"Kenya will become Africa's gateway for business, investment and trade. One Belt, One Road policy is essentially creating a new maritime silk road… This will connect Europe, Asia and Africa through various ports. It will help Kenya become an even greater hub in the region for trade," Ashebir said.
Answering the question whether there is a danger that Kenya will just become overflooded with Chinese goods, Ashebir explained that such problem already existed in some cases and was unlikely to be worsened. In particular, Nigerian textile producers have already complained that they are being pushed out of the market by Chinese goods, according to Ashebir.
In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Silk Road initiative, which aims to create a transport network from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, tear down trade and investment barriers, and increase the use of local currencies in trade settlements.