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\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/451cb9b3-cfa3-47b8-986d-257ea9710ad1.jpeg\")
Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi meets a high-level delegation from Japan\u2019s Official Development Assistance research mission at his office on January 8, 2026Kenya is seeking to expand its long-standing development
\npartnership with Japan beyond traditional aid as the two states explore new
\nareas of cooperation in trade, investment and private sector-led growth.<\/p>\n
\n
\nPrime and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi on Wednesday
\nsaid Kenya continues to attract strong global partnerships that deliver \u201creal
\nresults\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n
\nMudavadi made the remarks following talks with a high-level
\ndelegation from Japan\u2019s Official Development Assistance (ODA) research mission
\nof the House of Councillors.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe Japanese mission, led by Ikuina Akiko, a member of the
\nCommittee on Health, Welfare and Labour, is in Kenya to assess the impact of
\nJapan-supported projects in infrastructure, health, education, energy and
\nagriculture sectors.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe team\u2019s focus is on outcomes, sustainability and future
\ncollaboration.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe delegation also included lawmakers Aoshma Kenta of the
\nCommittee on Land and Transport and Otsu Tsutomu of the Committee on Cabinet
\nand Japanese Ambassador Matsuura Hiroshi.<\/p>\n
\n
\nMudavadi said discussions centred on scaling what works and
\nunlocking new areas of cooperation.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cWe identified practical pathways to expand collaboration
\ninto trade and investment, manufacturing, private sector partnerships and
\nsports, aimed at driving jobs, growth and long-term economic value,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cKenya takes seriously Japan\u2019s support in sectors that
\ndeliver measurable impact and strong multiplier effects, lifting communities
\nout of poverty, strengthening healthcare and education systems and accelerating
\neconomic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe call for an expanded scope of cooperation is aimed at
\ndriving job creation, economic growth and long-term value.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThis signals a shift from development assistance anchored
\nmainly in public projects to partnerships that actively involve the private
\nsector.<\/p>\n
\n
\nAlready, Japan has undertaken various projects in the
\ncountry, including in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, education and
\nresearch sectors.<\/p>\n
\n
\nIn infrastructure, examples include the Dongo Kundu Bypass,
\nwhich was constructed through ODA loans.<\/p>\n
\n
\nJapan also supported the Port of Mombasa expansion and
\nassociated infrastructure under long-term development cooperation, as well as
\nthe Ngong\u2019 Road expansion through a grant that financed both Phase I and Phase
\nII of the road.<\/p>\n
\n
\nIn energy, Japan has assisted with Olkaria Geothermal
\nDevelopment by contributing turbines and technical expertise to expand
\ngeothermal energy capacity.<\/p>\n
\n
\nJapan\u2019s ODA has supported the Sondu-Miriu hydropower project
\nand energy distribution improvements in Nakuru and Mombasa.<\/p>\n
\n
\nIn agriculture, it has been involved in irrigation
\ndevelopment and technical assistance to boost rice productivity in Mwea through
\nnew cultivation techniques and scheme expansion.<\/p>\n
\n
\nMudavadi said Kenya places high value on Japan\u2019s support in
\nsectors that deliver measurable impact and strong multiplier effects,
\nparticularly those that lift communities out of poverty and strengthen public
\nservice delivery.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cKenya takes seriously Japan\u2019s support in sectors that
\ndeliver measurable impact and strong multiplier effects, lifting communities
\nout of poverty, strengthening healthcare and education systems, and
\naccelerating economic growth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe inclusion of sectors such as manufacturing and sports in
\nthe discussions signals a broadening of Kenya-Japan relations beyond
\ntraditional development priorities, potentially opening new avenues for skills
\ntransfer, youth engagement and investment.<\/p>\n
\n
\nAdditionally, the focus on outcomes, multiplier effects and
\nprivate sector participation closely mirrors the priorities outlined in the
\nDraft 2026 Budget Policy Statement, which lays bare the fiscal pressures
\nforcing the government to rethink how it finances development.<\/p>\n
\n
\nAccording to the policy statement, revenue performance in
\nthe early months of the 2025-26 financial year fell significantly below target,
\nwith total revenue and Appropriation-in-Aid underperforming projections and
\ntriggering the need for a supplementary budget.<\/p>\n
\n
\nTreasury warns that this underperformance has sharply
\nconstrained fiscal space, leaving the government with limited room to
\naccommodate emerging priorities without cutting spending elsewhere or
\nincreasing borrowing.<\/p>\n
\n
\nIt is against this backdrop that Mudavadi\u2019s emphasis on
\nconcessional partnerships speaks to the financing constraints realities.<\/p>\n
\n
\nWith domestic revenues falling short and tax measures
\npolitically sensitive, the policy statement directs ministries to prioritise
\nprogrammes with \u201chigh impact\u201d and \u201cstrong multiplier effects\u201d \u2014 precisely the
\nsectors highlighted in Japan-supported projects.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe policy statement also flags significant fiscal risks
\nlinked to Kenya\u2019s debt profile, particularly vulnerability to external shocks,
\nsuch as exchange rate volatility, rising global interest rates and tightening
\ninternational financial conditions.<\/p>\n
\n
\nWhile Treasury maintains that public debt remains
\nsustainable, it cautions that adverse macroeconomic developments could quickly
\nincrease debt-servicing costs and crowd out development expenditure.<\/p>\n
\n
\nIn this context, Japan\u2019s ODA, which is largely concessional,
\nlong-term and predictable, offers a financing model that aligns with Treasury\u2019s
\ngoal of reducing exposure to expensive commercial borrowing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[7265,11006,80,1832,11005,11007,98,100,101,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-17371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-japan","9":"tag-japan-kenya","10":"tag-kenya","11":"tag-mudavadi","12":"tag-musalia","13":"tag-oda","14":"tag-star-news","15":"tag-star-news-kenya","16":"tag-the-star","17":"tag-the-star-newspaper"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}