Kenyan exporters of fresh produce are incurring massive losses at the hands of rogue buyers from the United Arab Emirates. The exporters said there are rising cases of rogue businessmen from the Gulf country posing as buyers, only to vanish into thin air once they receive the produce.
The Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya (FPCK) claims that, on average, three containers of fresh produce to UAE are lost every week with no recompense to exporters. FPCK Chief Executive Okisegere Ojepat: “Those losses must be stopped, and we are engaging the Kenyan embassy in UAE to secure the interests of Kenyans. We are determined to grow the export business by 25 per cent, which can only happen when they get the desired returns.”
He recently visited Dubai to ascertain why sales had gone down. “The reason why we went to Dubai was to check why our fresh produce is not selling as it used to. They (UAE importers) always give excuses of quality issues; they send us credit notes, but we found out that some of them do not have a place for business,” said Ojepat.
According to standardmedia.co.ke¸ the scammers lure Kenyan exporters with the promise of good prices but end up not paying once they receive the goods.
