A week ago, Iranian President His Excellency Dr Ebrahim Raisi made a historic visit to Nairobi, Kenya, where he met with his Kenyan counterpart His Excellency William Ruto.

The relationship between the great Iranian people and the East African community can be termed as long and a mutual one dating back to the medieval era. It's because that the Swahili language was born centuries ago. The history of the Kenyan people cannot be complete without mentioning the Persian traders who understood how significant was the Kenyan coast to their survival. Like their ancestors, the Iranian president seems to understand this fact as well, and referred to Africa as “continent of opportunities”. 

On his state visit to Kenya, President Raisi together with President William Ruto signed five memoranda of understanding to boost trade between Iran and Kenya. According to Iranian Foreign Ministry, the volume of Kenya-Iran trade ties is set to increase to 2 billion dollars in the coming fiscal year, with major cooperation on export of meat, tea and other agricultural products. 

With trade being the focal point, Kenya has a lot to gain from Iran whose economy has endured harsh economic sanctions from the West yet it still stands. Kenya faces a tough economic situation with pressure from opposition due to increased cost of living. To me, Iran can be our exit strategy to this economic mess. As fuel powers economy, Kenya stands a chance to import cheap oil directly from Iran. This will go a long way to reducing the burden brought by the Petro-dollar. President Raisi’s visit to Nairobi is a clear indication of Tehran's political goodwill to do business with Nairobi - all we have to do is ask.

Additionally, Iran has achieved greater success in ending global insurgency in Syria and Iraq, something that the Kenyan government can use as an example to end the Al-Shabaab insurgency through cooperation with Tehran. 
It's my hope that Kenya-Iran relations will take a vibrant turn and with President Raisi visit it's clear to all that Kenya is saying "your enemies are not our enemies."

*The writer is a supply chain practitioner & a holder of mathematical economics degree from Machakos University, KENYA.