Education summit, Big Four top agenda as Uhuru heads to UK
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta outside 10 Downing Street in central London on January 21, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Besides meeting PM Johnson at Chequers, his country residence in Buckinghamshire, President Kenyatta will jointly announce major investments in the Big Four projects, on affordable housing, manufacturing, and health partnerships.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is heading to the United Kingdom for a packed three-day visit during which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and co-host the official welcome reception for the Global Education Summit.
In a joint statement, State House, Nairobi, and the British High Commission said President Kenyatta is expected to arrive in the UK on Tuesday for a tour aimed at strengthening the Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership.
Major announcements on the partnership are expected, read the statement by State House spokesperson Kanze Dena and Daniel Johnson, the head of communications at the British High Commission.
Besides meeting PM Johnson at Chequers, his country residence in Buckinghamshire, President Kenyatta will jointly announce major investments in the Big Four projects, on affordable housing, manufacturing, and health partnerships.
“The centrepiece of the visit will be co-chairing the Global Education Summit, which aims to raise $5 billion (Sh500 billion) to educate children across the developing world over the next five years,” the statement said.
It added: “The President will … focus on Kenya-UK health partnerships through Covid-19, as well as on cancer prevention and treatment. He will be joined by senior members of the Kenyan and UK governments throughout the programme, with side discussions on defence, the environment, foreign affairs, health and finance.”
President Kenyatta will also meet senior members of the Royal Family and attend an event at West London’s Kew Gardens, to celebrate the Kenya-UK Year of Climate Action, and Kenya’s leadership on climate change in Africa.
Ms Dena and Mr Johnson said the Kenyan leader will then be hosted by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to an event at Mansion House, in London’s historic financial district.
The foreign secretary is expected to make significant announcements on the UK’s support for Big Four projects in Kenya.
Strategic partnership
It has been 18 months since President Kenyatta last visited the UK for the Africa Investment Summit.
On that tour, he agreed a new strategic partnership with the UK Prime Minister.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the significant progress across all areas of the partnership, including mutual prosperity following the ratification in May of a new Economic Partnership Agreement, aimed at boosting trade already worth Sh200 billion a year.
They will also deliberate on matters security, sustainable development, climate change and people-to-people links.
The two leaders are concerned about strengthening regional security and the fight against al-Shabaab militants.
Regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, Kenya and the UK have sustained a strong partnership, with the UK recently announcing support to Kenya on genomic sequencing to track new variants.
More on this: Kenya needs to revamp its genome sequencing to pick Covid variants early, expert advises
On climate change, the two leaders will discuss a joint action plan on tackling climate change in Kenya.
Kenya's High Commissioner to the UK, Manoah Esipisu, speaks to press in London on July 23, 2021 ahead of President Uhuru Kenya's arrival in the UK for an official visit.
Huge target
Kenya's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK), Manoah Esipisu, said the aim of the summit set for July 28 and 29 is to raise funds for investment in the education of millions of vulnerable children around the globe.
“The target of this fundraise is $5 billion. Most of the money has already been raised over the last few months. The President has been busy talking to fellow Heads of State around the world, urging them to put their money where their mouth is; to take action to protect and increase their budget for education and fund specific areas that have previously lagged behind.”
Ambassador Esipisu said the strategic partnership is a broad framework for cooperation, which covers matters including trade and investment, and security cooperation.
“It includes security and defence - regional security specifically, because we, as Kenya, live in a fairly tricky region and collaborate with partners around the world, including the UK, to deal with these security imperatives.”
Also on the President's to do list will be discussions on climate change especially in the Kenya-UK agenda for the forthcoming Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow.
Regarding the Big Four projects, Mr Esipisu said discussions between the two leaders will see the signing of an agreement between the Nairobi International Finance Centre and London.
