According to officials handling his itinerary, Li will meet President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House on Saturday, where he will get full honours of a 21 gun salute/XINHUA
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 9 – Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang is expected in Kenya on Friday night at the start of a three-day visit that will see Kenya and China sign over 17 new contracts.
According to officials handling his itinerary, Li will meet President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House on Saturday, where he will get full honours of a 21 gun salute.
The two leaders will later hold bilateral talks and sign the agreements, which will focus on various sectors including transport, communications, health, culture, infrastructure among others.
During his visit, other trade agreements will also be signed in the presence of regional leaders including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni and South Sudan’s Salva Kiir.
While in Kenya, the Chinese PM and President Kenyatta are expected to review the already existing deals including some of the major projects being undertaken by the Chinese government in the country.
The Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Rail and the Sh56 billion Nairobi Greenfield International Airport Project are some of the projects likely to feature in their discussions.
In the past 14 years, China has funded more than 70 development projects in Kenya, some of which are complete. About 50 Chinese companies have been contracted for close to 80 projects in Kenya with a value of Sh172 billion.
The projects are in roads, railway, housing, water processing, power upgrading, consultation and design, geothermal wells, ports and airports, among others.
They are also expected to announce the setting up of the Chinese Africa Development Bank Headquarters in Kenya.
The Chinese premier started his Africa tour in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia before heading to Nigeria to attend the World Economic Forum on Africa and then Angola before coming to Kenya.
