Kenya, UK renew ties as Ruto meets Wigan

Kenya and the United Kingdom have renewed bilateral ties aimed at strengthening their mutual cooperation for the next five years.

President William Ruto made the announcement on Thursday after meeting with British High Commissioner Neil Wigan at State House, Nairobi.

"As we strengthen this relationship, we are reviewing our Strategic Partnership Agreement for 2025–2030 to further enhance mutual growth and cooperation," Ruto said in a statement.

He said discussions centered on key areas of cooperation, focusing on economic collaboration, technology, innovation, and research.

"We also explored ways of advancing priority projects, including the Nairobi Railway City and climate action under the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative. Additionally, we addressed regional peace and security in the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa," Ruto said.

Kenya and the UK have had bilateral relations since 1963.

The two countries have maintained uninterrupted diplomatic relations since then.

Over that period, Kenya and the UK have had a long-standing cooperation in trade, security, development, and tourism, with the UK ranking as Kenya's largest foreign investor.

Currently, there are about 100 UK investment companies based in Kenya, valued at more than 2 billion pounds.

Significant British investors include Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, GlaxoSmithKline, ACTIS (formerly CDC Capital Partners), De La Rue and Unilever.

On the other hand, the UK is Kenya’s second most important export destination.

Kenya mainly exports tea, coffee and horticultural products, with the country accounting for 27 per cent of the fresh produce and 56 per cent of the black tea market in the UK.

Motor vehicles, printed materials, machinery and chemicals form the bulk of imports from the United Kingdom.

Additinally, the UK is largest source market for Kenya’s tourism and the Royal family has taken a keen interest in supporting wildlife conservation in Kenya through several charities such as Tusk and the Duke of Edinburgh International Awards Trust, which is involved in among other things, environmental conservation, and has its regional office for Africa in Nairobi.

The ties also include people-to-people relations where there are approximately 250,000 British nationals who are permanent residents in Kenya and over 200,000 Kenyans living in the United Kingdom.