CONTACTS: +254 726879488 (Mobile)
+254770 455 116 (Office)
UK Premier in Nairobi for trade, bilateral talks
The two leaders are expected to witness the signing of two important agreements between the countries keen to boost bilateral and trade ties. Also top on the agenda is a joint press conference that will touch on new areas of cooperation and financial support.
Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.
President Uhuru Kenyatta will Thursday meet the UK Prime Minister Theresa May at the Nairobi State House in Nairobi, with the UK Premier in the East African nation on a two-day official visit.
Theresa May’s visit, the first in 30 years by a sitting UK Prime Minister, provides an opportune time for Kenyatta to discuss business prospects with his British counterpart who is keen to enhance bilateral as well as business interests with non-European Union countries, even as the Britain prepares to exit the European Union (EU), or Brexit.
Britain targets to spend most of its $18 billion (Sh1.8 trillion) international aid budget to deepen trade ties with Africa with Kenya hoping to benefit from.
In her close-fitting itinerary, May will lay a wreath at the country’s first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta Mausoleum before proceeding to Embakasi where she will open a new cybercrime security wing.
May will later in the afternoon, accompanied by British delegation, is expected to address a business forum at the Strathmore University before proceeding to the United Nations for another meetings with Kenyan delegation.
Kenya is one of the three African countries May is visiting in her first African trip, and whose purpose, is intended to provide prospects of increased trade with non-European Union countries to be used as one of the major selling points of Brexit as it prepares to leave the bloc.
In a speech in Cape Town on Tuesday, May said she wanted Britain to become the biggest investor in Africa out of the Group of Seven nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) overtaking the United States, by using the aid budget to help British companies invest on the continent.
Britain has held out the prospect of increased trade with non-European Union countries as one of the major selling points of Brexit as it prepares to leave the EU bloc, currently its biggest trading partner.
In April, Britain hosted a meeting of Commonwealth countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, seeking to reinvigorate the network of mostly former colonies and drum up new trade amongst its members.