Agoa.info - African Growth and Opportunity Act
TRALAC - Trade Law Centre
You are here: Home/News/Article/CCA and KEPSA sign US-Kenya private sector SME trade initiative

CCA and KEPSA sign US-Kenya private sector SME trade initiative

CCA and KEPSA sign US-Kenya private sector SME trade initiative
Published date:
Wednesday, 20 October 2021

On Monday, October 11, 2021, H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya witnessed the signing of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) U.S.-Kenya SME Trade Initiative.

The initiative recognizes the critical role that SMEs play in U.S. and Kenyan trade, and seeks to expand trade and investment between American and Kenyan Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through partnership, information sharing, training, logistics, financing, and more.

A key component of the Initiative is to empower Kenyans SMEs to take full advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and be prepared to effectively leverage any future trade agreement between the U.S. and Kenya. 

CCA and KEPSA will collaborate to harness needed support from the Kenyan and U.S. governments, including under the U.S. Prosper Africa Build Together campaign. 

In addition, the initiative will seek to link Kenyan and U.S. SMEs – especially women, youth, minority, and diaspora-owned – to the regional and global value chains of multinational companies that are members of CCA and KEPSA. 

The launch event included a select group of U.S. and Kenyan SMEs and multinationals active in Kenya-U.S. trade and investment, including Flutterwave, Kentegra, Pfizer, Talanton Impact Fund, Visa Foundation, BizSoultions 360, and Swahili Village, among others. 

CCA and KEPSA were also honored to have a high-level Kenyan delegation participate in the initiative’s launch event, including President Kenyatta’s Senior Economic Advisor, Cabinet Secretaries of Foreign Affairs and Industrialization and Trade, and Ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations.

CCA thanks KEPSA for their partnership, and looks forward to successfully implementing this important initiative to scale up U.S.-Kenya trade, investment, and business through the power of SMEs.


Download AGOA Forum 2021 documents at this link


 

Read related news articles

US and Kenya invite public participation in stakeholder listening session during 6th negotiating round under the STIP

The United States and Kenya will hold a virtual stakeholder listening session during the sixth round of negotiations under the United States-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) on Friday, June 7 at 9:00AM East Africa Time (EAT). The session will be co-chaired by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Constance Hamilton and Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Trade Alfred K’Ombudo. The sixth round of negotiations are taking...

03 June 2024

United States and Kenya to hold sixth negotiating round under the STIP early June

The United States and Kenya will hold a sixth in-person negotiating round under the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) in Mombasa, Kenya, from June 3-7. The United States delegation will be led by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Constance Hamilton and will include representatives from several other U.S. government agencies. The Kenyan delegation will be led by Principal Secretary for Trade Alfred...

27 May 2024

Ruto's State visit spotlights Kenya's centrality to Africa-US relations [Download Facsheet]

President Joe Biden's choice of Kenya for a first African state visit in more than 15 years is no coincidence, but both countries must be clear on what is driving this increasing strategic dependence. Kenyan President William Ruto's arrival in Washington on 22 May ends a historic drought. No African leader has made a state visit to the US since John Kufuor of Ghana in 2008 - three times longer than the previous record gap, but a period that...

23 May 2024

Senator Coons talks US and sub-Saharan African countries partnership amid Kenyan President’s visit

In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) discussed Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to the United States this week and the need for Congress to advance a reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in an interview with Devex yesterday. A major area of interest for President Ruto is the trade relationship between the United States and Kenya, and his visit is expected to lend support to the...

22 May 2024

Top democrats on Senate and House committees urge Administration to upgrade Kenya trade talks to a comprehensive trade agreement

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal, D-Mass., called on U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to transition current trade discussions with Kenya into negotiations of a comprehensive, enforceable trade agreement, in a letter today.  Although the Biden administration is in discussions for a U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP),...

21 May 2024

Kenya-US trade talks inching closer to completion – Cabinet Sec Miano

Kenya and the US are inching closer to reaching a trade deal, Investments, Trade and Industry CS Rebecca Miano has hinted, meaning a pact could be in place by end of this year. This, even as the US expresses confidence that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), set to expire next year, will be renewed to allow Sub-Sharan nations continue to enjoy preferential export terms to the US market. The in-person talks between Kenya and US...

25 April 2024

USTR releases summaries from US – Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations

Consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to the highest levels of transparency in trade agreement negotiations, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today released summaries of texts proposed by the U.S. side on good regulatory practices, workers’ rights and protections, and a second tranche of agriculture text. Negotiations on these texts are ongoing. USTR will negotiate the workers’...

08 April 2024

Kenya: 4th AmCham business summit to advocate for enhanced partnership and investment In US-East Africa trade

The fourth edition of the regional American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham) Business Summit, the premier platform for strengthening bilateral trade and investment between the United States, Kenya, and East Africa is set to be held on April 24–25, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya’s President William Ruto is confirmed as Chief Guest, leading a government delegation to the summit that aims to expand commercial opportunities and markets....

19 March 2024

US-Kenya: Ruto’s US state visit needs to navigate America’s uncertain political future

President William Ruto will visit the United States on a State Visit in May during what is likely to be one of the most turbulent US elections in memory. Barring some miracle, or catastrophe, the US presidential election will be a showdown between the same two contenders—albeit older and less energetic—as in 2020. The US presidential election in November is the most significant geopolitical risk event of 2024. Its outcome could result in...

26 February 2024

US President Biden to welcome Kenyan President Ruto to the White House in May

President Joe Biden plans to welcome Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House in May, hosting a state visit after reneging on his promise to visit Africa last year. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that the visit set for May 23 will mark the 60th anniversary of U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relations and "celebrate a partnership that is delivering for the people" of both countries while affirming "our strategic...

18 February 2024

US keen to strengthen Kenya’s public procurement system as trade talks resume [incl. Readout]

The US plans to strengthen Kenya’s public procurement systems in what is seen as a strategy to put in place sound structures ahead of the planned trade pact. This comes as talks on the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) resumed last week with a meeting in Nairobi. Kenya is pushing for the deal and renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which expires next year. Washington in a statement on Tuesday said the...

07 February 2024

You are here: Home/News/Article/CCA and KEPSA sign US-Kenya private sector SME trade initiative