Kenya's exports to African countries, particularly in the East African Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) markets, are resurging as more nations reopen amid the battle against COVID-19, the country's apex bank said in a report released on Thursday.
New economic data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that while the exports slowed down in March when the pandemic broke out in many countries in Africa, they rose from April.
The African countries covered in the data from the CBK include Tanzania, Somalia, Zambia, Egypt, Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, with Uganda leading as the top export destination for goods from Kenya.
Kenya in March exported to Uganda goods worth 684 million shillings (6.4 million U.S. dollars), and in April, the exports fell by more than half to 2.5 million dollars before resurging in May to 4.4 million dollars, according to the apex bank.
To Egypt, Kenya in March exported goods worth 1.4 million dollars, falling to 1.2 million dollars in April and then resurging to 1.3 million in May.
Exports to Rwanda fell to 831,775 dollars in April from 1.3 million in March before resurging to 1.34 million in May.
A similar trend was witnessed across the other export destinations with total shipments standing at 15 million dollars in May, up from 12.6 million dollars in April and 23 million dollars in March.
Kenya's exports to various African countries include coffee, tea, sugar, confectionery, pharmaceutical products, cement, alcohol, vehicles and iron and steel products. The country on the other hand imports cereals, milk and dairy products, beans, animal feeds and eggs.