Kenya and the UAE will finally sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement during President William Ruto’s visit to Abu Dhabi.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed in a statement on Monday said the ‘historic economic agreement” will headline President Ruto’s visit, where he is also expected to attend the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit.
Hussein said the agreement will foster increased trade, investment and development cooperation between the two states.
“The UAE is Kenya’s sixth-largest export destination and a key market for tea, meat products, fruits, vegetables and flowers. The agreement is expected to further simplify export procedures, enhance market access for trade in services, and stimulate increased investments from the UAE across several sectors,” the statement said.
During the President’s visit, he will hold talks with UAE leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan as well as Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the sideline of the summit.
“These discussions will focus on strengthening cooperation in energy, trade, investment and technology, which are key pillars of Kenya’s Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda,” the statement added.
The delayed deal was to be signed in November 2023, during a scheduled official visit by President Al Nahyan that didn’t materialize.
In October 2022, Kenya and UAE committed to expanding trade ties by fast-tracking trade agreements and set up a joint panel to explore investment partnerships in oil and gas, technology transfer, agriculture, healthcare as well as development of Special Economic Zones.
This emerged following talks between President William Ruto and UAE’s Federal Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Shakhboot Al Nahyan at State House, Nairobi. Earlier in July, the two states had agreed to start negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Dr Al Zeyoudi and then Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development Betty Maina had signed a statement in Nairobi announcing plans to begin holding the trade talks.
The comprehensive agreement would be the first with an African nation, and was expected to boost UAE-Kenya non-oil trade, which grew to $2.3 billion in 2021.
“There is tremendous opportunity for closer economic integration between our two nations, especially in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, technology and renewable energy,” said Dr Al Zeyoudi at the time.
In February 2024, the two states announced an agreement to mutually advance trade, investment and economic cooperation but did not sign a comprehensive agreement.
Then Trade and Investment Minister Rebecca Miano said the two countries had reached concurrence on the Kenya—UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, “an instrument that will simplify trade procedures, enhance investor confidence, advance digital trade, strengthen cooperation between the private and public sectors, among other measures”.
