Mwai Kibaki took power in 2002 and turned Kenya into a “working nation,”
US President Barack Obama recently smoked out retired President Mwai Kibaki — the man who gave his father Obama Senior a job — from hibernation. Kibaki, who is rarely seen in public, came to honour a dinner date with the US President on Saturday night at his former address in State House, Nairobi.
The next day, Obama went to Kasarani and acknowledged what the old man had done for the country — building the economy. The praise for Kibaki, whose rallying call when he took power in 2002 was to turn Kenya into a “working nation,” was hidden in a hackneyed comparison about Kenya’s economy at independence and that of South Korea, and what Kenya has achieved so far. The numbers show “Kenya is making progress,” Obama said.
“When I came here as a US senator, I pointed out that South Korea’s economy was the same as Kenya’s when I was born, and then (in 2006) it was 40 times larger than Kenya’s. Think about that... But today, that gap has been cut in half just in the last decade,” said Obama, in what the White House termed as a speech “to the Kenyan people.” That ‘last decade’ refers to the Kibaki years:
The years when grassroots development grew exponentially through the introduction of Constituency Development Fund; the time when major roads were paved; universal free primary school education was actualised and taxes improved, and the only time that the economy grew by seven per cent (2007) from a low of 1.7 per cent in 2002. The only other time Kenya had experienced a seven per cent economic growth rate was in the 1970s at the height of the coffee boom 35 years earlier!
If you ask some of the people who worked on the economy then, such as the former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya, he will tell you that the Kibaki years were all about ‘the big picture.’ In an interview with The Nairobian for this story, Kimunya said that the first thing they did was to “have a proper strategy” to fight corruption, increase revenue targets, lure investors and then improve infrastructure all over the country.
They had a team of advisors drawn from all sectors who sat in the National Economic and Social Council, whose job was to gather views, refine them, and turn the good ones into government policy. “We focused on doing the right things, the right way. With the Economic Recovery Strategy for Employment and Wealth Creation, we focused on the future, the long-term rather than the short-term. We went for the right investments to guarantee long-term returns. People may not have seen it that way at the time because we didn’t make noise, but it worked,” Kimunya told The Nairobian.
The administration gave confidence to the private sector to pay taxes, and they made sure the government used those taxes to improve the lives of the people. “When I was Finance Minister, I went to Parliament at some point and announced that 95 per cent of our budget was being financed from local resources,” he said. The Economic Recovery Strategy put together by a three-man taskforce appointed by the then Planning Minister, Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o (now Kisumu Senator) is what metamorphosed into the country’s development roadmap – the Kenya Vision 2030.
If you ask Kimunya if he thinks the Jubilee government still has the Vision 2030 as a guiding beacon in the country’s development agenda, he can’t tell. “I don’t know whether it is still on or off. Different governments have different priorities, but Kibaki said, let’s focus on the big picture. You can see he said 2030, that is nearly 20 years after he left power,” said Kimunya.
However, John Mbadi, the national chairman of ODM, said the economic policies pursued during the Kibaki regime were a cocktail of politics with a lot of input from opposition leader Raila Odinga, who served first as Roads Minister in the Narc government, and then as Prime Minister in the coalition government between 2008 and 2013. “The victory is not Kibaki’s alone. Raila was the first Minister for Roads, and when he was knocking down buildings to create space for roads, he was castigated and condemned.
Now they have forgotten about it and are thanking Kibaki for it,” Mbadi told The Nairobian. Mbadi said that under the coalition government, the agenda on infrastructure continued. “Raila’s call was infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure, you can see that is one of the pillars under Vision 2030. I am afraid the Jubilee government is not following through with long-term visions, but it is focused on 2017. They cannot afford 5,000 MW and 10,000 kilometres of roads by the next elections when the annuity programme has collapsed,” added Mbadi.
The other person familiar with Kibaki’s policies is Elias Mbau, the founding chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. Mbau, like Kimunya, hail the ‘futuristic look’ that the Kibaki administration took in developing the country’s economy. “There’s a saying that wise leaders plan for the next generation, while foolish leaders plan for the next election.
