This archive report was first published on 4 January 2022.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has kicked off a four-day visit to Africa, with a focus on strengthening trade ties and signing key agreements with African nations, including Kenya.
Minister Wang's tour began in Eritrea and Comoros on January 4, 2022, and he is set to travel to Kenya, where he will meet with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo.
The visit aims to promote and implement the outcomes of the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Senegal in November 2021.
China's Foreign Minister has chosen Africa as the destination for his first overseas visit for the 32nd consecutive year, underscoring the country's significant importance to Africa and the development of China-Africa relations.
Minister Wang has been serving as Foreign Minister since March 2013 and as a State Councilor since March 2018.
The visit comes at the beginning of the new FOCAC nine-point programme of the Chinese Development Co-operation, which holds great promise for China-Kenya and China-Africa cooperation.
Key areas of discussion during Minister Wang's visit to Kenya include peace and security, health, climate change, and blue and green technology transfer, as well as the transformation of Kenya's economy and the global economy.
Kenya's Big Four programme, which has left a lasting legacy for President Uhuru Kenyatta, has enjoyed significant support from China through previous FOCAC programmes, and this will be reviewed during bilateral conversations.
President Kenyatta, who chairs the United Nations Security Council, will hold talks with Minister Wang on China's relationship with Africa in the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the UN Security Council, as well as regional peace and security issues in the Horn of Africa.
Ms Omamo will meet Minister Wang for bilateral consultations between the Kenyan and Chinese governments, accompanied by CS colleagues from various ministries and government officials.
The delegation will visit Mombasa and inspect the Kipevu Kenya Oil terminus (KOT) at the port of Mombasa, a significant legacy project of the Kenyatta administration with far-reaching implications for Kenya and the eastern and central Africa region.
The new oil terminal aims to double Kenya's capacity for handling transit petroleum products to Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, starting January next year, from the current 35,000 tonnes at a time.
The KOT has the capacity to handle up to four vessels compared to the existing one, which can handle one vessel at a time.
The new KOT is set for a dry run test next month and is expected to cut the cost of petroleum products by reducing demurrage costs, which significantly contribute to high costs.
Several bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding will be signed by key ministries between China and Kenya.
