Uhuru meets Macron during his two-day official visit in France

Kenya France

President Uhuru and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on July 1, 2021.

Photo credit: PSCU

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday morning met his French host Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris.

The two leaders discussed several bilateral and multilateral subjects of mutual interest to Kenya and France, according to a dispatch from State House.

President Kenyatta and his French counterpart discussed the progress of key France-supported infrastructure projects in Kenya including the expansion of the 233-kilometer Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road whose construction is set to kick-off in September this year.

The public-private partnership (PPP) agreement to expand the Northern Corridor road into a four-lane dual carriageway and reduce congestion at a cost of Shs 160 billion was reached during President Kenyatta's visit to Paris in October last year.

Besides infrastructure, Presidents Kenyatta and Macron discussed enhanced cooperation in the health sector particularly in building Kenya's capacity to manufacture vaccines locally.

On the multilateral front, the two leaders spoke about the forthcoming Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Summit in London to be co-hosted by President Kenyatta and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Summit is set for July 28 and 29, and aims at raising $5 billion in five years for investment in the education of 175 million children in low-income countries across the world.

President Kenyatta was accompanied to Elysee Palace by Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo, her Infrastructure counterpart James Macharia and Kenya's envoy to France Prof Judi Wakhungu.