Erdoğan visits Kenya as his second stop to sign new business deals

Following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Uganda, where he held high level meetings to consolidate diplomatic and economic relations on Wednesday, Erdoğan and the Turkish delegation flew to the second stop on their African tour, Kenya, which is another member of the East African Community (EAC).

Erdoğan and the ministers accompanying him are expected to sign new deals today with their Kenyan counterparts to improve business relations, along with the business forum where Erdoğan and Turkish businesspeople are expected to pave the way for new investments to be made in both countries. Meanwhile, although Turkey is currently not among Kenya's major trade partners, trade volume between the two countries has tripled over the last 10 years from $52 billion in 2005 to more than $140 billion in 2015.

Through Erdoğan's visit, the increase in the trade volume is expected to gain further momentum. Turkey's exports to Kenya in 2015 totaled more than $130 million. The top five export categories (2-digit Standard International Trade Classification (SITC)) for 2015 were hygienic products, some motor vehicle parts and tractors. It imported goods worth more than $10 million, ranging from coffee to crude animal and vegetable materials.