NAIROBI, Kenya, May 8 – Cabinet Secretary for Trade Moses Kuria has said that his ministry is looking at making the country a value-added commodity export market.
By exporting unfinished goods, Kuria lamented that the country is losing millions of shillings in revenue every day.
“We will take time to carefully study and benchmark how Indonesia has tremendously grown her GDP through value addition of natural resources and seek to apply the same models on resources like Soda Ash, which has been shipped away unprocessed for decades thus denying Kenya huge revenues,” “said Kuria while announcing his trip to Indonesia on his Twitter page.
The CS further added that his delegation will explore trade and investment partnerships in several sectors, including edible oils, mining, renewable energy, the blue economy, pharmaceuticals, meat and livestock, electric mobility, textiles and apparel, coffee, tea, nuts, and flowers.
Kenya is one of the leading exporters of cut flowers in the world, emanating from its vast flower farms in Naivasha.
The country is also a leading exporter of tea and coffee products throughout the world.
Kuria’s trip comes against the backdrop of President William Ruto’s efforts to resuscitate the agricultural sector.
In February last year, the President indicated that in the next five years, Kenya’s value-added tea for export must rise from five percent to 50 percent at the minimum.
Ruto noted that the country’s competitors produce approximately 60 percent of what Kenya produces but earn three times as much because they add value to their tea.
The head of state noted that for a long time, Kenya has helped other countries brand their tea with good-quality Kenyan tea, saying that practice must change.
