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SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H., PRESIDENTOF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THEDEFENCE FORCES DURING THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE ACP-EU JOINTPARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY AT KICC, NAIROBI
DATE: 19TH DECEMBER, 2016
Honourable Parliamentarians,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. On behalf of the Government and the people of Kenya, it is my
pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to the 32nd Session of
the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
2. The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly is a unique
institution; it is the only one of its kind in the World.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
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3. I am informed the overarching aim of this institution is to
strengthen interdependence of the global South and North, which
represents a great hope for humanity. Strengthening interdependence is
expected to lead to increased flow of knowledge, capital, trade and
citizen-to-citizen linkages that promises a prosperous and secure
World.
4. In this context, your discussions should be practical enough and
easy to implement in a timely fashion, and bold enough to make a real
change in the lives of our peoples.
5. I observe that your keynote debate is on the challenges and
opportunities of ‘demographic growth’. Since so much of that
conversation has historically been about the challenges, which I believe
are clear to all of us, allow me to make some broad points about the
opportunities.
Friends,
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6. There are two major trends underway at the moment. First,
virtually all global population growth is contributed by developing
countries, with Africa having the world’s youngest population.
7. Secondly, it is notable Europe and other developed parts of
the World have population dynamics that are the exact opposite.
8. In the interaction of these two broad trends lies the greatest
opportunities - and, it must be said, the greatest threats to global
prosperity and security.
9. Economic growth in Africa, and in large parts of the ACP
countries is also more robust than the global average.
10. The combination of resilient strong growth and a youthful
population, plus the highest yields on investment, means that the source
of global economic growth will increasingly continue to be Africa and the
rest of the developing World.
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11. In the developed World, growth is dragging and indications are
that, it will remain modest, particularly as population growth remains
limited. Yet most capital and technology is concentrated here. To
sustain that level capital and technology, — owned by a private sector, it
requires continuous growth and dynamic economies.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
12. I, therefore, expect that this capital and technology will rush
into Africa and other developing countries, as long as the conditions for
investment and trade are right. That is your single greatest responsibility
as the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly: to ensure that the rules of
trade and doing business, and the positive linkages between our
peoples, serve this historic shift.
13. It is increased investment in the developing countries that will
create the jobs for our young populations, the prosperity for our
countries, and generate the revenues our governments need to give a
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helping hand to the most vulnerable. By empowering the most
vulnerable population, this will, no doubt, foster global peace.
14. The reverse are the challenges, which I do not want to dwell
on. Suffice it to say that as long as the present economic and
geopolitical conditions apply, we will continue to see Africans drowning in
the Mediterranean as they desperately seek opportunity. This does not
have to be the case.
15. We in the ACP must do more to harness the energy and
ambition of our youth so that they are economically productive and less
amenable to bad practices.
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16. The task of harnessing the potential and preparing our countries
to be recipients of one of the greatest shifts in investment in human
history, does not belong to the ACP alone. Even though we the ACP
leaders have the greatest responsibility, I believe that Europe too has an
important part to play.
17. After all, an ACP that is able to be the engine of growth for the
World will be an engine of growth for thousands of European companies.
Our prosperity will be the world’s prosperity, and so we must come
together to ensure that it happens.
18. We in Kenya are fully convinced that our young people will lift
us to heights that we have not reached before. And we are making the
right investments to back up that conviction.
19. The inaugural Commonwealth 2016 Global Youth Development
Index noted that Kenya has made the greatest strides in improving the
conditions of our young people in the past 5 years.
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20. Of the nine world regions, the sub-Sahara African countries,
which boast of having the youngest population in the World, recorded
the greatest improvement in its overall youth development. This was
followed by Asia-Pacific, Central America and the Caribbean.
21. While conditions in large parts of these regions are generally
speaking, still poor, the fact that there is rapid improvement in the
Global Youth Development index is a clear indication, we are moving in
the right direction.
