Kenya is offering robust opportunities for trade and investments to local and global companies and businesses, President William Ruto has said.

He said the country has undertaken radical, but attractive transformation measures in the trade and investment regime, including creating Special Economic Zones.

“All major brands in need of an African foothold starts in kenya. This has led to a steady rise on Kenya’s global appeal,” the President explained.

President Ruto outlined the numerous opportunities in agriculture, banking and finance, construction, mining, blue economy, human capital development renewable energy and the digital economy, among others.

The President was speaking during AMCHAM Business Summit in Nairobi. Also present were United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Kenya Investment and Trade Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano, US Ambassador to Kenya Met Whitman and representatives of many American and Kenyan companies, and government officials.

President Ruto spoke of a paradigm shift in the way the world views Africa, saying the old narrative of Africa as a place of challenges has been debunked.

Instead, he pointed out that Africa is appropriately being seen as a continent of opportunities and solutions where investment would give a good return on investment.

“In the past, the continent was perceived as a region about war and diseases. But as African leaders, we have made a deliberate decision to showcase Africa as a continent of opportunities,” he said.

The President said Kenya and the United States enjoy cordial relations grounded in shared values of democracy and trade.

He pointed out that the government aims at eradicating poverty under the country’s Bottom Up Economic Agenda.

Ms Raimondo said President Biden’s government was embracing a win-win relationship with other partners, including Kenya.

“Africa is shaping global economic culture and politics. The narrative has changed completely and my job is to tell the story back home and let the multinationals know what Kenya has to offer,” she said.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of President of the Republic of Kenya.

As Africa races against time to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and the Malabo Commitments to end hunger by 2025, the continent faces formidable challenges aggravated by climate change, inflation, and regional conflicts. The urgency to reevaluate financing mechanisms is increasingly recognized, with a growing emphasis on mobilizing domestic resources and exploring innovative financing solutions to bolster agricultural development.

In an event at the 10th African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) held in Addis Ababa, a clarion call has been issued to policymakers to center their policies around the needs of farmers and enhance access to funding in the agricultural sector.

The imperative to empower farmers and provide them with adequate financial resources is underscored as essential steps towards eradicating hunger, achieving food security, sustainable development, and realizing the broader objectives of the African Union Agenda 2063.

During a session themed ” Harnessing the potential of innovative financing for reinforcing CAADP implementation towards Africa free of hunger and sustainable, resilient agri-food systems,” Mr. Godfrey Bahiigwag, Director of the Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy Directorate at the African Union Commission, emphasized the critical role of farmers in driving progress and development in Africa.

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a cornerstone initiative of Agenda 2063, outlines ambitious targets for transforming African agriculture by 2025, including the commitment of African governments to allocate at least 10% of national budgets to agriculture and rural development. However, the participants at ARFSD stressed that there is a pressing need for concrete action to translate these commitments into tangible outcomes on the ground.

Private sector engagement is identified as critical in driving investments and innovation in Africa’s agri-food and nutrition sector, offering critical resources and expertise to address the complex challenges facing the agricultural landscape. “By fostering collaborative efforts and forging strategic partnerships, stakeholders can amplify the impact of CAADP, fortifying Africa’s agricultural systems and advancing the goal of food security across the continent”, said Mr. Menghestab Haile, Regional Director for Southern Africa, WFP

Participants at the meeting echoed the sentiment that Africa stands at a transformative moment in its development trajectory, where innovative financing mechanisms hold the key to unlocking the vast agricultural potential of the continent. By placing farmers at the center of development efforts and enhancing access to funding, Africa can pave the way for a better future of all its people.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

To bolster national planning activities, policymakers have been urged to embrace digital tools to foster greater transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness. 

The call to action was made during the meeting on “Leveraging Digital Technologies for Integrated Planning to Advance the SDGs and Agenda 2063 in Times of Multiple Crises”, which took place as a side event at the Tenth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-10). 

