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(L-R) AmCham CEO Maxwell Otieno, KEPSA Director Brenda Mbathi, Corporate Council on Africa President Florizelle Liser, KEPSA CEO Carole Karug, Principal Secretary State Department for Trade Amb. Johnson Weru, and KEPSA Trustee Dr. Vimal Shah during the KEPSA – Corporate Council on Africa Roundtable in Nairobi.
Kenya and U.S exploring free trade agreement ties
The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) in partnership with the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), Kenyan and U.S. business leaders and senior government officials are exploring ways on how the private sector can support bilateral effort and take full advantage of investment and trade opportunities that will arise from a Kenya-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
This comes as a follow up to the recent visit of H.E. President Kenyatta to the United States, where the U.S. and Kenyan Government announced the launch of talks aimed at establishing a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries. If successful, it would be the first United States FTA with a sub-Saharan African nation and potentially a model the United States will use to enhance its trade and investment relationship with other African countries.
Last week in Washington D.C., Presidents Kenyatta and Trump announced at a White House meeting, the commencement of negotiations of a comprehensive, high-standard agreement between the United States and Kenya, which could serve as a model for additional agreements across Africa.
“We look forward to working together to create a free-trade agreement that allows Kenyan and American businesses to benefit from increased access to each others’ markets and one where both our consumers will enjoy greater prosperity through expanded choice and competition within the marketplace. A successful U.S.-Kenya FTA will stand as a landmark for East Africa, and for all of Africa,” said U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Kyle McCarter.
