Kenya, Germany finalise draft agreement on migration and labour mobility

Kenya and Germany have concluded the negotiations of the draft Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.

The agreement aims to establish a framework for cooperation on migration and labour mobility between the two nations.

The negotiations took place in Nairobi on May 14-15, following the initial round in Berlin, Germany, in March 2024.

Labour and Skills Development Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime  and Diaspora Affairs PS Roseline Njogu were Kenya's lead negotiators.

The German delegation on the other hand was led by the Special Commissioner for Migration Agreements Joachim Stamp, and Holger Schamberg from the Ministry of Interior and Community.

Being an international bilateral agreement, the draft agreement will be subjected to the relevant internal legal and procedural checks by both governments.

The official signing has been set for September 2024. Implementation of the agreement will commence with a job fair in Nairobi.

Both countries have committed to its full realisation through the joint implementation committee.

"We are committed to developing a clear framework to allow migration of Kenyan skilled workers in a safe, orderly and regular manner," Mwadime said.

The agreement, Mwadime said, will ease mobility and fast-track migration between the two countries.

The two countries agreed to form the joint committee in February this year following a meeting held in Berlin between Labour CS Florence Bore and her German counterpart Hubertus Heil.

The ongoing negotiations result from the initiative conceptualized between President William Ruto and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Bore informed the German government of the measures in place to streamline Labour Migration through restructuring of its policies and legal and institutional framework to support seamless Migration and mobility with Germany.

Kenya, Bore said, seeks to fill the skills deficit in Germany's labour market with its well-trained, qualified, hardworking and disciplined labour force in various fields of ICT, health care, construction, engineering, agriculture and hospitality among others.

"We are able and ready to supply the required labour to fill in the skills deficient in your labour market," she said.