Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Dr. Alfred Mutua has bagged a handful of goodies for Kenya when he met with his counterpart, the Algerian Minister for Foreign Affairs Ramtane Lamamra in a high-level bilateral meeting held in Oran city, Algeria.
Noting the various opportunities available for Kenya in Algeria are in education, trade, tourism, sports and cultural diplomacy, the two agreed to aggressively pursue them for mutual benefit.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign affairs indicates that the meeting focused on among others; agricultural and horticultural products (such as avocados, tea, coffee, nuts, flowers, milk and meat among others), fertilizer, oil and gas, pharmaceutical manufacturing among others with a view to benefiting Kenyan farmers, students and industrialists.
In the education sector, the Algerian Government committed to provide 200 scholarships to Kenya in the areas of pharmacy, medicine, geology, dry farming and engineering.
In industry, Kenya will benefit from subsidized fertilizer, oil and gas as well as pharmaceutical industries through Public Private Partnership (PPP) deals.
To facilitate movement of goods and people, they agreed to speed up for signing in the first quarter of 2023, the Bilateral Air Services Agreement to facilitate direct air travel between Nairobi to Algiers.
“Kenyans should take advantage of these new opportunities to increase their earnings, education and grow our economy,” said Mutua after the meeting.
Other areas of collaboration identified include joint diplomatic training and the twinning of Mombasa and Oran cities.
To speed up these deals, Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board will be visiting Algeria in January to look at their products, processes and standards, while the Trade team led by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industrialization and Kenya Promotions Board will also visit Algeria in January to actualize these trade deals.
The meeting also agreed on an inaugural Algeria-Kenya Joint Commission for Cooperation for March, 2023 in Nairobi.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
