Germany and Kenya pledged to strengthen cooperation on climate protection, green energy and the exchange of workers after talks between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President William Ruto in Nairobi.
(Bloomberg) — Germany and Kenya pledged to strengthen cooperation on climate protection, green energy and the exchange of workers after talks between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President William Ruto in Nairobi.
At a joint news conference, Ruto announced that Kenya will join a “Climate Club” established last year by the Group of Seven during Germany’s presidency and said his government intended “to be a robust player in that space.”
Scholz said Kenya’s membership is an important step as nations seek to coordinate climate policies and smooth the way toward achieving targets for cutting emissions.
“If we want to achieve our ambitious goals, to stop climate change, we will only succeed if we make sure we do it together and effectively align our different approaches,” he added, promising additional funds for a bilateral climate and development partnership.
Scholz’s visit to the Kenyan capital after a stop in Ethiopia Thursday is part of a push to counter Russian and Chinese influence on the African continent and bind nations there into what the German leader portrays as an international alliance of like-minded democracies committed to tackling global warming.
Scholz also promised that the government in Berlin will lower immigration hurdles for workers from Kenya and other African nations. At the same time, governments of those countries would have to agree on rules to take back migrants who are in Germany illegally, he added.
Europe’s biggest economy is suffering from an acute shortage of skilled labor and needs as many as 6 million workers from abroad by 2030 to plug gaps across almost all sectors of the economy.
On Saturday, Scholz will conclude his Africa trip with a visit to the Olkaria geothermal facility in Hell’s Gate National Park to the northwest of Nairobi before heading back to Berlin.
–With assistance from David Herbling.
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