Industrialization PS Mukhwana: Kenya-India trade ties must evolve
A day after President William Ruto confirmed that he kicked out Magadi investors in multinational soda ash mining company Tata Chemicals, a member of his Cabinet has come out to criticise the current trade relationship between Kenya and India.
In an opinion article shared on Friday, Industrialisation Principal Secretary Dr Juma Mukhwana pointed out that Kenya is “buying nearly 14 times more from India than it sells to the country”, terming it a trade imbalance that needs to be corrected.
“Kenya and India are old friends. Our peoples have deep historical, cultural and commercial ties. Indian businesses have contributed significantly to Kenya’s economy, and there is substantial scope for our partnership to grow. But friendship must also accommodate an honest conversation about trade,” he said.
Dr Mukhwana cited official Indian trade figures showing that bilateral merchandise trade reached about $4.31 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. Of that, he says, India exported roughly $4 billion in goods to Kenya, while importing only about $290 million from Kenya.
“For approximately every dollar India bought from Kenya, Kenya bought nearly 14 dollars from India,” he wrote, describing the gap as “an extraordinary imbalance.”
“More importantly, the structure of this trade tells an even bigger story. India sells Kenya petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, machinery, vehicles, electrical equipment, plastics, chemicals and other manufactured products. Kenya’s exports to India include tea, coffee, soda ash, vegetables, scrap metals and other largely primary or minimally processed products. The pattern is familiar: Africa exports commodities. Asia exports manufactured products. That structure cannot remain the foundation of a 21st century partnership.”
The PS, however, sought to reassure investors that Kenya will not keep Indian companies out of its market, and credited Indian businesses with having contributed significantly to the Kenyan economy over the years. However, he argues in the piece, Kenya should increasingly press Indian firms to manufacture locally what they currently sell into the market, rather than simply import finished products.
He also pointed to pharmaceuticals as the clearest opportunity, saying India is among the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers while Kenya, he said, offers a strong pharmaceutical base, skilled scientists and technicians, and access to both the East African Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area’s market of more than 1.4 billion people.
“Why should Kenya continue importing such a large proportion of pharmaceutical products from India when Indian pharmaceutical companies could establish manufacturing plants here?” he said while suggesting Nairobi, Athi River, Naivasha, Kilifi, Mombasa and Kisumu as potential manufacturing sites.
Scathing attack
Yesterday, President Ruto launched a scathing attack on Tata Chemicals, accusing it of failing, in its more than 100 years of existence, to establish a local glass and chemical manufacturing industry.
“I have told them to ship out. They have failed to set up a glass factory in the country. They only ship our natural resources to their country. We (government) will bring in a new investor under new terms and conditions. I have instructed my Water Cabinet Secretary to allocate funds for water supply to Magadi people. It’s the only thing Tata Chemicals claim to give our people,” said President Ruto.
However, earlier in the day, allies of former Deputy President Rigathi, led by the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) secretary-general and Nyandarua Senator John Methu, accused President Ruto of frustrating Tata Chemicals investors for alleged personal monetary gains.
They termed the company’s closure a reckless, economically suicidal and legally rogue directive by the Ministry of Mining that amounts to a dictatorial decree, issued under the guise of regulatory compliance in a scheme of State-sponsored economic sabotage.
They also said the company’s closure would plunge thousands of Kenyan families into desperation.
“The flimsy excuses given are just a decoy. The truth of the matter is, there are huge deposits worth trillions of shillings of lithium metals underneath the Magadi area. Further, there are huge oil prospects in the same vicinity within which Tata Chemicals Limited operates,” Senator Methu said.
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