Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said the Cepa with Kenya will provide scope to expand in various sectors. Antonie Robertson / The National
Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said the Cepa with Kenya will provide scope to expand in various sectors. Antonie Robertson / The National
Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said the Cepa with Kenya will provide scope to expand in various sectors. Antonie Robertson / The National
Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said the Cepa with Kenya will provide scope to expand in various sectors. Antonie Robertson / The National

UAE and Kenya conclude terms of Cepa trade in sectors from food to tech


Deena Kamel
  • English
  • Arabic

The UAE and Kenya have concluded negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) in a “landmark” deal that will provide further access to the high-growth African continent and expansion into sectors from food to technology.

The two trading partners will seek to tap into opportunities in sectors including food production, mining, technology and logistics, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said in a post on X on Friday.

“It is a landmark deal with one of the continent's most dynamic economies, offering new avenues for growth on both sides,” he said.

“An access point into a high-growth region, Kenya is already a major partner.”

In 2023, the UAE and Kenya's non-oil trade rose 26.4 per cent year on year to $3.1 billion, Dr Al Zeyoudi said.

This latest pact is the UAE's third Cepa with an African country. In December, it concluded the terms of a deal with Mauritius and with the Republic of Congo.

The UAE has already concluded Cepas with India, Israel, Indonesia, Turkey, Georgia, Cambodia, Colombia, South Korea and Costa Rica.

In 2023, the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade hit a record Dh3.5 trillion ($953 billion), bolstered by its economic diversification plans, as the Arab world's second-largest economy signed a series of Cepas with major economies around the world.

The pact comes a few days before the UAE hosts the World Trade Organisation's 13th Ministerial Conference, which faces the tough task of brokering key trade agreements, on Monday.

Kenya's real gross domestic product growth rose to an estimated 5 per cent in 2023, from 4.8 per cent in 2022. The African economy is projected to achieve growth that is between 4.5 per cent and 5.2 per cent in 2024.

The UAE-Kenya Cepa will hasten investment flows in high potential areas such as logistics, health care, travel, tourism, infrastructure and information communications technology.

It will help small and medium enterprises to expand, the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Trade said on Friday.

In terms of stimulating tourism, Kenya earlier announced it had dropped visa requirements for all visitors from around the world from January this year.

The services sector, which accounts for 53.6 per cent of Kenya’s gross domestic product, and its agriculture sector, which comprises about a quarter of national GDP, offer “vast potential” for UAE businesses seeking to expand into Africa, the Ministry of Foreign Trade said.

The deal marks a “a new chapter of trade relations” between the two countries that will secure vital East and West supply chains, spur investment into priority sectors and boost market access for Emirati and Kenyan businesses, it said.

“The UAE-Kenya CEPA will not only boost trade and investment, but also foster innovation and sustainable growth in key sectors such as agriculture, technology and tourism,” Dr Al Zeyoudi said.

“We look forward to deepening our relationship with Kenya and to further expanding our presence in Africa.”

Rebecca Miano, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, said the African nation had identified trade as a “key lever” of its economic growth and transformation.

“We are on a national development path that is seeking to increase industrial output, enhance the quality and global competitiveness of that output, and to expand the opportunities for its export,” she said.

“The comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the [UAE] will play a key role in these efforts, enabling our exports to reach important markets in Asia and the Middle East, and also in stimulating the investment inflows that will further develop our national capabilities.”

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Director: Dexter Fletcher

Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

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Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

AIR
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Six large-scale objects on show
  • Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
  • The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
  • A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
  • Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
  • A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
  • Torrijos Palace dome
The essentials

What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

When: Friday until March 9

Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City

Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.

Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.

Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
 

OPENING FIXTURES

Saturday September 12

Crystal Palace v Southampton

Fulham v Arsenal

Liverpool v Leeds United

Tottenham v Everton

West Brom v Leicester

West Ham  v Newcastle

Monday  September 14

Brighton v Chelsea

Sheffield United v Wolves

To be rescheduled

Burnley v Manchester United

Manchester City v Aston Villa

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

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Always use only regulated platforms

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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

NO OTHER LAND

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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)

What is THAAD?

It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.

Production:

It was created in 2008.

Speed:

THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.

Abilities:

THAAD is designed to take out  ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".

Purpose:

To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.

Range:

THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.

Creators:

Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.

UAE and THAAD:

In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.

Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas

Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa

Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong

Rating: 3/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

It

Director: Andres Muschietti

Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor

Three stars

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Date Started: May 2015

Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Laundry

Employees: 170

Funding: about $8m

Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures

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Updated: February 25, 2024, 5:13 AM`