NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 23 – Kenyan-made exide batteries worth Sh9.3million landed in the Port of Tema, Ghana on Friday marking the country’s formal start of trading under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Kenya’s High Commissioner to Ghana H.E. Amb. Eliphas Barine witnessed the unveiling of the cargo by a Representative of Kenya’s Associated Battery Manufacturing EA Ltd who handed over the consignment over to the importer, Gifty Fianu of Yesudem Company Ltd, Ghana.
Kenya is among six countries selected to participate in the pilot phase of the AfCFTA Initiative on Guided Trade, formulated on realization that no trading was taking place one-and-a-half years after the launch of AfCFTA preferential trading on January 1, 2021.
The other five countries are Cameron, Egypt, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The Initiative is a program to kick-start trade between and among State Parties that have signaled their readiness to commence commercially meaningful relations through the utilization of AfCFTA Preferences.
The six pilot countries are required to identify products that can access the markets among the pilot countries.
Through an Ad Hoc Committee formed to spearhead this initiative, Kenya has identified several products for this initiative.
They include tea, exide batteries, confectionery, leather bags, incinerators, beaded products, vehicular filters, textiles, sisal fibre, avocadoes and fresh produce.
Associated Battery Manufacturing EA Ltd is the first Kenyan company to start trading under AfCFTA. It is also the first local company to ever export exide batteries to the Ghanaian market.
“Kenya and Ghana are keen on using the AfCFTA Agreement to create jobs and market for their goods and services, thereby keeping wealth within the African continent,” Kenya’s Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development ministry said in a statement.
As it stands, statistics show that the AfCFTA creates a large single market with a population of over 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of about US$ 2.5 trillion (Sh 303.2 trillion).
