President Uhuru to host over 20 world leaders next month

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

President Uhuru Kenyatta is next month expected to host Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and over 20 Heads of State.

The leaders will be in the country for the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad).

The conference, coming hot on the heels of the just concluded United Nations Conference and Trade and Development (Unctad), will explore ways of strengthening ties between Africa and Japan, a traditional industrial and economic power in the world.

In a statement to newsrooms, State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said the conference will focus on the promotion of structural economic transformation, promotion of resilient health systems and promotion of social stability.

"This will be the first time the conference is being held in Africa. We look forward to welcoming delegates from all over the continent to this important event. Japan has always been our trusted ally," he said.

He added: "It is clear to us that industrialisation and innovation are key drivers of prosperity, right across the world. It is equally clear that these are the two areas in which Japan has experience and expertise to share. African countries, Kenya among them, long ago identified the shortfall in industrial skills as a central hindrance to the prosperity we hope to see for our confidence. We hope, therefore, to learn from Japan's experience in these fields." The conference to take place between August 27 and 28 will also provide Japan an opportunity to expand its technological muscle in the continent.

"We must strengthen our health systems so that we are better able to prevent threats to public health, and we must strengthen our systems so that we can respond quickly and effectively to these threats... there will be extensive discussion of this theme during the conference," State House announced.

The country is also set to host the Africa Agriculture Forum to discuss Africa's growth prospects through farming as a business activity. The forum to be held between September 5 and 9 will bring together over 2,000 political, business and agriculture leaders. Meanwhile, there will be a State House Energy Summit tomorrow.

The meeting will involve members of the public, heads of energy parastatals as well as the Cabinet Secretary and his Principal Secretaries to shed light on the latest happenings in the country's energy sector.