Kenya keen to borrow a leaf out of China's book

As Kenya makes efforts toward advancing modernization, the government looks forward to learning from China's best practices, says a senior Kenyan government official.

Korir Sing'Oei, principal secretary at Kenya's Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, said the areas covered by the Kenya-China strategic partnership will greatly contribute to advancing modernization and bringing Kenya closer to China, with the ultimate goal of finding a place and playing a role in global affairs.

The two countries have been working together on infrastructure development, security, information and telecommunications technology, financial services, education and capacity building, agriculture, research, health, manufacturing, as well as tourism and culture, he said.

Sing'Oei, who spoke at a forum themed China-Africa Dialogue on the Path to Modernization and organized by Xinhua News Agency's Africa bureau on Wednesday, said Kenya and China signed and institutionalized the joint vision on building a closer community for a shared future last year.

"Following the outcome of 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit, the joint vision will advance modernization. These bilateral cooperation frameworks and measures are based on the dialogue."

The FOCAC summit, held in September, brought together senior government officials, scholars, media representatives and company executives from China and African countries.

Sing'Oei said that through the Belt and Road Initiative, Kenya has attracted foreign direct investment and financing from China for infrastructure development, which has significantly transformed the economy, created jobs and opened up more investment opportunities.

"Kenya fully aligns to China-Africa dialogue on the path to modernization and will continue to work very closely with China to implement such programs and projects aimed at enhancing the dialogue, which is people-centered and win-win situation," he said.

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan said the recently concluded two sessions — annual gatherings of China's top legislature and political advisory body — offered a critical window into Chinese modernization, showing the world the solid strides made by China as well as the confidence and open-mindedness of the country.

Reliable friends

China and Kenya are reliable friends who trust each other and are good partners on the path to modernization, Guo said.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations more than 60 years ago, China and Kenya have learned from each other on governance and achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation in infrastructure, industry, agriculture, science and education, as well as people-to-people exchanges, she said.

China stands ready to work with Kenya to effectively remain each other's sincere partners who trust each other and carry on their friendship, she added. This is in addition to being partners for mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. They are also strategic partners in safeguarding international fairness and justice.

"Our two countries should work together to strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance the exchange of ideas on governance, and improve the capacity and level of governance."

The two countries should also consolidate cooperation in traditional sectors and at the same time foster growth drivers in emerging fields such as digital economy, green economy, artificial intelligence and healthcare, she said.

"We need to enhance exchanges and cooperation in fields such as science and technology, innovation, education, vocational training and people-to-people exchanges — in order to train more professional and technical talents for both countries."