Somalia boosts Kenya’s EAC market exports to record Sh85bn
Kenya’s exports to partner states in the East African Community(EAC) hit a record Sh85.2 billion in the quarter to September 2024, buoyed by shipments to Somalia, which joined the bloc at the end of 2023.
Mogadishu bought from Kenya goods and services worth Sh5 billion over the period, lifting Nairobi’s exports to its neighbours in the region and averting a drop from the Sh84 billion value reported last year.
This is the highest value of exports to EAC ever reported, but without Somalia, Kenya’s exports to the bloc partners would have dropped by 5 percent 0r Sh4.2 billion to Sh80.2 billion.
Over the period, Kenya’s trade with the bloc generally declined, with only Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) increasing their purchases from Nairobi amidst a dampened trade performance.
Rwanda’s imports from Kenya rose by Sh778 million, or 6.7 percent, to Sh12.4 billion, while DRC’s improved by Sh523 billion to Sh8.1 billion, overtaking South Sudan as the fourth leading importer from Kenya among the EAC partners.
Burundi has seen the sharpest slump in its purchases from Kenya over the period, from Sh2.9 billion in September 2023 to Sh1.8 billion last year, a drop of 36.9 per cent.
South Sudan and Tanzania also recorded double-digit drops, of 27 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, in their imports from Kenya, while Uganda’s dropped marginally by 0.62 per cent, but remains the top destination for Kenyan merchandise.
The entry of Somalia into the EAC is expected to ultimately boost its trade with the other seven member countries due to free movement of goods and people, and preferential trade under the bloc’s common market and customs union protocols.
However, there is yet to be an improvement in trade with Kenya – its only neighbour in the bloc. Compared to 2023, Kenya’s exports to Somalia shrunk by 5.3 per cent from Sh5.3 billion.
Overall, Kenya’s total trade with EAC partners dropped marginally by 0.2 per cent, meaning that imports from the region declined even more, while its trade with the European Union and East Asia rose.
Share of EAC trade in Kenya’s total trade also declined slightly by 0.57 percentage points, while that of trade with countries in the Common Market for East and Southern Africa bloc dropped by 1.1 per cent. The eight -member EAC trading bloc has continued to battle on-and-off trade tiffs, slowing growth in intra-regional trade despite the region being the most integrated in Africa.
This is despite the EAC Customs Union Protocol, the bloc’s first integration breakthrough which came into force in 2005, allowing the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labour within the bloc.
Trade with far East Asian countries, like China, South Korea, and Japan, now dominates its international business, accounting for 38.4 per cent of Kenya’s exports and imports, up from 33.4 per cent in September 2023.
