Kenya's 90-day window for foreign small traders has under four weeks left

More than two months of Kenya's 90-day window for foreign small traders have gone. State House named no end date when it announced the window on 8 September; 90 days from that date falls on Monday 7 December. After that, the rules on immigration status, work permits, business registration and licensing will be enforced "firmly and strictly in accordance with the law and due process".

All four have to be in order. Musalia Mudavadi, the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, told a press conference in Nairobi on 10 September that the measures regulate foreign nationals in small-scale trade and are not a blanket ban. Kenya is open to small and large-scale trade by foreign nationals who meet the immigration, work-permit, registration and licensing requirements, he said, as reported by CGTN. Traders need the necessary immigration and work documents, and their businesses must be registered and licensed.

The Chinese Embassy in Kenya said in a notice of 30 June that Chinese citizens who enter Kenya on tourist visas may not engage in commercial activities there. Those who break the rules may face fines, imprisonment, deportation or a permanent entry ban. Anyone whose documents are checked by Kenyan immigration officers or police should stay calm and cooperate, the notice says.

The State House statement said relevant government agencies would coordinate the exercise in consultation with the embassies concerned. Kenya has also opened identity registration for undocumented nationals of East African Community states, who are asked to go to their embassies or high commissions and then work with Kenyan authorities to regularise their status. Government Spokesperson Charles Owino said everyone going through registration "will be presumed legally present in the Republic of Kenya" and would not be deported before the process is complete, as quoted by Uganda's Daily Monitor on 9 September.

State House also said President William Ruto has directed that the Local Content Bill, 2025, now before Parliament, be expanded to set a framework for small-scale trade and enterprise. The expanded bill would list categories of economic activity that may be reserved for Kenyan citizens, while giving legal certainty and protection to foreign nationals lawfully entitled to work, invest and do business in Kenya, Citizen Digital reported.

The window grew out of an order Ruto gave on 2 September, telling foreign nationals in hawking and small-scale retail to close their businesses from 7 September, The Standard reported. A day after that date, State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed issued the statement that replaced the order with the 90-day window. The statement also said no person or group has the authority to harass, intimidate or threaten foreign nationals or interfere with their businesses, and that anyone who does will face firm action under the law.

The Chinese Embassy's notice asks Chinese citizens whose legitimate rights are violated, or who face an emergency, to contact the embassy promptly. Its 24-hour consular protection line is +254-202711222. The Chinese Foreign Ministry's Global Consular Protection and Service Emergency Call Centre can be reached on +86-10-12308 or +86-10-65612308.