• Belgian envoy discusses helping with human rights, scholarships and projects
• He terms corruption a 'plague' in Kenya but thanks Uhuru for his spirited war on it
Image: COURTESY
Belgian Ambassador Nicolas Nihon landed two years ago and today, he will celebrate his third King’s Day in Kenya.
He and his wife enjoy very much the weather of Nairobi and the wildlife of Kenya. They appreciate to live in a place where the cultural and ethnic diversity is so rich and feel their son is blessed to grow up in such an environment.
In a wide-ranging interview, Amb Nihon explained his country's approach to bilateral relations and what role they are playing in helping Kenya achieve its potential.
Some diplomatic missions represent their country in more than one Eastern African nation, and not just Kenya. Is yours one of those?
Apart from UN Environment Programme and UN Habitat, my jurisdiction covers five additional countries: Somalia, Eritrea, Madagascar, the Comoros and the Seychelles. Belgium has a proper embassy in every Eastern African Nation, except in South Sudan.
Foreign diplomatic missions here in Nairobi can be roughly divided into two categories: those who offer official development assistance (ODA), which we might refer to as “the donor community” and who are very influential; and then those who are here primarily to represent their countries and to facilitate trade. In which category would you say Belgium belongs?
To the second category, with a “donor” aspect, though. Kenya is the first destination for our state-to-state loans, which enable Belgian companies to build here noncommercially viable infrastructure, such as water boreholes, firefighting stations or medical waste treatment facilities. But these loans include a 35 per cent gift to the government of Kenya. Some of these companies are in Nairobi this week on the occasion of a new Belgian economic business mission.
This shift from “aid to trade” is generally justified on the basis that Kenya is now a middle-income country, and no longer a developing nation as such. But if you look around you, there is plenty of poverty in Kenya, many communities who could do with some form of assistance from a rich country like yours.
One cannot always be everywhere. Some countries are very poor in comparison to Kenya. This is why Belgium focuses its traditional development cooperation on a short list of “least developed countries”, like DR Congo, Mozambique or Mali.
Your embassy has been active in the field of human rights in the recent past. Have there been any solid achievements in this respect, or has it mostly been a frustrating engagement for you and your staff?
For two years, together with the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders of Kenya, Belgium co-chaired the EU Working Group, putting together European embassies and the Kenyan civil society representatives. We organised the 3rd edition of the Human Rights Defenders Awards, an important occasion to showcase Kenyans who stand up for the rights of their fellow citizens. Some are truly “Shujaas”. By the way, the next edition will take place on the 29th of November. My embassy has also been very supportive of the LGBTI community in Kenya.
Frustrated? No. Passionate? Yes. But patient also because whatever we say or do, in the end, it is the Kenyan government and the civil society who, hand in hand, can progress towards the realisation of these universal rights. In that regard, I want to commend the Kenyan government for co-hosting with Denmark this month in Nairobi an international conference (ICPD+25), which will reaffirm women’ rights to decide about their own maternity.
A strong case can be made that Kenya’s most critical national challenge is job creation. We have hundreds of thousands of perfectly well-qualified young people, who simply cannot find gainful employment. Is your embassy doing anything to help in this respect?
We have no specific programme in Kenya for that. But let me tell you that this problem is not limited to your country. In a fast-changing world, many young people in Belgium find it hard to get a job. We have to somehow reinvent the entire system because school, work and life are not what they used to be.
I note that young Kenyans can be very entrepreneurial. Being self-employed is probably the short-term solution because the government cannot create millions of jobs out of the blue. But what the government must do is foster a nurturing environment for start-ups and SMEs.
While admittedly, we have too many well-educated but unemployed young people, if Kenya is to be globally competitive, we still need to have our young people seeking advanced studies abroad in fields where our local universities do not offer the requisite training. Do you offer scholarships and other such academic opportunities?
We do offer some scholarships for Master’s degrees, but our best line of action is in the field. For the past 12 years, indeed, Flemish universities (northern part of Belgium) have joined forces with your universities to reinforce their education and research capacities in the field of health, natural resource management and development, and food security. Upgrading Kenyan universities is the way forward, because you have the brains. But just like the Belgian students, Kenyans need the competition that studying abroad brings along.
What would you say are the key issues Kenya needs to improve on, if it is to attract more foreign investments?
Corruption is a plague and it deters companies to come here to settle for good. I am happy that His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta is determined to fight it tooth and nail.
The second thing is to develop infrastructure. Kenya is on the right path, but as long as the Port of Mombasa, the SGR and the customs authorities do not work as a team to attend to the needs of importers and exporters, investment — foreign or local — will not bloom the way it should.
Finally, it is important to find a balance between the creation of jobs for Kenyans, which is crucial, and the swift issuing of work permits for foreigners involved in projects that in return foster local employment.
What has been the highlight of your time in Kenya thus far?
The visit of Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium, who, as a Unicef ambassador, came last June to learn from and promote the projects of this UN agency in Kenya. Her extensive programme gave me the opportunity to interact with adolescents in difficult situations: children in a camp for refugees, teens from the slums or the streets, striving for their future, and Maasai girls who fled home from an early marriage or female genital mutilation. For me, who has such a privileged life, this was a very humbling experience.
What is one thing you are working on which you believe will enable you to say that, yes, you definitely contributed to making Kenya a better place during your time here?
That’s a tough one. I have a dream (laugh). I am trying to help “Friends of Karura” and KFS to connect the two sections of this forest that everybody knows in Nairobi.
The duke of Burgundy Charles “the Bold”, who ruled the Low Countries in the 15th century, used to say, “One does not have to hope in order to try, and one does not have to succeed in order to persevere.”
Edited by Tom Jalio