Kenya and Uganda have decided to stop engaging in “unnecessary and expensive competition” and instead concentrate on regional industrial policy. The action is anticipated to ease trade tensions between Ugandan and Kenyan authorities, in which exporters from Uganda have suffered numerous losses over the past four years due to arbitrary blockades and non-tariff barriers.
Protectionist tendencies that have surfaced over the past four years have made the trade imbalance worse. Kenya can import maize from Uganda. Meanwhile, Uganda’s grain industry has developed enough capacity, according to Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze, to meet both domestic and foreign demand.
Kenya stated last week that it anticipates a decline in maize production over the next nine months, noting that the supply gap would be anticipated. Previously, Kenya has blocked Uganda’s maize from entering its market, forcing exporters to search for alternative markets in South Sudan, DR Congo and northern Tanzania.
