Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said Kenya is strengthening partnership with development partners and agencies to hasten the realization of first-world status.
The DP said President Ruto’s vision of elevating Kenya to similar economic status as Asian Tigers such as Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea is achievable and requires input by everyone including the partners.
Prof. Kindiki spoke on Wednesday when he co-chaired the 14th Development Partners Forum at the Official Residence in Karen, Nairobi.
“Our next vision is clear: to transform Kenya into a first-world economy within a generation. We are persuaded beyond doubt that if other countries elsewhere have done it, Kenya has what it takes to do it as well. South Korea did it. Malaysia did it. Singapore did it. There is absolutely no reason why Kenya cannot do it,” he said.
To achieve this, the DP revealed, the government is revamping key sectors of the economy as well as sustaining faster and comprehensive implementation of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda which is at the centre of the administration’s development blueprint.
“We have not abandoned BETA. We want Kenya to move to first world economic status within one generation and the paradigm that will take us there is BETA,” he assured.
Present at the Forum were Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, United Nations Resident Coordinator Stephen Jackson (co-chair), Germany Ambassador Sebastian Groth (co-chair), ambassadors and representatives of various development agencies among others.
The Second in Command noted that Kenya is keen to exploit every available resource locally and internationally to speed up economic transformation.
“The drivers that will take us there are people, partnerships and technology. The people are the centre of our development planning and programs. Technology and partnerships are going to play a great role in the transformation,” he stated.
The pillars of the transformation are agriculture, water and energy development.
The DP said agriculture is relied on by many people and if transformed could lift up millions of Kenyans out of poverty in the shortest time possible.
Water harvesting and conservation is also at the centre of the economic transformation with a target to build 50 mega dams, 200 mid-sized dams and 1000 mini-dams across Kenya to harvest water and put an additional 2.5 million acres of land under irrigation.
“This will make agriculture more productive and reduce importation of food hence reducing loss of foreign exchange earnings as well as creating jobs,” he added.
Upgrading infrastructure including roads, airports, seaports and railways is also key to this objective. An additional 7000 megawatts of electricity are also being targeted to meet the ever increasing energy needs in the country.
The DP said this will be achieved through Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) and other innovative ways like establishment of Sovereign Wealth Fund and Infrastructure Fund.
“We are setting up the Sovereign Wealth Fund. This will be used to secure resources obtained from the extractive industry for the purpose of securing the nation against shocks including climate change shocks and other external economic shocks like pandemics that can destabilize our economy.
Through the infrastructure fund, Kenya is now mobilizing capital through markets, public-private partnerships and private investment to sustainably fund national transformation,” DP emphasized.
The enablers of the nation’s transformation, DP revealed, are long-term national security, promotion of national values and development of human capital.
“We are going to promote a society based on integrity, patriotism, justice, equality and respect for the rule of law, national unity. Unless we instill this in ourselves and the younger generation, the transformation will falter,” he added.
The Deputy President also challenged the development partners to realign their projects and programs to fit in the BETA plan citing the NYOTA program being implemented in partnership with the World Bank.
“The program is squarely sitting within the BETA priorities of empowering young people through creating employment, employability and encouraging a savings and entrepreneurship culture,” DP said.