Harris meets with President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia … – Today News Africa

United States Vice President, Kamala D. Harris, on Friday, met with President Hakainde Hichilema in Lusaka, Zambia, and the two leaders affirmed their commitment to advancing democracy in Zambia and globally.

The Vice President announced new democracy programs to promote anti-corruption, governance reforms, and financial transparency in Zambia.

She underscored “the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to support fundamental human rights around the world,” her office said in a readout from their meeting.

Her office added, “Vice President Harris announced the United States and Zambia will sign a Commercial Development Memorandum of Understanding as a follow-up to their commitment to boost commercial engagement during their September 22, 2021 bilateral meeting in Washington, DC.

“The Vice President also affirmed the United States’ commitment to Zambia’s economic revitalization and welcomed President Hichilema’s economic reform agenda. She assured President Hichilema that the United States considers the finalization of Zambia’s debt treatment a top priority, and that U.S. officials are calling on all bilateral official creditors to provide a meaningful debt reduction for Zambia.

“The two leaders also discussed cooperation at the United Nations and through the Southern African Development Community, including on insecurity in the region.”

READ ALSO – WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET: Vice President Harris Announces Over $7 Billion in Private Sector and U.S. Government Commitments to Promote Climate Resilience, Adaptation, and Mitigation across Africa

March 31, 2023

In Lusaka, Zambia, in response to Vice President Kamala Harris’s call for the private sector to promote and enhance climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation across Africa, the private sector made over $7 billion in new commitments. Additionally, the U.S. Government is announcing new federal funding and initiatives to expand access to climate information services and enhance climate resilience and adaptation. These new investments and initiatives will generate significant economic benefits while addressing African nations’ pressing needs resulting from the climate crisis, including food security challenges, by helping to lift-up over 116 million farmers and promote climate-smart agriculture. These announcements demonstrate America’s commitment to partnering with African people and governments, alongside the private sector, to help the continent meet its climate adaptation and resilience, clean-energy access, and just energy transition goals.

African nations have historically contributed relatively little to the climate crisis but are disproportionally harmed by its impacts. The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that to address the climate crisis in Africa, we must work together, building new coalitions between the U.S. government, African governments, civil society, and the private sector.

Private Sector Investments

The Vice President, as part of her call for the private sector to promote climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation across Africa, is announcing the following 27 private sector and philanthropic commitments to support farmers, climate-smart agriculture, sustainability, clean energy, and clean transportation.

Supporting Farmers and Climate-Smart Agriculture

• Pula, an agricultural insurance and technology company, is responding to the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) Call to Action and has committed to increase their coverage to 100 million small holder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa by providing up to $20 billion in insurance coverage by 2026. The smallholder farmers pay $20 for $200 dollars of insurance coverage. Insuring previously uninsured farmers can generate a direct positive impact for farming households across Africa, helping to secure their livelihoods by protecting them against the risk of financial losses due to climate-related events.
• Mastercard, a payment and technology company, is responding to the PREPARE Call to Action and has committed to increase access of its Community Pass platform to a total of 15 million farmers in Africa by 2027 to spur economic output and opportunity. Community Pass is a shared interoperable digital platform that provides a commercially sustainable approach to scaling service delivery and increasing access to critical services including healthcare, agriculture, and micro-commerce, for individuals in underserved, remote, and frequently offline communities. Community Pass enables farmers to command higher prices by facilitating increased access to buyers and creating greater price transparency. Community Pass also enables access to inputs, advisory, and other financial service providers. Together, these services improve a smallholder farmer’s agricultural practices, resulting in a more resilient, sustainable, and productive farming system.
• SunCulture, an Africa-focused solar irrigation company, commits to mobilizing $100 million in private capital and $40 million in grant/subsidy funding to deploy smallholder farmer solar irrigation to address food security in Kenya by 2028. SunCulture expects to install 274,000 solar irrigation systems on smallholder farms, reaching nearly 1.1 million direct beneficiaries, creating 411,000 jobs, growing 7.1 million metric tons of food, and generating $5 billion of increased incomes for smallholder farmers.
• One Acre Fund, an agricultural service provider to support African smallholder farmers in partnership with local governments, has committed to raise and invest a $100 million fund to help 1 million farmers plant one billion trees by 2030. Smallholder farmers plant trees to harvest branches and wood, improve the farm environment, and sequester carbon.
• Touton SA, an agro-industrial actor, is leading a consortium expected to commit $79.2 million into sourcing sustainable cocoa by 2025 and benefit an estimated 150,000 Ghanaians. They are supported by Palladium through the Partnership for Forests (P4F) project, and will develop and pilot a landscape-wide governance model in Juaboso-Bia landscape to promote sustainable and deforestation-free cocoa production while protecting forests earmarked as a hotspot intervention area.
• AlphaTalentsAfrica (ATA), an investment company supporting agribusiness ecosystems in Africa, has committed $50 million in agrifood industry investments in Africa over the next 20 years. ATA has committed $9 million for its first investment from the $50 million in a manufacturer of quinine-based ingredients for the beverage industry and of medicinal plant-based pharmaceutical products headquartered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• AgDevCo, a specialist investor in African agribusiness, is investing $10 million in sustainable forestry through New Forests Company. New Forests Company is one of the leading forestry companies in East Africa, with more than 30,000 hectares of plantations in Uganda and Tanzania. The company also supports over 6,000 smallholder farmers through the company’s outgrower program. All timber is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, and the plantations sequester significant volumes of carbon, which will increase further as the company and outgrower forestry stands mature.

