Tanzania carefully weighs Kenya’s restrictions on foreign petty traders

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is assessing Kenya’s decision to restrict foreign nationals from engaging in small-scale trading to determine whether the measures comply with the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol.

Kenyan President William Ruto on September 2 directed his government to stop foreign nationals from engaging in small-scale hawking and trading, saying such businesses should be reserved for Kenyan traders. Enforcement is due to begin on September 7.

Head of the Government Communication Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Mindi Kasiga, told The Citizen that Tanzania was reviewing the measures, particularly activities Kenya intends to reserve for its citizens.

“The Ministry continues to closely monitor the measure announced by the Government of Kenya, with the aim of determining whether the activities intended to be reserved exclusively for Kenyan citizens are inconsistent with the provisions of the Common Market Protocol,” she said.

The assessment will focus on provisions covering trade in goods and services, the right of establishment and the pursuit of economic activities.

Ambassador Kasiga said EAC integration was governed by the 1999 Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, together with protocols, laws and decisions adopted by Partner States.

However, she said membership of the Common Market did not mean every economic activity was automatically open to citizens of all Partner States.

Under the Common Market Protocol, Partner States have opened specific activities through commitments contained in its annexes.

She said some activities had not been opened at Community level through the Treaty, protocols, laws or decisions. In such cases, citizens of Partner States may undertake certain activities based on decisions or domestic policies adopted by individual countries.

“For areas where countries have not made specific commitments, each country has the discretion, in accordance with its domestic laws and policies, to decide whether to open such activities or impose restrictions, depending on the country’s circumstances, needs and prevailing conditions at a given time,” she said. The issue has drawn attention in Tanzania because the country introduced similar restrictions on foreign nationals in July 2025.

The then Industry and Trade Minister Selemani Jafo announced restrictions covering 15 mainly small-scale business activities, including mobile money transfers, tour guiding, small-scale mining, on-farm crop buying, beauty salons and curio shops. The measures triggered concern in Kenya, with critics arguing that they conflicted with EAC commitments on the movement of people and trade.

Kenya’s then Trade Minister Lee Kinyanjui called for the restrictions to be removed, saying they could affect the economies of both countries.

“It is therefore critical, in the spirit of EAC, that bilateral engagements be held to resolve these issues,” Mr Kinyanjui said in a statement in July 2025.

Industry and Trade Minister Judith Kapinga told The Citizen at the weekend that Tanzania still maintained that some economic activities were reserved for local citizens.

Kenya’s latest move has renewed debate over how Partner States balance domestic economic interests with commitments under the EAC Common Market.

Speaking to micro, small and medium enterprise traders at State House in Nairobi on September 2, President Ruto said foreign nationals should not compete with Kenyans in small businesses.

“There are traders from foreign nations, let me not mention the countries, who have come here and started hawking or engaging in small businesses, selling things like duvets and others,” he said.

He directed foreign nationals engaged in such businesses to close their operations, with enforcement scheduled to begin on September 7.

“From next week, all traders doing those small businesses should close them,” Mr Ruto said.

He said Kenya needed to protect opportunities for its citizens in small businesses while encouraging foreign investors to undertake investments that support broader economic activity and job creation.

Ambassador Kasiga, however, said Tanzania had not concluded that Kenya’s measures were inconsistent with EAC law.

She said Tanzania would continue engaging relevant authorities in both countries in accordance with the EAC Treaty, relevant protocols and Community laws to ensure that measures adopted by Partner States remain consistent with regional integration principles.