Kenya–Uganda relations are

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The two

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes (; ) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tangan ...

countries are partners in many areas, particularly in the trade, infrastructure, security (military), education, agriculture and energy sectors.

History

From 1961 to 1965, the two states along with

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

were united in the East African Common Services Organization, a

common market A single market, sometimes called common market or internal market, is a type of trade bloc in which most trade barriers have been removed (for goods) with some common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of ...

with a loose federal structure. Kenya and Uganda were also founding members of the original

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in East Africa. The EAC's membership consists of eight states: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, S ...

(EAC), which later collapsed due to ideological differences and territorial disputes within itself. On 7 July 2000, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania reestablished the EAC. It has contributed a great deal in improving trade and overall relations between Kenya and Uganda. The countries are both inhabited by significant

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

-speaking populations, and share significant cultural similarities.

High-level visits

Presidents of both Uganda and Kenya have made state visits to each other's country.

Trade and economy

For many years Uganda was the largest export destination for Kenyan goods. However, in 2014 Tanzania was the major export destination.Tanzania becomes Kenya’s largest East Africa market
. ''

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya since 7 November 1994, by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national ''Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' also circulates in the other countries of the African Grea ...

''. August 30, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2015. In 2013, Kenya exported goods worth KES. 67 billion (EUR. 632 million) to Uganda. This made Uganda the 2nd largest export destination for Kenyan goods after the European Union.Kenya, Trade with World
. (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

) 2006. Retrieved January 20, 2015. Uganda exported goods worth KES. 15 billion (EUR. 144 million) to Kenya. Bilateral trade was worth KES. 82.3 billion (EUR. 776 million) making Uganda Kenya's 7th largest trade partner.

FDI

Kenyan firms have operations in Uganda, some of which are

Kenya Commercial Bank KCB Bank Kenya Limited is a financial services provider headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. It is licensed as a commercial bank, by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator. The bank has also been running an agency banking ...

, Equity Bank and

Nakumatt Nakumatt was a Kenyan Hypermarket, supermarket chain. "Nakumatt" is an abbreviation for Nakuru, Nakuru Mattress. Overview , Nakumatt had 65 stores in the African Great Lakes countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. It employed over 5,5 ...

Infrastructure

Both countries are building a standard gauge railway link that would go through Mombasa-Nairobi-Kampala-Kigali. Work began on the Kenyan section of the rail line in December 2014. There have been proposals to have the Mombasa-Nairobi-Kampala-Kigali route expanded to a motorway all the way. Uganda largely uses the

port of Mombasa Kilindini Harbour is a large, natural deep-water inlet extending inland from Mombasa, Kenya. It is at its deepest center, although the controlling depth is the outer channel in the port approaches with a dredged depth of . It serves as the harbo ...

to get access to international markets. The standard gauge rail link will boost efficiency in delivering goods to the landlocked country from Kenya. Kenya hoped Uganda would be included in the LAPSSET project in which a pipeline would link the Kenyan and Ugandan oilfields to the a new port city in Lamu, Kenya. To the extent in 2014, Toyota subsidiary Toyota Tsusho got the contract to design the pipeline. On completion this would have been the world's longest heated pipeline, covering a distance of 1380 km.Edward Ssekika
Uganda, Kenya to build world’s longest heated oil pipeline
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. Retrieved January 20, 2015.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Kenya has a high commission in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

. * Uganda has a high commission in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

and a consulate in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenya-Uganda relations Bilateral relations of Uganda

Kenya and the Commonwealth of Nations Uganda and the Commonwealth of Nations