond trade, the agreements is designed to stimulate investments and manufacturing,” Kenya’s President William Ruto said in his address.
Dombrovskis said the East African powerhouse was “a beacon of dynamism and opportunity”, echoing the international perception of Kenya’s relative stability in what remains a turbulent region.
In a briefing with reporters before Monday’s ceremony, Dombrovskis said Africa was a “priority region” for the EU, and he hoped the Kenya deal would “be a boost” to future trade links with Africa.
Kenya signed an initial trade deal with the EU in 2016, alongside its partners in the six-nation East African Community trade bloc, but it was not signed by most of the EAC countries and therefore did not fully come into effect.
While the other EAC members are classified as least developed countries, meaning their exports could continue to get access without the deal, Kenya is middle-income and therefore had to seek a stand-alone arrangement.
The deal now moves to the parliaments of both sides for ratification.
Kenya is also negotiating a trade and investment deal with the United States which its trade minister said he expects to be signed next year.
The EU has taken steps to counter China’s Belt and Road programme, announcing in February it would increase investments in Kenya by hundreds of millions of dollars through its own Global Gateway initiative.