Kenya's shift towards closer ties with China is jeopardising its long-standing strategic partnership with the United States.
While Kenya has historically served as a key US ally in Africa, hosting the largest US embassy in sub-Saharan Africa and playing a significant role in counter-terrorism operations, its increasing engagement with Beijing poses a challenge to US influence.
This closer relationship with China, which has deepened since 2002, has been further cemented under President William Ruto, despite initial anti-China campaign rhetoric that appealed to Washington.
This evolving dynamic underscores a broader trend of decreasing US diplomatic influence in Africa, as other traditional allies reassess their relationships in a changing geopolitical landscape.
The implications of Kenya's closer alignment with China are significant, prompting concerns from US policymakers and raising questions about the future of US-Kenya relations.
Ruto’s speech at Peking University, one of the top learning institutions in China, found its way to the US Senate, with some American lawmakers openly calling for a review of US relations with Kenya.
In his speech, Ruto had said Kenya and China are co-architects of a new world order, apparently referring to geopolitical shifts to new super powers like China.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch termed the Ruto statement as not just alignment with China but also allegiance to Beijing.
“Relying on leaders who embrace Beijing so openly is an error. It’s time to reassess our relationship with Kenya and others who forge tight bonds with China,” the Republican senator said, in what could significantly influence Washington’s view of Nairobi.
With the US now likely to lose Kenya, one of its most reliable diplomatic partners, its waning influence in Africa has come in the spotlight.
China has become a key ally of many African states, given its non-interference policy and the big infrastructural projects it has dolled to the continent.
The 2024 Gallup report Rating World Leaders: The US vs Germany, China and Russia showed that of the four global powers, America was the only one not to see its image improve across Africa in 2023.
However, China’s approval in the region rose six percentage points, from 52 per cent in 2022 to 58 per cent in 2023. US approval rating slipped from 59 per cent in 2022 to 56 per cent in 2023.
This is further reflected by findings by Nira Data's Democracy Perception Index 2025. The report found that more than three-quarters of the nearly 100 nations surveyed had a preferable view of Beijing compared to Washington.
“Global perceptions of the world’s major powers are shifting. In 2022 and 2023, the average perception of the United States was more positive than negative, and significantly more positive than either Russia or China.
“But by 2025, global opinion has flipped: China is now the only major power among the three with a net positive image, while the US and Russia are both viewed more negatively than positively,” the report says.
“The US in particular has seen a sharp decline in its global standing over the past year, while perceptions of China and Russia have steadily improved.”
The study further found that China was viewed more positively across all continents, enjoying the largest levels of support in the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
“I’m not surprised that perceptions of the United States have fallen so sharply,” Alliance of Democracies Foundation chair Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
“Although I find it reassuring that support for the rules-based international order remains strong around the world.”
Rasmussen is also a former NATO chief and Danish Prime Minister.
The US Congress report Kenya: Current Issues and US Relations notes that while the long-standing US ties with Kenya have deepened over the past decade, there have been tensions.
“Bilateral relations have fluctuated in the past two decades,” it states.
“The ICC cases were a point of friction, and President [Uhuru] Kenyatta looked to other foreign partners, notably China, for diplomatic and economic support.”
Uhuru was only picking from where President Mwai Kibaki left with his Look East Policy orientation.
Since then, China’s presence and influence in Kenya has been evident, with key infrastructure projects being developed and/or funded by the Chinese.
With the US and the West turning their back on Uhuru, he maintained close ties with Beijing, resulting in more infrastructure projects and increased bilateral trade.
The US has, however, made various attempts to mend ties, with high-level visits such as the ones by President Barack Obama in July 2015, Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then First Lady Jill Biden and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in 2023.
The directors of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation both visited Kenya in 2024.
The Biden administration thought it had put the icing on the cake with a state visit for Ruto in May 2024.
Realising the need to finance stalled infrastructure projects and a chance to develop his legacy projects amid cash constraints, Ruto turned East — despite his anti-China campaign rhetoric.
He attended the Belt and Road Forum in October 2023, Focac in September 2024 and made a State Visit in April this year.
It is this last visit and a speech in Beijing that has brought about the discomfort Washington has with Nairobi.
Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs chairman Jim Risch expressed this concern on Tuesday, saying Ruto's statement to the effect that Kenya and China are co-architects of a new global order signals a shift in allegiance.
"That’s not just alignment to China; it’s allegiance,” he said. “Relying on leaders who embrace Beijing so openly is an error. It’s time to reassess our relationship with Kenya and others who forge tight bonds with China.”
It will, however, be a tall order for the US to arm-twist African states on who to deal with as the US is not offering what China is readily willing to offer: infrastructure and financing.
The Chinese non-interference policy is also an incentive as many African states have expressed their dislike for America’s conditions and prefect attitude. The BRICS framework is also increasingly offering African states an alternative.
“One clear takeaway from the session [US Senate hearing on East Africa and the Horn] is that Washington remains uncertain about how to engage with Africa,” Mwangi Maina, a foreign affairs analyst and commentator, said.
“Unlike China, which maintains consistent focus and active engagement, the US lacks a coherent, long-term policy toward the continent.”
