Kenya exports to Uganda fall 21pc as US market tops 

Kenya’s exports to Uganda shed Sh12.46 billion in the nine months to September compared to a similar period last year, handing the US an extended reign as the new largest market for goods from Nairobi.

Fresh data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS) shows that Kenya sold goods worth Sh58.88billion to Uganda between January and September this year, down from Sh71.34billion in a similar period last year--
Comparatively, the US which is now the largest market for Kenyan goods, bought Sh60.01 billion worth of Kenyan products between January and September this year—marking a substantial growth from Sh57.91 billion in a similar period of 2021.

Uganda lost its crown as the largest buyer of Kenyan goods in the first half of the year—pointing to the negative effects of long-drawn trade squabbles between Nairobi and Kampala.

Trade fights

Even though Uganda remains a key market for Kenya’s exports, repeated trade fights over items such as sugar, eggs, and milk have impacted numbers. For instance, in June this year, Uganda accused Kenya of sparking a fresh trade row by reintroducing a levy on eggs imported from the neighbouring country.

Uganda said Kenya is now taxing its eggs at a rate of Sh72 a tray, bringing back a levy that had been suspended last December following bilateral talks between Kampala and Nairobi.

The two countries have also rowed over milk and dairy imports from Uganda even though newly elected President William Ruto has since announced that Kenya would now allow the shipments into her market. In another feud, Kenya in 2020 blocked Ugandan sugar and sugarcanes, costing traders who were exporting raw cane to sugar mills billions of shillings as the raw material was left to rot on trucks at the border.

The US tossed Kampala’s dominance as Kenya’s biggest market in the first half of this year, mainly buoyed up by the bigger sale of clothes. Official data show that exports to the US jumped 47 per cent to Sh38.8 billion in the first half of the year even as the sale of Kenya-made goods to Uganda dipped marginally to Sh36.2 billion in the same period from Sh36.3 billion in 2021.

Kenya enjoys substantial duty-free access to the US market through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a preferential trade programme for sub-Saharan African countries, but it expires in September 2025.

Kenya exported Sh59.6 billion worth of goods to the US in 2021, of which more than 75 per cent entered duty-free under Agoa -- chiefly apparel, macadamia nuts, coffee, tea, and titanium ores. The US exported Sh84 billion worth of goods to Kenya in 2021, with aircraft, plastics, machinery, and wheat among the biggest categories. Kenya is currently pursuing a new trade deal with the US to replace Agoa.