• Switch Bioworks, a living fertilizer company, has committed $10 million to create sustainable biofertilizers in Africa over the next three years. Successful biofertilizer has the potential to triple per-acre productivity at less than one-tenth the greenhouse gas emissions of synthetic fertilizer.
• Agrinfo Company Limited, an aerial imagery and artificial intelligence company that helps farmers make informed crop decisions, has committed $2 million to create a network of 3,000 drone pilots to collect and analyze data that will help 1 million farmers in Africa by 2030.
• Corteva, an agriscience company dedicated to agriculture, has committed $250,000 to support climate smart post-harvest solutions in Ethiopia for 230,000 smallholder farmers and recently committed $100,000 for research that is applying gene-editing techniques to create a parasite-resistant “smart” sorghum by 2025. These collaborations will increase the incomes and food security of smallholder farmers in Africa as the threats of climate change, pest, and disease continue to grow.
• Land O’ Lakes Venture 37, the non-profit international development affiliate of the member-owned agricultural cooperative, is working through the Dairy Nourishes Africa portfolio of projects, founded by the Chicago-based Global Dairy Platform and in partnership with the Boston-based Bain & Company. This unique 15-to-20-year public/private partnership will drive inclusive climate-smart economic development in the dairy sector of four East African countries, reaching more than 10 million resource-poor, opportunity-constrained stakeholders. The projects aim to feed 40,000 children daily and double the income of 250,000 commercial-oriented farmers in the next 10 years.
• McCormick, a global flavor company headquartered in the U.S., is responding to the PREPARE Call to Action, and through its Grown for Good framework, is investing in the resilience of over 30,000 farmers across their supply chains. They have set an ambitious 100% sustainable sourcing goal for their top five branded ingredients for 2025 and have already achieved 100% sustainability for their vanilla supply chain sourced from Madagascar.

Spurring Sustainability, Clean Energy, and Clean Transportation

• African Parks, a non-profit conservation organization that rehabilitates and manages national parks in partnership with governments and local communities across Africa, has committed to increase its management of 8 new parks by 2030, taking their number to 30. To meet this 30 Parks by 2030 goal, African Parks is committing to raise and invest an additional $1.25 billion in Africa over the next 7 years. This will include a mix of already raised funds in addition to future fundraising.
• Cambridge Industries Ltd (CIL), an engineering, design, procurement, and construction firm focused on renewable energy projects throughout Africa, has committed $950 million to decarbonizing waste management in Kinshasa, anchored by four Waste-to-Value Industrial Parks for the Circular Economy. The universal waste management project, which will utilize anaerobic digesters for waste-to-energy and high-quality recycling scheme is expected to provide waste collection and disposal services to over 3.5 million households, electricity to 400,000 households, and create employment opportunities for more than 35,000 residents by 2030.
• ABD Group, a project development firm focused on Africa, commits to finance and operationalize an electrification project with Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) by expanding two combined cycle gas power projects to produce 900 MW of electricity through new power plants to expand energy access in a project valued at $800 million dollars. ABD Group has also developed and secured financing to build five wastewater treatment plants in Cote d’Ivoire valued at $52 million. Construction will start in the second quarter of 2023 on five wastewater treatment plants and a pumping station. This will bring wastewater treatment to social housing communities and benefit a projected 40,000 households.
• Combustion Associates Inc (CAI), a power plant equipment supplier company specializing in gas turbine power generation packages, has committed to $600 million to reduce vented greenhouse gas emissions through their Flare Gas Elimination Program in Nigeria by 2025.
• SAGLEV Inc, a vehicle assembly, manufacturing, and distributing company, is committing $600 million in electric vehicle assembly plants for Ghana – with service to Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, and South Africa by 2027. This will create 150 direct jobs and up to 25,000 indirect jobs by 2027.
• The Emissions Capture Company (ECCO), an emissions management platform utilizing AI-driven solutions that recycle industrial emission and waste into valuable compounds to support the green economy, commits at least $550 million to reduce emissions and plastic waste from Nestlé sites in Africa between 2023 and 2029 by deploying its proprietary technology that gathers emissions and plastic waste from industrial processes and converts it into sodium bicarbonate and other materials.
• The Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution, will invest and mobilize $510 million for the initial $750 million first close of a $2 billion Infrastructure Climate Resilience Fund (ICRF) with a mission to incorporate climate risk in physical infrastructure built across the continent. The ICRF was launched last year and is focused on the following four sectors: Transport and Logistics, Power and Renewables, Telecoms and Digital Infrastructure, Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones. It is the first large-scale adaptation program of its kind, and it offers a unique opportunity to support sustainable development in Africa while mitigating the impacts of climate change through a blended finance approach to de-risk investment opportunities.
• CrossBoundary Energy, an investment firm, has committed $500 million to support clean energy solutions for African businesses over the next two years. According to World Bank data, access to reliable and affordable electricity is the most significant constraint on economic growth on the continent. CBE addresses this challenge by providing African corporations with fully financed renewable power. CBE expects to employ over 6,000 people and save African businesses between $6.5 and13 million annually in electricity costs.

