NORWAY, Oslo Jun 10 \u2013 President William Ruto has urged Norwegian investors and companies to use Kenya as a gateway to expanding business opportunities across Africa, citing the country\u2019s strategic position, youthful workforce and growing economy.<\/p>\n
Speaking during the Norway-Kenya Business Forum in Oslo on Tuesday, President Ruto said Kenya offers an attractive investment environment anchored on clean energy, regional connectivity and a dynamic labour force.<\/p>\n
\u201cKenya brings a young and dynamic workforce, a rapidly growing economy, a strategic location at the heart of Africa, and one of the cleanest energy systems in the world,\u201d Ruto said.<\/p>\n
The President noted that Norway\u2019s strengths in clean energy, maritime technology, fisheries and sustainable investments complement Kenya\u2019s economic transformation agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorway brings world-leading expertise in clean energy, maritime technology, sustainable fisheries, and long-term capital backed by a sovereign wealth fund of $2 trillion that stands as a global model of patient and responsible investment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ruto said Kenya and Norway are deepening cooperation in key sectors including electric mobility, the blue economy and fisheries, noting that the partnership is already contributing to Kenya\u2019s development agenda.<\/p>\n
Despite bilateral trade remaining modest at approximately $54 million in 2025, the President said the two countries are targeting significant growth in commercial ties, with ambitions to raise trade volumes to $500 million by 2030.<\/p>\n
The forum was attended by First Lady Rachel Ruto, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui and senior government officials from both countries.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, President Ruto held talks with the Norwegian Shipowners\u2019 Association where discussions focused on expanding opportunities within Kenya\u2019s maritime and blue economy sectors.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Norwegian shipping companies led by Wilhelmsen Ship Management committed to recruit 120 Kenyan seafarers by the end of 2026 and a further 1,000 by 2030.<\/p>\n
The President later met Norway\u2019s Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg at Government House, where they discussed Norway\u2019s management of its $2.1 trillion Government Pension Fund and sovereign wealth investments.<\/p>\n
Kenya is currently pursuing legislation aimed at establishing a sovereign wealth fund to manage future revenues generated from natural resources.<\/p>\n
President Ruto also held talks with Crown Prince Haakon at the Royal Palace and paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of Norway\u2019s Parliament, Masud Gharakhani.<\/p>\n
He later addressed the Oslo Forum 2026 High-Level Public Event, where he called for reforms to the global multilateral system to make it more inclusive and responsive to the interests of Africa and developing nations.<\/p>\n
The President concluded his engagements with a working dinner hosted by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr St\u00f8re.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORWAY, Oslo Jun 10 \u2013 President William Ruto has urged Norwegian investors and companies to use Kenya as a gateway to expanding business opportunities across Africa, citing the country\u2019s strategic position, youthful workforce and growing economy. Speaking during the Norway-Kenya Business Forum in Oslo on Tuesday, President Ruto said Kenya offers an attractive investment environment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143547\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}