Source: United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office |

British Secretary of State for International Development visits Kenya

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 26, 2016/APO (African Press Organization)/ --

Britain’s Secretary of State for International Development, The Rt Hon Justine Greening MP, has finished a two day visit to Kenya to discuss two key UK-Kenyan strategic objectives: the handling of refugees and UK support for Kenya’s rapidly growing economy.

Following the UK’s ground-breaking approach to protracted refugee crises, the Secretary of State met the Kenyan Government to discuss the possibilities for working more effectively in its own support for several hundred thousand refugees in Kenya. At the Kakuma Refugee camp in Turkana, accompanied by Governor Nanok, the Secretary of State heard first-hand about the challenges faced by refugees and host communities alike, and paid special tribute to the Government and people of Kenya for their long record of providing life-saving protection.

Alongside this vital shared priority, the Secretary of State also spent time discussing Kenya’s economic development, including a visit to Mombasa Port. The UK-driven Trade Mark East Africa has already achieved transformations which are a key strategic asset for Kenya and East Africa more broadly. The Secretary of State held discussions with business leaders on investment and growth opportunities to ensure Kenya benefits from its growing youth population and finished her visit at the Mombasa Youth Employment Programme (Kuza), which supports the economic empowerment of low-income youths to tackle violent extremism.

Speaking at the end of the visit, The Secretary of State said:

“It is vital that the UK works with countries such as Kenya on shared priorities like dealing more effectively with the challenges of refugees and shaping economic growth to create jobs – which is the best way to reduce extreme poverty. Investment in Mombasa Port is not just about Kenya but East Africa too. This smart UK aid delivers significant results on shared UK-Kenya priorities and is part of the doubling of DFID’s economic development programme over the last two years”.

The Secretary of State’s visit preceded that of Prime Minister David Cameron, which is planned for later in the year.

Notes to Editors

UK Support to Refugees :

The UK is committed to helping Kenya in providing assistance and protection to refugees. As the second largest bilateral donor in this area, the UK provides funding of £59m (Kes 8.7 billion Kes) to help deliver basic, life-saving assistance and protection to more than 530,000 refugees, from more than a dozen countries, both here in Kakuma and in Dadaab.

This includes support through our partners, UNHCR and WFP, in critical areas including health, nutrition, water and sanitation, environment, host community support, and food rations.

UK Support to Kuza (Mombasa Youth Employment Programme) :

DFID is supporting the economic empowerment of low-income youths through the Mombasa County Youth Employment programme – ‘Kuza’ in collaboration with the Mombasa Government.

Kuza is a three-year (2014-2017) £5m (Kes740m) programme which aims  to both equip youths with the skills needed to take up jobs, and to support the development of long-term economic opportunities in the County – such as those in construction, maritime, manufacturing and waste management sectors.

The project aims to create up to 5,000 new jobs for young people over three years (2014-2017) and train 8,000 young people.

Results:

Kuza has equipped over 2900 poor Mombasa youths with business and skills training to prepare them for the job market, and created over 712 new jobs for those previously excluded from the labour market – 312 of these for young women.

In 2015, Kuza and Mombasa County launched its inaugural Labour Market Training and Information Centre – “Imarisha Vijana” – in Likoni, and has since established 6 other centres in the following sub-counties: Changamwe, Mvita, Kisauni (two centres) and Jomvu.

Kuza has supported the County’s Department of Trade, Energy and Industry’s (DTEI) to establish an Investment Promotion Unit – Mombasa Invest – to generate investments in emerging industrial sectors. Priority sectors include tea processing, apparel, construction and industrial fishing. Supporting investment in these high growth-potential sectors will generate job opportunities for youth that we hope will last long into the future.

TMEA support (Mombasa Port Modernisation Project)

UKAid through Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) is providing support to the Mombasa Port modernisation project, and in reducing the cost of trade with a view to supporting trade and economic growth in the EAC.

UK support to date stands at around Ksh 10 billion, targeted at addressing short term efficiency improvement at the Port as well as planning for the longer term. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office.