Kenya intends to improve its bilateral trade with Rwanda in the areas of cooperative development, youth empowerment, and information and communication technology.
On a two-day state visit to Rwanda, President Ruto of Kenya and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, inked an agreement on ten areas of cooperation.
A statement issued after the meeting reads, “The agreements seek to establish mechanisms for effective cooperation in education, ICT, gender and child development, youth capacity development, and cooperatives.”
The program is intended to promote development collaboration in penal services, diplomatic training, agriculture, and health, according to the statement.
The agreements also aim to make a substantial contribution to the East African Community and African Union coordination of the 2063 trade and investment agenda.
The trade balance between the two nations is now in Kenya’s favor. According to Trading Economics, a data platform with economic figures for numerous countries, Kenya’s export to Rwanda was $278 million (Sh37 billion) in 2021, while Rwanda’s export to Kenya was $11 million (Sh1.4 billion) in 2022.
With ships accounting for about 80% of world trade, the country has direct access to most global markets, in contrast to Rwanda, which is landlocked.
The president anticipates synergy in increasing the nations’ commercial relations in potential sectors for regional growth and development with the signing of the accords.
“Just as Rwanda is critical for Kenya as the gateway to the Eastern DRC and the broader Great Lakes region, Kenya is advantageous to Rwanda because the port of Mombasa is an efficient gateway for imports and exports,” the president of Kenya, William Ruto said.
The president of Kenya also stated that Kenya and Rwanda’s tight partnership has contributed greatly to efficient regional coordination.
Among the agreements planned to improve commerce is one that encourages and promotes collaboration between parties in the ICT industry for mutual benefit. It comprises encouraging and improving bilateral collaboration at the institutional level among various agencies involved in ICT coordination, implementation, regulation, and commercialization.
Collaboration in the area of youth affairs and the arts to encourage mutual understanding toward youth development by fostering innovations, talents, skills, and entrepreneurship for job creation is also included on the list. This will include the strengthening of bilateral collaborations between youth institutions, research institutions, and youth centers.