• Wilderness, an ecotourism pioneer, and carbon offset developer Carbon Ark, have signed a partnership with the Zambian government that aims to protect millions of acres of threatened forest and “rewild” previously pristine areas of biodiversity damaged by human activity. The partnership seeks to empower local communities and expand the habitat for endangered wildlife through the implementation of a high-integrity carbon sequestration project. Carbon Ark anticipates that this partnership project will deploy over $500 million in operational investments and create over 1,000 community jobs. The partnership is also supported by U.S. impact investing firm TPG Rise, Bank of America and Jet Blue Ventures through Rubicon Carbon.
• C1 Ventures, a climate technology investment fund focused on decarbonizing large-scale industries by applying breakthrough technologies, has partnered with other investors to commit $250 million in biomanufacturing in Africa over the next four years. The stealth company, backed by C1 Ventures, will employ a gas-based precision fermentation technique to create animal feed protein and biodegradable plastics using captured CO2 and CH4 gases from concentrated natural and industrial sources.
• Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship (CCE), which includes the Gaia Africa Climate Fund, MassChallenge, Village Capital, SVG’s Thrive Africa, and additional partners, commits over $200 million to identify and support emerging sustainability entrepreneurs in Africa, including by helping scale their innovations to global markets.
• Roam, an electric vehicle company from Kenya, is aiming to raise and invest over the next eight years $150 million to scale up affordable electric motorcycles and public transit solutions that have been uniquely designed to offer a clean transport solution for emerging market consumers and result in economic benefits for micro-entrepreneurs and commuters. Roam’s plan will reduce CO2 emissions while creating 300 direct jobs and more than 24,000 indirect jobs by 2026 with a gender inclusive recruitment strategy.
• Vista Bank Group, a financial service holding company with the objective to build a world-class pan-African financial institution, commits $100 million to be invested toward sustainability initiatives over the next year, such as renewable energy projects and reforestation programs on the African continent. This commitment will help ensure that investments support a resilient economy and deliver financial returns while generating positive value for society and operating within environmental constraints.
• World Economic Forum (WEF), an independent international non-government organization, is publicly announcing $18.2 million of recently committed dollars from its Global Plastic Action Partnership (a consortium of public and private sector partners) towards plastic pollution reduction in Ghana through the Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership (their national platform for multistakeholder collaboration). This commitment will support Ghana in transitioning to a circular plastics economy.
• Transvolt Energy Systems Limited, a clean energy storage company, is committed to raising $10 million to establish a lithium battery assembly plant in Africa by 2024. This manufacturing facility will increase access to clean energy, reduce the cost of local clean energy installations, generate secondary markets based on refurbished batteries, and create 1,200 direct and indirect job opportunities.

U.S. Government Commitments

To further accelerate the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), which aims to help more than half a billion people in developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change this decade, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the following initiatives in recognition of the critical urgency of building climate resilience across the African continent. These announcements build on the bilateral climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation announcements the Vice President made in Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Expanding Access to Climate Information Services

• The GEOGlows Streamflow Forecasting Service. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is committed to continuing its leadership role as part of the Group on Earth Observations Global Water Sustainability Initiative (GEOGloWS), which provides reliable 15-day forecasts and 50 years of historical streamflow data for every river in the world through a free and open web service. Over the next five years, the United States, including NOAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), together with other partners will commit $1.5 million to enhance GEOGloWS service implementation in Tanzania, Botswana and Kenya, building on earlier success in Malawi. GEOGloWS will work directly with partner countries on implementation, including capacity development workshops with user organizations. Through its support for the GEOGloWS European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Streamflow Forecasting Service, NOAA contributes to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Executive Action Plan to deliver Early Warning for All by 2027.
• Expanding Weather Station Networks in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) will commit nearly $10 million in weather stations and capacity building to use and maintain them over the next five years with 10 African governments, beginning with Kenya. These partnerships will support governments to develop or fortify the capability to report weather station data and integrate this information with Earth observations to improve climate, weather, and acute food insecurity forecasts. USAID’s investment in these services will also benefit other sectors such as health; agriculture; water, sanitation and hygiene; and climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction; thereby helping to save lives and livelihoods. This expansion of FEWS NET will help the region and the international community to monitor our rapidly changing climate and support early warning systems for climate hazards and acute food insecurity.
• YouthMappers. A Global Mapping Response for African Development. With support from the USAID’s GeoCenter, young people in 70 countries from more than 350 universities are applying geospatial technology to assist with humanitarian outcomes and to help solve international development challenges related to poverty, disease, and climate change. Through its YouthMappers program, USAID will invest $600,000 to empower more than 5,000 university students around the world to map communities in African countries using earth observations and satellite data. The new data will be used to address health, food security, energy security, disaster response, and resilience in local communities.
• FEWS NET Health Threat Extension. Through the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Health Threat Extension (HTE) pilot activity, overseas USAID Missions in Somalia and Mozambique will explore and address climate-sensitive health threats that generate cross-sectoral impacts. Each Mission will take an interdisciplinary approach to incorporating local health, climate, earth system, and social science data and information. These projects will leverage and enhance existing data systems to advance evidence-based health threat early warning systems. The projects will support evidence-based decision-making, prevention, and planning surrounding forecast health threats and their relationship to food and water insecurity and other development challenges.

