On 20 November 2018, the European Union set out the thinking behind its Sh500 billion joint cooperation strategy with Kenya, describing it as a broad financing framework meant to deepen development and investment ties with the country and the bloc’s 19 member states.
Hubert Perr, the EU head of development cooperation in Kenya, said the four-year arrangement covering 2018 to 2022 was designed to bring together resources already being deployed by member states and development partners, rather than operate as a single cash pool.
The strategy brings in countries with active cooperation portfolios in Kenya, including France, Germany, Italy and the UK, alongside others such as Austria, Belgium, Greece and Portugal that do not currently have the same level of engagement.
Perr said the new approach rests on four pillars aligned to Kenya’s Big Four agenda. He identified accountability and governance as a central priority, alongside sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and stronger job creation measures.
He said the EU wants every programme under the plan to show a clear employment benefit, with particular attention on unemployed young people who remain outside the labour market but are still key to development outcomes.
Asked whether the Sh500 billion figure could worsen Kenya’s debt burden, Perr said the amount was only an estimate. He explained that the total reflects several funding envelopes being implemented through different structures by EU member states, the EU itself and the European Investment Bank.
“It is not all one pot of money. It is a mixture of sizable amounts in grants and concessional loans and different partners have different modus operandi,” he said.
He added that loans would be better suited to capital-heavy infrastructure, while grants would be more useful for capacity building and technical support. In his view, the blended model gives Kenya more room to borrow on concessionary terms while reducing risk through the grants component.
The EU also said the private sector will be treated as both a partner and a beneficiary. Perr said businesses understand the Kenyan market and can help shape how projects are delivered, while some agricultural projects already being funded were proposed by SMEs focused on value chains and job creation.
He further said the partnership could help channel facilities to banks in Kenya so they can lend to SMEs at special rates.
On the county level, Perr said the EU remains focused on poverty and inequality, noting that despite Kenya’s middle-income status, 36 per cent of people still live in absolute poverty.
He said devolution would be central to implementation, with the EU working through the Ministry of Devolution, the Council of Governors and individual counties. The priority, he said, is to reach marginalised counties, especially in the northern and arid parts of the country.
Perr said the EU was preparing to launch a pilot project under which 15 counties would each receive Sh110 million to implement development proposals they had submitted. He said the idea was to test whether the model could be delivered in a timely, transparent and efficient way before it is replicated by other development partners or even the Government.
The article was originally published in the archive on 20 November 2018.
