The UK officially left the European Union at 2300GMT on January 31, 2020, after being a member of the EU for 47 years.
The move still leaves many uncertain of the direction that the UK is set to take particularly in terms of trade with other nations.
However, the future seems bright for Kenya if recent events are anything to go by. In Kenya, the value of Brexit is already being felt given the outcome of the UK-Africa investment Summit attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta in late January.
Kenya successfully signed trade deals worth Ksh227 billion and is looking towards securing guarantees that would provide a five-year assured market for Kenyan businesses.
A meeting between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Kenyatta provided that Kenya-UK relations were elevated to ‘strategic partnership’.
This new status implies that there will be deeper ties between the two countries economically, politically and culturally.
In addition to the recently concluded deals, the UK will as well be sending Ksh527 billion in aid to the country.
A dispatch reflecting the agreement reached between President Kenyatta and the UK PM confirmed that the two countries will expand investment opportunities and trade over the following 5 years.
“From 2020-2025, we will work together across five pillars…reflecting the key challenges and opportunities of our time. Our countries will develop new investment and trade opportunities that will support business, including those of the Blue Economy, and create jobs.”
In addition to this, Kenya will continue benefiting from preferential treatment with regard to its trade with the UK. This means that Kenya will be provided with duty-free, quota-free on goods that it exports to the UK.
The UK is indicatevily softening on some of it's highly criticised restrictions towards Africa, especially immigration laws often described as unfair.
"Change is coming, and our system is becoming fairer and more equal between all our global friends and partners, treating people the same wherever they come from.
“By putting people before passports we will be able to attract the best talent from around the world, wherever they may be," Johnson told more the over 20 African heads of state at the January summit.
A statement released by the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU) on Thursday, January 22, indicated that a meeting by the two leaders had resulted in a committement by Johnson to would back down on issuing travel advisories to British citizens intent on visiting Kenya.
“What happens when these travel advisories are issued is that there are job losses especially in the tourism sector presenting an opportunity for the radicalisation of our young people,” President Kenyatta argued.
Directly addressing the potential of Brexit to impact the Kenyan economy, the president said; "I think this (Brexit) might end up being a blessing in disguise for all of us. I think there is huge potential to re-ignite once again the partnership and the investments that were actually the driving force of the global economy."
Observers, however, argue that Kenya could take a hit if Britain, that now has to renegotiate trade pacts individually away from the EU, chooses to cut back on gains the country has earned from previous deals that included the UK.
"Any renegotiations of the deals may lead to export delays and probable loss of revenue. Even worse, it may lead to the current account deficit widening, as well as less inflows of foreign exchange," Custody & Registrars (C&R) Group, a company with over 30 years experience in share registry with operations in Kenya and Uganda argues.
