More than 600 Kenyan manufacturers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have departed for Kigali, Rwanda, to showcase their products at the 26th East African Community (EAC) MSMEs Trade Fair, after the government flagged off the delegation on Sunday, October 25, at the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA) Kariobangi Centre of Excellence in Nairobi.
Principal Secretary for MSME Development Susan Mang’eni led the flag-off. The exhibitors are travelling to the fair, which runs from October 30 to November 8 at the Gikondo Expo Grounds under the theme “Advancing Regional Value Chains in Leather and Horticulture”.
MSEA Director General Henry Rithaa said four trucks collected products from different parts of Kenya for the exhibition, while about 600 more Kenyans, drawn from the diaspora and from businesses travelling directly, will join the delegation. That brings the total to more than 1,200.
Mang’eni said the fair is part of long-running efforts to deepen regional integration by encouraging countries to trade on their competitive advantages in agriculture and industry. She told traders to ensure that the trucks carrying goods to Rwanda do not return empty, and said the EAC market of about 331 million people and a combined gross domestic product of $356 billion gives Kenyan businesses room to reach more customers, understand market trends and test products against regional demand.
The delegation was put together with support from several government agencies. Ahead of the trip, the Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSME Development, Wycliffe Oparanya, set up a national organising committee to handle logistics, certification, security and the movement of goods.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards checked products destined for the fair, and the government has said every item on display must be 100 percent Kenyan-made and meet international market requirements. All 47 counties are represented, and at least 100 exhibitors are beneficiaries of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) programme.
Kenya has a strong foothold in Rwanda. It is among the country’s top five sources of imports, and more than 1,300 Kenyan companies already trade there. Rithaa said MSEA will keep the exhibitors connected to buyers after the fair through its online marketing portal and product aggregation, and use the same channels to help them reach the African Continental Free Trade Area, a market of about 1.3 billion people. The fair is expected to attract close to 2,000 exhibitors from across the EAC, and the EAC Quality Awards will be presented alongside it.
