The UK has announced Sh20 billion of the new private and government investment into the Big Four Projects. The Big Four Projects include affordable housing and manufacturing.

This comes after President Uhuru Kenyatta began his 3-day state visit to London.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced Sh5.5 Billion of UK Aid to be matched by Sh3.5 Billion of private investment to finance 10,000 green affordable homes for Kenyan citizens.

"This package of investments will create new jobs and unlock new opportunities for the UK and Kenyan businesses by strengthening the relationship between Nairobi and the City of London," said Raab.

The homes are intended to be water and energy-efficient properties to accommodate low and middle-income families. 

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These homes will be part of Kenya’s goal to build 500,000 new and affordable homes by 2022.

Raab was speaking at the Mansion House in the City of London, where Uhuru attended an investment forum and witnessed the signing of 2 MoUs to enhance investor commitment between Kenya and the UK.

PHOTO/PSCU

The first MoU was to launch co-operation between The City UK and Nairobi International Finance Centre Authority. 

The Second MoU included a letter of intent between Prudential PLC and the NIFC Authority.

At the investment forum, Uhuru used the platform to encourage UK investors to take advantage of 10 opportunities that worth Sh542 billion.

He further said Kenya and UK have the opportunity to deepen their historical relationship by offering several readily available public-private partnership investment opportunities in Kenya.

"We now have the opportunity to further deepen our excellent historical relationships, by offering a number of ripe PPP investment opportunities in Kenya. I invite the private sector in the United Kingdom to partner with us as we deliver on this vision for the people of Kenya," Uhuru said.

On the public-private front, Uhuru noticed Kenya has adopted a private sector driven development strategy as a necessary segment of Vision 2030 and the Big Four agenda.

PHOTO/PSCU

Uhuru listed 10 projects, including; Nairobi Smart Street Lights, the Nairobi Bus Rapid Transport System, the Intelligent Traffic Management System, the Galana Kulalu Food Security and the Lamu Fishing Port.

On the first day of Uhuru’s 3-day state visit to the UK, he was particularly focused on trade, business and climate change. He said Kenya provides an environment that makes it a suitable destination for investors.

He met COP26 President-designate Alok Sharma at Kew Gardens and celebrated progress on the Kenya-UK Year of Climate Action.

At the meeting, the President witnessed the signing of an agreement that will enable Kenya to join the Adaptation Action Coalition (AAC) and the UN Climate Action Summit (UN CAS).

PHOTO/PSCU

The UK also announced a new Sh550 million funding to speed up Kenya’s climate transition to include projects supporting renewable energy.

The president also met and interacted with Kenyan and African researchers who exhibited environmental change moderation and transformation projects they are carrying out on the continent.