How Kenya’s exit from COMESA sugar safeguards opens the domestic market and shifts focus to competitiveness and integration.
After 24 years of tariff protection under the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Sugar Safeguard, Kenya has formally opened its sugar market to regional competition — a move signaling confidence in its reformed sugar sector and a shift toward greater trade integration and competitiveness. The COMESA safeguard, which restricted duty-free sugar imports to protect domestic producers, expired on 30 November 2025, prompting the government’s decision not to seek further extensions.
For more than two decades, Kenya’s sugar industry was shielded from unlimited duty-free imports within COMESA, allowing local millers and farmers to restructure and improve output while reforms took root. But with the mechanism’s expiry and persistent objections from some COMESA members to prolonging the protection, Nairobi opted to let the safeguard lapse and embrace a more competitive regional market environment.
A Strategic Shift: From Protection to Competitiveness
The government’s move reflects a broader shift in policy — away from protectionism toward competitiveness, diversification and value addition across the sugar value chain. Kenya Sugar Board CEO Jude Chesire emphasized that the exit from the safeguard should not be interpreted as exposing the sector to risk, but rather as evidence that it has achieved stability and is prepared to compete, he said, “The Government of Kenya has formally exited the COMESA Sugar Safeguard regime after 24 years, marking a decisive and confident transition for the country’s sugar industry.”
Chesire highlighted that the safeguard was always intended as a temporary, reform-driven instrument to stabilize and restructure the industry, and that its objectives have now been met after eight extensions since its inception in 2001, saying, “This transition reflects strength, not vulnerability. Kenya’s sugar industry is stable, well-managed and supported by clear policy direction.”
Reforms are Taking Root
Underpinning the policy shift has been a suite of reforms targeting efficiency and diversification:
- Private sector involvement: Long-term leases of former state-owned sugar mills have been introduced to improve governance and operational performance.
- Value addition: The sector is increasingly diversifying away from table sugar, with integrated processing aimed at producing ethanol from molasses, electricity from bagasse and other downstream products — strategies that lower effective production costs.
- Production gains: Over recent years, sugarcane acreage expanded by nearly 20 per cent and gross sugar output increased significantly, reflecting improved farm productivity and factory efficiencies.
Chesire pointed out that this broader strategy has bolstered sector fundamentals and improved returns across the value chain, “Value is realized through integrated processing… These practices significantly lower the effective cost of sugar production and explain why some exporting countries are able to supply sugar at comparatively lower prices.”
He added that Kenya has already begun implementing diversification models to strengthen millers’ balance sheets, stabilize cash flows and protect farmers from volatility.
Market Opening: What It Means for Trade
With the safeguard lifted, duty-free sugar imports from COMESA countries are now permitted without the previous quota restrictions, increasing competition for domestic producers.
This opens Kenya’s market to regional producers and reinforces its integration within the COMESA free-trade area, placing the sugar industry on a more competitive footing while aligning with broader African trade aspirations that promote market access and economic cooperation.
At the same time, Kenya’s reforms and its growing capacity indicate a future where the country could not only attain self-sufficiency but potentially become a regional exporter as productivity and efficiencies improve.
Looking Forward: Integration and Growth
Kenya’s decision, moving away from two decades of protective safeguards, marks a pivotal shift in how its sugar sector engages with regional markets. By embracing competitive forces and enhancing productivity through structural reforms, the industry is positioning itself to compete more effectively within the COMESA free-trade space and beyond.
While local producers now face the challenge of navigating a more open market, the reforms already underway aim to ensure the industry is not only resilient but primed for growth, contributing to Kenya’s broader agenda of economic integration and sustainable trade across Africa.
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