President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto have agreed that the two nations will implement a new visa-free regime which will allow ordinary Kenyan passport holders entry into South Africa, visa-free for up to 90 days per calendar year.
Speaking at State House in Nairobi on Wednesday, the governments of Kenya and South Africa have agreed on a visa-free regime to promote trade and investment.
This came as Ramaphosa and Ruto met yesterday during the SA leader’s two-day state visit to the East African country to boost bilateral trade.
Ruto said that a return policy had also been agreed when immigration laws and regulations were breached.
"Kenya considers South Africa a strategic ally and we are committed to building stronger economic ties between our nations," he said.
Furthermore, the two countries signed co-operation agreements in the field of correctional services; housing and human settlement; the Kenyan School of Government and the National School of Government; and, an agreement on audio-visual co-production.
In his opening remarks, Ramaphosa congratulated Ruto on his election as the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya.
“This state visit demonstrates the strength and significance of our bilateral relations. This visit takes place barely a year after a very successful state visit to South Africa by former president Uhuru Kenyatta in November last year.”
Ramaphosa said it was his wish that the historic and strong relations between Kenya and South Africa would continue to prosper under Ruto’s leadership.
“Our bilateral relations are founded on the principles of solidarity, mutual respect and common values. We share a commitment to advance democracy, good governance, Pan-Africanism, human rights and the emancipation of women.”
Ramaphosa added that the visit was an opportunity to assess progress on the implementation of decisions taken during last year’s state visit, including addressing the trade balance between our two countries, investment opportunities and migration.
“I am advised that our government ministries are in regular consultation with each other on these and other issues.
“In this regard, we note that our Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has received a list of products that Kenya would like to export to South Africa and these are being considered by our officials.”
Ramaphosa said that there had been engagements and reciprocal visits between Transnet Engineering and Kenya Railways and our respective government printing works with a view to the purchase of products and services.
“We are also aware of progress between South African Airways and Kenya Airways to give effect to the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by the two airlines in November last year.”
This would allow the private sectors and state-owned companies to explore new opportunities to trade and invest, said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa said that as leading economies in their respective regions, South Africa and Kenya had a key role to play in resuscitating economic activity in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ramaphosa said that South Africa and Kenya should work together for African economic integration by substantially increasing trade and investment between the two countries.