This is the first major agreement between the EU and a country on the African continent since 2016. The EU and Kenya signed a long-negotiated Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on Monday (18 December) to guarantee duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market for Kenyan products and tariff reductions for European products to the East African country.

"It's (...) the beginning of a historic partnership for a historic transformation," Ruto said at the signing ceremony in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, in the presence of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ursula von der Leyen called the partnership a "win-win", calling on other East African countries to join the deal.

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement that the "historic agreement" with a country that "is the economic centre of East Africa" "will unlock new areas of cooperation and mutually benefit our workers, businesses and traders".

The EU accounts for more than 20% of Kenya's exports, according to government data, mainly agricultural products: fruits and vegetables, tea, coffee, flowers...

Total trade between the two markets reached €3.3 billion in 2022, up 27% since 2018, according to EU figures.

"An ambitious partnership"

The Kenyan and European parliaments must now approve the text, which the European Council last week described as the "most ambitious economic partnership" with a developing country.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) and Kenyan President William Ruto during the signing of a trade agreement on December 18, 2023 in Nairobi © LUIS TATO / AFP

It also includes commitments to sustainable development, environmental protection and labour rights.

The agreement is part of Brussels' desire to forge closer economic ties on the African continent in an attempt to counter the presence of China, which is multiplying spending on major infrastructure projects.

In Kenya, the railway line linking Nairobi to the port of Mombasa (472 km), inaugurated in 2017, was built and financed by Chinese companies, to the tune of $5 billion (€4.6 billion).

The EU has taken steps to counter China's so-called "Belt and Road" agenda, also known as the Belt and Road, by announcing in February that it would increase investment in Kenya by hundreds of millions of dollars through its own strategy, "Global Gateway".

Kenya is considered by the international community to be a stable democracy in a region regularly rocked by political or military crises.

The "New Silk Roads" © Laurence CHU / AFP/Archives

On the sidelines of the agreement in June, Valdis Dombrovskis told the press that Africa was "a priority region" for the EU, hoping that the agreement with Kenya would echo elsewhere on the continent.

The agreement is the culmination of trade negotiations between the EU and the East African Community (EAC) that began a decade ago.

In 2014, the EU and EAC – at the time Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania – finalised negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement, but only Nairobi ratified it.

With AFP

This week's recapFrance 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week

Subscribe now

Take international news with you wherever you go! Download the France 24 app