Mobile Phones are the Most Imported Goods from China by Kenyans

Kenyans spend 15.5 billion shillings to import smartphones from China in the year 2015 ending November, official data shows.

In the past, machinery as well as construction equipment often carried the day but during this period, even the equipment ordered for the construction of roads and the Standard Gauge Railway could not beat the amount spent on the shipping of the smartphones into the country.

The price of smartphones has generally gone down in the country with a standard android phone at the moment going for as little as 3000 shillings even as concerns are being raised over the quality of the products.

Two years ago, the government embarked on a mission to block all phones that were deemed unfit for the Kenyan market with the exercise having proved to be futile as now the mobile market is flooded with Chinese gadgets which most Kenyans prefer because of their affordability.

Currently, popular brands on the Kenyan market include Tecno, Lenovo, Huawei, Infinix, Oppo giving such expensive models a run for customers such as Samsung, Blackberry and others.

During this period, according to data at the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, mobile phones took 15.5 billion shillings to import, railway construction materials took 13 billion shillings to ship them in while other construction materials and equipment took 11.9 billion shillings.

The mobile sector has been on an increasing trend in the recent past with the number of subscribers in the country rising from 14 million to 21 million last year.

Kenya appears to have leaned on China for most of her imports for even some heavy machinery that are now used for construction purposes are imported from China as well as cars, textiles and other general goods.

The mobile industry is the country has also been made possible with the evolution of the e-commerce into the country that has enabled most Kenyans to be able to order their gadgets online.

Article by Juma Fred.