NAIROBI, June 19 -- Kenya's exports to other African countries rose 16.5 percent to 113.1 billion shillings (about 874 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2024 from 749 million dollars during a similar period in 2023, the Central Bank said in an economic report released Wednesday.

The bank attributed the achievements to the country's visa-free policy for all Africans announced by Kenya's President William Ruto in December 2023, which took effect in January 2024, as the East African nation eyed to reap big from the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Most of the exports from Kenya were sold in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, with Egypt, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) registering strong demand, according to the central bank.

Kenya's main exports are oil and lubricants (reexports), tea, coffee, animals, vegetable fats, clinker, wheat flour and manufactured goods.

Kenya has also strengthened bilateral ties with Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda and Egypt as Ruto champions for the elimination of trade barriers between African countries to ease the integration of regional trading blocs.

  - Xinhua