Eyes on Kenya: UAE looking to grow trade ties with East Africa’s largest economy

Kenya is among some eight countries that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wants to deepen trade ties with, even as it pushes to grow its status as the Middle East commercial hub.   According to a report filed by Reuters on September 14th, the Gulf State said it wanted to strengthen trade and economic ties with countries including India, Britain, Turkey, South Korea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Israel and Kenya.   The Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani Al Zeyoudi told the publication that UAE would pursue bilateral issues that include trade, foreign direct investment and sectors such as tourism.   In terms of oil, UAE is Kenya’s major supplier of oil. For instance, in 2019, oil imports from the UAE stood at KSh116.9 billion ($1.2M) in 2018 compared to KSh108.6 billion ($1.0M) in the previous year.  That year, however, Saudi Arabia overtook UAE as the leading source of Kenya’s oil imports, according to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.  The country is however trying to double its non-oil trade and investments with Kenya.  As of 2019, data by the World Integrated Trade Solutions revealed that Kenya’s product imports from UAE included consumer goods as the leading type of import, followed by fuels, intermediate goods, plastic,