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In order to strengthen commercial ties with Kenya, Ghana has declared intentions to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
The West African state will establish an Export Trade House (ETH) in Kenya as part of the measures to promote trade relations between the two countries. Ghana will organize a three-day business expedition before the trade fair to highlight the goods it plans to import into Kenya.
Trade barriers between the nations of East and West Africa have historically been low because of regulatory restrictions. Nonetheless, many African nations are now trading more independently thanks to the AfCTA, the largest free trade area in the world. The first two nations to sign their AfCFTA ratification agreements on the same day were Kenya and Ghana.
“The overarching purpose of this Trade House is to serve as a one-stop wholesale outlet in the Eastern bloc of the continent for all Made in Ghana Products,” said Ghana’s High Commissioner to Kenya Damptey Bediako.
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Two months after being chosen as one of seven nations to serve as the pilot for the continental free trade area that aims to open up commerce in products and services in Africa, Kenya transported its first shipment of locally produced batteries to Ghana in September of last year.
In 2021, Kenya exported US$10.3 million (Sh1.4 billion) to Ghana, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database of international trade. Over the same time frame, Ghana's top exports to Kenya were cocoa powder, rubber, and other live plants, cuttings, and slips, as well as mushroom spawn.
“Through the Ghana Export Trade House the west African state is seeking to increase the availability of Ghanaian products strategically into the Kenyan market and consequently promote items Made in Ghana to the Eastern and Southern parts of Africa,” added Bediako.
The Ghana Export Trade House will be finished in May 2023 when the final touches have been made. Ghana's Ministry of Trade & Industry, The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), The National AfCFTA Coordination Office (NCO), and The Ghana Export Promotion Authority all worked together to organize the exhibition (GEPA).
According to the High Commissioner to Kenya, all Ghanaian goods entering Kenya would go through the Trade House, which is located in Sameer Business Park.