Germany gives $61.7m for development projects

Kenya is to receive 50 million Euros (US $61.7 million) to promote agriculture, water and the health sector from the German government following an agreement signed on Tuesday by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Mwai Kibaki in the capital, Nairobi. The funds will be disbursed in the form of technical cooperation grants and low-interest loans over the next two years. Schroeder, who is on an official visit to Kenya, told journalists in Nairobi that his government was keen to intensify cooperation with Kenya following the country's peaceful political transition in December 2002. This is Germany's first major financial support to Kenya since bilateral relations between the two countries declined in 1992, after Germany cited deficiencies in good governance on the part of the Kenyan authorities. Schroeder hailed Kenya's political and economic reform efforts, and pledged his government's support to the country's ongoing economic reconstruction. "We welcome the important step taken by the Kenyan government in the field of primary education and the fight against corruption," Schroeder said. He also recognised recent efforts by the Kenyan government to promote regional peace, notably in Somalia and Sudan as well as fighting international terrorism. "Germany will make available its knowledge and means to help the regional fight against terrorism and organised crime," Schroeder said. The German leader's visit is part of a four-nation African tour that also takes him to Ethiopia, South Africa and Ghana.