Improved Road & Railway Infrastructure Can Boost Intra-African Trade

Improving transport infrastructure between Cairo and Johannesburg will greatly improve trade within the African continent. This is according to Egypt’s Ambassador to Kenya Wael Nasr Eldin Attiya who says the road infrastructure within the continent is seventy percent complete with various countries such as Egypt having completed their sections will see increased volumes of trade.

“We are sure that trade within our two countries and the continent in general will improve once the ongoing infrastructure projects are complete. By this we mean both road and railway as crucial in facilitating movement of goods, we have problems in countries that have conflict but once these issues are solved we believe it will be complete in no time,” says Egypt’s Ambassador to Kenya Wael Nasr Eldin Attiya.

Speaking during the sidelines of the Kenya – Egypt trade mission in Nairobi Wael adds that countries must also work to eliminate various non-tariff and tariff barriers as they continue to stifle trade within the continent. The Ambassador adds that the port of Mombasa continues to be a pivotal point in facilitating trade between Egypt and Kenya with the proximity between the two countries also working to the advantage of exporters and importers. Further, he adds that the imbalance in trade between Kenya and Egypt is due to Mombasa being as a gateway to East and Central Africa. Wael says trade volumes between the two countries continues to increase thanks to improved relations.

“Transport by ship from Cairo to Mombasa currently takes about 14 days which is quite fast thus we are encouraging companies from both Kenya and Egypt to explore this route as we wait for the completion of other logistics infrastructure,” He added.

The ambassador has also lauded the entry of the Egyptian bank into the Kenyan market saying it will enable trade between business people from both countries. Speaking at the same event CIB Kenya CEO Daphne Maina said the bank will enable facilitate trade between the two COMESA nations

The Kenya-Egypt trade mission is organized by the Egyptian Food Export Council and features a series of productive visits by Egyptian companies to wholesale market areas and key supermarket chains in Nairobi. The Kenyan companies will also have an opportunity to have B2B meetings with the 26 companies during the two-day event.