Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gamea announced that the East African Customs Union (EAC) issued a decision granting Kenya approval to extend customs exemptions for Egyptian exports and COMESA countries until June 30, 2023, which allows Egyptian exports to the Kenyan market to be exempted from customs duties for a year, starting July 1.

The minister said that the Egyptian commercial office in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has made extensive contacts at all diplomatic levels, as well as with various governmental and non-governmental departments to work on renewing this decision for another year, referring in this context to the great interest to strengthening Egyptian-African relations, as well as confronting the obstacles that impede the movement of Egyptian exports to the East African region.

Egyptian exports also increased by 3.3% to record $465.7 million, compared to $448.5 million in 2020, which confirms the importance of the Kenyan market to Egypt, as well as the confidence of the Kenyan importer and consumer in Egyptian goods.

The most important Egyptian exports to the Kenyan market include clinker, paper, cane sugar, iron and steel products, machinery and electrical appliances, plastics, soap and detergents, food industries of pasta and starch, and animal feed.

It is worth noting that Egyptian exports to Kenya rank first for (28) items in the list of countries exporting to Kenya in 2021, with a market acquisition rate of more than 70% compared to other countries’ exports.