Kenya

NAIROBI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A China alumni symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Sunday, with participants who included senior officials, scholars and students underscoring its positive impacts across socioeconomic spheres.

NAIROBI, Jan 5 (NNN-KBC) – The number of Kenyans in need of humanitarian assistance stands at 1.5 million, with a majority of them having been affected by floods, caused by the recent El Nino rains, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said in a report, yesterday.

“An assessment of the impact of the 2023 long rainy season on food and nutrition security projected that, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance during the Oct, 2023 to Jan, 2024, period, would drop to 1.5 million from 2.8 million in Jul, 2023,” NDMA said.

NAIROBI, December 22. /TASS/: The last French troops left Niger on Friday, AFP reported, citing Nigerien military.

"Today's date marks the end of the disengagement process of French forces in the Sahel," Niger Army Lieutenant Salim Ibrahim said at a ceremony at Niamey Air Base, which used to be home to some French troops.

NAIROBI, Dec 16 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya has reached an agreement to send workers to Saudi Arabia, the country’s President William Ruto says.

Under the deal reached on Thursday, nurses and other skilled workers will go to the Middle Eastern country from Kenya, with 2,500 workers planned for the first deployment.

“Previously, we only sent domestic workers, but now we can export skilled labour to Saudi Arabia and other countries,” President Ruto said on Friday, adding that the workers will receive a monthly salary of 200,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,300; £1,000).

NAIROBI, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Foreign visitors to Kenya will not be required to have a visa beginning January 2024, President William Ruto announced Tuesday during the celebration of Jamhuri Day, or Independence Day, held in Nairobi, the capital.

Ruto said all foreign nationals will enter the county without a visa from January next year, a move that is expected to boost tourism.

NAIROBI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Visitors to Kenya from across the world will no longer require a visa from January, President William Ruto said on Tuesday.

Ruto said his government had developed a digital platform to ensure all visitors would receive an electronic travel authorisation in advance, instead of needing to apply for a visa.

"It shall no longer be necessary for any person from any corner of the globe to carry the burden of applying for a visa to come to Kenya," he said in a speech in the capital Nairobi at an event to mark 60 years of independence from Britain.

NAIROBI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - A blast at an explosives store wrecked buildings and caused massive damage to an industrial zone on the Seychelles' main island Mahe, officials said, prompting the president to declare a state of emergency on Thursday.

The blast shook the island as heavy rains triggered flooding which killed three people, the president told reporters on Thursday, calling for a minute of silence.

Footage broadcast on national television showed streets covered in deep mud and strewn with debris and uprooted trees.

NAIROBI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The World Food Program (WFP) on Thursday warned that the devastating floods threaten to worsen food insecurity across eastern Africa, threatening more hunger.

WFP said that nearly 3 million people have been affected, with more than 1.2 million displaced as heavy rains lash a region that less than a year ago was in the grips of drought.

Michael Dunford, WFP regional director in Eastern Africa, said the region is being lashed by the extremes of climate change -- from "no water to too much water is resulting in a catastrophe."

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Kenyan High Court on Tuesday struck out key clauses of a contentious finance law that has been blamed for significantly raising taxes and the cost of living in East Africa’s largest economy.

High court judges David Majanja, Christine Meoli and Lawrence Mugambi said parts of the Finance Act 2023, including a mandatory housing levy, were unconstitutional and couldn’t be enforced.

NAIROBI, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mombasa, Kenya's main seaport, received 1.32 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first ten months of 2023, up 10.2 percent, or an increase from 1.2 million TEUs in a similar period in 2022, despite the challenging global economic conditions, the ports authority said Friday.

In a statement issued from the coastal city of Mombasa, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director William Ruto attributed the improved performance to increased efficiency in operations.