Inside President Ruto’s bag of goodies in US trip

For the avoidance of doubt and hope, UNGA has nothing to do with our local “unga” and the president is not there to bring back “unga…” However, he might just bring back some bit of “unga” going by the meetings he has had on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting so far.

The State House Spokesperson, Hussein Mohamed said President Ruto’s trip to New York, for the UNGA meeting will be a ten-day tour. President Ruto arrived well ahead of time and took time to interact with Kenyans resident and working in the US. 

The trip has so far been busy and rewarding even as he went on a charm offensive to lure investors into Kenya and interact with Kenyans living and working there.

Earlier in the week President Ruto officially opened a Kenyan themed restaurant, “Swahili Village” right in the middle of New York. It is run by a Kenyan entrepreneur and offers primarily Kenyan dishes among others. It was a moment of pride for both the proprietor as he played host to his President and as well as to the high level visitors who said they felt quite at home in the high end restaurant. The President was full of accolades for the proprietor, Kevin Onyoni, who he said had made Kenya proud.

- Silicon Valley ventures -

When President Ruto ventured out to the Silicon Valley, in California, he was a man on a mission to ensure he puts Kenya’s best foot forward. He invited American technology companies to set up manufacturing operations and regional offices in Kenya, assuring them of a conducive environment for investments in technology and manufacturing. 

Present during this meeting in San Francisco were Chief Executive Officers Tim Cook (Apple), Patrick Gelsinger (Intel), Ruth Porat (Google’s CFO - Alphabet), Brad Smith (Microsoft COO) and other executives from Microsoft, Nike, GAP and Levi Strauss He assured the potential investors that the Kenya Government will carefully consider and address any concerns they may have to increase their confidence in Kenya.

The Americans responded positively; Tim Cook said Apple will consider setting up a developer’s academy and will also tap into Kenya’s green data center potential while Intel’s, Gelsinger said they view Kenya as a good investment destination. Brad Smith of Microsoft said Kenya poses an impressive return on investment position and is an appealing destination for American venture capital. 

Ms Porat of Google said they have committed to investing USD 1 billion in Africa to bolster its digital training and innovation initiatives of which Kenya will get a slice. Visa Global President Oliver Jenkyn said they had picked Kenya as the only African country to host Visa’s global digital innovation studio as Visa had made a commitment to invest USD 1 Billion in Africa over the next five years and a large portion of that will be coming to Kenya.

- Electric Power charm -

On the next stop, President Ruto signed a Ksh8.7 billion ($59.2 million) deal with US foreign aid agency Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for the acquisition of electric buses to ease traffic congestion in Nairobi Metro Area. 

This Blended Finance for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project is geared to accelerate private financing to support the acquisition of electric (including alternative clean energy) buses to operate one or more lines of the BRT system on the Nairobi metropolitan area BRT road lanes, as evident on the MCC website.

- The Grain Deal -

Still on the sidelines of the UNGA, President Ruto met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on September 19, where he pledged his support for Ukraine during this time of war following an invasion by Russia. President Ruto reiterated that “we believe in a world order based on rules.” President Zelenskyy thanked Kenya for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as he extended an invitation to President Ruto to visit Ukraine. 

The two leaders discussed preparations for the Global Peace Summit and finished the side chat by discussing steps to a possible establishment of Ukrainian grain hubs in Kenya.

- Inter-state Cooperations -

On Wednesday, President Ruto met with United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting. President Ruto also had time to meet with Prime Minister of Canada Tradeau, US Secretary of State Blinken, Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Cuba President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Switzerland President Alain Berset, President of Angola João Lourenço, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and Kosovo President Vjosa… among others. With all these leaders they explored potential areas of cooperation, trade, green energy initiatives, food security, health care support and exchange of professional knowledge in the future among others.

- Climate Financing -

During President Ruto’s meeting with World Bank President Ajay Banga, he said the World Bank is a valuable partner to Kenya, providing technical and financial assistance towards development programmes in the country and that Kenya and Africa are looking forward to the Bank's support towards the realization of the Nairobi Declaration on climate change in 2023. 

- The Haiti Mission -

On September 20, Haiti and Kenya declared they had established diplomatic relations on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting in New York amid international discussions over the possibility of Kenya leading a United Nations-backed multinational security force to help police fight escalating gang violence in Haiti. 

President Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry witnessed the signing of the agreement by Minister Jean Victor Génus and Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua at the Kenyan Mission in New York, United States. President Ruto said Kenya will do its part in leading a well-resourced and effective Multinational Security Support Mission in the country. Prime Minister Henry said Haiti needs all the necessary support to address immense the challenges facing the country.

Kenya’s President received a mention and praise from non-less than President Biden of the United States concerning Kenya’s commitment towards leading a multinational force into Haiti, which is experiencing a surge in violence between police and gangs, and improve security in the violence-plagued country.