President Uhuru Kenyatta talks with Phillipine Mtikitiki, president of AmCham Business Summit at the UN Complex in Gigiri, Nairobi on November 4, 2019. PHOTO | POOL
The new credit line to be administered by America’s Export Import Bank is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to boost commercial ties with Nairobi.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured Washington of “stronger” bilateral ties and protection of business interests of American firms.
The United States has launched a Sh40 billion concessionary credit line for American and Kenyan firms seeking to deepen exports to the US at a time President Donald Trump is facing scrutiny over his administration’s laid-back focus on Africa amid growing Chinese influence.
The US’s top diplomat to Kenya Kyle McCarter on Monday said the fund to be administered by America’s Export Import Bank is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to boost commercial ties with Nairobi and set the two nations on a path of a new "strong relationship.”
The announcement came as President Uhuru Kenyatta assured Washington of “stronger” bilateral ties and protection of business interests of American firms.
In a speech Monday on the sidelines of a two-day American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Business Summit at the UN Complex, Gigiri, Mr McCarter said the US will advance “fair trade and commercial ties with Kenya” and provide aid “efficiently and effectively” in veiled attacks to what he cited as a sharp contrast between US lending support to Kenya and that of China.
Beijing has pumped billions of shillings in debt to fund Mr Keny's large infrastructure projects under President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road plan.
“We believe this is the start of a strong relationship between our governments,” said Mr McCarter.
“The US model focuses on long-term growth and sustainability, not debt."
President Kenyatta, in his address, pitched his administration’s Big Four projects to American investors, saying they offer lucrative business opportunities in line with Kenya’s development blueprint that will also address the low trade volumes between Kenya and the US and provide jobs for Kenyans.
“My administration is seeking to create at least 6.5 million jobs over the next five years so as to ensure that Kenyans, and, in particular, the youth, can secure and maintain good jobs,” said Mr Kenyatta.
Trade between the US and Kenya has trailed other traditional partners over the last decade while Nairobi has consistently accused Washington’s emissaries of spinning counter-terrorism intelligence to hurt its economy.
Mr McCarter also announced that his government, through USAID, has launched a new funding opportunity that will solicit private sector solutions to increase two-way trade between the US and 8 Kenyan pilot counties, called Prosper Counties.
Kenya’s regional units falling under Prosper are Isiolo, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kisii, Kisumu, Makueni, Mombasa, and Nakuru.
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