Uganda top EA exporter to Kenya
Kampala. Uganda exported more goods to Kenya than any other country in the East African region in the period running between January and September 2018.
Exports to the country in the period under review stood at Ush1.5 trillion compared to Ush908.7 billion in 2017.
The growth was driven by increased reliance on Uganda for maize supplies in the period under review.
Tanzania’s exports to Kenya stood at Ush820 billion down from Ush768 billion while Rwanda exported goods worth Ush499 billion from Ush483 billion in the period.
Uganda accounted for 70.36 per cent of the nearly 419,548 tonnes of Kenya’s maize imports, an equivalent of about 4.66 million 90-kilogramme bags, in the five months leading to May, according to data from Kenya Revenue Authority. However, imports from East Africa’s largest economy to Uganda were slightly higher standing at Ush1.7 trillion, a slight decrease from Ush1.73 trillion in 2017.
Uganda has in the last five years decreased its trade deficit with Kenya, which at some point had stood at more than Ush500 billion. On the whole, the value of Kenya’s imports from neighbouring countries jumped by 42.64 per cent in nine months through September amid flat growth in exports.
Kenyan traders trucked in goods worth Ush2 trillion within East Africa compared to Ush1.4 trillion in the same period in 2017.
This was largely due to Kenya’s reliance on her neighbours for food supplies such as maize.
Data collated by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, indicate imports from EAC countries increased by nearly one-and-a-half times compared with Ush834.7billion in the corresponding period in 2016.