Kibaki was thinking about the future: Free education for the children; a vision that expires two decades after he is out of power. Kibaki’s tenure was about recovery, didn’t you hear Obama say “Kenya is on the move?” posed Mbau. Mbau followed Obama’s speech through television, and he has isolated six issues that he believes are responsible for the economic boom in the Kibaki years. He said the Kibaki election on a pedestal of ‘zero tolerance for corruption,’ focus on children, improved revenue collection, infrastructure, and minimal politics. “By closing the holes of corruption and ensuring the Kenya Revenue Authority had enhanced capacity and motivation, the revenues tripled. The challenge is for the government to ensure we follow the blueprint,” Mbau told The Nairobian.
When Obama returns, will he sing about Uhuru’s legacy, or simply recall the Kibaki years?
The world powers and Iran struck a deal on Tuesday to curb Iran's nuclear program for at least 10 years in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions.
One of the most talked-about side effects of the deal is the reentry of Iranian crude on the global markets.
Interestingly, although Iran has a huge amount of oil, the Islamic republic doesn't even make it into the top three when it comes to proven crude oil reserves.
Using the data provided by Barclays commodities analyst Michael Cohen, we put together a list of the 10 countries sitting on the greatest amounts of crude oil. Check them out below.
Oil has been the dominant source of government revenues in Nigeria since the 1970s. However, the country struggled following last year's collapse in oil prices. And now Nigeria stands to "face extra competition" from the reintroduction of Iranian oil on the markets.
Although Moscow stands to benefit geopolitically following the Iran deal, the return of Iranian oil to the markets is bad news for them as Tehran could go after one of Russia's European markets.
“Iran is going to be competing in Europe head-on with Russia,” Ed Morse, the head of commodities research at Citigroup, told Bloomberg.
Reuters/Faisal Al NasserUnited Arab Emirates' Oil Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei (center).
Proven crude oil reserves (bbl): 97.8 billion
UAE is another energy-dependent state that modernized after the discovery of oil over 30 years ago. Following the late 2014 plunge in oil prices, UAE — one of the biggest producers in OPEC — has been producing record amounts of crude.
Petroleum accounts for over half of Kuwait's GDP, and the country plans to increase oil production to 4 million barrels a day by 2020. After the sanctions on Iran in 2012, Kuwait (along with Saudi Arabia) took most of Tehran's "Asian trade."
Iran's crude oil is the wild card right now. Analysts believe that the return of Iranian oil to the global market could drive prices down. Additionally, there could be increased tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as Iran and Russia.
Canada exports most of its oil to the US and Europe. Notably, it's the US's largest foreign supplier of oil.
However, a recent reports shows that the oil from Canada's oil sands is about 20% more carbon intensive on average than others. That means that, "if Canada exports more oil sands to the US over time, greenhouse gas emissions from US drivers would rise, even if gasoline consumption remained flat," according to OilPrice.com.
REUTERSAli bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum.
Proven crude oil reserves (bbl): 268.4 billion
Saudi Arabia was a big player in the oil game in the past year. Most recently, the Kingdom — along with the rest of OPEC — refused to cut oil prices. (Although, notably, the Saudis' rhetoric here has slightly softened.)
Additionally, Iran wants "to double crude exports soon after sanctions are lifted and is pushing other members of [OPEC] to renew the cartel's quota system" — which could soon shake up things for the Saudis.
Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins Oil well operated by Venezuela's state company PDVSA.
Proven crude oil reserves (bbl): 297.7 billion
"Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for roughly 96% of export earnings, about 40% of government revenues, and 11% of GDP," according to the CIA Factbook.
We are visiting Angola a beautiful and wealthy southwestern country which lies on the South Atlantic coast of the continent.
Centro Empresarial Belas Business. Luanda, Angola. Photo: Odebrecht
Angola is a southern African nation whose diverse landscape include tropical Atlantic beaches, a labyrinthine system of rivers and Sub-Saharan desert desert or savanna, with hardwood forests that extends across the border into Namibia. The country is popularly known for its small oil-rich northern province of Cabinda which is separated from the rest of the country by a small part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Congo River.
