Amb. Nelson NDIRANGU

Ambassador Nelson NDIRANGU is the current Chair at the Trade Hub East Africa where he leads a team of experts on International Trade Policy and Regional Integration focusing on Africa. He also served as the chairman of the Competition Authority of Kenya from May 2019 to February 2023. Prior to that Amb. Ndirangu served as a board member at Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), and Kenya Trade Network Agency (KENTRADE)

Since retiring in December 2017, he has been an Independent International Consultant on Trade Policy issues. He has provided technical assistance both at technical and strategic levels to the Government of Kenya to negotiate free trade agreements that safeguards the market access preferences to the United States and the Unted Kingdom. The support was extended to negotiations within EAC, AfCFTA, and other regional arrangements with the aim of maintaining consistency with Kenya’s commitments at multilateral, continental and bilateral levels. In 2019 he was commissioned by the AUC to “compare the approaches to regional integration under the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and highlight the lessons that can be learned”. From May to July 2018, he was contracted by the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry to “review the AfCFTA and how its implementation can be popularized borrowing from the experience of TFTA”.

He was Director General, Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Directory at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from December 2012 to December 2017 during which time he was instrumental in guiding Kenya on international trade issues and was Chief Negotiator for Kenya on TFTA and AfCFTA up to December 2017. He took time off from 2009 to 2012 to manage an ACP Programme that provided technical assistance to enhance the capacities of the ACP countries to Negotiate and implement World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements. Prior to that, he was the Director, Asia Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from August 2007 to December 2008. From 1999 to 2007 Amb. Ndirangu was based in Geneva where he was the Chief Negotiator for Kenya in the WTO.

Amb. Ndirangu has a Master of Arts (M.A.) and a post Graduate Diploma in International Economic Relations from the University of East Anglia in UK, a Post Graduate Diploma in International Trade Policy from the WTO, Switzerland and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (B.COM Hons.) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He holds several awards, including the Order of Golden Warrior of Kenya (OGW) in recognition of his contribution to trade policy formulation, development and implementation.

He was appointed Ambassador / High Commissioner mid-December 2012 and resumed his duties in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was made responsible for formulation, implementation, coordination, and review of international and regional trade and economic policies, including trade negotiations.

He has keen interest on the legal and economic analysis of the Multilateral, regional and bilateral trade relations with focus on Africa.

Ambassador Ndirangu has worked as a consultant in various institutions, international and national organizations such as WTO, WHO, FAO, UNCTAD, ACP, COMESA, IGAD, and EAC.