Why President Evariste Ndayishimiye and First Lady are visiting Kenya?
RegionWeek Newsletter Vol IV, Issue #179 | Monday, May 31, 2021
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Dear RegionWeek Readers,
In a communiqué early this Monday, The Office in charge of information and communications at the Presidency of the Republic announced that this May 31, 2021, at the invitation of his Kenyan counterpart President Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye, and First Lady Angeline Ndayishimiye, will begin a two-day State visit to the Republic of Kenya during which he will participate in the celebrations relating to "Madaraka Day" scheduled for June 1, 2021.
The communiqué mentions that the visit will offer the two heads of state the opportunity to explore ways and means to strengthen the fraternal relations that bind the Peoples of Burundi and Kenya. Among the subjects of common interest that will be discussed is multi-sectoral cooperation, in particular the state of execution of pre-existing partnerships and the signing of new agreements.
Last week, a leaked official document listed three young entrepreneurs among the official delegation of businessmen who will accompany the President of the Republic to Kenya: Delphin Kaze (Green energy), Chris Géry Ninahaza (Architect), and Ir Wilbert Dusabe (Green energy).
Commentators hailed a new approach by the Burundi President to offer opportunity and visibility to young people and called this move an eloquent sign of the promotion of private development initiatives. A team of 15 drummers (Traditional dance and UNESCO heritage)will be among the delegation that will accompany the President of the Republic Evariste NDAYISHIMIYE
On the sideline of this visit, a High-Level Business Forum will be held this Monday at 2.30 pm Burundi time.
The business forum will serve as a platform for the business community to exchange views and develop proposals on measures that both countries can adopt with the view of increasing the overall trade between the two countries.
The scheduled business forum will be held on 31st May 2021 at 4:00 PM (Kenyan Time). The event will be physically held at the Acacia Premier Hotel, Kisumu. Everyone can join the business forum virtually by registering via this link.
According to The EastAfrican during the visit Kenya and Burundi will discuss “strategic cooperation”, starting with their membership in the East African Community. Various bilateral agreements, which have been pending for the last five years, are also likely to be signed.
“Burundi remains an important trade partner to Kenya with the balance of trade in favor of Kenya. There is immense untapped potential to expand trade relations between our two countries in terms of both value and volume,” a dispatch on the visit told the East African, indicating the intent to seek more markets for Kenyan investors in Burundi.
Burundi, a key Partner
According to The Star, The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (Keproba) has reported that Burundi was ranked 22nd amongst Kenya’s top export destination markets and accounted for 0.9% share of the total exports in 2020.
The total bilateral trade between the two countries averaged Sh6.7 billion over the years 2011 to 2020, and total trade was high in 2014 at Sh 7.9 billion. Kenya’s export to Burundi has averaged Sh6.5 billion over the same period 2011 to 2020, and exports were high in 2014 at Sh 7.9 billion while imports from Burundi averaged Sh0.2 billion, and the imports were high in 2011 at Sh 0.5 billion.
Kenya’s import market share in Burundi by 2019 was only behind China, India, United Arab Emirates, and Tanzania.
Thanks for reading!
Fabrice Iranzi, Editor in Chief | RegionWeek.com
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