G7 invite an endorsement of President Uhuru’s foreign policy

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President Uhuru Kenyatta greets US First Lady Melania Trump at the 43rd G7 Summit in Taormina photo:courtesy

The aftermath of President Uhuru Kenyatta's trip to the G7 summit in Taormina, Italy, last month is, perhaps, a good time to take stock of Kenya's foreign relations.

In the last month or so, President Kenyatta has met the world's nine most powerful leaders. In London, he met British Prime Minister Theresa May. In China for a major infrastructure summit, he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the G7 in Italy, he met the Presidents of the US, France, the German Chancellor, and the Prime Ministers of Canada, Japan, and host Italy.

President Kenyatta's speech at the Summit made an eloquent case for Africa's weight when it came to solving some of the world's most important problems. As he said; none of those problems — terrorism, climate change, immigration, inclusive growth — would be solved unless Africa's aspirations were put at the very heart of the G7's agenda.

President Kenyatta's influence at home and on the continent means influence further afield: defending Kenya's interests, and Africa's interests, has not led, as some believed it would, to less influence. This point may be profitably pursued. The lesson of these past few weeks is that the route to influence in partnership with our foreign friends runs through the defence of Africa's interest.

GAIN IN PARTNERSHIPS

And let's be clear: Kenya's, and Africa's, interests do require partnership. Take our interest in security. Restoring it in Somalia requires engagement and cooperation with nations and institutions abroad whose interests coincide with ours. So does restoring peace in South Sudan.

The benefits are obvious: as the President has often said, a stable and prosperous Somalia means a stable and prosperous Kenya; a stable South Sudan means that Kenya's opportunities will grow. We also know that terrorists are keen to seize ungoverned spaces in our neighbourhood, and to harm us if they can. It's clear, then, that Kenya's interests lie in partnerships with our friends, with whom we will secure the peace and prosperity of the region.

The partnerships formed by his administration have supplied intelligence; elicited equipment; and have helped us fight terrorism and keep regional peace processes on track. Prosperity remains our priority. Kenyans expect that this administration will raise their standard of living, while keeping the cost of a good life within reach. Our foreign policy has made a substantial contribution to that goal.

One has only to look at our partnership with China, which has made the Standard Gauge Railway and its "Madaraka Express" service possible. The SGR is here to deliver. We will be able to get from Nairobi to Mombasa in four-and-a-half hours. We expect the cost of transporting goods to fall from Sh20 per tonne per kilometre to Sh9. We expect a boost to GDP growth of up to 1.5 percent a year; and we can look forward to quicker industrialization.

Equally, we expect the new railway to carry about 25 million tonnes of cargo a year. That will reduce congestion in Mombasa, which we must do if we expect to maintain its position as the leading port in the region, and ours as the centre of East Africa. Kenyans will see a return on their investment sooner than they expected. We owe all this, and the further future benefits of the SGR, to our partnership with China: proof, if any were needed, that Kenya's foreign policy is paying immediate dividends right here at home.

Other statistics bear us out as well. Kenya has made remarkable strides in creating an enabling environment that is conducive to do business, underpinned by a strategy that has sought to address both the cost and ease of doing business. Our energy supply has grown from 1,500 megawatts to nearly double in four years, transforming business and communities. A large portion of the energy is green. We have laid a firm foundation towards making our country a hub of production and investments.

On the ease of doing business front, we are a model for Africa. For two consecutive years, the World Bank has ranked Kenya as the second most improved country globally in its rankings, up a cumulative 44 places in two years; and rising to the top most reformed country in Africa in 2017.

 Barely 2 weeks ago, had Ernest & Young's attractiveness index report ranked Kenya the second most attractive destination in Africa. This demonstrates the impact of the reforms we are undertaking in making Kenya the go-to country on making investments happen.

Our overall investment levels have topped $1.9 billion in 2016, up from less than $400million in 2013. Over 30 multinationals have chosen Nairobi as their regional hub.

 These include Volkswagen, Volvo, Peugeot, Iveco, Foton, Wrigleys, Johnson and Johnson, IBM, Honeywell, Coca-Cola, Mckinsey, Cisco, Unilver, Google, and Diageo. Too often, in my view, foreign policy has been considered the poor relation of domestic policy. The truth, as this administration has shown, is that our foreign partnerships will be truly transformative if we stand our ground, defend our interests, and engage foreign friends frankly, targeting mutual respect and a win-win result.

Mr Esipisu is Secretary, Communications and State House [email protected]