Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has held high-level talks with her counterpart, His Excellency Dr. Alfred Mutua, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, on his first visit to Jamaica.
In reflecting on the exchanges, Minister Johnson Smith said:
“It was a great pleasure to welcome my Kenyan counterpart, Cabinet Secretary Mutua to Jamaica. We re-affirmed the excellent bilateral relations enjoyed by Jamaica and Kenya, including in the context of the meeting between our Heads of Government (Prime Minister, The Most Honourable Andrew Holness and President, His Excellency Dr. William Samoei Ruto) at the United Nations last year.”
“CS Mutua and I identified strategic areas for bolstering of collaboration between Jamaica and Kenya, including trade, financial services, climate resilience and tourism.”
“As the Government continues to transform Jamaica’s economy, we appreciate the lessons that can be learned from our brothers and sisters, particularly in Kenya, which is one of the largest and most advanced economies in East and Central Africa. Similarly, there are many innovative programmes which Jamaica has implemented which may be useful to Kenya. Jamaica and Kenya are, therefore, eager to engage in South-South co-operation that will continue sustainably grow our economies and empower our youth and most vulnerable citizens.”
Regarding financial services, Minister Johnson Smith congratulated Cabinet Secretary Mutua on Kenya’s empowerment of its citizens through its digital currency and noted how helpful it had been to rural Kenyans, the elderly and other under-served communities. Minister Mutua noted the success of their programmes, including use of the M-PESA, which have promoted financial inclusion. Minister Mutua also congratulated the Jamaican Government on progress it had made and offered to share some of the best practices and lessons learnt during Kenya’s implementation of its programmes.
The Foreign Ministers extensively discussed recent developments in Haiti, and further expressed their countries’ interest in providing assistance to the Haitian people towards bringing an end to the protracted crisis in Haiti.
About trade, Minister Johnson Smith highlighted Jamaica’s competitive logistical connectivity to the Americas and invited her Kenyan counterpart to explore collaboration with Jamaica to support East Africa’s growing markets and trade agenda.
Pertaining to climate change, both Foreign Ministers acknowledged the need to include the private sector in efforts toward adaptation, even as programmes are scaled up by their governments. Minister Johnson Smith used the opportunity to reiterate Jamaica’s commitment to advocating for urgent action, including reform of the global financial architecture, to support climate finance for small-island and low-lying developing states.
On the subject of tourism, the Ministers acknowledged the value and strength of the Jamaican and Kenyan tourism brands. Furthermore, the Ministers discussed various exchanges, particularly in training and development.
The official visit of Dr. Mutua was the first by a representative of the new Kenyan administration, and the first since the historic visit of H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019.
