The UAE–Kenya Joint Business Council, one year on
Formalised at State House Nairobi in May 2025, the Joint Business Council connects the chamber networks of both nations. A year in, its agenda — MSMEs, exports, and infrastructure investment — is taking shape.
KBC UAE Secretariat
A little over a year ago, in May 2025, the UAE–Kenya Joint Business Council was formalised at State House Nairobi — a strategic initiative between the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, with annual meetings alternating between the two countries.
The agenda
The Joint Business Council's mandate concentrates on three fronts:
- MSME support — bringing Kenya's small and medium enterprises into corridor trade, not just its multinationals.
- Export growth — building on the CEPA's preferential terms to broaden what Kenya sells into the Gulf beyond the traditional tea-flowers-produce triad.
- Investment — channelling UAE capital into Kenyan infrastructure, energy, and logistics, where the pipeline of bankable projects continues to deepen.
Where KBC UAE fits
The Joint Business Council operates at the bilateral, chamber-federation level. KBC UAE operates on the ground in the Emirates, inside the Dubai Chamber's council framework. The two are complementary by design: when the Joint Business Council convenes in the UAE, our members are the business community it meets.
Bilateral frameworks set the terms. Communities do the trade.
The council is establishing a standing channel with the Joint Business Council secretariat so that member priorities — market-access friction, licensing questions, sector opportunities — reach the bilateral table with evidence behind them.
Members with specific issues they want represented should write to the secretariat via the contact page ahead of the next annual meeting.