Enhancing Climate Resilience and Adaptation

• Energy Access and Climate Resilience. The U.S. Africa Development Fund (USADF) has committed up to $1.5 million in grant funding in FY23 for new and expanded USADF Off-grid Energy Challenges. The areas in which the Challenges will focus include healthcare facilities electrification, energy for agriculture, women in energy, productive use of energy, and innovative energy solutions that will support African governments goals of increasing energy access and improve the standard of living in unserved and underserved communities in Africa. This program will support energy for agriculture, women in energy, and healthcare facilities electrification.
• U.S.-Africa Climate Innovation Week. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will advance the development of climate resilience and adaptation projects in Africa by hosting a U.S.-Africa Climate Innovation Week in the United States for leaders from across the continent. This partnership-building engagement will include parallel reverse trade missions to multiple U.S. cities, to showcase innovative American technologies, services and best practices that can benefit Africa’s infrastructure for water management, and early warning and emergency management systems.

READ ALSO – DFC Approves More Than $655 Million of Investments to Bolster Infrastructure, Energy Security, Food Security, and Healthcare in Q2 of FY2023

United States International Development Finance Corporation
Washington
March 31, 2023

This quarter, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) approved 17 new transactions totaling more than $655 million of investment. The transactions will support U.S. foreign policy and development priorities across the globe, including enabling sustainable infrastructure and energy security, advancing food security and agricultural innovation, supporting small businesses, and improving healthcare.

In the second quarter, DFC’s Board of Directors approved three projects:

• Building sustainable infrastructure in Asia and the Western Hemisphere: A $300 million loan to ISQ Growth Markets Climate Impact Fund, which will invest in critical infrastructure and energy projects in emerging markets across Asia and the Western Hemisphere.
• Expanding financial inclusion opportunities for women entrepreneurs in Türkiye: A $150 million purchase of bonds issued by Akbank will enable the bank to address regional and gender disparities by supporting on-lending to women and women-led businesses in the least developed provinces of Türkiye.
• Promoting healthcare access and transparency in rural Vietnam: An equity investment of $18 million to BuyMed Pte Ltd. will expand pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals’ access to pharmaceutical products in rural areas and increase transparency and compliance within the healthcare industry in Vietnam.

Please find more information on DFC’s Board of Directors web page.

Additionally, DFC approved the following investments at the Corporation level:

• Supporting entrepreneurs in Africa building agriculture and climate solutions: A $25 million equity investment in Novastar Africa People + Planet Fund, a fund that backs entrepreneurs with the capability to build and scale innovative solutions to address climate change and support agriculture and climate resilience across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Supporting micro, small, and medium businesses in the Indo-Pacific: A $10 million loan to GreenArc IndoPacific Liquidity Facility will mobilize additional $20 million capital through bond issuances to bridge financing gaps for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through financial intermediaries in South and Southeast Asia.
• Expanding access to energy in Africa: A $10 million loan to a technology and financing platform operating in Africa will finance long-term working capital to expand the supply of solar home systems to households and small businesses, providing hundreds of thousands of people with electricity.
• Increasing economic inclusion in Colombia: A guaranty under DFC’s Scaling Enterprise Guaranty Facility covering a $5.4 million loan from Citibank to Sempli S.A.S., will support small businesses run by underserved populations, including women.
• Bolstering agricultural enterprises in northern Ghana: A $10 million loan portfolio guaranty to a local lender will promote lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and rural community banks supporting agribusiness in Ghana, particularly in northern regions of Ghana that face high rates of poverty and malnutrition, with support from USAID.
• Strengthening agricultural value chains in northern Ghana: With support from USAID, a $2.5 million loan portfolio guaranty to a local lender will support agricultural microenterprises and smallholder farmers, particularly in regions of northern Ghana that face high rates of poverty and malnutrition.
• Increasing access to finance in rural Guatemala: In collaboration with USAID/Guatemala, a $12.5 million DFC loan portfolio guaranty for Banco de América Central, S.A. will support the Guatemalan bank to extend loans to SMEs with an emphasis on those operating in rural areas of the country.
• Driving energy efficiency in India: A $49.5 million loan to Genus Power Infrastructures Ltd to scale up the deployment of electric “smart meters” across India, supporting energy security and transition through grid optimization and efficiency.
• Boosting early growth-stage businesses in India: A commitment to Amicus Capital Partners II, a private equity fund investing in fast-growing, early growth-stage Indian businesses in sectors including financial services, food security and agriculture, healthcare, and technology and business services.
• Extending capital to underserved small businesses in India: An $8 million loan guaranty will provide capital to Svakarma Finance Private Limited, a women founded, owned, and managed non-bank financial company in India that on-lends to underserved micro, small and medium enterprises.
• Boosting medical oxygen supply for healthcare in Kenya: A $10 million loan to Hewa Tele Limited will help expand production and distribution of affordable liquid medical oxygen for hospitals and clinics across Kenya, lowering costs for healthcare providers in rural and urban areas.
• Enhancing infrastructure in Lesotho: A $7.3 million loan to African Hotel Infrastructure Fund Maseru (PTY) Ltd, or an entity to be created, will aid in the construction and operation of a Maseru-based hotel, providing local economic and employment opportunities.
• Improving employment and distribution in Mongolia: A $7.7 million loan to GN Beverages 2, a PepsiCo bottler, will increase the company’s production and distribution capacity to reach new customers and create new employment opportunities in the logistics industry through its distribution network across the country.
• Increasing economic opportunity for underserved communities in Uganda: With support from USAID, a $9 million loan portfolio guaranty to a local lender will support loans to refugees and host communities in Uganda improving livelihoods.

