European Union trade deal is bad for Kenya, warns UN report

Workers grade groceries for export. For a few days after the expiry of a previous agreement on October 1, 2014, Kenyan flowers and other fresh produce had been locked out of the European markets, to prompt the signing of the new deal. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: Kenya risks killing its own industries through an agreement entered with the European Union (EU), a UN agency has warned.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has warned that the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) entered in October 2014 with the East African countries opens up the local market to competition from European products. “This deal might adversely affect Kenyan industries, however, through increased competition from the European Union,” reads the caution contained in a report compiled by the ECA.