Key Points from the United States-Kenya Joint Leaders’ Statement

President Ruto's visit to the United States, the two countries announced several hundred million dollars in new investments through the DFC. These investments bring the U.S. financing agency’s portfolio in Kenya to over $1 billion. They will support projects in affordable housing, digital infrastructure, and energy, with a focus on Kenya's expanding e-mobility sector.

Democracy, Governance, and Human Rights

Shared Values and Democratic Partnership: The United States and Kenya are committed to democratic values, human rights, and strengthening political institutions. The visit highlights efforts to guard against political erosion, misinformation, disinformation, hate-fueled violence, and corruption.

Funding for Democracy and Human Rights:

• $40 million: Allocated by the United States for democracy, human rights, and governance programs in Kenya. It includes support through the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal to defend democratic elections, increase women’s political participation and leadership, counter Gender-Based Violence, and advance digital democracy.
• $700,000: New assistance to operationalize the 2013 Public Benefits Organization Act, enhancing civil society protections.
• $2.7 million: Additional funding to improve civil society engagement and governance oversight.
• $1.3 million: USAID’s youth empowerment program aimed at strengthening political engagement at the subnational level.
• $600,000: Funding to advance disability inclusion.

Health Partnership: Securing Our Collective Health

Long-standing U.S.-Kenya health sector collaboration has led to significant health improvements, benefiting millions and contributing to global health security. USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have provided substantial local medical supply manufacturing funding. With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Revital Healthcare, a Kenya-based company, has built Africa's largest medical diagnostic plant. It is capable of producing 240 million diagnostic tests for HIV, malaria, dengue, syphilis, hepatitis A&B, and pregnancy each year.?

The new cooperation includes developing medical innovations, preventing pandemics, and expanding manufacturing capacity in Kenya for Africa and the world, as follows:

Continuing the Fight against HIV/AIDS

• Sustainability Roadmap: Aimed at integrating HIV service delivery into primary health care.
• PEPFAR Support: Over $7 billion has been invested in Kenya over two decades to combat HIV/AIDS and end HIV as a public health threat by 2027.
• Holistic Health Services: 1.3 million Kenyans receiving antiretroviral therapy and broader prevention programs.

Partnering for Global Health Security

• CDC and Kenyan National Public Health Institute: Formal agreement for sharing information and best practices.
• Public Health Emergency Management: Customized training program for health security across Kenya’s 47 counties.

Reducing the Impacts of Malaria

• President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI): $33.5 million in 2023 to combat malaria in Kenya, contributing to a 50% reduction in malaria prevalence over the last decade.
• Local Procurement: PMI plans to procure additional malaria treatments and preventive doses from Kenyan manufacturers in 2024.

Growing Health Manufacturing

• Kenyan Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) Act: Commitment to advance the Act to boost local manufacturing and attract American investment.
• USAID Support: $2.3 million to Revital Healthcare for developing diagnostic tests and manufacturing capacity.

Partnering with the Private Sector in Healthcare

The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to invest as follows:

• $10 million: Direct loan to Hewa Tele for medical oxygen supply.
• $4 million: Equity investment in Kasha Global for personal care and health products.

Expanding Joint Research

• CDC-KEMRI MoU: Recommitment to a partnership supporting Kenya’s Applied Science Hub.
• Research Funding: $12.9 million in 2023 to support KEMRI’s research efforts through various U.S. agencies.
• NIH Grants: Over 250 grants in FY 2023 for collaborations involving Kenyan organizations, including about 90 with KEMRI researchers.

Meeting Kenya’s Digital Health Goals

• Digital Superhighway: Over $31 million announced to advance Kenya’s digital health infrastructure.
• Power Africa’s Health Electrification and Telecommunications Alliance: $4 million for solar power solutions and strengthening health information systems.
• NIH DS-I Africa Program: This program supports data science initiatives to improve health outcomes, including a data hub and training programs in Kenya.

