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National Olympic Committee-Kenya Board Deputy President Barnaba Korir hands the flag to Team Kenya for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 20, 2026. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]
Today, Glasgow will once again become the meeting place of the Commonwealth, as athletes and supporters from 56 nations descend on its red-sandstone streets for the Commonwealth Games.
For the next fortnight, sporting triumphs will capture the attention of millions across the Commonwealth. Ferdinand Omanyala will have Kenyans willing him towards gold. Yet when the closing ceremony draws to an end, another prize will remain before us – one with the power to enrich every Commonwealth citizen: The untapped capacity of our network to increase trade, investment and enterprise between its members.
History has endowed our family of nations with shared language, legal traditions, institutional similarities and diaspora networks that make commerce easier and cheaper. The result is trade between our member states that is 21 per cent cheaper – and, in turn, around 20 per cent greater than between otherwise comparable countries.