It’s been a whirlwind eight months since I arrived in Kenya to assume the duties of the United States ambassador. As I’ve told many, when President Biden asked me to serve as ambassador to Kenya, he had me at hello. I believe after this two-day summit; Kenya will have you at hello too.

The U.S.-Kenya partnership is strong, built on sixty years of shared values and interests. Our partnership has enhanced security, increased prosperity, and improved the lives of Kenyans and Americans.

It only takes a few visits around this country to observe Kenya’s development and growth potential. There are many reasons why global businesses should consider Africa – and specifically Kenya – for trade and investment opportunities. Today I will answer the question: Why Africa, Why Kenya?

When I was a CEO – I’ll be honest – I probably thought of Africa about 1% of the time. Many of the businesses I managed were heavily involved elsewhere. But if I were back in the boardroom, Africa would be on my radar for two simple reasons: supply chain diversification and net-zero emissions.

If the War in Ukraine and the COVID pandemic taught us anything from a business perspective, it is that single sourcing from any one country is not smart. Single sourcing is a recipe for supply chain disruption and shortage. No business can sustain that kind of vulnerability to succeed in such a competitive environment. In fact, the businesses that will succeed and prosper will be the ones that move the fastest to the newest markets.

What the War in Ukraine and the pandemic did to spur supply chain diversification, climate change has done the same for energy use. Businesses are pushing for net-zero emissions to meet their climate change mitigation goals. Kenya currently generates 93% of its electricity from renewable sources and this percentage is only going up with increased investments in solar, geothermal, and wind. Kenya is well on its way to meeting their green targets and if you invest in Kenya, you will be well on your way to meeting your companies Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions goals.

So, if you have not thought of investing or growing your business in sub-Saharan Africa, ponder these words from a CEO of a major consumer tech company I recently spoke with. He said, “supply chain diversification is now an essential element of our business and so is the need to be totally green. In that sense Kenya seems to offer us a one-two punch to success.”

Some of you may know that I love data and I often say to my team “let’s muck around in the numbers.” At the Embassy, we’ve been doing a LOT of mucking around in trade and investment data. What I’ve learned over the past eight months has been surprising and paints a much more dynamic business outlook for Africa than most Americans realize. Now those of you who are already invested here in Kenya probably know these data points. Here are some I found particularly interesting.

By 2050, one in four humans, a quarter of the world’s population, and one in three working-age people, will live in Africa.

Africa is a young continent – the youngest in the world with 60% of the population under the age of 25.

Africa is the last, and largest, emerging market and offers the last big supply chain and consumer prospects, with opportunities like the ones Southeast Asia presented 20 years ago.

Do I have your attention?

You now know Why Africa should be on your radar. But let’s zoom in on Why Kenya should be your target destination.

Here are some reasons:
– Kenya is the most stable democracy in East Africa,
– Kenya is the gateway to the East African market of almost 500 million consumers,
– Kenya is the regional logistics hub,
– Kenya is the leading regional finance hub,
– Kenya is the leading destination for foreign direct investment and venture capital,
– Kenya has the Silicon Savanah, with super smart engineers, and an excellent workforce,
– Kenya generates over 90% of its energy from renewable sources, and,
– Kenya’s largest export market is the United States.

Let me repeat: Kenya’s largest export market is the United States. And we feel Kenya is ready for export lift off as it diversifies. Let’s unpack a few of these areas: I arrived in Kenya days before the August 2022 general elections. What I witnessed was nothing short of remarkable. Kenya held what many analysts and commentators say was the freest, fairest, and most credible election in Kenyan history. The election was observed by international and local election organizations and upheld by the Kenyan Supreme Court. Power was transferred orderly and peacefully at the time.

Kenya’s population is 56 million, and as I said, Kenya is the gateway to East Africa, with a combined population of about 500 million. Eighty percent of East African regional trade passes through Kenya’s Mombasa Port. In addition, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi is the busiest airport in East Africa, served by 40 passenger airlines and 25 cargo carriers, including FedEx and DHL. Kenya has some excellent infrastructure.

Nairobi’s vibrant technology community is already known as the Silicon Savannah and the Kenyan government is committed to establishing Nairobi as the premier destination for tech sector investment and innovation in Africa. Many U.S. companies have already figured this out and decided that they need to be in Kenya, including the names you see on the screen.

Less known, but also hugely impactful tech companies like Copia Global, Semiconductor Technologies Limited, Twiga Foods, Market Force, Power Financial Wellness, and many electric vehicle startups are here too. I’ve met these companies, visited their operations, and what I see happening here has many of the critical components that make Silicon Savannah a reality.

At the nexus of finance and technology sits one of the most impressive companies I have ever seen: MPesa. MPesa mobile money was developed by Kenyan innovators in 2007, and by 2010, MPesa had become the largest mobile money network in the world.

MPesa generates annual revenues of $1.3 billion, $360 billion flows through the platform yearly, and has an open API with 60,000 developers. It solved one of the biggest challenges in the mobile money market sector: mobile, secure, ubiquitous, low-cost payments. MPesa has over 50 million customers in 7 countries, is involved in over 70% of Kenyan transactions, powers over 5 Million businesses, and 59% of Kenya’s annual GDP flows through it. Let me tell you something: I know a little about this industry having bought and owned PayPal at eBay. I assure you MPesa is extraordinary. MPesa alone demonstrates the brilliant business minds at work here devising African solutions to Global problems.

