Kenya and Ethiopia are still struggling to build robust two-way trade despite a stack of bilateral agreements and joint programmes, Business Daily reported. Officials and traders on both sides have signed deals meant to open the Moyale corridor and related routes, yet cargo volumes and business links remain thinner than the political rhetoric suggests.
Non-tariff barriers, weak logistics, and uneven standards enforcement keep many firms from treating the neighbour market as routine business. Pastoral trade and informal crossing continue, but formal manufacturers and distributors say paperwork and infrastructure still raise costs.
Both governments have pitched deeper integration as a pillar of Horn of Africa growth, especially as Ethiopia’s reforms and Kenya’s regional hub role create overlapping ambitions. Without smoother customs and better roads, those ambitions stay mostly on paper.
The report framed the gap as a practical test for East African economic diplomacy: agreements are easy to announce, harder to move through a border post.
Sources: Business Daily