The United Kingdom has said it will have a free hand to sign better deals with Kenya once it completes its exit from the European Union.
UK High Commissioner to Kenya Nic Hailey said that without the restrictions that go with membership to a trading bloc like the EU, Britain would negotiate “better and lucrative” agricultural produce deals with Kenya.
“Once the process of exiting is complete the UK will negotiate new trade deals with Kenya, especially for agricultural products including tea and flowers, which we expect will be better for the country,” he said when he visited Unilever Kenya offices in Mombasa.
Britain voted to exit the EU last June, sending shockwaves across markets and setting in motion a process that would see the country renegotiate individual trade pacts.
Anxiety has been growing in Kenya over the future partnership with the UK, one of the top exports market for its mainly agricultural exports.
On the other hand Kenya, like many developing states, has been apprehensive of the reciprocal agricultural deals that the EU has insisted on since the bloc started negotiating an economic partnership agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Read more on this here.