The new Japan Ambassador to Kenya has pledged to work tirelessly to promote the Japan and Kenya bilateral relations.
Ambassador Okaniwa Ken, who presented his credentials to President Uhuru Kenyatta on April 1 alongside eight other envoys, said Japan wishes to further deepen its relations with Kenya as the cooperation helps it address a broad range of issues affecting not only Kenya but the entire Africa.
The embassy of Japan in a statement said for many years, Japan has provided aid to support Kenya’s development in education, health, agriculture, energy, forestry, infrastructure and other areas.
“Kenya is the largest recipient of Japan’s ODA in the sub-Saharan Africa region. In recent years, reflecting Kenya’s rapid economic growth, there is increasing focus on business cooperation. The number of Japanese companies with physical presence in Kenya is currently 103, a remarkable increase from 35 in 2014,” the statement said.
While Japan will co-organize the Tokyo International Conference on African Development 8 in Tunis on 27-28 August, it should be recalled Kenya co-hosted TICAD 6 in Nairobi in 2016 for the first time in Africa.
In this regards, Ambassador Okaniwa hopes TICAD 8 will help further strengthen the wide-ranging cooperation between the two countries.
The Ambassador arrived in Kenya on December 28, 2021.
Prior to that, he was the Ambassador / Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva.
As a diplomat, he has extensive experience in development cooperation, public diplomacy, climate change and a wide range of multilateral issues, the embassy said.
Among other Ambassadors who presented their credentials were Michael Lotem (Israel), Yeo Sungjun (Republic of Korea), and Abderrazzak Laassel (Morocco). Others were Callista Jennie Mutharika (Malawi), Marie Charlotte G. Tang (Philippines), Tareque Muhammad (Bangladesh), Gabriela Martinic (Argentine) and Christopher James Thornley (Canada).
