Africa-Press – Kenya. UPDATE: May 2, 2021, 4:00pm. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu is expected to make a speech in Parliament after meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House on Tuesday, May 4.
According to Tanzania’s State House Spokesperson Gerson Msigwa, President Suluhu will make a historical address attended by members of both houses of Parliament.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has confirmed that Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu is set to arrive in Nairobi on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, for a two-day visit.
President Kenyatta will receive his Tanzania counterpart at State House, Nairobi on the same day.
First among President Suluhu’s to-do list is a meeting with Kenyatta that will mark the end of a 5-year period since a Tanzania Head of State last visited Kenya.
The discussion will range from bilateral matters and areas of cooperation in terms of regional trade policies that have suffered tensions in recent years.
After meeting with Kenyatta, Suluhu has planned a roundtable with the local business community and private sector.
The Tanzania Head of State will be seeking to lure Kenya’s business community to consider investments in the neighbouring country.
She is keen on revising the hostile economic policies introduced by her predecessor John Pombe Magufuli – that were particularly punitive on Kenyan-owned businesses.
Investors have suffered losses due to the tense trade ties between the two countries that have caused the destruction and seizure of goods.
President Suluhu has kickstarted an aggressive campaign to improve what her administration has termed as economic diplomacy.
In her recent first address to Parliament since assuming the role of President, she communicated that her administration would promote investments by creating a good business environment.
“The government will be taking specific steps to promote investment by looking into investment policies, laws, and regulations, remove clauses that are hampering smooth investments, including unpredictable policies, an unstable tax system and unnecessary bureaucracies,” she stressed.
President Suluhu’s visit to Kenya comes just months after her trip to Uganda where she signed the Ksh400 billion East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline deal.
Uganda’s oil pipeline will be built through Tanzania instead of Kenya as initially planned.
Kenya lost out on the deal after Uganda raised concerns about the feasibility of the pipeline going through Kenya.
