Delta arrival to strengthen US-Kenya ties

By Michael Ranneberger

In our grandparents’ time, travelling between Kenya and the United States took weeks, if not months, on steamers ploughing the Indian, Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans. The speed and ease with which people and products move between countries is the foundation of commerce, just as speedy communication brings people closer together.

Kenya has been a traditional friend and partner to the US since its independence and is the region’s keystone state economically, commercially and financially. On June 3, with the launch of flights between Kenya and the US by Delta Airlines, a new era will begin. By cutting twenty per cent off the time required to fly between the two countries, Delta’s direct link will shorten the distance between our nations and promote an increased flow of travellers in both directions.

Delta’s launch is the fruit of many years’ work by the US and Kenya. We have cooperated in advancing ‘Safe Skies for Africa’, and working together with our Transportation Safety Administration, Kenya Airport Authority and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority have recently upgraded security measures at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to protect all air travellers. We look forward to further co-operation on security and safety.

The initiation of the Delta flights comes two months before Kenya will host the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) Forum, where senior US government officials will sit down with leaders from across Africa to discuss how we can work together to create jobs and opportunities.

Faster alternative

Agoa provides Kenyan businesses with a major advantage over non-African nations — the preferential entry of goods without paying customs duties — that offers Kenyan companies a large cost advantage over competitors. Reducing the time to market for exports can only help companies to take advantage of Agoa preferences.

The new air link has many benefits. Travellers from the US will appreciate the opportunity to fly using an airline they know well and trust, and they will appreciate having a faster alternative to passing through a European hub. Once here, they will take advantage of Kenya Airways’ unparallelled regional network to visit other East African destinations. While tourism arrivals have declined across the world over the last year, I am confident that Delta’s air bridge to the US will encourage a resurgence of visitors from my country. Kenya also has a unique opportunity to increase tourism visits to the country both before and after next year’s World Cup tournament in South Africa.

Kenya’s exports to the US will also benefit, especially those of perishable goods such as cut flowers. Growers rush their product to market because a freshly cut flower’s value is greater than one cut days earlier.

Shipping with Delta will shorten time to market and avoid using the middlemen who have historically resold Kenyan flowers in Europe. More of the profits from the industry should remain with Kenyan companies.

Access to American market

With the Delta flights, Kenya will be better able to access the American market and make available its incomparable coffee, tea, cashews, macadamia, cut flowers, soap stone figurines, precious stones and jewelry, apparel, and curios and wood carvings to the American consumer.

Delta’s service to Kenya means that Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya and local farmers will be able to more readily take advantage of recent decisions by the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to certify that five locally grown vegetables meet stringent American phytosanitary standards.

Kenyan coffee and tea producers recognise that Delta offers their industries a profitable link to American consumers. And representatives of the Kenya Flower Council are already gearing up for the June 9-12, 2009 Super Floral Show in Atlanta. Naturally, KFC participants will be flying Delta.

I would like to take this opportunity to salute the leadership of Delta Airlines for seeing beyond the short- term pressures of today’s business climate to the greater long-term benefit of linking the US directly with Kenya and her neighbours in East Africa.

There is no better way to know a people than to visit and see for yourself. By virtue of Delta’s launch this June, ties between the US and Kenya will be greatly enhanced.

— The writer is the United States Ambassador to Kenya.