Time for Kenya to up trade ties with neighbour Burundi

Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye is in the country as the chief guest at the Madaraka Day celebrations.

The visit is crucial as the country tries to mend relations with her neighbours in the East African Community.

The country has had a turbulent past with an attempted coup against the late President Pierre Nkurunziza being a blot in the region. 

There are many Burundians in Kenya; some who came as refugees escaping conflict at home while many more are here as traders and people seeking better opportunities.

Likewise, there are many Kenyans in Burundi, particularly in Bujumbura, who have opened businesses and are exploiting opportunities in the country.

Kenyan firms have made inroads in the country with KCB, Jubilee, Diamond Trust Bank and Kenya Airways leading the pack.

Trade between the two countries has, however, been low with Nairobi exporting goods worth $66 million. Burundi exported goods to Kenya worth $2.6 million. 

Pharmaceutical products, fertiliser, iron and steel are the main exports from Kenya to Burundi while mineral oils, coffee and spices form the bulk of what Kenya imports from Bujumbura.

The huge trade deficit is a pointer that the land-locked country needs to up its trade ante and President Ndayishimiye’s visit should spur business deals and opportunities that will benefit both countries. 

Burundi is a smaller partner and neighbours must hold her hands for the economy to grow.

Trade talks in the two days the Burundi leader will be in the country offer a perfect start. 

That bilateral agreements between the two countries have been pending for the last five years demonstrates the low level of interaction between the two EAC member states. These should be fast-tracked and more deals signed to increase trade. 

That the trade potential is immense cannot be gainsaid; all it takes is political goodwill from both countries to foster growth.

Hurdles and red tape that stands between the two realising development should be removed.

Such obstacles as work permits and lack of foreign currency should be a thing of the past. 

In the meantime, the Burundi government should uphold human rights and stop coming down hard on dissent.

Indeed authorities there have been sanctioned by the United Nations because of their poor human rights record.  

President Ndayishimiye is charting a new course and it can only be done and supported if the intentions are noble. It can be done.