buckeye broadband. ♪ announcer: buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. announcer: and now vice president kamala harris and kenyon president william ruto sat down with ambassador to kenya william whitman to discuss it investments in africa hosted by the u.s. chamber of commerce. this is about 30 minutes.

>> please welcome back suzanne p. clark, president and ceo of the u.s. chamber of commerce. ♪ >> i am trying to decide if i should say good morning or good afternoon. i have lost track of the time i think, but hello, thank you so much everyone for being here today. it is a historic day for the united states and for the u.s. chamber of commerce.

as you know we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of u.s.-can yet diplomatic relations that a marking the first stage visited by an african president since 2008. i think we can all agree that 16 years is far too long, but we are hopeful president ruto's time and washington it will usher in a new era of regular state visits by african leaders. on top of that today we brought together senior government officials, business leaders, and industry partners as we observe world trade month and on the eve of africa day. what better time could there be to illustrate the importance of partnership between the united states and kenya? what better platform to elevate the trade and investment ties between our nation and demonstrate the bright future for the u.s.-kenya strategic relationship? two underscore that i want to focus quickly on three ideas we

heard in the video. collaboration, opportunity, and innovation. innovation. it has long been a part of the work in kenya to bring partners together to advance commercial cooperation from heads of state to private sector leaders look our close friends. we give a voice through the u.s. -- africa business center which has wanted better ties since 2009. we provide a platform for the american business community to work directly with kenyan leaders from convening presidential executive roundtable at the u. this. general believe is short after to the 2023 u.s.-kenya bilateral strategic dialogue. we travel the globe leading trade missions for the business summit and kenya conference to convenient a dialogue on the

a.f.c. f.t.a. digest pro bowl and numerous delegations much private sector executives including last month to coincide with secretary raimondo's visit. our goal is to deepen american business ties with kenya and the why behind that as you well know is opportunity. east africa led by kenya continues to be one of the engines of growth on the continent and global economy. kenya is home to one of africa's most diversified and fastest growing economies. with a young entrepreneurial population and talented workforce it is increasingly a vibrant hub of economic activity. in kenya we see a country of limitless private sector potential if we are willing to seize it and the chamber is working to make than. 24 years ago this week the chamber helped lead the charge

for congressional package of the african growth an opportunity act which has been an important corner stone of the partnership. lake many champions in it room including senator chris coons who recently introduced a bill to the senate we support reauthorization. and in 2020 right here in this great hall the kenyan government announced its intention to negotiate a free trade game with the united states. we immediately launched a working group to exchange ideas and seek common ground and we continue to support the ambition of a robust trade and investment agreement. as we lord moments ago from president ruto, kenya deeply understands its future is tied to how they trade with countries around the world and at the chamber we know when the u.s. trades and invests with other countries we are not just

creating jobs here in the united states but deepening important strategic partnerships and advancing free enterprise around the world. finally i want to touch on innovation because it is that which will shape our future and how the u.s. and kenya will tackle shared challenges. kenya is known for its silicon savannah. it is a reflection of the role as a had been for innovation and role u.s. companies like google and i.b.m. have played and will play there. to foster even greater innovation the u.s. chamber is pleased to announce today a green tech business mission we look forward to organizing in partnership with the u.s. government. we want to show case the promise of u.s. green technology and provide a platform for real discussion about projects,

innovative solutions an interrogatory best practices. so that is the topic of the next discussion. we are fortunate to hear more about the power of public-private partnerships with three of the top decision makers on u.s.-ken why policy. leading our discussion is the former c.e.o. putting decades of experience to worker business our envoy thigh robe meg whitman. our two feature guests have both worked hard to support the tech ecosystem in africa. vice president camp will maris has spearheaded public private partnerships at home and abroaded a traveled to africa last year for a three country tour putting the spotlight on opportunities to invest in african innovation and tkphraoeuzing new initiative to promote digital inclusion. joining her of course is our very special guest of honor president william ruto a successful businessman who made

