Kenya, US Launch a Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership
Kenya and the US have launched a Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) to replace an agreement President Donald Trump's administration had inked with Nairobi.
Under the STIP, the two states will start work to develop a roadmap for engagement in 10 key areas among them agriculture, digital trade, action on climate change, and trade facilitation and customs procedures.
“Kenya and US governments will commence working within three months to develop a detailed roadmap for engagement in each of these issues,” Trade Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina said in a statement on Thursday.
Kenya and the US also agreed to work together to fight corruption, introduce good regulatory practices, promote small and medium enterprises and workers’ rights, and support the participation of women and youth in trade.
“The two countries will discuss approaches to integrate MSMEs into international trade. The two sides will initiate periodic technical best practices exchanges and roundtables on micro, small and medium enterprises,” Kenya’s Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development said in a statement.
The launch of the strategic partnership comes months after the Biden administration said it would review the Trump-era bilateral trade negotiations with Kenya in 2020 over a potential free trade agreement (FTA).
The two nations had commenced talks in July 2020, with a view to draft a comprehensive agreement that would act as a model for similar pacts between the US and other African countries.
Kenya is keen to ink a trade deal with the US ahead of the expiry of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) in 2025. AGOA gives Kenya and 40 other sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for over 6,000 products.
Comments (4)
I see nothing so beneficial to Kenya in this deal.Its actually a way to lock Kenyas' other trade partners who are US advserlies out of Kenyan trading. Its typical of US well documented historical imperialism and hegemony. Frankly speaking what has AGOA added to the trade between Kenya and the US, which is skewed to the US? People working in the export processing zones where this textiles for US market are made,work as slaves like
in Saudi Arabia .Poor pay,lots of miscarriages, women sexual abuses, name it. I am not opposed to trade deals but when uncle Sam deal looks so good think twice! John T Flyn a US journalist once said this about the US imperialism back in the days " We (USA),are always moving forward with high mission, a vision imposed by the Deity (God),to regenerate our victims,while incidentally capturing their markets:to civilize senile and savage and paranoid people, while blundering accidentally on their oil wells " I have never known any country in the world conquered , colonized or otherwise by the US benefit economically. Think of Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, The Philippines etc . See what the EU got themselves into with Russian oil embargo.Now US is the biggest LNG supplier to the EU, which Trump had hinted on before his departure. Kenyas' next president amesetiwa, he is fucked up! He will not be able to get out of this deal without a fight. He will have to shut up and shape up to the trade deal.Think of the proposal by former Trump government to build an 8 lane MSA - Nrb highway through a loan while we have a monster of a Chinese debt of SGR? How much cargo goes inland from MSA to warrant such a road and the current underutilized SGR line?.Its all as I said to keep the competitor ( China) in check, but Kenya itaumia as these 2 fahari (s) fight if its not already! Good luck motherland!
Jaribu bangi. Sometimes the brain needs a sneeze👊🏿
You got this right, bro
But just a reminder - the fight out of the deal may be tough but Kagame has done it
Trading in dollars.. Kenya wins or loses the deal??