President Uhuru Kenyatta when he met UK Prime Minister Theresa May at Number 10 Downing Street, London. [Photo/ PSCU]
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday met Prime Minister Theresa May and sought a pact to guarantee Kenyan exports accessed the UK market on a duty-free quota-free basis after the country exits from the European Union.
At a landmark meeting at Number 10 Downing Street, President Kenyatta also spoke strongly about strengthening bilateral relations with Britain, and closer security cooperation, especially in regard to Somalia.
President Kenyatta arrived in Britain last night to attend the Third London Conference on Somalia at the famed Lancaster House later today (Thursday), and to meet PM May on deepening bilateral relations for one of the country’s long-term allies. The President will also meet Prince William at Buckingham Palace on Friday.
It was the first meeting between the Kenyan leader and the British Prime Minister. The UK is Kenya’s third most important export destination after Uganda and the United States, and the leading source market for Kenya’s lifeblood tourism sector.
There are hundreds of UK companies in Kenya, valued in the trillions.
The President’s agenda is about ensuring a conducive environment so businesses can thrive in order to provide much-needed jobs, and deepen security in Kenya and the region in order to foster growth and inclusive prosperity, reports PSCU.
“It is Kenya’s desire to continue having seamless trade relations during and after Brexit. We wish to continue accessing the UK market duty-free and quota-free after the UK exits the EU,” President Kenyatta said.
President Kenyatta and Prime Minister May agreed on creating a working group to examine a new framework for bilateral and economic relations between the two countries to ensure predictability and continuation of the existing market conditions after Brexit.