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Trade Mission to Kenya & Tanzania
Kenya
Kenya has one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most diverse economies and a rapidly rising population of over 50 million people. Kenya has been successful in attracting U.S. exporters and investors, with many companies establishing local and regional operations to take advantage of Kenya’s strategic location, diversified economy, connected intermodal logistics routes, and well-developed banking, insurance, and legal services. Virginia exports to Kenya were valued at $8.2M in 2023. U.S. companies should consider doing business in Kenya for several reasons:
■ Kenya is a gateway to the East African market and is the economic, commercial, ICT, financial, and logistics hub of the region
■ Kenya has a young, educated, entrepreneurial, and English speaking population possessing high fluency in technology
■ Kenya has an abundant supply of renewable energy (more than 90% of Kenya’s on-grid electricity mix comes from renewable sources)
■ Kenya enjoys a strong bilateral relationship with the U.S., including the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership that is under negotiation
The top opportunities for Virginia exporters in Kenya include:
■ Agribusiness
■ Education
■ Energy-Electrical Power Systems
■ Healthcare - Medical Devices
■ Infrastructure
■ Information, Communications and Technology (ICT)
Tanzania
Tanzania has one of the fastest growing economies in Sub- Saharan Africa and has an ambitious industrialization plan to transform itself into a middle-income economy by 2030. Agriculture and tourism are considered the major sectors of the country’s economy while commodity sectors such as oil, gas, and mining also offer opportunities for growth.
Tanzania is focusing on developing local industries and investing in large infrastructure, energy, and agricultural sector development, which present opportunities for U.S. exporters. The private sector is also investing heavily in the mining industry. With a growing middle class in Tanzania, there is also a high level of interest in American consumer products. Virginia exports to Tanzania were valued at $4.4M in 2023.
Top opportunities for Virginia exporters in Tanzania include:
■ Agriculture and Agricultural Processing
■ Construction
■ Energy
■ Healthcare
■ Manufacturing
■ Mining
Registration Deadline
Contact
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on past trade missions, we expect 6-10 Virginia companies to participate. The registration process is ongoing until the trade mission is full or the registration deadline has passed.
You must pay the trade mission participation fee of $2,500 to the VEDP at the time of registration. The participation fee includes the following:
- Identifying, contacting and pre-qualifying local distributors, reps and/or partners and organization of your meetings with interested prospects
- A “Doing Business In” briefing on the market(s)
- Your VEDP Trade Mission Leader and in-country consultant on hand during the week to ensure everything runs to plan
- Interpreter if needed
All travel expenses including airfare, hotels, meals, individual ground transportation to be paid directly by each participant. Additional estimated costs you will incur include (but are not limited to):
- Roundtrip airfare
- Hotels (7 nights)
- Meals
- Airport transfers, taxis, and other miscellaneous items
In most cases, you will be traveling independently to the locations of the local companies with which you are meeting. Because most appointments will be held at the companies’ locations, travel and other logistics may prevent each delegate from having a minimum of 3-4 meetings each day of the trade mission.
For travel between meetings, our consultants will recommend the most effective method of transportation. This will likely be a local car/driver.
If required, interpreters will be provided for meetings and are included in your registration fee.
Airline tickets: You book (and pay for) your own airline ticket via local travel agent or online air travel website. If you do not have a travel agent, the Trade Mission Leader can recommend one for you.
Hotels: VEDP will choose the hotel(s) and make reservations at a pre-negotiated government rate for each delegate. However, delegates will be responsible for their own hotel charges throughout the mission. All delegates will stay at the same hotel in order to facilitate logistics as well as to encourage the interaction and networking that is always a collateral benefit of traveling with a group. You will pay all hotel room charges directly to the hotel.
Contact your local International Trade Manager or the Trade Mission Leader immediately! We only want you to make the trip if we think there is good market potential for your company. We can perform exploratory market research within a short period of time to verify market potential for you.