President William Ruto has underscored the importance of strong trade ties between Kenya and Egypt during his State Visit to Cairo on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
In a meeting with Egyptian President Abdelfattah Elsisi at the Headquarters of the Presidency in Cairo, Ruto lauded the long-standing diplomatic relationship between the two countries..
“Kenya and Egypt have had a strong and cordial relationship for the past 60 years. This has led to blossoming trade ties that have cemented the common bonds of friendship among our private sector members,” President Ruto said in a statement posted on his X account on January 29, 2025.
In his remarks, President Ruto emphasized Egypt’s position as Kenya’s second-largest tea importer, asserting the North African nation as a key trading partner.
“Egypt is an important trading partner for Kenya and the second largest tea importer, accounting for 14% of the total export volume. Annually, Egypt imports an average of 84 million kilogrammes of tea from Kenya worth about KSh21 billion,” Ruto said.
During their bilateral discussions, both leaders expressed their commitment to diversifying trade beyond tea exports.
“The two countries are committed to diversifying trade, especially in agriculture, manufacturing, meat and meat products, horticulture and pharmaceuticals,” Ruto said.
Kenya-Egypt MOUs
The visit follows the arrival of Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi in Cairo on January 28, 2025, to oversee the signing of new bilateral agreements.
In a press briefing on January 27, 2025, Jacob Ng’etich, the director of the press service in the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, announced that eight new Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were prepared for signing during the state visit.
These MOUs cover political consultations, diplomatic training, investment facilitation, cooperation in ports, youth engagement, higher education, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.
These agreements build on four MOUs signed in March 2024 between Mudavadi and Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry, which addressed trade and investments, agriculture, tourism, energy, and infrastructure development.
“The deep bilateral agreements come less than a year after H.E. Dr. Mudavadi and his Egyptian counterpart Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, on March 8th, 2024 signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs), in Trade and Investments, Agriculture, Tourism, Energy and Infrastructure development,” Ng’etich stated.
