By Caroline Katana
Germany is a significant source of tourists for Kenya, the tourism sector has benefited greatly from German travelers and tour operators.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 200,000 German tourists visited Kenya yearly.
Last season over 80,000 German tourists and 75,000 Italian tourists visited Kenya, spreading along the coastal region.
Kenya and Germany have maintained robust partnerships in critical sectors since 1963, including, but not limited to, economic cooperation, digital collaboration, climate action, renewable energy, skills development, labor, and peace and security.
Germany has been a critical partner in Kenya’s growth and development, providing critical support in sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, renewable energy, and vocational training.
Since 2011 Germany has provided development assistance to Kenya totaling KSH 24.08 billion (EUR 227 million), this partnership which is based on the principles of shared prosperity and equality has also established Germany as a prominent foreign investor in Kenya.
Due to the high numbers of German tourists visiting and others residing in Kenya, the German Federal Republic has officially opened an Honorary consulate office in Diani, Kwale county to serve four counties of the coastal region (Kwale, Mombasa, Lamu, Kilifi ).
Speaking during the official opening, ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Kenya Sebastian Groth said the office that is located at the Diani shopping Centre area will provide services for German residents and tourists facing fundamental challenges in Kenya.
“If a German resident or tourist loses their passport or has any consul problem, the consulate will be there for assistance, if the problem is beyond the consulate’s capacity, he will connect them to the embassy for further help, the honorary consulate office will be a relief to elderly Germany residents residing here to reach the consulate office much easier than going to the head office in Nairobi,” said ambassador Groth.
Groth said the idea of setting up an honorary consulate office in the coast region was informed by the fact that it is among the areas in Kenya with a unique history and economic identity.
“Germany is investing in Kwale County in several sectors including, climate, health, youth Employment, TVETS, we are in Mombasa county with several projects like that of the African Maritime technology cooperation, German development cooperation, Mombasa‘s strategic locations, we have invested in Kilifi county in several ways including supporting a football tournament and supporting German doctors Eve’s projects and we are in Lamu county because we’re the constant partners of Lamu cultural festival,” he added.
At the same time, Groth said the German embassy has put measures in place to make time short of Visa processing for young people in Kenya who want to travel to Germany for job opportunities.
“We are trying our best to keep the time short and make fast decisions for our backlog is not that big there is high demand for Visa, we signed the labor immigration agreement four weeks ago so that they can have a lot of focus on young Kenyans who want to travel to Germany for work, our visa department is under pressure but we are trying our best to be efficient as possible,” said Groth.
Kilifi County Deputy Governor Flora Chibule applauded the German Federal Republic for opening the honorary consul office in the region, saying one of the ways Kenya strengthened its relationship with Germany.
“We have a very strong relationship that spreads from sports, culture, and tourism, and now that they want to be big in manufacturing, we want to tell them that, if they want to expand their shoe company there is a lot of land in Kilifi,” said the deputy Governor.
Chibule confirmed the four coastal counties to have received large numbers of German tourists.
Mombasa County Governor representative Farida Abdallah said the opening of the Dongo-Kundu bypass provides German residents and tourists from other coastal counties quick access to Diani.
“This is a unique opportunity and we congratulate the German Federal Republic for this initiative. We are looking forward to more Germany –Kenya partnership in the coastal region,” said Farida.
Honorary consul, German consulate in Kenya Stefan Wentzel who will head the office said that the facility will be operating on Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The consulate raised concerns over the closure of the Australian mining company Base Titanium in Kwale County by the end of the year.
“We all know Base Titanium will close its operations come next month and Kwale County is going to lose a lot of revenue and workers left in dilemma, this is a very serious problem and I will do my very best to buffer the impact of that, my mission is to extend the shoe company, we already started with Josef Seibel Africa shoe company Romika in Msambweni, we did that once but I believe we can do it again,” said Wentzel.
Wentzel said 22 billion pairs of shoes are manufactured each year in Kenya and if the Kenya government could grab up to 3 percent of that market, it would create thousands of jobs and it would mean billions of Kenyan shillings revenue.
“90 percent of the value of the shoes is created here, the leather, labor is from here, most materials are from here, we just use some few unique chemicals,” added Wentzel.
He noted that tough rules and regulations hinder investors from starting businesses and other projects in Kenya.
“If Kenya’s government can have friendly rules and regulations for entrepreneurs many companies in Europe will come to the queue and invest because Kenya is competitive in terms of quality, and price, Kenya can beat India, we are producing cheaper than India, we sell our shoes in North America, Europe and Indonesia so we can do this together then the country will have enough revenue, and that is my mission in this nation,” he said.
