Saudi Arabia overtakes China as Kenya’s top import market

Saudi Arabia overtakes China as Kenya’s top import market

Saudi Arabia overtook China, India and the United Arabs Emirates (UAE) to become Kenya’s biggest single import market for the first time, underlining the weight of petroleum products in driving the country’s trade deficit.

Goods imported from the Middle East’s largest economy jumped nearly three times to Ksh32.27 billion ($231.82 million) in March on increased orders of diesel from Ksh8.44 billion ($60.63 million) a month earlier, data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show.

This was the highest import bill for the month ahead of China (Ksh30.34 billion - $217.96 million), India (Kh27.32 billion - $196.26 million) and the UAE (Ksh13.93 billion - $100.07 million).

The KNBS data show the surge in imports from Saudi Arabia in March was largely driven by increased shipment of gas oil (diesel), the bulk of which was previously sourced from the UAE.

The increased purchase of diesel from Saudi as opposed to the UAE came before the first consignment under the government-to-government fuel import deal that was inked with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on March 10 arrived in Mombasa.

Diesel replaces jet fuelThe KNBS data showed diesel replaced jet fuel as the top import by value from the world’s second producer of oil, despite