Will a cup of tea, flowers resolve spat with Britain?

Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab and Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenya exported goods worth nearly Sh50 billion to the United Kingdom last year.

It is among the few instances where the balance of trade with a powerful country is in favour of Kenya, having imported goods worth Sh30 billion from Britain during the same period, according to data by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

It would thus have been expected that Kenya would take its inclusion in UK’s ‘red list’ over the rise in Covid-19 numbers quietly, hoping that at worst this was a passing storm and it would soon be back in favourable books.

Travellers from countries on the list are barred from entering the UK unless they are citizens or permanent residents.

Kenya responded in kind, introducing strict rules for passengers arriving from the UK.

Under its rules, passengers will be subjected to two Covid-19 tests and will be placed in quarantine for 14 days at their cost.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya even went ahead to accuse UK and other vaccine-producing countries, of ‘vaccine apartheid’ for hoarding vaccines even when it did not need them.

The UK has, for instance, ordered 400 million doses for its population of 67 million.

While cargo freighters will continue operating between the two countries, there are fears that Kenya being on the list could harm its exports, as well as the risk that the spat could take a turn for the worse that might make it more difficult to export goods.

Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Clement Tulezi earlier this week told The Standard that farmers were a worried lot as the spat could have negative effects on the country’s exports.

“The country earned Sh25 billion from flower imports to the UK last year and once these directives come into force, there is fear that we shall lose all that due to the disruption,” he said.

Despite seemingly having an upper hand in the matter, UK has agreed to talks with Kenya with expectations of a middle ground.

What is at stake?

UK and Kenya recently entered into an economic partnership. The deal came into force in March this year after a year of negotiations and parliamentary scrutiny by both countries.

While the benefits are said to be mutual, the deal offers UK a footing into the region - which is crucial following Britain’s exit (Brexit) from the European Union.

The partnership followed the visit by UK’s former Prime Minister Theresa May in August 2018, whose visit to Kenya as well as South Africa and Nigeria was seen as among the efforts the country was making to deepen relations with certain countries as it prepared for Brexit.

President Uhuru Kenyatta also visited the UK in January last year, during which he held talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The talks, according to official statements, focused on scaling up ties between Kenya and the UK including trade in the post-Brexit era, cooperation in military training and security.

Also critical to the UK, and which Kenya could scuttle, are the interests of its private sector in the region.

There are over 210 British companies based in Kenya valued at over £2.5 billion (Sh370 billion).

These cut across different sectors and while Kenya is a key market for them, it is also important for trade access to the region. UK is one of the largest tourist source markets for Kenya and in 2019, 155,000 UK residents visited the country.

It is also one of the largest consumers of Kenyan tea as well as fresh produce such as flowers and vegetables.

Kenya and the UK have for long collaborated on military training, most prominent in the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) in Nanyuki, a permanent base where hundreds of British troops train every year.

According to the UK, over the past two years the British Army and the Kenyan Defence Forces have conducted five joint training exercises from Batuk, involving around 600 Kenyan troops and 4,500 British troops.

In January this year, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace opened a £70 million (Sh9.8 billion) military training facility for Batuk.