UAE trades free luxury jet for Kenyan goats

The United Arab Emirates which gifted Kenya’s President William Ruto a ride on a private jet during his tour of the United States has developed a taste for Kenya’s goat meat which helped double trade between Kenya and Dubai.

Kenya is attracting the Gulf country which is looking for new rangelands to turn petrodollars into valuable food with Sudan and most of the Great Lakes region in violent turmoil.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data for the first three months of this year, revenue from exports to Asia jumped 76.4 percent to Kes42.7 billion, on account of increased exports to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, which more than tripled and doubled, respectively.

“Specifically, there was increased domestic exports of tea to Saudi Arabia, goat meat to United Arab Emirates; and re-exports of kerosene type jet fuel to these two countries. On the contrary, exports to Iran declined by 45.5 per cent, resulting from decreased exports of tea to this destination,” KNBS Balance of Payment report for quarter one reads.

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Gulf countries have been testing assertive foreign relations in Africa as they prepare to play a more significant role in the world stage.

The Arabs have also sought to secure their food baskets, leverage their strategic location in the world’s energy maps and justify their rule domestically by showing benevolence as good Muslims.

Sukuk

The Gulf countries have increased relations with Kenya promising to bridge the country’s money problems with a Sukuk bond.

Sukuk is the Islamic equivalent of bonds, and it is structured in such a way as to generate returns to investors without infringing on Islamic law which prohibits riba or interest so instead could be tied to physical assets such as land

The Gulf countries like UAE are also securing tracts of land via climate change deals with Dubai which reportedly set up Blue Carbon to generate carbon credits by ‘restoring and protecting land’.

Great-lakes rangelands

Africa which contains 60 percent of the world’s total uncultivated arable lands and is geographically close to the Gulf is a great advantage. The Arabs feel the country’s water shortages are easily surmountable with appropriate investments.

Qatar which was hit severely with food supply shock during their diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia had shown interest in leasing land in Keya in 2008 President Mwai Kibaki government agreed to give them 40,000 acres In Tana delta.

While the plans went on freeze after local opposition, President Uhuru Kenyatta gave a cabinet nod that revived plans to lend out thousands of acres to the private sector. 

President William Ruto wants to push through those approvals to accelerate the land deals targeting an initial 72,100 acres at Galana Kulalu, the Bura irrigation scheme, Egerton University, Kimabere Farm, Kirimum Field Unit, Masinga Farm, the Tana Delta irrigation project, and the Tana irrigation scheme for the leasing programe.

Arabian goodies

The Qatari have always had an interest in Kenya, investing in the country’s syndicated loans, and holding stake at Ecobank. The largest bank in Qatar, Qatari National Bank (QNB) at some point even published its results in Kenyan dailies.

This year Qatari’s Arkan Investment Group has pledged to invest billions the planned state projects of Kileleshwa City, the Nairobi Pesa City Financial District, the affordable housing, and Downtown Nairobi at Railway City.

Their rivals Saudi Arabia have also kicked up relations through an ambiguous oil credit deal that has made the Kingdom both the country’s biggest import market and the second largest source of dollars through a surge in remittances.

Sixteen Saudi firms, including industry giants Aramco and Saudi Electricity Company, participated in Kenya’s maiden carbon auction netting Kes300 million. The firms were paying 23.50 Saudi riyals ($6.27) per metric tonne of carbon credits during the auction organised by the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC).