Egypt racked up $170 million worth of exports to Kenya during the first half of 2017, according to a new government report, indicating a 30 percent increase in Egypt's exporting rate to the sub-Saharan African nation compared to the same period last year. The report, which details the trade exchange between the two countries, was issued by the Egyptian trade office in Nairobi, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported on Tuesday. Imports from Kenya during the same period have dropped $109 million to $79 million, registering a 27 percent decrease, the report highlights. This means Egypt's trade surplus is estimated almost at $90 million. Ahmed Antar, head of the Egyptian Commercial Service, said among the most significant exports to Kenya were sugar, baby diapers and cleaners. He highlighted that the increase comes in light of Egypt's strategy to target sub-Saharan markets in cooperation with local exporters. On Monday, Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Qabil said Egyptian exports to France had risen by 21 percent in 2017. Last March, the ministry revealed a strategy to almost double the nation's exports by the year 2020, from the current $19 billion to $34 billion. The strategy includes implementing new export plans and policies, as well as targeting new markets for cement, agricultural products, ready-made clothes, construction materials, chemical products, and engineering and electronic goods. In November 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt floated the pound against the dollar in an attempt to rescue the country's flagging economy. The move caused the pound to drop to an average exchange rate of EGP 18 to the dollar, compared to EGP 8.88 prior to the flotation. Egypt's exports totalled $5.1 billion in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2016/17, an increase on the $4.3 billion recorded during the same period of 2015/16, according to a Central Bank of Egypt.
