The increased trade deficit between Kenya and India encourages Kenya to seek help from Indian investors for opening new manufacturing plants in Kenya. Having quality manufacturing plants will help Kenya reduce the trade deficit and produce quality goods to compete against Indian manufactures.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Betty Maina said that India is one of the biggest importing sources for Kenya. They are seeking an additional investment that would make Kenya capable of producing more goods that would be competitive to sell in the Indian markets. Under the International Trade Centre and Investment in Africa, most of the East African countries including Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and, Rwanda will get support to increase export to India.

Maina further emphasised that Kenya wants Indian companies to incorporate and form joint ventures with the Kenyan companies so that Kenyan companies can benefit from the latest technology and advance expertise. According to government data, Kenya has imported around USD 1.6 billion from India in 2018 whereas India only imports USD 60 million from Kenya in the same year. Maina further said that India is the key bilateral partner as it ranked third leading source of foreign direct investment for Kenya.