In just three weeks, Kenya has generated a total of Sh1Billion from the exportation of miraa (khat) to neighbouring Somalia.
According to the head of Miraa Pyrethrum and other Industrial Crops Felix Mutwiri, in the three weeks, Kenya exported 81.4 tonnes of the product to Mogadishu.
“We have so far exported 81.4 tonnes in the last four days and we expect the volumes to grow in the next coming days as more people are cleared to ship out the commodity,” revealed Mutwiri.
Mutwiri further added that 19 traders out of the 22 have been given export permits and issued licences. Exporting miraa without a licence is liable to a sentence of up to three years or a fine of up to Sh5 million under the new regulation.
The issuing of licences began immediately after the Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta held a meeting with his counterpart, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, shortly after the latter was sworn in.
The announcement was communicated by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya on June 10 who revealed, a formal agreement between the two countries.
According to the CS, the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs) which in simpler terms is a -treaty signed between countries to allow international commercial air transport services between territories- was signed on Tuesday, June 14.
A kilogramme of miraa in Somalia currently costs Sh2,730, however, still significantly lower than the Sh2,986 that fetched previously.
Once the BASAs were signed, direct flights from Isiolo Airport to Aden Adde International Airport in Somalia resumed for the first time since 2020.
The exportation had initially been banned due to the spread of COVID-19, however, when international air travel resumed, Somalia announced a continuation of the ban, with Former President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed alias Farmaajo opting to import miraa from Ethiopia instead.
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