People-to-People Ties: Improving and Enriching Lives

Education: Strengthening Connections Between U.S. and Kenyan Educational Institutions

The United States and Kenya welcome Kenya’s selection as the first country to be added to a new fellowship program for mid-career government officials that Johns Hopkins University intends to launch this fall.? Others include:

• Kennedy-Mboya Partnerships: $3.3 million program for sixty Kenyan undergraduate students to study in the U.S., focusing on STEM.?
• Education Support: Over $25 million in public and private sector funding to support educational and exchange programs.
• Partnership 2024: $500,000 to encourage U.S. universities to invest in relationships with Kenyan institutions.
• EDTECH Africa: Initiative fostering collaboration between Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and African scholars in emerging technology, with significant investments from various partners.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) International Activities: Supporting workshops and grants to enhance research collaboration between U.S. and Kenyan universities.
• Employment Pathways for Youth: $6.5 million to strengthen technical vocational education and training institutions in Kenya in ICT and pharmaceutical and textile manufacturing.
• Framework for Cooperation: Agreement supporting higher education partnerships for STEM education, with commitments from private sector stakeholders.
• Collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya: Funding project to enhance the National Museums of Kenya's role in cultural and natural heritage preservation.

Supporting Primary Education

• Kenya Primary Literacy Program (KPLP): $24.5 million for nationwide early-grade literacy activities, focusing on grade 1-3 learners.
• Bolstering Kenya’s Creative Workforce: Initiatives to strengthen creative economies and support cultural heritage preservation, including funding for the archaeological site of Takwa.

Expanding Emerging Technology Training Program

• Johns Hopkins Fellowship Program: Launching a fellowship program to equip mid-career government officials from African countries, with Kenya as the inaugural cohort.
• Increasing Diplomatic Exchange: Plans to enhance cooperation and exchanges between the U.S. Foreign Service Institute and the Kenyan Foreign Service Academy.

Bringing Transparency to Government

• Open Government Partnership (OGP): The United States and Kenya commit to strengthening the OGP. USAID Administrator Power plans to represent the United States at the OGP event during the September UN General Assembly High-Level Week.

Promoting Human Rights

• Human Rights Commitment: Both nations reaffirm their commitment to upholding human rights and opposing autocracy. To reinforce these commitments, they plan bilateral dialogues and technical engagements with Kenyan security sectors.

Shared Climate Solutions: Fostering Growth and Resilience

Over 90 percent of Kenya’s energy is produced from renewable, clean sources. Kenya led and hosted the Africa Green Industrialization Initiative (AGII) and is a signatory of the Nairobi AGII Declaration.

U.S.-Kenya Climate and Clean Energy Industrial Partnership to elevate climate action and green industrialization as a critical pillar of our bilateral relationship. The intention is to advance a new green growth framework throughout Africa.? Areas of interest are clean energy deployment, supply chains, and green industrialization. The United States and Kenya pledge to leverage our countries’ comparative advantages in the clean energy sector and to develop resilient value chains for low-emission goods and climate-forward services, including electric vehicle supply chains and e-mobility, carbon capture and storage technologies, green agricultural processing, clean cooking technologies, and green data centers. key policy, trade, and regulatory reforms to support this. The U.S. Department of Energy is working with the Government of Kenya to launch and shape such engagements

The key highlight is the launching of the U.S.-Kenya Climate and Clean Energy Industrial Partnership.

Nairobi Declaration Africa Green Industrialization Initiative (AGII)

Kenya is now the Clean Energy Supply Chain Collaborative (CESC) strategic US partner in Africa. This partnership focuses on clean energy deployment, supply chains, and green industrialization, intending to mobilize investment and leverage concessional finance.?

Others include:

Humanitarian Disaster Response

• USAID Assistance: Providing $42 million in emergency humanitarian assistance in FY 2024 and nearly $1.3 billion over the last 12 years to address humanitarian needs in Kenya.

