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JOHANNESBURG. – Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta is on a two-day official visit to South Africa, where he held talks with his host President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday on a wide range of issues.

On the thorny issue of visas, which are seen as onerous to Kenyans, President Ramaphosa said he would form a team to look into the issues raised by East African travellers.

The two presidents resolved to address this trade imbalance and Mr Ramaphosa said any unnecessary trade barriers would be removed. He added that he wanted to see more Kenyan products in South Africa.

Today President Kenyatta will visit an the Aspen Pharmacare factory in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) to see the production of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccines there. The facility is assembling the J&J vaccines and can produce about 220 million doses of the J&J vaccines per year, many of which are being exported throughout Africa.

He has criticised the “hoarding” of vaccines by the West and called for Africa to make its own vaccines.

Kenya is one of South Africa’s largest trading partners in Africa outside the 15-nation Southern African Development Community.

South Africa exported about $500 million worth of goods to Kenya in 2020, compared to imports of about $22 million, according to official statistics. More than 60 South African companies are operating in Kenya. – BBCWorld