President William Ruto departs for Luanda this afternoon to attend the seventh African Union-European Union summit and chair a high-level session on continental institutional reform.
In his capacity as AU champion for institutional reform, Ruto will co-chair the second meeting of the Ad Hoc Oversight Committee of Heads of State, briefing leaders on progress toward financial independence, stronger governance and more effective peace and security architecture.
The AU-EU summit, themed around two decades of partnership, comes against a backdrop of shifting geopolitics, shrinking development budgets and escalating conflicts from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa.
Kenya intends to press European counterparts for predictable, multi-year funding for African-led peace support operations, deeper counter-terrorism cooperation and joint climate finance.
Bilateral meetings with European heads of government will focus on accelerating the recently ratified Kenya-EU Economic Partnership Agreement, which eliminates duties on 82 percent of Kenyan exports to the bloc.
State House says Ruto will showcase investment-ready projects under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, including mega-dams for large-scale irrigation, clean energy expansion and upgrades to roads, railways, airports and ports.
The trip underscores Kenya’s growing diplomatic heft as a bridge between Africa and Europe at a time when traditional donors are distracted by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
With the African Union still reliant on external partners for more than half its budget, Ruto’s reform brief carries particular weight: success in making the continental body financially self-sufficient would mark a historic shift in global power dynamics.
