Uhuru eyes investments at the Africa-Arab summit
President Uhuru Kenyatta is welcomed by Kuwait's Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah at the Kuwait International Airport. The President is in the country to attend the two day 3rd Arab-Africa Summit. PICTURE REBECCA NDUKU/DPPS
What you need to know:
- Late on Monday, President Kenyatta met executives from the Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development and discussed loans and grants already approved for a hospital in Wajir and schools in Nyamira, in the Nyanza region.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is targeting to attract investments and financing of development projects in the third Africa-Arab summit Tuesday in Kuwait.
The President will also separately hold talks with the leaders of Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Palestine to discuss joint financing mechanisms for development projects to promote trade and investment, global fight against terrorism, human trafficking, and piracy.
Africa continues to lag behind in attraction of Foreign Direct Investments compared to other continents and hence the Arab world is expected to help bridge this gap together with Asia even as the developed economies struggle to emerge from recession.
Late on Monday, President Kenyatta met executives from the Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development and discussed loans and grants already approved for a hospital in Wajir and schools in Nyamira, in the Nyanza region.
President Uhuru Kenyatta in talks with Kuwait's Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah at the Kuwait International Airport. The President is in the country to attend the two day 3rd Arab-Africa Summit. PICTURE REBECCA NDUKU/DPPS
Construction of the new Sh900 million Wajir District Hospital and Sh1.4 billion of the construction of infrastructure for schools in Borabu, Nyamira, will go ahead at a faster pace, the President assured the Fund. The Fund will also put nearly $50 million (Sh4.25 billion) in two road projects in eastern and northern Kenya.
Kenya has set a target of attracting Sh680 billion in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) over the next five years.
The African leaders are also expected to discuss the Africa-Arab migration so as to help immigrants. Kenya, is one among other African countries whose citizens are illegal immigrants in the Arab world and face arrest and deportation.
“Without a doubt, Arab-African relations are founded on unbreakable bonds and the most immutable circumstances,' the President told the summit.
The State of Kuwait, in the Arabian Gulf, has the fifth largest oil reserves on the globe, and petroleum products account for nearly 95 per cent of export revenues and 80 per cent of government income.
The President will also meet a host of his African compatriots, including Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Alassane Ouattara of Cote D’Ivoire, Macky Sall of Senegal and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
President Kenyatta is expected to speak strongly about the damage wrought by terror on African economies.
