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Prime Cabinet Secretary
Musalia Mudavadi has insisted that only Public and Private sector
collaborations can drive innovation and change in the country.
Speaking during the
launch of the Absa Kenya Foundation in Karura, Mudavadi said the country has no
capacity to address all its competing needs.
“This underscores the
urgent need for leveraging collaboration and partnerships between the
Government, private sector and other stakeholders to scale up support for
enterprise development.
“The convergence of the
public and private sectors, therefore, represents a potent alliance capable of
propelling innovation and instigating change,” he said.
The Prime Cabinet
Secretary said that a collaborative approach will enable the country to join public
and private sector strengths to bring change.
He said through this, the
public sector can focus on championing equity and justice, and the private
sector on agility and capacity for innovation.
The Prime CS noted that
the Kenya Kwanza government maintains an open policy and welcomes ideas that
can jointly scale up interventions to address the challenges facing communities
and promote shared prosperity for all.
Mudavadi said such
collaborations will provide avenues to exchange ideas, resources and expertise
that will contribute to meaningful progress.
“It is inspiring to see
so many responsible corporate organizations and development institutions
gathered here today, further cementing the recognition of the immense power of
partnerships in reshaping our society and making it a better place for the
present and future generations.”
He added that the launch
of the Absa Foundation is timely, given the considerable pressure on Government resources
resulting from limited tax and external resources available to support competing
poverty alleviation and growth challenges, including priority programs in
education, health, infrastructure and climate change-induced vulnerabilities.
He urged the foundation
to broaden areas where the state and the financial services sector can work
together to enhance climate change adaptation and mitigation.
This includes jointly
mobilizing capital, driving innovation and establishing frameworks for promoting
sustainable development, Mudavadi stated.
“I presume you will take
this opportunity to identify critical areas of collaboration, including
supporting the Government to scale up the ongoing tree-planting agenda. This
will enable us to achieve the target of planting 15 billion trees even before 2032.”
He commended Absa Bank
Kenya for establishing the Foundation, which he termed as embarking on a
significant journey to uplift the livelihoods of the community that supports their
business.
The Prime CS said Absa is
now walking on a pathway that other corporate philanthropists, including
Safaricom Foundation, M-Pesa Foundation and Mastercard Foundation, have charted
through their contribution to the betterment of society.
“These corporate
foundations, collaborating with donors and partners, have invested billions of
shillings in strategic community empowerment programs that have changed the
livelihoods of millions of Kenyans.”
Present during the launch was Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, among other senior state officials.