Kenya leads in foreign direct investment and venture capital too. While venture capital flows decreased by 35 percent globally last year, total funding in Africa actually increased by 8 percent. And more impressively, while venture capital to Nigeria was down 36 percent and essentially flat in South Africa, funding to Kenya increased by 33 percent, one of the highest growth rates on the continent. Adjusted for GDP, Kenya receives significantly more venture capital than anywhere else on the continent, generating roughly triple the venture capital to GDP ratios of Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa. Unlike its continental competitors who attract predominantly fintech led investments, Kenya’s venture capital flows are more diverse, led by e- commerce and cleantech, followed by fintech, agritech, and enterprise investments. And what’s even more unique for Kenya, in 2022, Kenyan female-founded startups raised $146 million in equity, again more than any other country on the continent.

More than 90% of Kenya’s on-grid electricity is currently generated from renewable sources, primarily geothermal, wind, and solar. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Kipeto Wind farm in Kajiado county. Kipeto, the second largest wind farm in Kenya, is proudly supported by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and PowerAfrica. It’s amazing that Kenya has committed to reaching 100% renewable energy by 2030 and is already close to achieving its goal.

From a workforce perspective, Kenya is English-speaking, has high literacy rates, and a strong primary, secondary, and tertiary education system. In fact, 86% of the labor force has some post-secondary education, outpacing the regional average of 72% and the country boasts some excellent universities. Every firm I have talked with raves about the quality of the Kenyan workforce.

In 2022, the United States became Kenya’s largest export market, edging ahead of neighboring Uganda. In total, Kenya exported about $890 million in goods to the United States last year.
In addition, the United States exported around $600 million in goods to Kenya. $1.5 billion in total U.S.-Kenya trade is fairly balanced and is expected to increase as the United States and Kenya negotiate a first-of-its-kind bilateral trade agreement between the United States and a sub-Saharan African country.
The Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership – commonly known as STIP – is definitely a STIP in the right direction. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. This agreement, once signed, will be a model for the rest of the continent.

What does this mean for you? Well, entering Kenya now provides first-mover advantages for your business because the labor, intellectual property rights, regulatory, and other standards set here will help shape the business environment in the rest of the region. So now you know why I am so enthusiastic about the Kenyan investment climate but I will note, however, there is room for improvement. The Kenyan government has made great strides and is committed to creating a business-friendly environment. If it is to accomplish this goal the government will have to address the following items. And the first is taxes.

Kenya must have a consistent, transparent, and fairly administered national tax policy to attract and retain foreign direct investment and accelerate economic development. As you all know, more work needs to be done to establish a durable tax framework. We have worked with the President’s team on this issue and expect some changes to be announced soon.

Without a doubt corruption is also a critical issue and one that must be addressed for Kenya to reach its full potential in all areas of development. Corruption leads to misuse of public resources, slows economic growth and job creation, and damages the investment climate. Corruption also undermines equal participation in the prosperity of this country and erodes public trust in institutions.

However, while corruption does remain a challenge in Kenya, as in other developing markets, third-party measures of corruption indicate positive trends and modest progress in recent years.
According to the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation’s country scorecards for 2023, Kenya’s score for “Control of Corruption” was 0.28 representing its third passing score in a row and highest score to date. To put this number in context, Kenya’s 0.28 was superior to India’s 0.18 and Vietnam’s 0.19.
Kenya, like many developing countries, is burdened with high debt, limiting its ability to fund public services and infrastructure in line with its ambitions. According to the IMF, Kenya’s debt to GDP ratio is 69% but this number is not an outlier amongst regional averages. For comparison, Malaysia’s debt to GDP stood at 69% in 2021 while India’s ratio was 83% in 2022.

Another issue I often hear about is cargo clearance. Despite improving logistics infrastructure, the delivered cost of a container shipment to Kenya does remain significantly higher than for container shipments landing in Europe or Asia. While there is room for improvement on the cost, clearance times at the Port of Mombasa have been reduced from over 11 days in 2010 to 3.5 days in 2022. This reduction occurred despite cargo consistently increasing over the past five years, from 27 million metric tons in 2016 to nearly 35 million metric tons in 2021. This is an excellent opportunity to put to rest the argument that Kenya is not a manufacturing country. True, Kenya has room to grow in this sector, but manufacturing is happening here. Let me give you a few examples.

– Gearbox, a high-mix low-flow electronics manufacturer in Nairobi, runs a state-of-the-art surface-mount assembly line and in November 2022 began manufacturing Raspberry Pi’s Pico product for the African market. Gearbox’s production quality meets or exceeds that of Raspberry Pi’s other production sites in Wales and in Japan, producing a first pass yield of 99.6%.

– Semiconductor Technologies Limited (STL), a U.S.-owned semiconductor manufacturing and nanotechnology company domiciled in Kenya, is growing rapidly, and has hired more than 80 Kenyan engineers in the past two years.

– Kenya’s Revital Healthcare is one of the largest manufacturers of medical products in Africa, producing 48 devices and exporting to 28 countries.

– Isuzu’s East Africa assembly plant has been operating in Nairobi since 1977, selling more than 90,000 units with over 15 models.
– There is also a robust and growing electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly industry in Kenya.