digital storm makes a signatures initiate active of his administration. please join me in giving president ruto, vice president harris and ambassador whitman a worm wac. [applause] -- a warm welcome. >> good morning, and thank you both for joining us. it is really a privilege for the chamber of commerce and our audience. madam vice president i will start with you if you don't mind. you have been a leader on africa policy in the biden harris administration. you visited suzanne mentioned ghana, tanzania and we missed

you in kenya. vp harris: i will get there. amb whitman: you focused on investing in innovation, young people and women. why did you take that approach and what did you learn that was technically interesting? >> thank you, madam ambassador,ed a present it is good to be with you on the stage. i strongly believe that we are at a moment where we should revisit and upgrade and update the narrative of the relationship between the united states and the continent of africa. when you think about the continent, the median age is 19 years old, 19. it is predicted that by 2050 one in four people occupying space on mother earth will be on the continent of africa.

so, when i think of it just from that perspective, many could rightly argue that the future is on the continent of africa. [applause] vp harris: yes. i also think -- i will speak very candidly here -- that we have to revisit and revise the narrative around the relationship in a way that appreciates that ours, the role of the united states, should not be one of been -- been never lance but of partnership. so it is not is not about aid b investment and understanding the capacity that exists and has been proven to be strong on the continent and, therefore, is worthwhile in terms of an

investment. nessing that it will -- understanding that it will yield a great return. when i think of your leadership in kenya it is evidence of the imperative of the united states partnering with kenyans, with the kenyan government, in a way that recognizes the extraordinary opportunity for continued investments and innovation, thinking of what we must do as a global community around addressing climate crisis, what we can do we can do through investments that make clear and real what we know to be the broad-based economic growth that occurs every where you invest in women. doing that work through a

partnership that also appreciates that it is good for american business to be invested in relationships that contribute to global stability. global stability, of course, results also in global economic stability. for all these reasons i simply believe it is the right thing to do, not to mention, the intertwined history between the continent and our country. if we are going to be at all forward thinking, it's imperative. as vice president, as a devout public servant, sadly often our strategy around foreign policy is based on the crisis at the moment. part of how i think of the future and the imperative relationship with african nations is based on a vision

that public policy be formed and implemented now based on a vision for the next 10, 20, 50 years. it brings me back to the continent of africa and kenya as an example of vibrant partnership. >> good. thank you very much. doing things before you have a crisis is a lot easier than waiting until afterwards. mr. president, you have been a tremendous champion for tax innovation in kenya and its ability to spur economic development and promote economic activity. also advancing gender equality and inclusion. i would love to hear your point of view on the power of technology and what it can do for kenya. for those of you that do not know, kenya was the largest destination for start up capital on the continent in 20 23 ahead of nigeria, south africa, and

egypt. that is a remarkable achievement. pres. ruto: thank you very much. and it thank you very much vice president harris for finding time to engage with us in this important american chamber of commerce kenya meeting. speaking about tech technology and opportunities in the technology space, throwing things come to mind. technology is the facility, the instrument that we can use to leapfrog africa from where we are to the next to catch up with the rest of the world. we have the youngest population. the population is tech hungry. the population, we have the opportunity to shape it in the

direction in which we think it should. that's why a country like kenya is investing 30% of our budget in education, training, knowledge, and skills. we are investing $5 billion every year. i said earlier, this is money we believe is an investment because if there is a single most important asset we have, it is human capital. as my sister kamala said, we are looking at a continent that will have 25% of the world's population by 2050, 40% of the world's workforce will be from the african continent. therefore, it is not only about labor. therefore, you need the correct quality of labor. it is also about the market. the biggest market ever will exist in the african continent.

therefore, technology is the biggest enabler, the biggest multiplier of what can be done. i see it every day. for example, to kenya from a banking ratio of i think about 20% and tripled it. just using technology. many more canyon -- kenyans including my mother that has not been to school opened an account . she knows how. that happened to many people in kenya. we look at technology as an enabler and mechanism through which we can use the biggest resource we have in our young people and also use it to better

agriculture, health, education, tax collection, government subsidies. in fact, for kenya, we are moving all government subsidies. we have moved 17,000 governmental services onto a platform where the future is. that is how we can efficiently deliver government services. cost effectively deliver government services. accountable he deliver government services. for accountability, efficiency, efficacy, technology enables us to do all that much more efficiently. therefore, met him kamala -- madame kabbalah harris you are focused in the right direction on technology, digital space, young people, women.

