Closer ties have been forged between Barbados and Kenya, following the recent visit by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C., M.P., to the African country to meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The two leaders signed three Memoranda of Understanding and made concrete plans for further collaboration. Plans will include officials from both countries visiting each other in January, such as the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and officials of the Securities Exchange Commission, to finalise matters relating to cooperation and regulation that would pave the way for Kenyan financial institutions to invest in Barbados.
Other plans will include a student exchange programme between the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and two Kenyan universities, University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University, which will allow Barbadian student doctors to intern there, while Kenyan students would intern in Barbados. Plans are also in the works relative to business studies and exchanges between primary and secondary schools, creating air and sea links between Africa and the Caribbean, and an initiative to transform mobile banking in Barbados and the wider region, among others.
Prime Minister Mottley said, “I believe that this is the beginning of a true, true partnership that can make the difference not to the people of Kenya and to the people of Barbados, but I believe that we are, by taking hold of our future, saying to the rest of the world that the centuries of separation must now be left on the books of history rather than be part and parcel of our arrangements for the future.” She added , “if we can solidify the transport links by building the air and sea bridges, then I believe we will be unlocking the potential of our two regions.”
Adapted from the Barbados Government Information Service
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