Kenya lobbies to have EU tax free exports

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohammed speaks during the UNCTAD in Nairobi. (Photo: Beverlyne Musili/Standard)

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet secretary is lobbying other East African countries to back an agreement that will guarantee Kenyan exports tax-free access to the EU.

CS Amina Mohammed Monday said she is counting on Uganda and Tanzania to clinch the deal.

"We have two more weeks until August 4. We are engaging with everyone to make sure that all of us agree at the same time," Ms Amina said on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Deputy President William Ruto reached out to Burundi and Rwanda to back the agreement. "It cannot be signed now because we have not all agreed. We are hoping that we can do it in the near future," Amina added.

The agreement was negotiated between the EU and the East African Community, as a single unit.

A decision by Tanzania and Uganda to opt out of the EPA has jeopardised Kenya's exports to the EU, which will from October 1 attract heavy taxes of up to 22 per cent.

Kenya, unlike all her neighbours in the EAC, is not considered a Least Developed Country, which takes away the preferential treatment on its exports.