Iranian President ends historic 3-nation Africa tour with 21 bilateral agreements to bolster trade ties

Iranian President Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday left the Zimbabwean capital Harare for Tehran after completing his three African nation visit to Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Around 21 cooperation documents were signed between high-ranking Iranian officials and their counterparts in these African nations in line with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy of enhancing ties with amicable and like-minded nations. This is in line with Iran's policy of pursuing South-South cooperation and seeking trade ties and regional integration in the long run.

During the three-leg tour, President Raisi met with and held talks with the Presidents of the three African nations along with their delegations consisting of entrepreneurs, traders, and academicians. The visit assumes a historic stature as it is reportedly the first by an Iranian president in more than a decade.

President Raisi flagged off his visit with a rousing welcome from his Kenyan counterpart President William Ruto. President Ruto stated that while trade volumes between the two countries are still low but there was potential to grow and that Kenya and Iran will strike a formula that will facilitate higher exports of tea, coffee, and meat. “This will bring about the much-desired trade balance that is in favour of Iran.”

He made the remarks on Wednesday at the State House in Nairobi, after holding talks with President Raisi, cited a release distributed by APO Group on behalf of the President of the Republic of Kenya.

Meanwhile, President Ruto also cited that Kenya will also use the West Asian country’s wealth in technology and innovation for its development and that Kenya and Iran are strategically located to be each other’s key points of entry into their respective regions.

He pointed out that the setting up of the Iran House of Innovation and Technology in Nairobi will offer the right platform for Iranian and Kenyan businesses.“This is an innovative way of enabling enterprises to access Iranian technologies, skills, and information. We will seek to capitalise on this unique advantage for our prosperity," he said. 

During their meeting, Dr. Ruto and Dr. Raisi witnessed the signing of new MoUs and agreements in the areas of agriculture, livestock, culture and heritage, information, ICT, fisheries, housing, and urban and metropolitan development.

President Raisi lauded Kenya’s commitment to creating a friendly environment for foreign businesses.“The Kenya-Iran relations can always be strengthened for our benefit,” he reportedly said during a media briefing. He said more Iranian firms will establish operations in the country, paving their way to accessing EAC (The East African Community), COMESA (The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), and AfCFTA (The African Continental Free Trade Area) markets of more than 1.4 billion people.

President Raisi had also reportedly met with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his African tour and subsequently Iran and Zimbabwe have also signed 12 agreements to boost bilateral and trade ties. He also met with Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni at the State House in Entebbe, Uganda on Wednesday during the second stop of his regional trip to Africa.