First Alert Forward: St. Louis delegation travels to Rwanda and Kenya to build trade ties

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) -A delegation of more than 35 local business owners and civic leaders is on a trade mission to Africa this week, visiting Kigali, Rwanda, and Nairobi, Kenya, to network with entrepreneurs and government officials.

World Trade Center St. Louis is leading the trip. The mission will also formalize a new sister city relationship between St. Louis and Kigali, the first new sister city for St. Louis in more than a decade.

Mayor Cara Spencer is among the representatives on the trip. Her costs were covered by the World Trade Center.

Importer joins delegation

Zellipah Githui, owner of Gitzell Fair Trade in St. Charles, is also part of the delegation and was in Kigali making connections. Gitzell Fair Trade is an importer that sells baskets and other African handmade goods across the U.S. and Canada. Githui grew up in Kenya.

“Business is very good. St. Louis is very supportive. Not just for buying but engaging, engaging to know why and what the impact is,” she said.

Rapid economic growth in Rwanda and Kenya

Tim Nowak, executive director of World Trade Center St. Louis, said the relationships formed on the trip can lead to connections for industries, universities and organizations.

“We are a global city. We have connections that span the globe, and we need to be growing those. We have a great domestic market, but we always have to be thinking globally,” Nowak said.

Several African nations are among the world’s fastest-growing economies, with increasing populations and investments in industries such as tech, finance and renewable energy.

According to World Bank statistics, Kenya’s GDP grew from $14.9 billion in 2003 to $107.5 billion in 2023. Rwanda’s economy grew from $2.14 billion to $14.81 billion over the same period.

“We see where the world is going. What Asia was for me when I was growing up is what Africa will be for our children. The population will double by 2050,” Nowak said.

St. Louis institutions already working in Africa

Several St. Louis institutions already work across the African continent, particularly in agriculture.

Giles Oldroyd, president of the Danforth Plant Science Center, said the center has partnerships in Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

“We’re already working a lot in Africa. We have partnerships in Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia,” Oldroyd said.

The center works with farmers in Africa to strengthen agricultural production. That work includes developing crops such as virus-resistant cassava. Bayer Crop Science is also collaborating on the project.

“Our work in Africa is focused on food security. But there’s a lot of opportunity to facilitate the ag tech ecosystem as well. As we’re delivering improved crops to farmers in Africa, you need that private sector partner to get seeds to the partners,” Oldroyd said.

Oldroyd said markets in Africa are opening up.

“Those entities that are going to be early players will be the ones to benefit. African agriculture is expanding, and there is significant opportunity to facilitate that growth and be part of it. There are opportunities for St. Louis to work in Africa and St. Louis companies will be a part of that opportunity,” Oldroyd said.

Nowak said the work of Danforth, Bayer and others in the ag tech space in Africa is not by happenstance.

“There’s a need to feed the world, and some might argue that the epicenter is Africa in the coming years,” Nowak said.

Nowak said the time to build partnerships is now.

“I think it really cuts both ways. There’s an economic development opportunity thinking internationally, but we as a community can shift our perspective on what Africa will look like over the next 20 years,” Nowak said.

Githui said she has seen the shift as she has expanded her operation in St. Louis. She said moving forward means strengthening the partnerships she has formed and watching the region grow as a global city.

“Africa is no longer the pity place. No longer the pity continent. It’s the next frontier. This is where businesses are going to come from, where food is going to come from, where manufacturing happens and where IT should go, Githui said.

“And clearly this is where they should get handmade goods from,” she added with a smile.