He was also due to meet the leaders of South Africa and the Indian Ocean Island nation of Seychelles. Photo/PSCU.
QUEBEC, Canada Jun 9 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has reached out to fellow African leaders attending the G7 Summit to align their message on protecting Oceans, expanding regional trade and deepening regional stability.
President Kenyatta met Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal and African Union chairperson Paul Kagame, who is Rwanda’s President, ahead of the G7 “outreach segment” on Saturday. Quebec City is on a time zone seven hours behind Nairobi.
He was also due to meet the leaders of South Africa and the Indian Ocean Island nation of Seychelles.
At the meeting with President Macky Sall, President Kenyatta pledged to open new embassy in Dakar within 4 months to boost trade and people-to-people relations.
Presidents Kenyatta and Kagame focused on regional security, trade, climate change and aligning of African position ahead of G7 summit.
The leaders also sought clearer follow-up mechanisms for decisions agreed at G7, which is key to meaningful engagement
The summit of the seven most industrialized nations was due to start later on Friday in the resort of Charlevoix, in Quebec.
President Kenyatta’s discussions will focus on oceans security, the African continent’s economic growth and how to prevent, manage and recover from the debilitating disasters caused by climate change.
President Kenyatta is expected to address the G7 on Saturday to speak on protecting and preserving the oceans, under the theme “Healthy, Productive and Resilient Oceans and Seas, Coasts and Communities”.
Kenya will in November this year host its inaugural Oceans Summit, during which it will press the case for better and greater exploitation of the seas to ensure the Blue Economy is effectively deployed to lift the lives of Kenyans and other Africans. Kenya has already won Canada’s support for the Oceans Summit.
At a meeting with President Kenyatta in London on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) in April, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to co-sponsor the Oceans summit and personally invited the President to the Quebec 2018 G7 summit.
In Quebec on the margins of the G7 Summit, President Kenyatta is expected to hold a number of other bilateral meetings.
The key agenda of the meetings with France, Germany and Japan will be the ‘Big Four’ areas of priority in the President’s second and final term in office which cover provision of universal health, quality jobs to Kenyans through enhancing the manufacturing sector, affordable housing (500,000 units within the next four years); and food security and nutrition.
President Kenyatta will discuss industry with President Emmanuel Macron (France), partnering on technical and vocational education (TVETs) with Chancellor Angela Merkel (Germany), universal health coverage and infrastructure with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.
President Kenyatta is also likely to meet Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway to discuss sustainable way to manage hydrocarbons in the wake of the oil discovery in Lokichar and President Tran Dai Quang of Vietnam to discuss successful models in rapid expansion of manufacturing and value addition.
Later at the weekend President Kenyatta is also due to hold talks on bilateral issues with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The President is also due to meet a number of leading Canadian manufacturers to encourage them to invest in Kenya.
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