The country’s culture is a good reflection of its Portuguese-influenced colonial history which shapes the country’s cuisine and its landmarks including Fortaleza de São Miguel, which was erected by the Portuguese in 1576 to defend the country’s capital of Luanda.
Did you know that;
Angola underwent a transition from a one-party socialist state to a nominally multiparty democracy in 1992.
Angola is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa
The original inhabitants of Angola are thought to have been Khoisan speakers.
The country derives its name from the Bantu kingdom of Ndongo, whose name for its king is ngola.
It got it’s independence in 1975 after 14 years of a guerrilla war.
Angola was a link in trade with India and Southeast Asia
The marxist party of Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), a Marxist party which led the independence movement still controls the Angolan government.
About 65% of Angola’s oil comes from the Cabinda region.
Angola’s first national elections in 16 years were held in September 2008 and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won about 82% of the vote.
In 2012, Prime Minister position was abolished in the country due to the ratification of the 2008 Constitution of Angola, which transfers the functions of the Prime Minister to the President.
The country’s main languages are Portuguese and Bantu.
The popular religion is traditional beliefs, Roman Catholic and Protestant
Equity Bank Group has announced it has received commitments worth over Sh52 billion ($525 million) from different institutions as part of the just concluded Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The billions will be loaned out to small and medium enterprises as well as youth and women as per the aspirations and objectives of Barack Obama-led GES initiative. Out of these commitments, Sh20 billion was from the independent US government agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic), Sh15 billion from the African Development Bank, Sh10 billion from International Finance Corporation and Sh7.5 billion from the European Investment Bank.
The bank has in addition announced that it is setting aside Ksh400 billion in the next three and five years to lend to the same group of entrepreneurs. This, according to Group Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi, translates into Sh13 billion of loans to SMEs every month. Speaking during an interview yesterday, Mr Mwangi (pictured) said the objective is to support the scaling up of the small businesses to become regionally and globally competitive.
As part of this commitment, he disclosed, Equity Bank has already trained over 1.3 million women and young people in financial literacy through the Equity Foundation. The bank has also trained 12,000 micro-businesses in entrepreneurship. “We expect the impact to be job and wealth creation,” Mwangi said of the commitments, adding that the bank also made a killing processing payments for hotels as well as the fuelling of the ‘the Beast’, through American Express cards.
During the visit by first sitting US leader, commitments worth over Sh100 billion to youth and women businesses were made. Kenya banks have also joined in the fray and have started massive funding for the youth and women. For instance, Chase Bank has set aside Sh65 billion while Kenya Commercial Bank has committed Sh1 billion through the Enterprise Kenya Fund. During the summit, the energy sector also got a big boost after the Government signed a Sh220 billion deal with American firm, SkyPower.
by Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer
The first time I accompanied Barack Obama to Kenya in 2006, he was a freshman U.S. Senator, ranked 99th in seniority.
I was then a staff photographer for the Chicago Tribune and had been documenting his first two years in the Senate for his hometown newspaper.
I remember then-Senator Obama meeting with NGO’s inside a building in Kibera, considered the largest slum in Africa, just outside Nairobi. When we emerged outside, thousands of people had gathered in the streets surrounding his small motorcade. With only two State Department security personnel by his side, the Senator grabbed a megaphone and made impromptu remarks to the crowd. Hundreds of people were jubilantly banging on our cars in the motorcade as we tried to depart.
Things were different this time. He arrived in Kenya as the President of the United States.
Because of security concerns, his movements around the city of Nairobi were much more limited. He was not able to visit Kibera, or his father’s village, which he had also done in 2006. Yet you could still see the excitement on people’s faces as they lined the streets along the motorcade routes and hung from trees at the Marine One helicopter landing zone. At his speech in the Safaricom Indoor Arena in Nairobi, Secret Service agents were barely able to hold back the excited crowd as they pushed forward to try and shake his hand along the rope line.
During that same trip in 2006, the Senator had also visited the Republic of Djibouti. We weren’t able to accompany him on that leg of the trip. So instead we had to stay overnight at a hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My colleague at the time, Jeff Zeleny — the king of hotel points — was able to secure a suite at the Sheraton hotel. Nine years later, when we returned to Addis Ababa this week, President Obama stayed in the very same suite.
