President William Ruto was speaking at the African Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi on Thursday, where he said Africa should work towards ensuring affordable, quality and accessible fertiliser through local production.
President William Ruto has hosted 52 Heads of State and Government in 79 different visits—including a notable one by King Charles of the United Kingdom—in 20 months, as the Head of State continues to endear himself to Africa, and the world, an analysis by Nation Research has shown.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla came to Kenya in a significant five-day State Visit at the end of October 2023, just over a year after President Ruto took the oath of office.
President Ruto, who has praised the visits inwards and those outside as a sign of Kenya regaining its respect, is next week expected to address the G7 summit in Apulia, Italy, in the informal, yet powerful group that brings together the host nation, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
“We are building the profile of our country. Today, Kenya is respected and that is why we hosted the Africa Climate Summit last year, we hosted the International Development Association Replenishment Summit with the World Bank.
President William Ruto, Britain's King Charles III, First lady Rachel Ruto and Queen Camilla at State House on October 31.
"Yesterday, we hosted the Africa Development Bank Summit. Next week, I will be addressing the G7. Last week, Kenya was given the privilege to be the African country to have a State Visit to the United States in 16 years,” Dr Ruto said during the National Prayer Breakfast on May 30.
President Ruto said his trips abroad had been instrumental in bringing business and investment to the country.
An analysis of the 79 visits by the 52 Heads of State shows that Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has visited Kenya five times this year, far more than any other Head of State.
The analysis, based on President Ruto’s X account social media posts, excludes the 12 presidents who attended the Head of State’s swearing in ceremony in September 2022.
For President Mohamoud of Somalia, he had his first visit in February where he attended the United Nations Environment Assembly (Unea), he was hosted by Dr Ruto for another meeting on April 11 and less than three weeks later, he returned to the country for the International Development Association (IDA21) Replenishment Summit.
He was back on May 18 where he was welcomed at State House and 11 days later, he joined other leaders for the African Development Bank(AfDB) Group meetings which concluded on May 31.
In his posts, President Ruto said meetings with his Somalia counterpart have been about initiatives to fight terrorism and insecurity in the region.
Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye has been in the country on four different occasions since President Ruto came to power in 2022.
He attended the Third Inter-Congolese Consultations of the Nairobi Peace Process in November 2022, had a meeting with the president on July 13, 2023 and was back in September of the same year for the Africa Climate Summit.
His latest visit was in April for the IDA21 summit. His Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca was in the country on May 9 to attend the Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health summit and the launch of the South Sudan Peace Process.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came for a two-day State Visit on February 28 where he toured the Suswa substation alongside the President.
He also attended the Unea meeting and was back in the country for the IDA21 summit organised by the World Bank. Another leader from Ethiopia to visit the country is Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia’s President. She has attended both the climate summit hosted in September and the Jamhuri Day celebrations in 2023.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has been in the country four times so far. He has had private meetings with the president as well as attended the climate summit and the Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit.
Libya’s Mohamed al-Menfi and Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso have been in the country three times each.
They have each had a private meeting with the president and both have attended the climate summit hosted at KICC last year and the AfDB meetings that concluded in May.
Eritrea, Tanzania,Comoros, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Djibouti, Rwanda, Uganda, Central African Republic, Malawi, eSwatini, Zimbabwe, and Namibia’s leaders have each been in the country twice.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda was among leaders at the IDA21 summit and was also in the country on May 15 and 16 for a state visit. Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic and Malawi’s Lazarus Chakwera have been in the country for the Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit as well as the IDA21 summit.
Namibia’s president and prime minister have made one visit each with President Nangolo Mbumba attending the Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit and the launch of the South Sudan Peace Process on May 9 while Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, the country’s prime minister attended the AfDB meetings three weeks later.
All other leaders who have been in the country twice have attended either of the summits that Kenya has hosted so far.
Asian and European
The remaining 33 heads of various countries have each visited once with some of them coming from Asian and European countries. Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain was among the first leaders not from the continent to have an official visit to Kenya. He was in the country on October 26, 2022.
Italy’s Sergio Mattarella was welcomed by the president in March last year while Japan’s Kishida Fumio had a state visit in May last year. In the same month, Dr Ruto also hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for state visits.
Other presidents who have had carpets rolled out for them at State house are Joko Widodo of Indonesia in August last year and the late Ebrahim Raisi who visited last July.
Two more state visits by Petr Fiala of Czech Republic and Klaus Iohannis of Romania also happened in November last year.
Another leader not from Africa was the now former Prime Minister of Haiti Ariel Henry who was in the country to sign documents that would facilitate Kenya to send its police officers to gang-ridden Haiti.