Connecting Homes, Businesses, and Institutions to Reliable Clean Energy

• Power Africa Initiative: Supporting women’s entrepreneurship, clean electricity connection, and e-mobility projects to alleviate energy poverty.

Investing in Hydropower

• Virunga Power: Investing $100 million in hydropower projects to provide clean, renewable energy and support economic growth in rural areas.

Deepening Government-to-Government Cooperation on Clean Energy and Carbon Management

• MOU: Intent to sign an MOU to enhance bilateral collaboration in clean energy and carbon management, facilitating sustainable economic growth.

Investing in Electric Vehicle Startups

• DFC Investments: Supporting electric vehicle companies in accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles in Kenya.

Growing Kenya’s E-mobility Sector

• DFC Loan: Supporting affordable financing for cars and motorcycles to advance Kenya’s e-mobility economy.

Launching the MCC-Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Program

• Partnership: Focuses on transportation needs, safer options, and climate-friendly public transportation in Nairobi, benefiting over four million residents.

Increasing Plastic Recycling

• Support for T3: Expanding support for plastic recycling initiatives to create jobs and increase PET plastic recycling in Kenya.

Supporting Community-Led Conservation

• SOK and KRRE Projects: Building partnerships to conserve wildlife and landscapes with USAID support for landscape and fundraising strategies.

Promoting Wildlife Conservation

• Law Enforcement Attaché: Strengthening wildlife conservation partnership through the placement of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi.

Amplifying Scientific Partnership

• Smithsonian’s ForestGEO Gathering: Hosting an international analytical gathering to study forests and climate change impacts.

Improving Weather Forecasting

• DFC Loan to Ignitia AB: Supporting tropical weather forecasting service for smallholder farmers in Kenya and other African countries.

Fostering High-Integrity Carbon Markets

• Partnership: Supporting Kenya’s efforts to develop high-integrity carbon markets with $1 million in technical assistance.

Investing in Carbon Capture

• Clean Energy and Green Industrialization: Ongoing financial, technical, and regulatory support to address climate change and promote sustainable practices.
• DOE Project: Accelerating the commercial readiness of carbon dioxide removal approaches in Kenya’s volcanic-hosted geothermal systems.
• Scientific Collaboration in Kenya:
• U.S.-Africa Nuclear Industry Cooperation:

Trade and Investment

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation's portfolio in Kenya is over $1 billion supporting various development projects.

• Coca-Cola Investment: $175 million invested to expand operations in Kenya.
• USAID and Kenyan Private Sector Investments: An additional $250 million is expected from ongoing projects.
• Millennium Challenge Corporation: $60 million in funding for various development initiatives.

Debt, Development, and Sustainable Finance

• International Financial Institutions Lending Capacity: Over $250 billion is available for lending to support sustainable development.
• International Monetary Fund Support: Up to $21 billion in economic stability and development support.
• World Bank Crisis Response Window: $250 million allocated for crisis response initiatives.
• World Bank Lending Capacity Expansion: Potentially over $100 billion in future lending capacity increases to support global development efforts.

Peace and Security Cooperation

• The U.S. plans to develop options to expand Kenya's technical workforce to potentially attract investment under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, created by the CHIPS Act of 2022 (the specific amount is not mentioned).
• Kenya’s Role in Haiti: More than $300 million in U.S. assistance and in-kind support to back Kenya’s leadership in stabilizing Haiti.

Strengthening Police Reform Efforts

• $7 million: New partnership to advance the modernization and professionalization of Kenya’s National Police Service.

Reducing Prison Overcrowding and Improving Detention Conditions

• $2.2 million: New initiative to provide training, mentoring, and technical assistance to reform Kenya’s prison service.

Combatting Transnational Organized Crime and Supporting Criminal Justice Sector Reform

• $4.9 million: New funding for Kenya and other East African countries to improve cooperation in combating transnational organized crime and support criminal justice sector reform.

