Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Seth Onyango @SethManex

European Union states in Kenya have increased the cost of visa further burdening thousands of travellers seeking entry into the Schengen free-travel zone.

Coming amid Britain’s official exit from the European Union, analysts say the move has nothing to do with Brexit, but puts Kenya’s relationship with Europe on the spot.

Speaking to Business Hub, economist Aly-Khan Satchu exuded confidence, said Kenya’s economy will not falter post-Brexit era, as Britain finalises her divorce from EU.

“I think negative spillover concerns about UK-Kenya relations post Brexit have ebbed some and overall I expect an equilibrium and not a disequilibrium, as some were forecasting a few months ago,” he told Business Hub.

Caught Unaware

Some Kenyans unaware of the new charges that took effect on February 2 complained as they were forced to fork out €80 (Sh8,889) up from €60 (Sh6,666) to obtain the travel Schengen visas, with some saying it was related to changing trade relations in EU.

EU has defended the move to hike fees asserting the charges have not been adapted since 2006, arguing €60 fee no longer covers the costs of processing applications due to inflation.

The rules cover short-stay visas for the 22 EU countries that are part of the Schengen area (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden). It also applies to four associated countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Satchu noted that with the recent UK-Africa Investment Summit and signing of the UK-Kenya strategic five-year agreement, the UK will pivot towards the Commonwealth and the African Continent with a degree of purpose and intensity.

He was categorical, that Africa cannot replace the EU. However, from a geo-economic perspective, he projected “British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to give the continent a big heave”.

“We have deep and embedded ties with the UK and the UK remains the biggest investor in Kenya [think Vodafone Vodacom Safaricom, Diageo EABL et al] and with China now facing down the corona virus, I expect much better sailing conditions for UK Kenya.

For Kenya, the opportunity is to push more products down the Pipe [Tea, Flowers, vegetables] and to aggressively market investment opportunities to the UK,” he said.

 On balance, I think post Brexit UK is a singular opportunity for Kenya,” he said.