Arlington, VA – U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director Enoh T. Ebong will travel to Kenya from April 21-26 to speak at the American Chamber of Commerce Business Summit and sign new USTDA commitments to help expand reliable, high-speed digital connectivity in Kenya and the region in support of the U.S. Digital Transformation with Africa initiative (DTA), co-led by USTDA. She will also connect with USTDA partners and local stakeholders to further USTDA’s programming.
“In Kenya and across the region, USTDA’s diverse portfolio of programming reflects our partners’ priorities, including infrastructure to provide digital connectivity for underserved communities, increase healthcare access and capabilities, and generate clean energy,” said Director Ebong. “USTDA’s model is to bring these projects to life by facilitating partnerships that mobilize financing and deploy U.S. private sector innovation.”
In Nairobi, Director Ebong will open the U.S. DTA pavilion at the American Chamber of Commerce Business Summit along with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman. The pavilion will highlight DTA’s promise and progress. Director Ebong will also deliver keynote remarks at the Summit on innovative approaches toward mobilizing sustainable finance for East Africa’s infrastructure priorities.
To build on USTDA’s existing support for DTA, which aims to expand digital access in Africa, Director Ebong will sign two grants to expand high-speed broadband access on the continent. One will support cross-continent infrastructure from East Africa to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to help hundreds of thousands of Africans gain access to affordable broadband for the first time, and the other will address Kenya’s internet affordability gap through fiberoptic and 5G infrastructure between the Kenyan cities of Mombasa and Malaba. Director Ebong will also visit Mawingu Networks Limited to observe how a USTDA-funded feasibility study will support the expansion of the company’s connectivity infrastructure throughout rural and underserved areas in East Africa.
In support of Kenya’s healthcare infrastructure, she will tour two Kenyan hospitals to see cutting-edge technologies and explore opportunities for future USTDA funding support.
Since its inception in 1992, USTDA has funded more than 50 activities to advance Kenya’s agribusiness, clean energy, digital connectivity, healthcare and transportation infrastructure sectors. In 2021, Kenya became a partner of USTDA’s Global Procurement Initiative to help partner countries acquire high-quality, long-lasting technologies, while building smart, sustainable infrastructure with overall savings to their governments.
The Agency’s work in Kenya advances numerous Biden-Harris Administration priorities, including the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, the U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, Prosper Africa, Power Africa and DTA, as well as USTDA’s Global Partnership for Climate Smart Infrastructure and Coalition for Healthcare Infrastructure in Africa. The Agency’s programming also follows through on commitments made at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022.
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The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.
MEDIA INQUIRIES: Paul Marin | press@ustda.gov