Kenya and Tanzania have decided to collaborate in trading in natural gas, a development that comes in the backdrop of long-standing trade disputes, which have slowed down the flow of goods ac and services across common borders.
Collaboration on this area gathered pace when President Uhuru Kenyatta made a two-day private visit to Tanzania’s president John Magufuli in Chato, a township in the Geita region.
“We have natural gas, a lot of gas. We know Kenya needs gas. Instead of Kenya importing gas from outside East Africa, they should buy from here,” President Magufuli said in a statement from Kenya’s presidency.
The Heads of State who spoke on the last day of President Kenyatta's🇰🇪 two-day private visit to Tanzania🇹🇿 further agreed to establish a natural gas trade arrangement between the neighboring countries. @MagufuliJP pic.twitter.com/Awyrb99jV2
— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) July 6, 2019
Tanzania holds 57 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, a resource the country has been utilizing largely for electric power generation but plans are underway to start exporting to international markets.
The two heads of states tasked ministers responsible for energy in respective countries to explore mechanisms for the natural gas trade including infrastructure and policy requirements.
READ