22. In Kenya, we have extended free primary education to all, and
my Administration is making rapid strides in progressively matching this
at the secondary level. We have strengthened the integrity of exams
and their affordability, on the understanding that fairness in educational
opportunity makes for greater hope for our children.
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23. The same principle applies in our extending electricity to every
primary school in the country for the first time ever, and connecting
more households to electricity in 3 years than in the previous century.
24. To further empower the youth and women, my Administration
has, in law, provided that 30% of non-wage procurement of goods by
the Government is reserved for the youth and women. This opportunity
has led to the establishment of thousands of small businesses by our
youth and women.
25. Again it is with our youth in mind that we have accelerated our
investments in infrastructure, to connect production and market areas
for the products produced by our hardworking youth.
26. The health of our population is also indispensable in driving
productivity and economic growth. Particularly, attention has been given
to maternal and infant mortality.
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27. In under three years, we have reduced infant mortality from
488 in 100,000 to 362. During this same time period, we have
doubled the number of women giving birth in health facilities. We have
also raised provision of mosquito net — to prevent malaria — from 1.5
to over 12 million.
28. The companion to investments in health is security, which is
crucial to investment, growth and sustainable development. We have
changed the way our security sector utilizes technology, raised the ratio
of police to citizens, and increased joint training and operations.
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29. The result of greater coordination and focus in security has
been a drop in crime, and a reduction in terrorist attacks by almost 75%
last year. The threat remains potent, and we are not celebrating victory.
But we are showing results that ultimately feed the positive trends.
30. More can be achieved if the African Union Mission to
Somalia becomes even more effective. The region’s and the world’s
fight against Al Shabaab in Somalia is one of the frontlines between
stability and chaotic insecurity.
31. We appreciate the support that the EU has provided to
AMISOM but there is more that can be done. It is the terrorism in
Somalia and elsewhere in Africa that threatens to undermine
governance and economic opportunity, with the result of floods of
refugees and continued insecurity.
32. I urge the European Parliamentarians present to push for the
change we all want to see, by insisting on bolder investment in security
in the Horn of Africa and into AMISOM.
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33. I believe there is much the ACP and Europe can also learn from
us, and contribute to the work we are doing to ensure that our young
people are not exploited by the cynical actors who utilize conflict and
violence for their own political and economic ends.
34. My Administration is convinced prevention of violent extremism
is the right strategy. Towards this end, we have pioneered an all-of-
government strategy to prevent extremism. The strategy aims at
reducing radicalization, providing rehabilitation, and disengagement from
terrorist groups.
35. I am glad to note that Europe has engaged positively with this
approach and I hope that it is one that you will all adopt. We in Kenya
are ready and willing to work with you in any way that is helpful.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
36. These investments are all about making sure that our
demographic growth is an opportunity and not a threat. Our
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core motivation in making all of these investments, and keeping our foot
to the pedal, is to ensure that there will be decent jobs for every Kenyan
who wants to work.
37. We are convinced and we know that it is through
industrialization we can hope to sustain job creation for our youth.
38. To make the shift from largely an agrarian and rural economy to
an industrialized and urbanized one, calls for technology transfer and
increased trade in value-added goods. This will require the rules
between the ACP and Europe to be conducive. For this to happen, the
ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly has a special role to play.
39. The core indicator of how our rules are performing is the
volume of trade in raw and value-added products.
40. The volume of trade between the ACP and EU must continue
growing, with the value-added products showing the greatest gain. In
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this regard, there is a lot to be done both in Europe and within the
ACP.
41. Action to improve this metric is the core contribution that you
here today can make to ensuring that demographic growth is a win for
the ACP and for Europe too.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
42. In closing my remarks, I wish to urge you to focus your
discussions and aim to come up with bold and practical solutions that we
can adopt to ensure demographic growth is an opportunity and not a
challenge. Let your meeting in Nairobi be remembered as one that
dealt a blow to poverty and insecurity in ACP-EU.
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43. With those few remarks, it is now my humble duty to declare
“the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly”, officially open.
Thank You, Asanteni Sana.
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