Emmanuel Macron paid a historic visit to Nairobi in March 2019, the first by a French president since Kenya’s independence. Uhuru Kenyatta visited Paris in October last year. He is back in France this Thursday for a third bilateral meeting in three years. The opportunity to discuss the development of the Franco-Kenyan partnership that Emmanuel Macron wants to strengthen and the worrying regional situation.
as reported from Nairobi, Sebastien nemeth
“The two presidents have the same wavelength. The relationship is followed “, is a good source. Emmanuel Macron’s plan to strengthen the French presence in East Africa and, for this purpose, to foster the partnership with Kenya, is therefore still on track. But not everything is easy.
On the financial side, two large-scale projects have been started. First a high-speed train to Nairobi between the city center and the airport. “There are delays on the Kenyan side. The goal, however, would be a first stone within a year. The bilateral can enable a blockade “, indicates an expert. A connoisseur of the file also talks about tensions on the French side between the engineering company Egis, which would have been greedy in the revenue sharing compared to the manufacturer Vinci, dissatisfied with the distribution.
Another project, the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau motorway, for 1.6 billion euros. This time, “steps have been taken,” said one observer. But Nairobi has still not set up the fund to collect the revenue. It would also be discussed about the compensation to the operator or about the responsibility in case of political risk.
International issues such as the crisis in Ethiopia, the Islamist threat in Mozambique and Somalia should be mentioned. Especially since France and Kenya are members of the Security Council. The visit on Thursday is in any case important because the two countries will hold presidential elections next year. Paris therefore wishes that whatever the outcome, the relationship will last.
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