Ties between Kenya, Jamaica ensure improvement in aviation, sports, logistics, culture

After launching Africa’s largest wind power farm in a desert, Kenya is all set to deepen bilateral ties with Jamaica for the benefits of both nations. President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta has assured the bilateral ties during his current stay in the Caribbean island nation.

Kenya’s Head of State, Uhuru Kenyatta is currently in Jamaica for a state visit, had a meeting with the Prime Minister, Andrew Holness on late Monday. The two leaders not only pledged bilateral ties, but they also signed four agreements that will facilitate collaboration in sports, culture, tourism, among other areas. The Kenyan leader has arrived in Jamaica for a three-day state visit.

Uhuru Kenyatta and Andrew Holness planned to introduce air transport connections between Kenya and Jamaica which will further lead to more economic interaction that will spur economic growth for the people staying in both countries. “Our national carrier now has scheduled direct flights from Nairobi to New York but we would like to see flights flying from the East Coast to the West Coast of Africa and directly to Jamaica, and through Jamaica to the rest of the Caribbean as a true way of deepening our partnership,” Kenyatta said.

Apart from air transport connections, Kenyatta also emphasized on deepening partnership-ties between Kenya and Jamaica to boost more trade and deepen commercial ties between the two nations. “We need to deepen our trade because by so doing we also take our people-to-people relations to the next level. Kenya is today one of the largest and one of the most diversified economies on the African continent,” he added.

The agreements between Jamaica and Kenya also include the enhancement of logistics industry. Kenyatta said that Kenya serves as a hub for logistics and transport, financial services, ICT innovations and he also encouraged Jamaican entrepreneurs to invest in the East African country. The two leaders also discussed ways of enhancing cooperation in the blue economy that they said holds significant potential for wealth and job creation.

Kenya is revealed by the leader as the strong supporter of the South-South Cooperation arrangements within the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) states framework. Kenyatta vowed his host that his administration will continue pushing for the conclusion of a successor agreement ahead of the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement in February 2020.

Jamaica and Kenya also signed a deal in the area of sports. Both countries will jointly work in sports development mainly in athletics. On the other hand, University of West Indies-based the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Center, as part of the deals, will open its first satellite centre in Kenya’s capital Nairobi and will be based at the University of Nairobi.

Kenyatta is the chief guest at the 57^th Jamaica Independence Day that falls on August 6.

During the meeting plans to introduce air transport connections between Kenya and Jamaica were discussed, with President Kenyatta noting that encouraging more trade and deepening commercial ties will strengthen the partnership between the two nations | #KenyaJamaicaRelations pic.twitter.com/9C1BObyAfZ

— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) August 6, 2019

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