Kenyan President in France to finalize important economic agreements
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) shakes hands with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta during an event at Nairobi Central Railway Station in Nairobi on March 13, 2019, on the first day of a state visit to Kenya.
Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The Kenyan president arrives in Paris for a five-day visit to France.
A business-oriented move.
The Head of State, accompanied by five ministers, will participate in a conference of the Public Investment Bank, meet with French employers and sign contracts.
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With our correspondent in Nairobi,
Sébastien Németh
Uhuru Kenyatta is accompanied by a strong ministerial delegation and is expected to attend several economic events.
A conference at the headquarters of BPI France, the institution responsible for promoting French companies abroad, but also a meeting at Medef, the French employers.
Because this visit should give rise to some signing of contracts, we hope at the Elysee, for nearly two billion euros.
In March 2019, Emmanuel Macron visited Kenya, the
first official trip of a French head of state
to Kenya since independence.
The two presidents were committed to several infrastructure projects.
Despite the very strong Chinese presence in the Kenyan economy, France is attracted by this strategic country whose growth has propelled it in a decade into the club of middle-income countries.
Three main infrastructure projects
The time has now come to make these agreements a reality, they say in diplomatic circles.
Paris hopes to finalize the motorway concession project linking Nairobi to Nakuru and Mau Summit.
A contract worth 1.6 billion euros of which Vinci is the main operator.
This crucial road axis is used by trucks of goods imported from the coast.
Rather difficult discussions because of a divergence on the terrorist risk, usually taken into account, in this kind of contract, by the sovereign country.
However Nairobi would not wish to assume this risk.
It will therefore be the subject of further negotiations.
Another project is the rail link between the Kenyan capital and the airport.
Paris has already drawn up the financing agreement for the rehabilitation of the old existing railway line, it remains to be signed for a value of 130 million euros.
Finally, France offers its know-how to connect the Menengaï geothermal power plant to the country's electricity grid.
That is to say 30 km of line carried out by the French branch of General Electric.
A project expected to bring in 110 million euros.
Offer an alternative to all Chinese
In short, so many projects calibrated to be pro-environment, beneficial for the populations and financially viable.
Paris therefore confirms its rapprochement with Nairobi.
“
The two presidents have good contact.
They call each other regularly and have converging interests, in particular on regional stability issues
, ”indicates an expert on the issue.
Paris thus voted in favor of Kenya to obtain its seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
France is counting on the Kenyans' desire to diversify their partners in the face of China's economic omnipresence.
"
The Kenyans want to diversify and they are unhappy with the way Beijing treats them,
" said an economist, adding that the Chinese have several times tried to thwart this Franco-Kenyan rapprochement.
As a pledge of goodwill, the French Development Agency will offer its services to develop the network of rural roads.
Budget support is also topical.
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Uhuru Kenyatta
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