Kenyans have been asked to increase the rate at which they apply for jobs in the United States thanks to the special diplomatic ties between the two countries since the regimes of Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Donald Trump.
According to Dr Alfred Mutua, Kenya’s Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet, the US has pledged to set up a framework to help Kenyans apply for jobs and speedily acquire travel documents to work there.
“The United States is also working on modalities to speed up visa processing at the Nairobi embassy to reduce the long waiting times,” Dr Mutua said after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for strategic bilateral talks in Washington DC a week ago.
“Kenya is the only African country with this Strategic Bilateral Dialogue with the United States and we view the US as a great friend and partner.”
William Ruto succeeded Mr Kenyatta last September to become Kenya’s fifth President while Joe Biden took over from Mr Trump.
In August 2018, Presidents Trump and Kenyatta formally elevated the relationship between the two countries to a strategic partnership and established a corresponding annual bilateral strategic dialogue.
In November 2021, Secretary Blinken travelled to Nairobi to conduct the second US-Kenya bilateral strategic dialogue.
The annual dialogue prioritised five pillars of engagement, namely economic prosperity, trade, and investment; defense cooperation; democracy, governance, and civilian security; multilateral and regional issues; and public health cooperation.
“The United States and Kenya have enjoyed cordial relations and an enduring partnership since Kenya’s Independence,” the US Department of State said.
Kenyan immigrants working in the US were ranked third most industrious foreigners in 2018 by Bloomberg Report.
The Kenyans scored 73.4 percent as the most hardworking and skilled immigrant group. The research ranked Ghanaians and Bulgarians at positions one and two, with 75.2 percent and 74.2 percent, respectively.
Other African countries that featured in the report’s top 10 are Ethiopia (fourth), Egypt (fifth), Nigeria (eighth), and Liberia (ninth).
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