Kim, together with the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon will hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta on strengthening peace, security and development in the Horn of Africa/file
Kim, together with the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon will hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta on strengthening peace, security and development in the Horn of Africa.
He will also have a meeting with the private sector representatives to discuss regional integration and economic opportunities for countries in the Horn.
Kim visits Kenya at a time when Kenyans are optimistic about prospects for better growth and equity, driven by devolution and discovery of petroleum resources.
“The country has progressed to lower middle-income status following re-basing of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in September 2014. But, vulnerability to rising insecurity in the Horn remains a serious challenge,” said a statement from World Bank office in Nairobi.
“Tourism, a major foreign exchange earner, has suffered from crime linked to terrorism, high youth unemployment and long-standing conflicts over natural resources,” the statement added.
Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy and a key partner in the World Bank Group’s strategy of ending global poverty and increasing shared prosperity.
Under its new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2014 to 2018, the bank plans to invest a total of Sh357.7billion mainly through the International Development Association (IDA), the IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
The CPS focuses on three core domains of engagement including competitiveness and sustainability, protecting the vulnerable and helping them to develop their potential as well as decentralizing power and public services to promote greater equity and long term consistency of public services.
