France congratulates India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway, which are starting their two-year terms as members of the UN Security Council today.
France congratulates India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway, which are starting their two-year terms as members of the UN Security Council today.
The bilateral French-Kenyan economic relationship is not very extensive (French market share: 1.4%) but it is dynamic:
France is technically no longer a donor to Kenya (donations account for less than 1% of French financial commitments) but it plays a leading role in financing its development and has become the 2ndlargest bilateral donor behind China. Kenya is the sub-Saharan African country that receives the largest amount of sovereign loans. Total AFD commitments to Kenya since 1997 amount to €1.5 billion. They are mainly in the sectors of energy (50%), water and sanitation, transport and urban development.
France’s bilateral cooperation is focused on higher education, which is a government priority. A scientific cooperation agreement was signed in May 2015 with the Ministry of Education. In this connection, academic cooperation is increasing: Kenya Day, organized in March 2016 in French universities; promotional tours of French top graduate schools (grandes écoles) in Kenya (2014-2015, around forty schools visited, and 3,000 students informed), where the first university meetings were held in October 2016.
The robust French-Kenyan cooperation can be seen in the promotion of the French language, the most taught foreign language in Kenya: 400 teachers, 31,000 students (24,000 in secondary schools, 7,000 in higher education institutions). There is a Lycée Français in Kenya (650 students representing 53 nationalities), 22 French language resource centres and two Alliances Françaises in Nairobi (3,000 French language students) and Mombasa.
Updated: 6 June 2017