MIDRAND, South Africa, Jun 5 — President William Ruto has challenged African businesses and entrepreneurs to stop looking overseas for markets and begin trading more aggressively in Africa.
The President noted that Africa’s market is increasingly becoming the next biggest frontier for trade and investment, and innovation in the world.
Addressing a joint Kenya-South Africa Business Forum in Midrand, Johannesburg on Thursday, alongside South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, President Ruto said the two nations, as “economic anchors” of Eastern and Southern Africa, must take the lead in building integrated value chains under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“My hope is that we leave here with concrete opportunities, not merely good intentions,” he told the audience comprising government officials and top business leaders from the two countries.
He added: “Transformation begins here. Together, our two nations command the financial strength, industrial capacity, entrepreneurial talent, and innovation ecosystems to power Africa’s next chapter.”
Bilateral trade between Kenya and South Africa reached about $680 million in 2025, with President Ruto calling the result “meaningful progress, but also a measure of how much potential remains untapped”.
Kenya exports tea, coffee, horticulture, cut flowers and manufactured goods to South Africa and imports machinery, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, steel and industrial inputs.
More than 60 South African companies operate in Kenya across various sectors, including banking, insurance, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications, infrastructure, and real estate.
South Africa is one of Kenya’s leading sources of foreign direct investment even as Kenyan companies expand southwards.
President Ruto that complementarity between the two countries and businesses should translate into deeper industrial cooperation.
“Let us collaborate boldly in automotive assembly, mineral beneficiation, agro-processing, and green manufacturing,” he said.
The President pointed out that the AfCFTA is “among the greatest economic opportunities of our generation”, but noted that intra-African trade still lags far behind the global average.
He commended progress towards the convergence of COMESA, Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) under the Tripartite Free Trade Area, and offered Kenya as host for this free trade area ecosystem to unlock a market of 800 million people, which feeds into the AfCFTA.
He also pushed for investment in agro-processing and logistics to cut Africa’s food import bill.
“Africa cannot keep spending billions importing food while our own farmers and agro-industries stand ready to feed the continent,” President Ruto noted.
He positioned Kenya as a hub for global business services, citing a young, English-speaking workforce, digital infrastructure and a time zone bridging Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
He invited South African and multinational companies to use Kenya as a regional base for Business Processing Outsourcing and technology services.
On infrastructure, President Ruto highlighted the Port of Mombasa and the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor in Eastern Africa, and the ports of Durban, Cape Town, Richards Bay and Ngqura as critical transport and logistical corridors.
In addition, he welcomed the partnership talks between Kenya Airways and South African Airways to boost trade, tourism and regional integration.
President Ruto also urged African financial institutions, pension funds and private equity to mobilise long-term capital for development in the continent, noting that Kenya’s new National Infrastructure Fund and Sovereign Wealth Fund were vehicles for patient investment in energy, housing, logistics and industry.
“Governments can build enabling environments, but it is the private sector that drives transformation,” he said. “I therefore urge business leaders to convert the opportunities of this forum into concrete investments, joint ventures, and lasting commercial partnerships.”
Kenya, he explained, is rolling out reforms to ease doing business, strengthen investor protection and deepen regional integration through its Investment One-Stop Centre.
On his part, President Ramaphosa expressed South Africa’s commitment to reducing import duties on Kenyan agricultural products, joking that “we need to bring in more Kenyan tea and have more South Africans drinking more Kenyan tea”.
He called for business fora in the future to be judged “in terms of rands and shillings” of the deals closed.
The forum was co-hosted by both Presidents on the second and last day of President Ruto’s State Visit to South Africa aimed at elevating Kenya-South Africa relations to a Strategic Partnership.