Kenya is the first country in Africa that has signed a formal agreement to cooperate in the development of major investments/CHARLES GICHANE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 15 – The Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding comprehensive collaborations between both parties that will see Toyota contributing to Kenya’s economic development by actively supporting the government and accelerating projects in diverse business fields in Kenya and the region.
Kenya is the first country in Africa that has signed a formal agreement to cooperate in the development of major investments and TTC Managing Director Kuniaki Yamagiwa said their vision for the country is closely aligned to Kenya’s Vision 2030 flagship projects.
“Already, we have begun building the Olkaria 1 and 4 geothermal power plants which together form the largest such project in the world. We have also put in a strong bid to build the Lamu-Juba Oil Pipeline with possible branches to Uganda and Ethiopia,” he revealed.
“Our business development has been covering other large infrastructures such as a port, agriculture industrialisation and further expansion in the automotive sector,” he added.
Toyota, through its trade, investment and logistics arm, TTC, has an agreement with the Kenyan Government to build an oil pipeline linking Lamu in Kenya to South Sudan as part of the multi-billion dollar Lamu Port Southern Sudan and Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET).
Both parties will work together to improve various sectors including automobile, power and energy, petroleum, mineral resources, environmental infrastructure and agricultural industrialisation fields.
Vision 2030’s Director General Mugo Kibati said that Kenyans will soon be able to appreciate the breadth and diversity of what Toyota offers in the country.
“Beyond the vehicles, much of the geothermal equipment is built by Toyota and many of our Vision 2030 flagship projects will actually be enhanced by this cooperation with Toyota,” he acknowledged.
“They will also help us with agriculture. Value addition in agriculture is a major sector and economic pillar of Vision 2030 and the jobs Toyota will create here will ultimately help Vision 2030’s mission of providing jobs,” he explained.
To boost food production, TTC will provide machinery to farmers in the rice-producing Mwea area in Kirinyaga County, which will involve the supply of hand-held tillers and machinery for rice processing in collaboration with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
Toyota Tsusho opened its first overseas office in Kenya in 1962 and they have positioned it as a “priority country” in the company’s Global 2020 Vision.
In the automotive field, Toyota Tsusho has engaged in initiatives supporting the economic independence of the country such as its business investments closely tied to the community, activities aimed at increasing automobile ownership and local hiring and human resource development.
“It has always been our philosophy to work closely with the governments and communities that we trade or invest in, in order to ensure mutual benefit to them as well as to ourselves,” Yamagiwa explained.
“TTC’s vision for this country and the region involves major projects in the power, oil, transport and infrastructure sectors that are closely aligned to Kenya’s Vision 2030 flagship projects,” he noted.
TTC is a fully fledged Japanese trading house operating diverse businesses spanning exploration, mining, processing, distribution, automotive, chemicals, electronics, machinery and energy.
