The Kenya-United Kingdom trade relations have been put on the edge in light of the Brexit polls a United Nations study named Kenya as one of the countries set to face a blow.
A Business Daily publication revealed that Kenya stands to lose Sh2 Billion of its economy as an aftermath of a ‘no-deal Brexit’.
The findings, the publication drew from a UN report that states: “countries such as Kenya, which currently enjoy preferential market access to the UK under terms negotiated with the EU, would face immense losses in the case of a no-deal exit’’.
Buiness Daily has however gone back on its word after being called out by UK Ambassador to Kenya Nic Hailey.
“This is entirely inaccurate. Deal or no deal, the UK will ensure Kenya retains duty-free, quota-free access for exports to the UK. We have made this clear to Kenyan exporters & will keep them briefed. Ask us before printing wrong stuff,”the ambassador said on his Twitter.
Business Daily ended up disbanding its publication as “misleading” saying that, “such analysis wrongly assumes that the UK will not have its own preference schemes in place once we leave the European Union. This is not the case. The UK government has made clear its commitment to maintaining Kenya’s quota-free duty-free access to the UK market, and will take measures to protect Kenyan exports.”
While the UN is also a credible source of information and the ‘deal or no-deal’ still a matter of the future, nothing can be qualified as cast in stone yet.
At the same time, whether the UK and Kenya have an officially signed agreement that Kenya will continue enjoying preferential market access is also not publicly known.