Kenyan coffee exports to China nearly doubled in value in May–August

Kenya's green coffee exports to China were worth US$14.67 million in May–August 2026, up 97.33 per cent from about US$7.43 million in the same months of 2025, The Star reported on 11 October 2026.

By volume, Kenya sent 1.71 million kilogrammes of unroasted green coffee to China, against 712,610 kilogrammes a year earlier, an increase of 139.66 per cent, according to The Star.

Avocado exports to China rose 59.65 per cent in value, from about US$4.03 million to US$6.44 million. Coffee and avocados together were worth US$21.11 million, up from about US$11.47 million, The Star reported.

The period starts on 1 May, when China began zero-tariff treatment for products from the 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, Kenya among them, The Star said.

Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan gave a similar picture on 30 September, Citizen Digital reported on 1 October. Speaking at a reception in Nairobi for the 77th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, she said Kenya's avocado oil exports to China had risen 700 per cent and coffee exports had nearly doubled. Aquatic products, including sea cucumbers, were up 350 per cent by the end of August, she said.

Citizen Digital said the Early Harvest Agreement, which gives eligible Kenyan products tariff-free access to China, took effect in May 2026. It said Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who is also Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, told the reception Kenya wants to widen the arrangement through negotiations under the China-Africa Development Economic Partnership Agreement (CADEPA).

The Star linked the trade to Naivasha. On 24 September, Guo led a delegation to Naivasha and toured Vertical Agro Group, an exporter of fruit and vegetables whose packhouse links to the Naivasha Inland Container Depot, The Star reported. The paper said the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway lets refrigerated produce travel by rail to the Port of Mombasa.

The European Union is working the same corridor. On 6 October, EU Ambassador Andreas Peschke attended a steering committee meeting in Naivasha of the FRESH Northern Corridor Project, a Kenya–Netherlands–EU programme under the EU's Global Gateway initiative, The Star said. In a social media post, Peschke said the meeting looked at how to get Kenyan products to international markets "fast, reliably and green", as quoted by The Star. A day later he visited a farm near Naivasha, the paper reported.

The Star wrote that China financed and built major parts of Kenya's transport infrastructure, including the Standard Gauge Railway, while the EU's Global Gateway investment strategy covers transport, digital connectivity, energy, health and other sectors. It added that the European Parliament has described Global Gateway as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Mudavadi, according to Citizen Digital, cited two planned projects: dualling the Nairobi–Nakuru–Mau Summit highway towards Kisumu and Malaba, and a proposed Standard Gauge Railway extension from Naivasha through Kisumu to Malaba.