Supporting Investigative Journalism

• Support for Investigative Journalism: U.S. support for linkages between international investigative organizations and Kenyan NGOs, media outlets, and citizen journalists to build Nairobi as a regional hub for investigative journalism.

Strengthening Kenya’s Frameworks for Free and Fair Elections

• $1.5 million: New technical assistance to support Kenya’s electoral legal framework reform process, aiming to strengthen the election commission, political parties, and campaign finance.

Combatting Corruption

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs supported a regional conference in Nairobi, gathering anti-corruption practitioners and policymakers. Besides this, the US will now fund Anti-Corruption Initiatives, including:

• $500,000: For a new Fiscal Integrity Program to enhance county budget transparency and citizen engagement.
• $500,000: To support anti-corruption advocacy through multimedia content creation by civil society.
• $250,000: Through the Global Accountability Program to support Kenya’s anti-corruption efforts.
• $300,000: To support Kenya’s proposed Whistleblower Protection law.
• $2.7 million: Provided by USAID for improved enforcement of anti-fraud, waste, and abuse policies.

Increasing Consular Capacity

• Visa Services Expansion: The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is expanding its Consular Section staff to expedite visa processing for Kenyan citizens and provide services to American citizens.

Strengthening Regional Security:

• Designation: Kenya was designated as a Major Non-NATO Ally by the U.S. - a first for sub-Saharan Africa.
• Training: U.S. funding to establish a mediation/negotiation support unit in the Kenyan Foreign Ministry.
• Investment: Over $230 million in U.S. security and defense sector funding to Kenya since 2020.
• Haiti Mission: U.S. support for Kenya's deployment of 1,000 police to Haiti for the Multinational Security Support mission.
• Information Sharing: Deeper cooperation on counterterrorism information sharing and potential participation in Operation Gallant Phoenix.
• Military Hardware: Delivery of 16 U.S. helicopters (8 Hueys & 8 MD-500s) to Kenya between late 2024 and summer 2025.
• Military Procurement: Kenya to receive 150 M1117 Armored Security Vehicles from U.S. stocks by September 2024.
• Military Training: Kenyan military participation in U.S. military academies (West Point, Annapolis, Air Force Academy) and continued U.S. training programs.

Counterterrorism Efforts:

• Memorandum of Understanding: Expansion of Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya to enhance counterterrorism operations against al-Shabaab.
• Funding: $18.7 million from the U.S. to bolster Kenya's criminal justice system's counterterrorism capacity.

Refugee Response:

• U.S. Support: Over $667 million in U.S. humanitarian assistance to Kenya in the last 10 years.
• Resettling Refugees: U.S. resettlement of over 26,000 refugees from Kenya since 2014.

Final Thoughts

President Ruto's trip to the US may have cost us a fortune, but it's evident that the relationship between the United States and Kenya has reached new heights of collaboration and mutual commitment. From bolstering scientific research and economic development to strengthening security cooperation and promoting peace efforts, this trip has underscored the breadth and depth of the partnership between the two nations.

The announcements made during the joint statement reflect a shared vision for a prosperous, secure, and inclusive future, not only for Kenya and the United States but also for the broader international community. Through investments in scientific research, trade, infrastructure, and security, both countries are laying the groundwork for long-term growth and stability.

Kenya's designation as a?major?non-NATO Ally highlights the strategic importance of the nation's role in regional security and global peacekeeping efforts. This designation reflects the deepening of military cooperation and underscores the United States' recognition of Kenya's contributions to international security.

Moreover, initiatives aimed at promoting digital connectivity, enhancing cybersecurity, and fostering innovation demonstrate a forward-looking approach to addressing the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.?By investing in technology and education, both countries?are empowering their citizens and paving?the way for sustainable development and economic growth.

It remains to be seen if the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and Kenya at the government level will reach the common mwananchi.?