President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to China has been closely followed due to expected details of a deal covering the SGR construction, but other deals have come to the fore instead. The President, accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries, government officials and AU Special Envoy for Infrastructure Raila Odinga are in China for the second Belt and Road Initiative Forum, and China’s President Xi Jinping and President Kenyatta have already held bilateral talks focusing on trade and economic exchange.
The avocado export deal between Kenya and China is one of the major highlights, coming days after Mauritius lifted a ban of Kenyan farm produce, including avocados. It’s expected that China will absorb more than 40 percent of Kenya’s avocado produce after the deal is fully implemented. This will make the Asian giant one of the largest importers, and it will be Kenya’s second farm produce to access the Chinese market, with other farm produce like Macadamia, Mangoes, French beans, herbs expected to follow. Trade CS Peter Munya lauded the deal saying China’s market is huge, “China’s market has around 1.4 billion people, if you find a ready market like that, then you know that as a farmer you can earn from your practice as long as you do it well,” he said.
Priority areas agreed during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on September 2018 were also discussed, and an MoU on joint promotion of the implementation of eight priority areas identified during the FOCAC meeting was signed.