President William Ruto has challenged European investors to abandon outdated perceptions of Africa as a continent dependent on aid and instead embrace it as the world's next frontier for growth, innovation, and investment.
Speaking at the Kenya-Belgium Business Roundtable 2026 in Brussels, Belgium, Ruto said Africa possesses the resources, youthful workforce and market potential needed to address some of the world's most pressing challenges, including food security, energy transition, and climate change.
"Africa is not part of the problem the world is trying to solve. On the defining challenges of our time, food, energy, climate, and demography Africa is in fact the larger part of the solution," he said.
The President noted that Africa holds two-thirds of the world's remaining arable land, vast renewable energy resources and the youngest population globally, making it a strategic partner in the future global economy.
He said Kenya has invested Sh5.16 trillion infrastructure pipeline, Sh38.7 trillion annual mobile money flows Sh438.6 trillion African Continental Free Trade Area market and KSh9.03 quadrillion combined preferential market access.
The President urged Belgian manufacturers to invest in value addition within Africa rather than exporting raw materials for processing elsewhere.
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"Make it in Kenya. Make it in Africa. Make it clean. Sell it in Europe and to the world," he said.
As part of efforts to deepen economic ties, Ruto announced the launch of the Kenya-Benelux Chamber of Commerce and challenged businesses to help triple Kenya-Belgium trade from Sh43. 2 billion in 2024 to Sh129 billion by 2030.
"Africa is not a problem to be managed; it is the opportunity of this century. Kenya is your gateway to that opportunity."
Ruto used the forum to call for a shift from traditional aid-based relationships toward partnerships founded on equality, investment and shared prosperity.
"Let us be clear about the partnership we propose today. It is not built on dependency but on sovereign equality; not built on aid but on mutually beneficial partnership; and not built on extraction but on investment that generates value for all," he said.
A key concern raised by the President was what he described as an unfair global financial architecture that continues to disadvantage African countries through limited access to affordable financing, high borrowing costs and unfavorable credit ratings.
"The failure to build a fair international financial architecture is not Africa's loss alone. It is a loss to the whole world because it leaves the century's single greatest source of growth underfunded and unbuilt," he said.
Positioning Kenya as the gateway to Africa, Ruto highlighted the country's strategic location, growing economy and access to regional and global markets. He said investors establishing operations in Kenya gain access to a market of 1.4 billion people through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The President also touted the benefits of the Economic Partnership Agreement between Kenya and the European Union, which allows Kenyan goods duty-free and quota-free access to European markets.
"Ours is a Sh18.96 illion economy, the largest in East Africa. Foreign direct investment surpassed Sh387 billion in 2025, while Kenya remains fully open to foreign investors with unrestricted repatriation of capital and profits," he said.
Ruto identified agribusiness, logistics, technology and clean energy as key sectors for Kenya-Belgium cooperation.