Kenya and Tanzania have taken down 23 restrictive trade barriers that had put a strain on business transactions between the two East African countries following President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s Nairobi visit in May 2021.
A new government paper shows that Kenya had initially targeted to resolve about seven non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in the financial year 2021/22; however, this jumped to 31, reflecting a warm relationship between the two countries.
The drop in the number of these trade barriers, which pushed the cumulative NTBs resolved and eliminated to 256 by the end of June last year, came moments after the visit to Kenya by President Suluhu, which saw trade between Kenya and Tanzania cross the KES 2 trillion mark for the first time, signalling improved ties between the two states.
Dr Magufuli’s protectionist policies had occasionally flared up in a diplomatic spat between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
“The over achievement was as a result of collaborations between Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania to resolve NTBs to create market access,” reads part of the Report for General Economic and Commercial Affairs Sector, a sector working group for the budget preparation, which also includes the Treasury as reported by Business Daily.
Read also; Kenya to Remove All Trade Barriers with Tanzania by January 2023.