Trade PS right to reject China deal

Trade Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo

Trade Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo was right to say Kenya will not sign a free trade agreement with China.

According to the PS, the trade deal would widen the trade deficit between the two countries.

Ideally, a free trade agreement should only be signed between economies that are at the same level of development.

The huge disparity between the Kenyan and Chinese economies means that a free trade agreement between the two would amount to the former committing economic suicide.

It is a grave concern that even in the absence of such a formal agreement, Kenya has been getting the short end of the stick in a manner reminiscent of the slave trade era when gold, ivory and human beings were exchanged for such trinkets as bead, pieces of cloth, guns and gunpowder, wreaking further havoc on the indigenous populations and their economies.

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There is no other way that the trade terms that resulted in China exporting goods to Kenya worth about Sh390.6 billion while importing goods valued at a paltry Sh9.9 billion can be understood.

But there is a glimmer of hope that the situation may be turned around. This is in Dr Kiptoo’s statement that Kenya is ready to identify a number of commodities that can be produced for the Chinese market. The question then is whether the Chinese are willing to play ball.

To remedy the situation, the PS needs to put in place strategies, programmes and projects that would benefit the country at large as opposed to the current situation.

The good news is that the Ministry of Industrialisation is well placed to finance such economic projects with little strain on the already overstretched public purse.

[Mbatau wa Ngai, [email protected]]