– Kenya is the future for Africa’s two- and three- wheel e-mobility and e-buses.
– Lastly, when we talk about trade, we must talk about apparel and apparel manufacturing. Last year Kenya recorded its highest ever apparel exports to the United States, over $540 million, employing nearly 200,000 Kenyans, mostly young women.
– Leading U.S. apparel brands sourcing from Kenya include PVH, which includes Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein; Kontoor, which includes Lee and Wrangler, and several more including Walmart and Levi’s.
– And what we hear is these brands want more Kenyan apparel manufacturing, both because of the high quality of labor and for Kenya’s leadership in renewable energy.
– Brands are steadily moving production operations to Kenya from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and China because of what Kenya has to offer. And more of this is on the way.

In the words of Canadian American rock band Buffalo Springfield from their 1967 song, For What it is Worth – I bet some of you are going to have to Google this – “There’s something happening here.” But unlike the song’s second line, “But what it is ain’t exactly clear,” does not apply to Kenya. It is abundantly clear to me, and I hope by now it is abundantly clear to you. If you’re not convinced, here are a few more data points to muck around in.

– Major U.S. companies have already made the jump to Africa with regional or continent-wide headquarters in Kenya, many previously mentioned.
– Major multinationals have regional offices in Kenya, including powerhouses like LG, Toyota, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Standard Chartered, and Old Mutual.
– The medical ecosystem in Kenya keeps expanding with Hologic, GE, Cigna, Pfizer, Abbott, and Varian Medical Systems already here.
– And there are more exciting developments happening every day. American sports associations like the NBA, the NFL, MLB, MLS, and entertainment icon, The Grammys, are all currently looking for a foothold in Kenya.
– The television and movie industries are discovering Kenya – just look at the fact that Kenya now has a Real Housewives of Nairobi!

Stay tuned as President Ruto has more exciting announcements to make tomorrow.

Since my arrival, my team and I at the Embassy have been working to strengthen the U.S. -Kenya trade and investment relationship along with the American Chamber of Commerce and the Kenyan government. As Secretary Blinken said in his Vital Partners, Shared Priorities speech from South Africa last August; “The United States and African nations can’t achieve any of our shared priorities… if we don’t work together as equal partners.”

You now know why investing in Africa, and Kenya, makes so much sense. I’m delighted to be working with the Chamber, the Kenyan government, and all of you to promote our shared prosperity. I’m excited to see what new relationships and deals come from this summit and wish you nothing but success.

Thank you.

Ambassador Robert Wood
Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs
New York, New York
March 31, 2023

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Mr. President. And I thank the High Representative for her informative and sobering briefing this morning.

It is unfortunate that this meeting was necessary today. That President Putin is escalating Russia’s dangerous and destabilizing behavior. By now threatening to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, he has once again, reminded the world of his disregard for international law, including the UN Charter.

Russia’s suggestion that this intended deployment is somehow justified because of the use of armor piercing ammunition is ludicrous. To state the obvious: armor piercing ammunition is in no way analogous to tactical nuclear weapons.

Viewing the Kremlin’s announcement in the context of the totality of Russia’s behavior, it becomes quite clear that this announcement has nothing to do with an ammunition type. One that has, by the way, been in use for decades – and that Russia itself possesses. Rather, it has everything to do with the Kremlin’s attempts to limit and deter international security assistance for Ukraine’s defense of its sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.

The reality is, the Kremlin doesn’t want Ukraine to possess the capability to defend itself against Russia’s tanks. But let us recall a simple, immutable fact – Russia’s tanks would not come into contact with these armor piercing munitions if Russia’s tanks were not within Ukraine’s sovereign territory in the first place.

It would not be necessary to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons and equipment if Russia had not launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And now through completely irresponsible rhetoric and continued disinformation – Russia seeks to escalate its unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine – rather than to seek peace.

President Putin’s March 25th announcement noting intentions to forward deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, is not about nuclear burden sharing. There are no credible defense related reasons for Russia to station nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Lukashenko continues to provide material and logistical support to Russia’s military, and for months has parroted Russia’s irresponsible and false narrative of provocation. The Lukashenko regime paved the way for Putin’s decision on March 25, by enacting a series of constitutional changes in February 2022 – against the will of most Belarussians – to enable Russia’s stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Indeed, Russia appears willing to break its promises whenever it suits President Putin’s interest.

Less than a fortnight ago, President Putin committed in a joint statement with China to effectively reduce the risk of nuclear war. And cynically stated that “nuclear weapons states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad and withdraw nuclear weapons deployed abroad.”

Putin’s continued disregard for his promises to his friends for Russia’s international obligations and commitments, and his willingness to sacrifice strategic stability to achieve his goals in Ukraine, is of risk to this Council’s agenda regarding the maintenance of international peace and security.

It was Russia’s decisions that led to the termination of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019. Through its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has further contravened its commitments under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Last year, it was Russia and Russia alone that decided to block consensus on a final document at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.

Since then, Russia has strayed even further from implementation of its arms control obligations with its purported suspension of participation in the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, New START.

Not only was this legally invalid, but it demonstrates an increasingly disturbing trend of Russia’s reliance on nuclear weapons and provocative nuclear rhetoric to intimidate those prepared to help Ukraine provide for its legitimate self-defense.

The Kremlin is attempting to manipulate the specter of nuclear conflict to help win its illegal war against Ukraine while it further tramples on the UN Charter.

In the face of these violations, it is unfortunate that some on this council have chosen a policy of ignoring Russia’s aggression against the Ukrainian people by refusing to acknowledge Russia’s dangerous actions, or condemning its violation of the principles of the UN Charter. Those who have chosen this path enable further violations by Russia, exacerbating the conflict and moving us all further away from peace by turning a blind eye to the cause of this conflict, which is Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine.

