President William Ruto has called on the US to review its economic partnership with Africa, saying the latter must be regarded as an investment destination rather than a market for finished goods, even as he sealed several deals with corporate executives and stakeholders in different sectors.
The President urged the US to take advantage of Africa’s huge population, prospects under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is on the cusp of taking off, and availability of labour and green energy potential.
Speaking at the US-Africa Leaders Summit themed “The Future of Africa’s Trade and Investment”, President Ruto also used the opportunity to position Kenya as one of the most favourable investment destinations for the abundant US capital.
He said Kenya stands out for its competitive advantage as a maturing constitutional democracy with a well-developed financial and commercial ecosystem. The commitments he secured revolve around climate innovations, space technology, carbon trading technologies and markets and waste-to-energy solutions.
The high-level meeting at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Management also touched on innovating, accelerating, and scaling up Konza Technopolis, popularly known as the Silicon Savannah.
There has been renewed interest in the technology city, which has faltered, with the government in June announcing that investors have taken up over 80 per cent of the land on offer for the first phase.
From the meeting, the parties agreed to work with Kenya to advance space technology and collaborate on the establishment of robust creative industries.
Kenya also secured commitments in the areas of climate innovations, carbon removal collaborations and carbon trading technologies, with the Rockefeller Foundation committing to making the country a clean energy destination.
“There was also commitment on mobilising the network to extend research for the ethical and responsible deployment of ocean-based carbon dioxide reduction as well as on direct air capture, carbon products, and waste to energy solutions,” read a statement from State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed.
Further, it was agreed that Kenya will host the Kauffman Fellow Africa Venture Capital Summit in September 2023, bringing 300 of the world’s top venture capitalists to Nairobi.
The President also secured commitment by Visa to support Kenya’s Financial Inclusion Fund (Hustler Fund), e-commerce growth, government digitisation and e-government initiative.
On Monday, the Head of State said the Hustler Fund had gained15.4 million subscribers and had lent out Sh7.54 billion, accumulating savings of close to Sh400 million in 12 days with Sh1.2 billion already repaid.
Yesterday, the President addressed the summit on “partnering in Agenda 2063” and specifically on a peaceful and secure Africa.