that is the space that will give us the greatest output as we go into the future. it is, the reason just before you came in that we signed a -- into a billion-dollar investment using american technology from microsoft, capabilities from g 42, capital resources from g 42, and renewable energy from kenya. because, kenya has the extra asset of having tech savvy human capital. the 42 will tell you, microsoft will tell you, some of their best human capital comes from kenya. [] applause]

ambassador whitman: madame vice president you might be interested to know kenya is home to the only semiconductor technology on the continent and 70% of their engineers are women. pretty remarkable. fantastic. ambassador whitman: i know how hard you have worked on the digital inclusion projects. you will talk about the progress you made building on the trip you made to africa. can you bring us up to speed on what you have accomplished and how you are feeling about the program? vice pres. harris: i will. first i must thank you meg whitman for taking up to the position of being ambassador. i have known the ambassador for a long time, i say with a bit of bravado as a proud californian, and your work and your groundbreaking work in technology is extraordinary. this is just the perfect moment that you would step up and serve in this capacity and i thank you for that. thank you. thank you.

digital inclusion was at the heart of the idea for this initiative that is focused on the continent and i want to thank a few people that i know are here. brad smith is here. michael knew back is here. it was companies like microsoft, mastercard, foundations, melinda french gates was one of the earliest to contribute as much as $10 million for the women, the digital inclusion focused on women, the ford foundation. essentially, this is how it all happened. the simplified version. i got on the phone and called a bunch of people. i called to say, i know that you have some interest based on the work you have done before. can we collaborate? in a focused way that develops some energy around a public/private partnership? the foundation for the work

being digital inclusion, understanding all business at this point is technology business and any business, in economy -- an economy that is going to grow, much less be sustainable between now and the future, must integrate, adapt, and adopt technology. in an institutional way. this includes, as you have described, mr. president, your mother. it must be the people, not just the governments and corporations, that understand how technology works. another piece of the focus was something i have long believed. if we are focused on strengthening economies, one of the smartest ways to do that is to invest in women. the reality is when you improve the economic conditions of women, you improve the economic condition of families, communities, and all of society

benefits. a lot of the work, in terms of the initial design, was to think of it that way. it was also to lay her upon the initiative, what are the current crises we must address in a way that we see economic growth opportunity? the climate crisis being an obvious one. the climate crisis having a direct impact on the agricultural economy. knowing then that we are developing the most extraordinary smart technology to help farmers. and when they have access to technology, when they are able to get online, the services that are available will help them with crop management, will help them determine what crop they should plant this season based on satellite technology that can predict the weather. so, they are not bound by tradition.

technology that helps farmers determine whether there is too much water in drought conditions used on a specific plant. it too much fertilizer, which we know impacts the climate. all of this is facilitated. these traditions. these traditional ways of either growing or not growing economies can be facilitated, like you said, mr. president, when we look at the inclusion. so, we developed a partnership that is a public and private partnership. i know michael and brad talked earlier about what we are doing specifically. but, the vision is that we can, u.s. businesses in particular, can partner with our allies in a way that is investing in infrastructure. that allows these economies to thrive. i will also say that i am a big believer in public private partnerships for two main reasons. one, we in government have this scale.

