Wednesday, December 20, 2023 – Ugandan traders at the Arubaine border market in Busia Municipality are concerned over the rate at which Kenyan traders are shunning their goods.
According to reports, the traders were forced to throw away oranges at the border after their Kenyan counterparts opted to deal directly with farmers to avoid incurring more costs.
In defence of their decision, the Kenyan traders alleged that the Ugandan shilling had strengthened against the Kenyan currency, thus affecting the value and quantity of goods.
According to Kenyan businessmen, Ksh20,000 was equivalent to Ush700,000 a few months ago, but the same amount of money can only fetch them goods worth Ush450,000 to 489,000 as per the current valuation.
Joseph Muduwa, a Ugandan trader, revealed that they were assessing their options as the orange business was no longer lucrative.
“Orange business was booming, but that is no longer the case. I have been forced to throw away sacks of Oranges after they started rotting,” Muduwa lamented.
Maureen Nafula added that the decision by Kenyan traders to drive and buy goods from the farmers was detrimental as they were all competing for the same market.
Bank CEOs predicted a worse economic outlook in 2024, warning that the shilling may fall past the Ksh153.90 mark against the US dollar.
The CEOs, in the survey conducted by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), warned that the local currency may be affected by Kenya’s maturing debt and persistent dollar demand by importers.
Reduced foreign direct investments was also highlighted as a major cause of the shilling losing value against the dollar.
However, others argued that increased diaspora remittances would reduce pressure on the demand for hard currencies.
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