Balala appointed tourism advisor at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Former Tourism and Wildlife CS Najib Balala has landed a global role at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

He said via his X handle said that he had been appointed as a tourism advisor by TBI.

Balala joins a team of experts from around the world who have been in the forefront in driving change in the tourism sector.

"Honoured to have been appointed by Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) as a Tourism Advisor part of a global team of political strategists, policy experts, delivery practitioners who work with governments and political leaders around the world to drive change,” Balala said.

The former Mvita MP served as the Cabinet Secretary in the tourism docket after being appointed by former President Uhuru in 2018.

He trained in International Urban Management at the University of Toronto, Canada, and underwent the Executive Programme for Leaders in Development at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Balala served as a CS in the Tourism docket severally from 2008  to 2012, 2015 to 2017 and as Mining CS between 2013 and 2015.

During his tenure in the Ministry for Mining, he engineered the drafting of the Draft Mining Bill in 2014, the first policy and institutional framework review of Kenya’s mining sector since 1940.

According to Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council, Balala has also served as of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for Africa and was voted best tourism minister in Africa in 2009 by Africa Investor (AI).

Upon leaving office after the Kenya Kwanza government under President William Ruto took over, Balala has been engaging in various global activities.

In September, he attended the Saudi National Day celebrations held in Nairobi to celebrate Saudi Arabia's unification.

"Kenya and Saudi Arabia collaborate in trade, labour, education, security, culture and sustainability," Balala noted then.

He also attended the second workshop and High-level meeting on the development and deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Nairobi which brought together industry players and experts.

Balala noted that engaging in the dialogue about sustainable aviation fuels was pivotal for aligning the aviation, tourism, trade and transportation with global sustainability goals and ultimately help reduce carbon emissions.