Kenyan major banks willing to join business field in Somalia following cooperation deal inked the two countries

Kenyan major banks are expressing hope to venture into Somalia following the cooperation deal sealed both Somalia and Kenya which is intended to enhance all future engagements between the two neighboring countries.

Financial regulation, investments and security which were part of the agreement will keep the relation between the two neighbouring countries.

It is an ambitious plan which Kenya also says would eliminate any foreign policy mistakes it may have committed when dealing with Mogadishu.

Last week, Somalia’s Foreign Minister Abdusalam Omer and his Kenyan counterpart Amina Mohamed signed a Joint Commission on Cooperation Agreement a deal that seeks to address gaps in immigration, security, banking, trade and other areas.

“Kenya and Somalia are strong allies and partners. More importantly, the agreement will have the mandate to plan and implement bilateral programs for cooperation between the two brotherly states,” Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya, Mr Gamal Hassan, told the local media in Kenya.

It was the first time such an agreement was being entered into since Somalia was embroiled in a civil war, even though a deal agreement on a limited number of issues was signed during the transitional government in 2005.

Ms Mohamed said the deal had taken into account recent developments between the two countries, like the end of the Transitional Federal Government in 2012, increasing threat of Al-Shabab and the need to expand economic ties. “The JCC agreement will be a platform for enhanced cooperation between the two countries because it covers a wide range of issues,” Ms Mohamed said after meeting with her Somali counterpart.

The deal emphasizes the need for coordinated policies on security, trade, investment, finance, immigration, health, education, agriculture and infrastructure.

Both Kenya and Somalia are struggling to contain deadly attacks by Al-Shabab which despite maintaining its major base in Somalia also set up military bases in Kenyan forest from where they launch attacks against the East African nation.

Kenya sent troops into Somalia in 2011 after spate of attacks and kidnappings of tourists by suspected Al Shabab fighters, however, the group has since stepped up attacks against Kenya in retaliation for
the deployment of its military in Somalia and airstrikes against the group bases.