Kenyatta: My Top Priority Is Infrastructure

The President was speaking in Nairobi during the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Special Summit on the fight against youth unemployment through infrastructure development and investment promotion.

Kenyatta said that the expansion and modernization of our roads, airports, railways would open up jobs and help raise the level at which the Kenyan economy can compete.

The President added that infrastructure development was key to ensuring access to decent incomes and livelihoods to all Kenyans and especially the youth.

The President also cited the revolving Kshs 6 billion Youth Enterprise Development Fund as one of the initiatives that has already benefited over 20,000 youth enterprises and trained over 200,000 youth entrepreneurs.

The President added that the program has been expanded and is now supported by parallel projects that target the youth, women and persons living with disability with a combined revolving capital of Kshs 15 billion.

Kenyatta also disclosed that the Government has developed a national employment policy which now awaits Parliament’s approval.

He further intimated that as the principal actor in the economy, the Government has also put its influence directly in the service of youth entrepreneurship by reserving 30% of all its procurement opportunities to enterprises owned by youth, women and persons with disability.

Among the mega infrastructure projects the Kenya government has embarked on include the Standard Gauge Railway, the expansion and upgrading of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, and the Lamu Port and South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor.

Present during the event was Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni who emphasized the need for a holistic approach to address unemployment noting that many young people engage in conflicts in the region because of lack of jobs.

Museveni said the region must fully exploit its resources in order to unlock economic potential and boost employment creation.

Other dignitaries present included UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, ICGLR Executive Secretary Prof. Ntumba Luaba, and Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Amina Mohamed and her Devolution counterpart Ms Anne Waiguru.

By Wangui Ngechu