By AGGREY MUTAMBO

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Kenya is seeking new aviation partnerships that will see Nairobi reach out to the Caribbean market, as President Uhuru Kenyatta argued for more trade, debt relief and vaccine equity for pandemic recovery.

On Wednesday, Kenya inked bilateral deals on aviation cooperation, environmental conservation and trade and investment, on his second day of his visit to the Caribbean island.

The arrangements touched on bilateral air services agreement, the first step for the two countries to allow airlines to enter cooperation and connections, and ease travel between the two regions.

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo signed the deal on behalf of Kenya while Barbados Minister for Tourism and International Transport Lisa Cummins represented her country at a ceremony witnessed in Bridgetown by President Kenyatta and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.

The two countries have had no direct connection for flights and travellers heading either way, and have to mostly transit through the United States.

The signing of the deal may not cut the length of the trip, but it gives airlines like Kenya Airways an easier access to the Caribbean through future code sharing.

The two sides also agreed to establish an entity called a Joint Committee on Trade and Investment, which will be the forum in which future trade agreements or negotiations can happen.

Though traditionally not trading partners, Kenya and Barbados say they are working on their historical connections on a common African ancestry to improve business ties.

President Kenyatta says the African continent and the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), the local bloc, can improve ties based on trade, tourism, sports and cultural fetes.

“This is one area where we are hoping to find great success that will make it easy for the business men and women, those seeking to re-engage with the African continent, to be able to do so without having to wait for visas from third parties,” President Kenyatta said.

“I think that all of us recognise now that we are in a marathon and not a sprint. And that we have had, in the past, to become resilient, and this generation of Kenyans and Barbadians must be resilient to the times whether those times are affected by the pandemic or whether they are affected by the climate,” Ms Mottley said, referring to the pandemic effects.

President Kenyatta also used the visit to reiterate his call for supportive debt relief and vaccine access for poor countries, arguing they will be the two most important areas to help the world fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

He told an audience on Tuesday that the world must learn from the “flawed” multilateral system that has largely failed to bring on board everyone, but argued developing countries will bank on reduced debt burdens, more vaccines and easier channels of trade to recover.