President Mwai Kibaki and President Hu Jintao of China inspect a guard of honour at Shanghai International Conference Centre. China will lead the construction of Kenya's second seaport in Lamu estimated to cost $16 billion. File Photo
For a politician who has shown little passion for foreign travel to global political capitals, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki’s five-day, visit to China — already his third — barely raised an eyebrow. Yet it could turn out to be the most significant foreign trip of his presidency.
The outcome of the visit signals how dramatically Kenya’s foreign policy direction has changed, its focus shifting from seeking a place in international politics to championing economic relations with China, and by extension Japan and India.
Presidents Kibaki and Hu Jintao agreed that China will lead the construction of Kenya’s second seaport in Lamu. The country will also fund parts of the Northern Corridor and the new Mombasa-Kampala standard gauge railway line.
This project, which is expected to cost $16 billion, or around half the annual output of the Kenyan economy, is expected to connect Southern Sudan and Ethiopia to the sea through an extensive network of modern highways, railways, fibre optic cables and a port to rival any in South Africa.
When the mega-infrastructure project is completed, it will easily be one of the largest investment project with a major public works component in a non-oil producing country in Africa; moreover, it has the potential of transforming a region that has largely remained an economic wasteland — a breeding ground for Al Qaeda terrorists, Al Shabaab militia and Shifta insurgents.
As of last week, China was the second largest bilateral lender to Kenya with a debt portfolio of Ksh42 billion ($560 million), a distant second to Japan’s Ksh84 billion ($1.12 billion).
However, with the Northern Corridor project, China could actually eclipse Japan, though a Japanese company won the tender to do the feasibility study for this project that is expected to break ground next year.
Open economic policy
The need to pursue an open economic policy and the demand for foreign capital and investment flows has influenced Kenya’s approach to foreign policy.
Since President Kibaki came to power in 2003, the country has embarked on a “Look East” policy, forging closer ties with emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Eastern Europe.
Kenya’s new diplomatic friends have one thing in common. Unlike the US and UK, which package their economic aid with lectures on corruption and human-rights abuses, the likes of China, India, Libya, Turkey and Iran have no taste for democracy promotion.
Their diplomats are all about business and are rarely heard unless a new economic partnership is being announced.
According to the Foreign Ministry’s official website, the shift in foreign policy has been influenced by various factors: Economic advancement, peace and security, regional integration and diaspora diplomacy.
The president returned from China with a pledge of Ksh1.2 billion ($15.6 million) for various development projects, in addition to the Ksh551 million ($7.1 million) grant signed in January.
Currently, the Government of China is funding the reconstruction of the Thika Road, a major artery serving Nairobi City. Still, the European Union remains the leading source of grant funds, with various members funding sector-specific projects such as Sweden in the water sector.
Nordic countries and the US remain among Kenya’s closest friends.
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