Kenya is hosting the inaugural EABC investment Forum in Nairobi EABC vice chairperson Jas Bedi speaks during a high level fire side chat on trade and investment at the inaugural East Africa CEO & Investment Forum 2026 in Nairobi. He is flanked by George Kapanadze, Group chief investment officer, Rendeavour Holding and InvestKenya CEO John Mwendwa / HANDOUT East Africa’s quest for deeper regional trade and investment still faces major challenges, according to regional ministries and private sector CEOs meeting in Nairobi.
Non-tariff barriers, regulatory fragmentation, high energy costs and weak industrial linkages continue to raise the cost of doing business. The inaugural East Africa CEO & Investment Forum 2026 in Nairobi, bringing together governments and business leaders, has since called for urgent reforms to turn the region’s growing investment appetite into factories, regional supply chains, jobs and higher-value trade.
East African Community Secretary General Stephen Mbundi said the bloc must increase intra-EAC trade from the current 15.2 per cent to at least 50 per cent over the next five years, setting an ambitious target for the region’s private sector and governments. Speaking at the two-day forum organised by the East African Business Council (EABC), Mbundi said the region needed to confront fundamental questions around its competitiveness, including whether the private sector was sufficiently involved in shaping regional policies and whether decisions were based on credible evidence.
While EAC economies had recorded an average GDP growth of 5.2 per cent over the past decade, the structure of trade remained a concern, with manufactured goods accounting for less than 20 per cent of exports and much of the region’s production concentrated in low-technology products.
Raw agricultural commodities still dominate exports, limiting value addition and the creation of higher-paying industrial jobs. The secretary general said the region must move beyond increasing the volume of trade to increasing its value by building regional production networks.
The region’s cotton-to-textile value chain, including Kenya, for instance produces more than 250,000 bales of cotton worth over $172 million (Sh22.2 billion) in exports, but imports more than $300 million (Sh38.9 billion)in finished textiles and apparel, largely from China.
Because local factories are not fully spinning, weaving, and sewing that raw cotton into finished clothes, billions of shillings in potential revenue and millions of manufacturing jobs are sent abroad—primarily to China.