NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 12 – President William Ruto concluded his visit to three European nations by encouraging the Kenyan diaspora to support and invest in the transformative programmes the government is implementing back home.
During a town hall meeting in Helsinki, Finland, with Kenyans living and working across the Nordic region, the President explained that significant progress is being made back home despite perceptions created by some media reports.
“Our affordable housing programme, for example, is changing Kenya’s skyline across the breadth and length of our country,” he said.
He added: “We are building 300,000 units, 180,000 student hostels, and 500 modern markets at a cost of KSh93 billion, funds locally raised under the Affordable Housing Fund.”
He explained that the challenge of informal settlements in Nairobi is gradually being addressed, with modern housing replacing shanties.
“In Kibera alone, we are constructing 10,000 units, and I am confident that we will totally eradicate that slum within the next seven years,” he said.
President Ruto outlined the key outcomes of his Sate Visit to Finland and official visits to Belgium, and Norway, saying they would strengthen economic cooperation and expand opportunities for Kenyans.
“In Belgium, we sought to fast-track the Kenya-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement,” he pointed out.
In Norway, the President explained, he pursued bilateral cooperation to expand Kenya’s maritime industry and learn from the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
In Finland, he sought to foster collaboration between Kenyan and Finnish companies on artificial intelligence and digital innovation.
Following a request from Kenyans living and working in the Nordic region, President Ruto said the government would consider establishing an embassy either in Norway or Finland to serve them better.
Earlier, Presidents Ruto and Alexander Stubb of Finland attended the Kenya-Finland Business Forum at Nokia’s global headquarters, where they called for closer cooperation between technology companies from the two countries.
“For Finnish companies, Kenya is the strategic gateway to Africa – a young market, an innovative private sector, strong regional connectivity, a stable financial ecosystem, and a government deliberately investing in digital transformation,” President Ruto said.
On his part, President Stubb echoed President Ruto’s call to business leaders to translate the meeting into tangible projects for the benefit of the people of the two countries.
“I hope out of this meeting comes not only an exchange of business cards but also of projects and partnerships,” he said.
The two leaders also attended the Kultaranta Talks, an annual high-level foreign and security policy forum hosted by the Finnish President in the coastal city of Naantali, where President Ruto elaborated Kenya’s position on emerging global issues.
“Kenya believes the answer to global uncertainty is not fragmentation but cooperation; not blocs but bridges, not exclusion but partnership,” he said.
President Ruto became the first African Head of State to participate in the forum.
