Kenya and Ethiopia Sign Historic Deals

Kenya’s new President William Ruto took office less than two months ago, but his moves in the Horn of Africa are already garnering a lot of attention. Last week, Ruto visited neighboring Ethiopia for bilateral talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It was a trip marked by an overt friendliness between the two leaders –and historic deals.

Ruto and Ahmed announced that Kenya’s Safaricom, the largest telecommunications company in the country had begun operating in Ethiopia. At the inaugural event, Kenya’s Ruto said to the audience, the moment ” testifies to the deep brotherly ties, exemplary neighborliness and effective partnership that have characterized the essence of the excellent special relations between our two countries.”

Ruto went on to call Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a “genius.” He said, looking at the crowd, “You people of Ethiopia, you are lucky you have a genius for a leader. I know I try. I am good, but he’s better.”

Kenyan American journalist Karanja Gaçuça says President Ruto doesn’t do anything “by accident.” Gaçuça adds, “I am sure it’s not lost on him that his actions, his visit, his very outwardly show of brotherliness to Ethiopia and to Abiy Ahmed specifically — is going to be looked at and analyzed right across the globe.”

The trip comes with the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. It’s been nearly two years since the Ethiopian Government has been fighting armed insurgents that are occupying the northernmost region of Tigray. Many Ethiopians have blamed the West and the so-called international community for demonizing Ethiopia and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — while pushing propaganda that favors the TPLF insurgents. Gaçuça says Ruto’s very public compliments of Ahmed may be “sending a message.”

Ethiopia Safaricom now has mobile services in ten pilot cities with an additional 14 cities to be added by April 2023, according to the company’s CEO Anwar Soussa, a Greek businessman. A mobile money agreement has also been reached and the service is expected to be rolled out in the next few months. Safaricom is the first private telecom company to operate in the country. State-owned Ethio Telecom has, until now, enjoyed a monopoly in Ethiopia

The two countries have also reached an agreement for export of wheat grain from Ethiopia to Kenya. We also learn more about a hydropower purchase deal signed between the two countries. Gaçuça says, the agreement “… appears to have been a deal that was already underway, but you would never have known that before under Uhuru Kenyatta because it seems like it was all done behind the scenes and I have a sense that Ruto would have been doing it very specifically on camera… as a new President that knows and understands that the whole world has turned its cameras on him.”

Also a major development during the visit, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, tapped peace envoy, skipped African Union-led peace talks between Ethiopia and the TPLF insurgents. Later, Kenyatta followed up with a statement asking for clarity on the “structure and modality” of the peace talks, which he referred to as a “Pan-African effort to end the conflict.”

What does Kenyatta’s move mean? What can we take away from Ruto’s trip to Ethiopia? Kenyan American Journalist Karanja Gaçuça joined me from Nairobi, Kenya for a fascinating analysis you won’t want to miss. You can listen to the full conversation above.