Xi Jinping Meets Ruto as Kenya Pushes for Ksh150 Billion to Restart Stalled Projects
President William Ruto’s maiden trip to China was planned to pitch Kenya as an investment destination for the South Asian tiger companies and tap more funds to extend the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to neighboring countries.
While Ruto has inked about Ksh688 billion in private investment commitments from Chinese companies, it was not lost to foreign policy observers that there was less posturing between Kenya and China, in contrast to the dalliance the manufacturing behemoth showed Ethiopia, Kenya’s largest economic competitor in the region.
On Wednesday, Ruto met Xi Jinping for talks amid speculation that he had been given a cold shoulder in his first trip to the country since taking office, possibly because of his West-looking foreign policy compared to his predecessors, particularly President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Ruto is hoping to raise at least USD1 billion (about Ksh150 billion) to finance stalled projects, even as China changes tact in financing projects on the continent.
Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying noted in a statement that Ruto and Xi discussed ways of strengthening ties.
“Over the past decade, China and Kenya together built the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and the oil terminal at Port of Mombasa, among other projects,” read part of the statement.
“The Chinese and Kenyans both find our cooperation rewarding. We will work with Kenya for an even more robust comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.”
Ruto, who has postured as a force to reckon with on the continent, commenting on issues of common interest and intervening in crises including the Sudanese war did not address the opening of the Belt and Road Forum For Cooperation.
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Instead, Ethiopian Premier Abiy Ahmed addressed the gathering, just a day after meeting the Chinese President, a pointer that East and Central Africa’s largest economy could be falling out of the Chinese orbit.
Ruto’s pro-West stance since he took office has seen him make a record number of trips to Europe, the United States, and the US Asian allies including South Korea.
In September, Ruto toured the United States, where he met tech leaders in Silicon Valley including Microsoft, Intel, Google, and Apple among others.
He also attended the 78th United Nations General Assembly held in New York, where US President Joe Biden praised Kenya’s declaration to lead 1,000 security officers to restore peace in Haiti.
Ruto also toured European nations including Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Belgium in April where he held talks aimed at strengthening bilateral relations.
There have been no high-level engagements with China, which was already rolling back its funding for major projects in the country towards the end of Uhuru’s tenure.
China halted funding to the SGR, citing its economic viability which saw Kenyatta’s signature infrastructure project end in Naivasha.
But Ruto’s ascent to office further sidelined the South Asian powerhouse, with Kenyan officials hobnobbing with Western officials and diplomats, reversing the look East policy that started during President Mwai Kibaki’s government.
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“Ruto made a tactical mistake in his approach to the East when he took power. In a bid to please the U.S, he looked and talked down on China, as he has made promises to cut down on their influence in Kenya,” Jubilee blogger Pauline Njoroge noted on Wednesday.
The close ties between Kenya and China were cemented during Kenyatta’s ten years in office as he borrowed from the second-largest economy in the world to fund his ambitious infrastructure projects that included not just the SGR but a network of roads across the country.
In 2017, China upgraded its bilateral engagement with Kenya to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, a higher level than the previous relations.
Last month, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen toured China where he met Chinese Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Li, and Deputy Director General of China Tan Wenhong.
In what was seen as preparation for Ruto’s visit, Murkomen’s discussion with the Chinese officials touched on infrastructure financing, targeting about Ksh150 billion in new funding to finish stalled projects including the SGR.
“Through our partnership, we hope to complete our ongoing road projects, extend the railway to Malaba, dual our main highways, expand our port and airports’ infrastructure, equip our Technical and Vocational Institutions, build water dams, implement our smart and intelligent traffic systems among others,” Murkomen stated after the trip.
According to Treasury data, Chinese loans to Kenya stood at Ksh943 billion as of March 2023, accounting for 64 percent of the country’s external debt.
Xi Jinping Meets Ruto as Kenya Pushes for Ksh150 Billion to Restart Stalled Projects
