Thailand and African nations should promote more two-way trade, investment and academic exchanges to strengthen ties and expand business opportunities, says the Kenyan ambassador to Thailand.
Africa wants to see more investment from Thailand, said Kiptiness Lindsay Kimwole, who also serves as the dean of the African Ambassadors’ Group. He made the comments during a press conference on Tuesday in support of the upcoming cultural event, The Colours of Africa 2024.
He said the continent is home to the world’s largest free trade area in terms of member states, the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), which aims to promote economic growth by removing trade barriers and allowing people to move freely within Africa. The CFTA can help Thai entrepreneurs do business in Africa more easily, he added.
Africa is a large market with a population of 1.3 billion, almost half of whom are from the emerging middle class, which could be an ideal target for Thai companies that want to sell their products on the continent.
“We would like to encourage you to come and set up business in African countries and take advantage of the CFTA and the African market,” said Mr Kimwole.
“At the same time, Thai companies can manufacture goods and send them back to Thailand or sell them around the world. Plus, I would like to encourage African investors to come to invest in Thailand as well.”
Thailand and Africa ought to collaborate more on academic projects as well, the ambassador added. He brought up his visit to Khon Kaen University with African ambassadors in 2023, and observed that not many topics about Africa are taught at the university level. He recommended more joint projects between Thai and African universities.
“I have seen Asian studies, European Studies and American Studies, but I have never seen African Studies. When are we going to have a knowledge exchange if we do not have universities exchanging information? There should be such exchanges to promote friendship and cooperation,” Mr Kimwole said.
The “Colours of Africa” event will be hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 12 African embassies from Sept 9-11 at CentralWorld.
The ministry says the goal is to foster people-to-people ties, bilateral trade and cultural exchanges between Thailand and Africa. The 12 participating embassies belong to Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Botswana and South Africa.
