Japan’s lending to Kenya rose by 162 percent over the last year while China started going slow on its lending to the African States. According to National Treasury statistics, loans from Japan to Kenya soared to $1.3 billion in June 2019 from $503 million in June 2018. However, China’s bilateral loans to Kenya is way ahead and stood at $6.4 billion by June recording a growth of16 percent against $5.5 billion in the same period last year. The two East Asian giants have openly confronted each other on the issue of the Indo-Pacific passage which identified Kenya as a frontal state facing the Indian Ocean and a strategic country for the geopolitical competition. Japanese ambassador to Kenya Ryoichi Horie remarked that the investment reinforced Japan’s policy towards China on the Indian Ocean.
Japan extended a Sh82.7 billion loan recently for the construction of the Mombasa Gate Bridge over Kilindini harbor which will kick off in 2021.
