1

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,

2

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,

3

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.

4

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

5

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.

6

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.

7

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.

8

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.

9

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.

10

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.

11

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

12

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

13

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.

14

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.

…….0000000…….0000000…….