For the first time, Kenya has consumed more than it sold to African countries in the half-year period, signaling continued dwindling competitiveness of its products on the continent. The data from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) show total exports in six months through June dropped 1.96 percent to Sh107.55 billion compared with a year ago, higher than 0.99 percent in imports to Sh107.71 billion.
The trade deficit in Africa, the gap between imports and exports stood at Sh156 million, marking the first time Nairobi has run a deficit since the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) started to publicly keep trade records in 1999.