By Abdikadir Sugow
Talks of a silent war between Iran and Israel seem to be piling by the hour. Israel is adamant Iran will not continue with its nuclear programme.
Prices of goods have been reported to be doubling every month following sanctions imposed by the US and EU over the nuclear programme.
So debilitating is the situation that non-governmental organizations have said Iran may suffer shortage of basic medicines and currency. However, despite the woes facing the Middle East country, Iran is looking to make economic inroads in Kenya and Africa in general.
The Islamic nation is making calculated steps to bolster trade in the continent. Due to the sanctions, Iran’s economy – heavily dependent on oil revenue has suffered and infl ation has risen. Iran has been trying to use its crude oil as leverage, but trade with the West has significantly gone down.
Now, Iran is looking to Africa to reverse the trend. Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, speaking during an international media exhibition in the capital Tehran, said his country was ready to ‘co-operate with Africa’.
“We are ready to provide technical and material help, including finances to those countries that need our assistance,” said Rahimi, who is widely touted to take over from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the country’s elections next year.
Foreign policy
Iran is a leading economic power in the Persian Gulf countries. The country is the second largest producer of natural gas after Russia and has the third highest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Iranian exports to Kenya consist of industrial oil, lubricants, construction materials, and bitumen, amongst others. Kenya’s main export to Iran is tea, which has this year increased by 20 per cent.
Kenya is also involved in the construction of Iran’s largest grain silo at the Imam Khomeini Port Complex, southwest of Iran, in a joint investment by the Iranian and Kenyan private sector. Over three trillion rials (around $300 million [about Sh25 billion]) have been invested in the
project, in which a Kenyan private investor has made a signifi cant contribution.
The silos will have the capacity to store 20 million tons of grains. Iran’s foreign policy attaches signify cance to enhanced ties with African countries, according to its Foreign Affairs spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, who also voices his country’s readiness to bolster economic cooperation with Kenya.
Grants to Kenya
“Iran is currently offering Kenya a credit facility of $200 million about Sh17 billion. We can increase the facility to $400 million Sh34 billion, depending on the credibility of projects that the Kenyan Government runs,” Rehmanparast told The Standard On Saturday. Iran signed agreements with Kenya during an offi cial visit by President Ahmadinejad to Nairobi in 2009, which provided frameworks for strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The Islamic Republic also provided a credit facility of $5 million –Sh400 million – to Kenya to promoteanimal health and co-operation. According to the Africa Economic Institute, Kenya’s growing need for energy has encouraged ties with Iran, which has oil and nuclear power as alternative power sources.
Iran’s Vice-President Rahimi says his Government was willing to striketrade deals with Africa at affordable rates and at the same time help countries by providing the necessary materials and technology to exploit their natural resources.
Addressing the media at the 19th International Press and News Agencies Exhibition at the Imam Khomeini International Complex Centre in Tehran, Iran, he said the Persian Gulf country would also help preserve African culture, adding that there was a lot in common between his country and the continent.
Restructuring of revenue
Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Dr Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini and other offi cials accompanied him. Rahimi claimed the West had created militant groups including the Al-Shabaab in East Africa, Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Tuareg rebels in Mali to create economic instability in Africa.
Observers in the region say Iran wants to reduce the presence of the West in the Persian Gulf dramatically. Iran further wants a restructuring of oil revenue in the region, by allowing Iranian investment in Arabian oil companies (possibly fi nanced by the host country) and a bigger share of the region’s vast fi nancial resources.
Iran’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said Iran conducted economic transactions with 150 countries in the previous Iranian calendar year (March 2011 to March 2012). About 80 countries transited their products through Iran.
He said Iran continues trading with the world at a brisk pace, even though certain countries are trying to create obstacles to hinder the country’s economic progress, the Finance minister said.
He was referring to sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and the European Union, which has affected the country’s financial position, particularly on oil – Iran’s main source of revenue – that it exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the trade gateway that links the East, West and Africa.
The Western countries have imposed the sanctions amid stalled negotiations and escalating tensions regarding Iran’s nuclear programme, which they claim is intended for military purposes.
