UK’s £ 132 million investment in Kenya will unlock new opportunities for U.K. and Kenyan businesses
The Prime Minister of United Kingdom (U.K.) – Boris Johnson met the President of Kenya – Uhuru Kenyatta at Chequers, the country house of the Prime Minister of U.K., to reiterate the U.K.’s commitment to developing strategic partnership with Kenya.
The two leaders discussed new ways of promoting bilateral trade with special focus on clean technology and renewables. Johnson also congratulated Kenyatta on scaling up the reliance on renewable energy sources.
While discussing the global response to Coronavirus (COVID-19), Kenyatta also thanked Johnson for offering 817,000 doses of Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Other issues that were discussed included regional security issues and the recently signed U.K.-Kenya Defence Cooperation Agreement signed this week.
Taking it to twitter, the Johnson tweeted,
It was a pleasure to meet with President Kenyatta today.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 28, 2021
The UK and Kenya share a long and rich history, but this is a relationship focused on the future – boosting economic growth, tackling climate change and getting millions more children into school around the world.
🇬🇧🇰🇪 pic.twitter.com/E8qBb7Mjd4
The official twitter handle of State House Kenya tweeted,
1/2 President Uhuru Kenyatta's Official Visit to the United Kingdom (UK) seeks to deepen Kenya's strong and historical bilateral ties with the European nation as well as find common ground on several multilateral subjects of mutual interest.https://t.co/nkgOEFyDTo
— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) July 29, 2021
It further tweeted,
2/2 The key highlight of the Kenyan Head of State's visit will be the Global Education Summit that President Kenyatta will Co-Chair with UK Prime Minister @BorisJohnson in London.
— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) July 29, 2021
Johnson and Kenyatta will also jointly host the Global Education Summit in London. They will welcome pledges made to date and will look forward to a successful event in support of their shared goal of getting millions of vulnerable children around the world into school.
Meanwhile, 2 days back, the Foreign Secretary of U.K. – Dominic Raab, in the presence of Kenyatta, announced £132 million for starting new U.K. investment in Kenya. He also launched the Nairobi International Financial Centre and its formal partnership with the City of London.
Of the £ 132 million, a new £58 million fund, anchored by £35 million of U.K. Government investment, will finance the construction of 10,000 green affordable homes in Kenya. Another £ 28 will be invested in Kenyan manufacturing through the U.K.’s Manufacturing Africa initiative. £ 18 million of U.K. grant funding will be used for digitising customs system to help smooth Kenya’s international trade. U.K. based ARC Ride will invest £ 4.5 million to expand their fleet of electric vehicles in Kenya. U.K.-backed InfraCo Africa will invest £ 3.3 million to finance expansion of off-grid solar in Western Kenya, providing 6,000 Kenyan homes with access to clean energy. InfraCo will also invest £0.9 million to promote electric taxi service.
Kenya will use £ 3.7 million to back it’s green transition including projects supporting renewable energy, clean cooling, and forest. £ 1 million of U.K. aid will be used for funding technical support and to structure Kenyan infrastructure projects so they are able to attract private investment. £ 0.5 million will be used for policy advice on how to support the development of green manufacturing in Kenya.
This package of investments will create new jobs and unlock new opportunities for U.K. and Kenyan businesses.
