By His Excellency Laurence Lenayapa, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya.
Since arriving in the Netherlands in August, I have been very pleased to enjoy the Dutch hospitality and I look forward to making this my home for the next few years. I also look forward to visiting various parts of the country in the course of my duty as well as to simply enjoy the beauty the country has to offer.
The Hague, where the Embassy is situated presents the opportunity to work in a very international environment with the presence of several other embassies, international organisations and various nationalities of people who work here.
In my new role as Ambassador, I intend to prioritise my focus on Kenya’s developmental agenda that is guided by H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya. The Agenda, commonly known as the Big Four Agenda, will focus on moving Kenya forward in the areas of Manufacturing, Universal Healthcare, Housing and Food security.
Manufacturing
The government plans to increase manufacturing from 9.2 per cent to 20 per cent by 2022. The major focus is put on among others cotton production and textile industry. The country will then realize greater value from export by controlling the value chain and making something of the raw materials that are produced. It is anticipated that the bigger the economy, the increased employment opportunity and wider shared prosperity.
Universal healthcare
Our government appreciates that a healthy people ensures effective production and hence increase in wealth by reducing pressure. The government therefore will seek to deal with preventable diseases like malaria which will ensure a healthy nation, apart from reducing pressure in hospitals. The government also puts emphasis on tracking medicine from manufacturing to consumption by patients, conducting census and getting the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) functioning at its optimum.
The Big Four Agenda lists five innovative initiatives which are purposed to drive NHIF scale up. These include activating community health worker network, legalizing reforms to align NHIF to universal healthcare, redefining NHIF to include Multi-Tier benefit packages and digitizing NHIF.
Food security
The country plans to invest in infrastructure which will allow for distribution of food from one part of the country to others, being open to producing food for other countries and producing cost effective foods as well as addressing mismatch in food production.
Affordable housing
Plans are underway to set up a Kenya Mortgage Refinancing Company (KMRC) to manage low cost liquidity for mortgages. The government plans to build affordable homes through mechanisms including partnerships with other agencies.
The Big Four Agenda will closely follow the implementation of Kenya’s Vision 2030. The two important agendas with their correlating pillars are considered the long-term development blueprint for Kenya, which is motivated by a collective aspiration for a better society by the year 2030. Their main objective is to create a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030.
With this in mind, I will capitalise on the already existing good bilateral relations between Kenya and the Netherlands. I will seek to maximise on the opportunities available through the Aid-to-Trade policy of the Netherlands by actively seeking out Dutch investors for direct investments or to work through public private partnerships (PPP). The Dutch Companies can take advantage of the favourable conditions in Kenya such as a solid infrastructure, ideal climate, and a deep pool of educated and skilled manpower amongst others. Also, Kenya’s fully liberalised economy has no restrictions on domestic and foreign borrowing by residents and non-residents. Kenya’s strategic location allows investors to easily access the countries in the region.
In addition to focusing on Kenya’s development agenda, I am committed to ensure Kenya fulfils its obligations emanating from its membership to international organisations based in the Netherlands. Kenya’s robust participation in these organisations will demonstrate the commitment to invest in programs aimed at promoting the rule of law, international peace and stability and innovative diplomacy to contribute to a just and peaceful world.
I will therefore ensure that Kenya continues taking part in conversations of a complex nature that will always be guided by law, state practice and multilateralism.
