Kenyan President William Ruto is heading to the 81st UN General Assembly in New York with a three-pillar agenda: financing the Sh2.2 trillion Lamu East African Refinery, advancing artificial intelligence cooperation, and promoting "Africa financing Africa." The refinery, estimated at about $17 billion with a planned capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, is expected to create over 60,000 jobs and break ground on September 30, 2026. Ruto will co-host an investment roundtable with the Africa Finance Corporation and the Global Africa Business Initiative, with Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote expected to take part. On AI, Ruto will co-lead the AI Middle Powers Initiative with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, push the African AI Hundred Billion Initiative backed by the African Development Bank — aiming to mobilize up to $10 billion for African AI by 2035 — and sign a global declaration on children's online AI safety. He will also advocate for "Africa financing Africa," calling for reforms and international guarantees to unlock more than $4 trillion in domestic savings and assets for infrastructure, while promoting Kenya's National Infrastructure Fund, which aims to mobilize up to $40 billion without adding to public debt. On the sidelines, he met with the Kenyan diaspora and witnessed the signing of a diaspora investment and skills-transfer agreement between Kenya, the UN, and Equity Group. (ICE NAIROBI)

Fonte notizia: Daily Nation