US President Joe Biden is set to identify Kenya as a key non-NATO ally during Kenyan President William Ruto’s three-day state visit this week, according to a person familiar with the planning.
Kenya would be the first sub-Saharan African country to acquire the designation, demonstrating Washington’s desire to strengthen ties with the East African nation, which has historically maintained close ties with Russia and China.
As he welcomed Ruto to the White House for a meeting with business executives, Biden informed reporters that he wanted to visit Africa in February, after the US presidential election. The two leaders will meet again in the Oval Office on Thursday, followed by a joint news conference and a state banquet.
According to senior administration sources, Biden and Ruto would cover a variety of subjects during their discussion, including trade, debt relief, and the future of Haiti, Ukraine, Sudan, and other countries.
On Wednesday, Biden announced that he and Ruto would begin a new era of technology cooperation between the two countries, including work on cyber security, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors. He didn’t disclose the security designation.
The United States will also announce $250 million in new investments through the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), bringing the funding agency’s total portfolio in Kenya to more than $1 billion, according to DFC.
Both countries are committed to developing and deploying technology in ways that promote transparency, accountability, and human rights, according to a US official.
Kenya, like the United States, has become “an engine for innovation,” according to the official, highlighting its $1 billion “Silicon Savannah” technological park, which houses more than 200 businesses from a variety of industries such as clean energy, microelectronics, financial technology, and e-commerce.
Alphabet (GOOGL.O) participated, as did Baylis Emerging Markets, a private equity firm focusing in African markets; BasiGo, a Kenyan electric bus company; Teneo, a worldwide CEO coaching and advising organization; and Gearbox Software, an American video game production company.
Washington also intends to form a new semiconductor cooperation with Kenya and is working with Congress to make it the first African country to receive funds under the United States CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, according to an administration official.
Biden’s recognition of Kenya as a major non-NATO ally comes as the country prepares to send troops to Haiti as part of a United Nations-led operation to address the Caribbean’s security problem.
The title is bestowed by the United States on close, non-NATO allies with strategic working connections with the US military.
In March, Biden declared Qatar as a key non-NATO ally of the United States, fulfilling a pledge he made to Qatar earlier this year.
Gyude Moore, head of the Africa Initiative at the Center for Global Development, stated that Kenya had proven to be a stable and trustworthy partner for the United States at a time when South Africa was pursuing its own more independent foreign policy.
According to Cameron Hudson, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the move will codify a change that has seen Kenya “move more squarely into a U.S. orbit” in recent years, including increased collaboration on Somalia.
