Nairobi - There were no diplomatic
or trade differences between
South Africa and Kenya as
some people might believe, Griffiths
Memela, the South African
high commissioner in Kenya said
last week.
Memela said he was pleased
with the relations between the
countries and wondered why some
people thought there were diplomatic
differences between them.
He was speaking at a reception
for the business community
in Kisumu, about 500km west of
Nairobi. He said misunderstandings
between brewing rivals Castle
Brewing Kenya Limited and
East African Breweries (EABL)
should not be mistaken for conflict
between the counties.
In the bitter rivalry between
the two companies, EABL complained
that, while Kenya had
opened its beer market to South
African goods, South African
Breweries, Castle Brewing's parent
company in South Africa, was
trying to shut out EABL's brands
at home.
Busi Gaboo, the South African
high commission's economic
counsellor, said there would be ministerial meeting of the two
countries later in the year to
``iron out differences that might
have occurred before``.
She called for the removal of
tariff barriers to enhance bilateral
trade between the two countries
and other trading partners.
Aggrey Mudinyu, the deputy
provincial commissioner of
Nyanza, where Kisumu is located,
said Africa was ``a sleeping
giant`` economically and that it
was time the continent came together
to discuss issues for faster
growth to be realised.
For some time, particularly
since the launch of the $250 million
Castle plant outside Nairobi
in 1998, Kenya's government and
businessmen have accused South
Africa of unfair trade practices
against the country - Independent
Foreign Service