No legitimate path to peace can stem from a refusal to recognize the facts.

No other country is inflicting such damage on arms control, nor seeking to undermine strategic stability in Europe. No other country has raised the prospect of potential nuclear use in connection with the war in Ukraine.

No other country is increasing nuclear deployments in Europe or issuing implied threats of use.

No country is threatening Russia or threatening President Putin. Putin’s war against Ukraine is one he never should have started. And one the Kremlin could end in a moment if it chooses. That it deliberately chooses not to, is telling – as are the actions of those who would criticize Ukraine for defending its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence.

In light of the international community’s overwhelming support for peace, as demonstrated by last month’s general assembly vote on a just and lasting peace – we call on Russia to reconsider its intentions to forward deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, and once again, call on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

Russia should immediately cease escalatory rhetoric around the potential use of nuclear weapons.

Any use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons in Ukraine would have severe consequences for the maintenance of international peace and security and would fundamentally change the nature of this war. And any use of nuclear weapons, would break the record of non-use of such weapons that has held for nearly 80 years.

We also call on the Lukashenka regime to cease its complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

And we again, call on Russia to de-escalate starting with the cessation of its war of aggression against Ukraine.

Thank you, Mr. President.

###

Remarks at a UN Security Council Briefing on Threats to International Peace and Security, Additional Response

Office of the United States Trade Representative
Press Release
Washington
March 31, 2023

By: Deputy Assistant USTR Courtney Smothers, Deputy Assistant USTR Karen Lezny,
and Policy Director Andrea Boron

As we celebrate Women’s History month at the Office of the Trade Representative, we want to give special recognition to the women who make international trade happen – inventing, manufacturing, buying and selling, and seizing opportunities for themselves and their families.

We also want to give special recognition to all the distinguished women leading negotiations and solving complex problems at USTR’s office in Washington, and around the world. Women at USTR are key drivers and leaders in advocating for U.S. interests and the well-being of all our people in the economy.

In October 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration issued the first United States National Strategy for Gender Equity and Equality, and USTR, for the first time, has made explicit how its work will advance gender equity and equality and women’s economic empowerment.

We volunteered to co-lead USTR’s Gender Equity Team to support the development and implementation of this historic strategy. During the past two years, we have had the honor of coordinating and collaborating with USTR’s experts to develop creative ideas to pursue this goal. What we have discovered – and this should not be a surprise – is that while USTR’s experts’ public profiles might say “trade negotiator,” they are much more than that.

The USTR team is passionate about trade, and they think deeply about the impact of their work on women here in the United States and across the globe. As just a few examples, our digital trade experts are exploring how online platforms can create opportunities for women workers and entrepreneurs, our labor experts are championing the importance of laws against discrimination and harassment in employment, and our economists are helping all of us understand the need to develop data-driven policies and press for more gender-specific, intersectional disaggregated data and research to craft targeted, meaningful policies.

You can read more about USTR’s efforts in the recently published 2023 Trade Policy Agenda and 2022 Annual Report, which highlights our work and plans for the year ahead. In the section “Advancing Gender Equity and Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Trade Policy,” we share how we are prioritizing issues concerning trade and women in our engagement with domestic stakeholders and trading partners.

As USTR’s Gender Equity co-leads, we bring our colleagues together to explore our agency’s engagement in inclusive trade. We find that it covers the globe – from regional negotiations in the Indo-Pacific to bilateral work with Kenya and Taiwan to multilateral discussions at the World Trade Organization and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum during the U.S. host year, to extensive domestic trips to meet with American workers and business owners. USTR officials hear directly from women and other historically underserved and marginalized communities, who want modern trade policy to reflect their voices and deliver meaningful results. The people with whom USTR officials meet remind us of the real impacts of our work.

We and our colleagues are inspired to meet the magnitude of the moment. Innovating and modernizing trade policy is exciting but requires intentionality and hard work. As co-leads of USTR’s Gender Equity team, we are committed to continuing to convene, learn, listen, exchange ideas, and deploy our agency’s skills and expertise to deliver results for more women everywhere.

###

Millennium Challenge Corporation
March 30, 2023

The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting today and received an update on the successful Kosovo threshold program and Morocco compact.

“MCC learned much from our Kosovan and Moroccan partners. The ambitious Kosovo threshold program achieved a great deal; providing a solid foundation from which the Kosovan government is already building to improve energy access and reliability, empowering women, and improving governance and transparency. Together we are building on these successes through the subsequent compact grant program,” said MCC’s Chief Executive Officer Alice Albright. “Over almost two decades, MCC’s $1.1 billion investment through two compacts in Morocco is evidence of the longstanding friendship between our two countries. The government of Morocco has been a steadfast partner in addressing challenging reforms in the land and education sectors throughout this compact, unlocking the potential of its most valuable resource: the Moroccan people.”

The Board received an update on the agency’s global portfolio and achievements in important initiatives, including efforts to accelerate program development. The Board also discussed MCC’s partnership with Tunisia, as it has at each of its meetings since July 25, 2021. The Board affirmed that MCC remains unable to advance the proposed compact at this time, but it would welcome the opportunity to do so if conditions improve.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent U.S. government development agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants that pair investments in infrastructure with policy and institutional reforms to countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance, fighting corruption and respecting democratic rights.

Source: todaynewsafrica.com