[Kenya] As a growth example for East Africa

July 16, 2019

Kenya was the host country for the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development held in 2016. From the Japanese perspective, Kenya is an important country for African development, and it's a country with which we have deep business ties, as 57 Japanese companies and organizations have expanded there.

JICA has provided Kenya with its highest level of support in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. JICA also has a long history with Kenya of human exchanges including training participants, experts and volunteers, going back to the 1960s and lasting more than 50 years.

Kenya's economic development, which is at the core of the East Africa region, is not only expected to be a model for growth in the region, but also a big key to regional peace and stability. In particular, the Northern Corridor, which stretches from the Port of Mombasa, a gateway to the East Africa region, to landlocked countries, is a priority development area that will be key to the industrial development and vitalization of the region. JICA is implementing cooperation aimed at the industrial diversification of Kenya and the development of its economy from various approaches, through the framework provided by the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. Examples of this work include developing infrastructure such as Northern Corridor area harbors and roads; agricultural projects that are the foundation for the activation of the value chain in the corridor, such as support for smallholders and rice growing; and invigorating the blue economy, which has been a focus of attention in recent years.