we have the ability to scale. but truly, the private sector has the depth of skill and expertise often. when you combine it with the scaled capacity of government it can have a profound impact on large populations. the second point i will make, especially as vice president, is through these public/private partnerships i can speak with our allies, are potential partners around the globe. i am doing this work in the northern part of central america. i can sit down with leaders and explained that private investment, u.s. investment, will be dependent and reliant on rule of law. on democracy. on and adherence and respect for human rights. understand, then, in that way, the power of public/private partnerships especially talking about the relationships around

the globe. understanding that increasingly, u.s. business is interdependent with our allies and nations around the world. these partnerships then make a lot of sense. ambassador whitman: let me follow that up quickly. we have just a few more minutes. mr. president, tell us a little bit how you think about the partnerships and how you think about americans and the american companies and how they are helping you to skill, to build out this ecosystem? pres. ruto: vice president harris said a very profound thing about relationships. building the correct relationship. we need to recalibrate our engagement. let me start with where we were at the africa climate summit last year. at the africa climate summit last year we pushed to change

the narrative around africa. for a long time, it was about the blame game. who caused this? why did this happen? we decided we can't continue to be in the victim's corner. let's get ourselves and project a new narrative. kenya and africa can be part of the solution. [applause] . for a moment, it looked strange. people were wondering, we thought we were systems of climate change. how can we be part of the solution? we are saying we have the largest resources of renewable energy. we have the youngest population. we have 60% of the world that

can use a smart agriculture. we have natural carbon sinks. we have the largest minerals necessary for electric transition. why is a rich continent in the corner looking weak, defeated, a victim? we decided to change the narrative. for the first time we had a different conversation. since we have tremendous potential, discussing how to move this towards opportunity and investment. that's the conversation. that is point number one. we have work to do on our side. our partners, like the u.s. house have wanted to do. aid will not get us anywhere. extracting raw materials from africa won't get us anywhere. it is a balance. we must stop the extraction but

also think about outside aid. the place to think is investment. when you are thinking investment , you must think about how to bring both public and private investment. that is why private/public engagement is ultimate. it's necessary. i will give you examples. we have the most modern expressway in nairobi. it was not built using government money. it was built using private sector money in a ppp framework. it's working. now i am doing a ppp framework to transmit energy. we are doing transmission lines in kenya. why should the government invest money in a transition line when we can only pay a weighting charge for somebody in the private sector that can invest

their money? we are looking at how we can do it with airports, ports, the rest. that way, we can bring huge investment money into our economies without necessarily adding debt or looking for aid. let me give you a perfect example today here. we just signed an investment of $1 billion. it would take me ages to get $1 billion from any government including the american government. vice pres. harris: it would take us along too. [laughter] pres. ruto: perhaps, the private sector can do it. they will bring the billion dollars. because it makes business sense to them. they are investing. they will make money. we will use our geothermal. we will employ our young people.

they will pay taxes. everybody will win. they will make progress. we must all so -- also as governments, as africa, make ourselves investment ready. so, by eliminating barriers, eliminating roadblocks, making it easy for those that want to invest in our corner to do so. that is why, one more thing. that is why we are having an engagement. to make sure that africa is not unfairly profiled as a risky continent, thereby making investors. it is the reason that i must thank president bynum profusely. he agreed with me that we need a reform of the international financial architecture to make

it more fair, so that all countries, all continents can have the finances without unnecessary profiling and without making them pay more than they should. believe you me, i think we are having the right conversation. i think we are having the correct conversation. a conversation around having a level playing field so that both public, and especially the private sector, can do what they do best. and, government can facilitate and do what we do best. vice pres. harris: thank you. it is my responsibility to get madame vice president to the lunch she is hosting. i want to commend your leadership on the subject. thank you for what you do for africa. if you want to say one last word, a round of applause for the vice president. she has done a remarkable,

remarkable job. vice pres. harris: i will emphasize the point that president ruto told me. the capacity we have in public private partnerships is being illustrated around our focus on the continent of africa. let it be an example. as we think about future forward policy, that is where the future is. we in government and do not have -- not only necessarily in the depths of the skill, but we cannot pull together the billions of dollars, to your point, that we can do with these kinds of partnerships that will have exponential, immediate impact. i will close with this. president ruto, i think your trip and your visit, this state visit is, history will show, an inflection point in how we are revising and upgrading the narrative about the relationship between the united states and the continent of africa.

thank you for that. thank you. thank you very much. announcer: kenyon president william ruto delivered remarks on business investment in africa during u.s.-kenya business forum . topics include u.s.-kenya relations, climate change, and the importance of public-private partnerships including investments from google, microsoft, and a mastercard. ♪