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Kenya's exports to Somalia jump 51.4 per cent as trade ties deepen

President William Ruto (L) with Somalia's President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, at the State House in Nairobi on September 14, 2022. (Photo: PCS)

By Ibrahim Omar | 25 Jan 2024

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that Kenya exported goods worth Sh16.77 billion to Somalia in the nine months to September 2023.

Kenya’s exports to Somalia grew 51.4 per cent in the nine months to September 2023, compared to the same period the previous year, marking a resurgence of trade between the neighbouring countries.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows Kenya exported goods worth Sh16.77 billion to Somalia in the period, an increase of Sh5.7 billion from the exports worth Sh11.07 billion exported in the same period in 2022.

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Somalia became the sixth-largest destination for the country’s goods in Africa, coming after Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Egypt.

The growth in exports to Mogadishu marks a remarkable resurgence since 2019, with Kenya having registered a decline of 49 per cent between 2012 and 2019.

Trade between the two countries goes back decades, with Kenya enjoying a positive trade balance against Somalia as it exports more than it imports from the country.

According to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Kenya exported goods worth $123 million (Sh20.1 billion at current exchange rates) to Somalia in 2021.

“During the last 24 years, the exports of Kenya to Somalia have increased at an annualised rate of 5.07 per cent,” said the OEC.

Rolled tobacco formed the largest share of Kenya’s sales to its eastern neighbour, followed by edible preparations and packaged medicaments. Somalia is also a leading buyer of Kenya’s miraa (Kiswahili for 'khat').

In July 2022, Mogadishu lifted a two-year-long ban on miraa imports from Kenya, handing a major boost to local farmers who were struggling to make ends meet after access to one of their key markets was cut off.

On the other hand, Somalia exported goods worth $880,000 (Sh143.88 million) during the same period. The country’s top exports to Kenya were prefabricated buildings, scrap iron and electric generating sects, respectively.

Somalia’s exports to Kenya are growing at a much faster rate - 20.3 per cent annually - indicating that the country's increasingly competitive local industry is finding a ready market for its products in Kenya.

Trade between the two countries is likely to be further boosted by Somalia’s admission last November to the East African Community (EAC) as its eighth member. The others are Kenya, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.

Considering that Somalia is now one of only three EAC countries that have access to the Indian Ocean – alongside Kenya and Tanzania – its entry provides the bloc with a potential huge resource of fish.