Kenyans are poised to dig deeper into their pockets to buy sugar as the price of the commodity is expected to rise.
This was after Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on Monday, January 23, refused to ban its members from selling sugar to non-member states.
COMESA also in another blow to Kenya failed to extend the Kenya Sugar Safeguard that had been in place for five years.
COMESA director of trade Christopher Onyango, while speaking to the press, announced that the Kenyan government has to turn to internal measures to curb the expected sugar price rise.
“We are not going to ban our members from engaging in a competitive market by stopping them from selling sugar to non-member states offering good prices.
“If Kenya wants to curb rising sugar prices, the government should use internal measures like reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers,” Onyango advised the Kenyan government.
Onyango observed that Kenya had a sugar deficit but the country had not put enough measures to address the deficit.
“We already have enough sugar in the bloc and if Kenya institutes the internal measures, it will be able to compete with other countries,” Onyango remarked.
Apart from lowering tariffs, Onyango explained that Kenya could benefit from increased production.
“COMESA member states like Sudan, Malawi, Swaziland, and Zambia have increased their production in recent years.
“They have invested a lot in mechanizing the industry which has in turn reduced production cost,” the Director advised.
Onyango further announced that when the Kenya Sugar Safeguard expires in December 2023, the local sugar industry will face challenges.
Kenya had been granted safeguards by the COMESA Council of Ministers to enable it to undertake measures to re-structure its domestic sugar sector to attain competitiveness and become a profitable sector.
When the current deal expires, the Kenyan government will not be able to prevent flooding of the market with cheap imported sugar which will deal a blow to the local sugar industry.
