Will AfCFTA survive beyond heavy US tariffs?

President William Ruto at the commissioning of Nex Gen packaging Kenya EPZ Ltd in April 2024. Ruto says Kenya's relations with the US is robust. [File, Standard]

Jeff Gable, Head of Financial Intelligence Centre Absa Group, is quick to dismiss the effect of United States’ 10 per cent tariff on Kenyan exports.

“Whereas it is uncomfortable, it is probably not enough  that people are going to move their textile machines to Alabama,” he says, referencing Kenya’s major export to the US, textiles and apparel.