US dollar shortage forces Egypt to barter supplies for Kenyan tea
Kenyan treasury secretary says Egypt plans to acquire tea from Kenya through barter trade instead of dipping into their decreasing US dollar reserve.
Njuguna Ndung’u, speaking at a panel in Nairobi on Monday said that Egyptian Ambassador Wael Nasr El-Den has requested to sustain the tea trade between the two nations using a barter system.
“Right now, we cannot get your tea. It’s lying in Mombasa because we have no dollars to pay. We’ll get your tea and you also come and decide what you get from us,” Ndung’u was quoted by Bloomberg.
Egyptian Ambassador, Nasr El-Den is also quoted by Egyptian media Ahram Online saying, “Under this arrangement, Egypt's government will procure Kenyan tea, while the East African country will have the freedom to choose what it wants to import from Egypt.”
The East African nation is the biggest exporter of black tea in the world. Egypt stands as Kenya's second-largest purchaser of tea. Exports to the North African country have dropped by 23% in the first eight months of 2023, Tea Board of Kenya reported.