Greeting eight-year-old Joan Wamaitha upon arrival at Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, July 24, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Dining with his grandmother Sarah Onyango Obama, left, and sister Auma Obama, right, and other family members and friends at Cafe Villa Rosa in Nairobi, July 24. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
On stage at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit with panelists Judith Owegar, co-founder of Akirachix, and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, at the United Nations compound in Nairobi, July 25. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking with June Muli, Head of Customer Care for M-Kopa Solar, during a tour of the pay-as-you-go solar home systems exhibit at the Power Africa Innovation Fair at the United Nations compound in Nairobi, July 25. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking with children at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, July 25. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Giving high fives to children at the U.S. Embassy. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking with survivors and family members of embassy employees killed in the 1998 terrorist attack on the United States Embassy in Nairobi, prior to a wreath laying at Memorial Park in Nairobi. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Laying a wreath at Memorial Park, the site of the 1998 terrorist attack on the United States Embassy in Nairobi. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Listening to the U.S. national anthem with President Kenyatta during a ceremonial welcome at the State House in Nairobi. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Reviewing the troops during the welcome ceremony. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Signing the guest book at the State House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Meeting with President Kenyatta at the State House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Walking with President Kenyatta through the courtyard at the State House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Speaking at a bilateral meeting with President Kenyatta at the State House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Answering questions during a press conference outside the State House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking with President Kenyatta following a press conference. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Dancing with sister Auma Obama, President Kenyatta, and others at the State Dinner in Nairobi, July 25. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Making remarks during the State Dinner. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Waiting to catch a glimpse of President Obama arriving at the Kenyatta landing zone in Nairobi, July 26. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Watching the President’s motorcade pass by on the way to Safaricom Indoor Arena in Nairobi, July 26. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Taking the stage at the Safaricom Indoor Arena. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Audience members react to the President taking the stage. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Kenyatta and Auma Obama listen to President Obama’s remarks. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Listening to President Obama at the Safaricom Indoor Arena. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Waving to the audience at the conclusion of his speech. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Greeting audience members following his remarks. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Taking a selfie with his sister Auma Obama at the Safaricom Indoor Arena. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking with members of civil society at the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, July 26. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Giving a hug to Linet Momposhi Nenkoitol, 16, at the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center at Kenyatta University. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Participating in a ceremonial welcome with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at the National Palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 27. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Reviewing the troops during the welcome ceremony at the National Palace in Addis Ababa. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Looking at a tapestry with Prime Minister Desalegn at the National Palace. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Meeting with staff prior to a courtesy call with President Mulatu Teshome Wirtu of Ethiopia at the National Palace. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking with President Mulatu Teshome Wirtu at the National Palace. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Signing the guest book at the National Palace. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Answering a question during a press conference with Prime Minister Desalegn at the National Palace. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking with the Prime Minister following a press conference. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Discussing South Sudan and counterterrorism issues with Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, the African Union and Uganda, at the Sheraton Addis in Addis Ababa. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Viewing the remains of “Lucy,” the 3.2 million-year-old fossilized bones of a human ancestor, at the National Palace in Addis Ababa. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Viewing “Lucy” with members of congress at the National Palace. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Sampling Ethiopian coffee during the State Dinner hosted by Prime Minister Desalegn at the National Palace in Addis Ababa. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Watching a dance troupe–former street children–perform during the State Dinner. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Greeting the catering staff at the conclusion of the State Dinner. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Touring the factory floor of Faffa Foods, which is supported by the U.S. government’s Feed the Future program, in Addis Ababa, July 28. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Stopping to talk to the press, who had to wear hair nets, during a tour of Faffa Foods. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Joining Prime Minister Desalegn, left and African Union Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, right, on the dais at the African Union in Addis Ababa, July 28. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Delivering remarks at the African Union in Addis Ababa. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Delivering remarks in Nelson Mandela Plenary Hall at the African Union. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Listening to President Obama’s remarks at the African Union. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Talking backstage with African Union Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
A hailstorm pelts the motorcade in Addis Ababa, July 28. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Viewing an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Waving goodbye from Air Force One before departing Addis Ababa. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
