A deal between Kenya and Germany could see Berlin open its doors for 250,000 Kenyans to work there to meet the European nation’s huge labour requirements, President William Ruto announced yesterday.
President Ruto was speaking from State House, Nairobi during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The European country will absorb more professional, skilled and semi-skilled Kenyans under the agreement.
To enable this, Nairobi urged Berlin to review and ease immigration laws to enable Kenyans find employment in Germany.
Further, they agreed to establish a twin institutions’ framework for pairing Kenyan technical and vocational training (TVET) colleges with selected TVET colleges in Germany, with the goal of facilitating the labour migration from Kenya to Germany upon graduation.
“We have agreed to establish a technical team from my office and the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Labour in both countries, to initiate discussions, expeditiously navigate the procedures and formulate an appropriate framework for the export of labour to Germany,” Dr Ruto said.
The Head of State observed that the two countries had deep historical ties dating back to 1963.
Upon attainment of independence, Germany, President Ruto said, was the first state to recognise “our newly-born nation.” That marked the beginning of a deep friendship that has grown stronger every passing year, with the common values and cooperation in diverse spheres of endeavour being the fabric holding the ties together, he said.
Germany offered to support, expand and upgrade TVET institutions and centres of excellence in the country from three to seven under a programme that will see more Kenyan youth benefit, and alleviate joblessness.
In East Africa, Kenya is Germany’s most important trading partner.
However, the President decried the fact that the trade balance was in favour of Germany.
He said Kenya’s exports to Germany in 2021 were worth only $130 million, while imports amounted to $392 million.