DP warns envoys who fail to get new markets
The government is seeking to boost its search for international markets by giving ambassadors targets to deliver on, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has reiterated.
He said the government is keen on looking for markets for farmers and other local producers and that the envoys have been given targets to meet.
“All ambassadors and high commissioners, 70 per cent of their work will be to look for new markets and expand existing ones. All ambassadors and high commissioners will sign a two-year MoU with us on what they must deliver in terms of enlarging markets,” he added.
Kenya recently secured a market for various products such as Avocados, textiles and others in countries such as China and the United States.
The deputy president who spoke at the Nairobi International Trade Fair said the access to market strategy is one of the ways they intend to help push their Bottom Up economic model to help lift farmers out of poverty.
“I want to confirm that we are going to have a paradigm shift in our foreign policy, those who are unable to deliver on the mandate will be returned back home,” said the Deputy President referring to the ambassadors yet to be appointed.
President William Ruto had earlier hinted at a change of the model of ambassadorial jobs in Kenya if elected after the August 9 polls.
Speaking at an economic forum in Nandi County on May 28, the then Ruto’s running mate Gachagua, detailed that Kenya Kwanza would offer two-year performance contracts to ambassadors serving under their administration.
About 60 per cent of Kenya’s exports are sold to the rest of Africa while the rest is sold to Europe, the US and Asia.
Kenya’s main exports include horticulture produce, tea, coffee, cement, flour, milk, rare earth minerals, livestock, petroleum products, steel and others. The main consumer of Kenyan commodities is now the United States, ending Kampala’s hegemony as the country’s leading export destination.
According to official statistics, higher clothing sales drove a 47 per cent increase in exports to the US, to Sh38.8 billion, in the first half of the year.
