Written by
Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Kenya. The United Kingdom is expected to announce a 182.6 million USD new government and private investment into Big Four projects, including affordable housing and manufacturing.
This followed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s three day visit to the UK, which will be concluded by him co-chairing the Global Education summit with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday, reported The East Africa.
During this visit, President Kenyatta is anticipated to sign several economic and security deals on the back of the trade agreement Kenya signed in December with Britain to ensure an uninterrupted flow of goods between the two nations upon the UK’s exit from the European Union trading arrangements.
The December agreement
The UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement was signed on 8th December 2020 by International Trade Minister Ramil Jayawardena and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Trade Minister Betty Maina in London.
It provided Kenyan duty-free access to the UK market, while Kenya will start phasing out duty and quota barriers on a set number of UK products 12 years after the EPA has come into effect.
Kenyan legislators challenged the deal
Kenyan members of parliament challenged the deal claiming that the clause in the Economic Partnership Agreement bars Parliament from amending or expressing reservations on the pack, saying that it erodes the country’s sovereignty and demanded that the Parliament be allowed to either amend or express reservations on the trade deal.
Trade deal endorsed amidst challenges
In March 2021, the Kenya parliament ratified the trade deal in a surprise way late at night despite all legal challenges by the chairman of the Kenya parliamentary Trade commission Adan Haji in a twist when he managed to persuade the majority of Kenyan legislators not to block the agreement.
Expected in new deal
According to the joint press release that announced the UK visit, President Kenyatta and Prime Minister Johnson will jointly announce major investments into the Big Four projects on affordable housing, manufacturing, and health partnership.
The UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is also expected to announce a $47.5 million UK Aid which is to be matched by $31.97 million of private investment to finance 10,000 affordable green homes for Kenyans.
Benefits
The new UK-Kenya deals of $182m package from the UK government and British firms will support investment in the region, including building new green affordable homes, connecting households to clean energy, and boosting manufacturing.