Mr Antonio Pedro, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), stressed the importance of technology in supporting development planning systems. He said that while many countries do an excellent job of identifying their priorities through extensive stakeholders’ consultation, the number of identified priorities is often so numerous that implementation becomes a challenge. 

To address this challenge, ECA developed the Integrated Planning and Reporting Tool (IPRT), a web-based tool designed to enhance the effectiveness of planning. The IPRT aims to strengthen planning systems by leveraging technology, allowing for the digital tracking of national, provincial  and sector plans in alignment with annual budgets and international commitments such as SDGs and Agenda 2063. 

Mr Bartholomew Armah, Chief of Development Planning in the Macroeconomics and Governance Division at ECA highlighted the tool’s ability to facilitate integrated and coherent planning, addressing the issue of disconnected planning frameworks at various levels and ensuring alignment with global commitments. “The IPRT represents a significant step forward in the integration of multiple development agendas into national development plans, offering a harmonized approach to progress reporting”, he said.

Ms.  Annette Griessel, Deputy Director General of National Planning Coordination at the South African Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (DPME), highlighted the transformative role of technology in redressing the development disparities created by South Africa’s apartheid past.

She noted the progress made in reforming the planning system, ensuring their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063,  “which is seen as a cornerstone in building a capable developmental state”. 

The IPRT has already been deployed in more than 30 countries with ongoing efforts to ensure its use by other countries on the continent. It makes the tracking of performance on the indicators of the National development plan more user-friendly.

The e-meeting was organized by ECA’s Macroeconomics and Governance Division and the Office for Eastern Africa.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni met with former President of Botswana, H.E. Ian Khama, yesterday at State House Entebbe.

The former President of Botswana was accompanied by a delegation from the global NGO, Space for Giants, led by its founder and CEO, Dr. Max Graham.

Space for Giants is an organization championing the conservation of natural resources and wildlife in nine African countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Gabon, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. Its headquarters are based in Nanyuki, Kenya. They also operate in the UK and USA.

H.E. Khama briefed President Museveni on the organization’s significant role in conserving natural resources and wildlife, highlighting its ability to provide social and economic value to local communities and national governments.

“As a conservationist, my main goal is to promote the well-being of nature. This organization brings its own funding and aims to involve communities in protecting the fauna and flora,” said Khama.

Dr. Max Graham, the founder and CEO of the organization, along with Mr. Justus Karuhanga, the Country Director-Uganda, shared their ambitious plans for actively engaging in the conservation of natural resources and wildlife in Uganda.

“We have already identified areas within the Karamoja sub-region, such as Pian-Upe, and we are committed to involving the local communities in the conservation of natural resources and wildlife in these areas,” he pledged.

Dr. Graham also mentioned their plans to launch a Carbon trade project in the region, explaining that the profits would be shared among the government, the local community, and the organization.

President Museveni, flanked by his daughter, Ms. Diana Museveni Kyaremera, warmly welcomed former President Khama and the members of Space for Giants to Uganda.

As a passionate advocate for wildlife and the environment, President Museveni requested that Space for Giants also focus on the conservation of wetlands.

The President highlighted the issue of encroachment on wetlands by farmers cultivating rice.

“As a conservationist I want you to take interest in the conservation of wetlands. The culture of growing rice in the swamps was introduced after Independence but now we want to restore these swamps from the people who were misled. The government is trying to give those who were misled a soft landing by replacing rice growing in swamps with fish farming, to get an alternative livelihood for these people preferably fishponds at the periphery of the swamps that will make them earn more money than rice growing,” the President pointed out.

President Museveni was however glad to learn that the areas identified by the organisation of Pian- Upe in Karamoja sub- region need their effort as they have been degraded by Wanainchi who overgraze cattle in the game reserve and also engage in charcoal burning.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Matia Kasaija, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Water and Environment, Dr. Alfred Okot, the Commissioner -Climate Change in the Ministry of Water and Environment, Ms. Margaret Athieno and the Special Presidential Assistant Tourism, Ms. Priscilla Butagira.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Uganda.