President William Ruto has hinted that Kenya might once again be the first African country to sign a landmark agreement with the United States, just days after the two nations formalised a major health partnership.
Kenya and the U.S. signed a five-year, $2.5 billion Health Cooperation Framework on December 4, 2025, marking the first time an African country entered such a direct government-to-government health pact with Washington.
While addressing the 12th National and County Governments Coordinating Summit on Wednesday, December 10, President Ruto said Kenya might be the first country to sign a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement with the United States.
Ruto said he had already met a U.S. trade representative and had sent Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui abroad twice to lobby for the deal.
The Head of State explained that Kenya sells close to $800 million worth of goods annually to the U.S. and insisted that the U.S. government has committed to ensuring the conclusion of the bilateral trade agreement “possibly within early January”, even as negotiations over renewal of the now-expired African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) continue.
“We might actually be the first country to conclude a bilateral trade agreement with the United States again. Forget about what we have already done on health. We might be the first ones to also complete our bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. When I was there, I did meet with a U.S. trade representative. I have sent CS Lee Kinyanjui here twice to the United States. Why? Because the United States is an important market for us.”
Ruto highlights contributions by the United States
Ruto went on to recall that investors from the U.S. are among the most prominent participants at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, buying bonds and equities.
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He also noted that the United States is the most significant contributor to Kenya’s tourism, highlighting that the country has overtaken the traditional tourist markets such as the United Kingdom and Italy.
“They have overtaken the UK; they have overtaken Italy. Today, according to last year’s statistics, 306,000 tourists came from the United States, the largest market. It speaks to the strong relationship between our country and the United States,” he added.
Ruto emphasized that the efforts in health, trade, labour, and investment are neither guesswork nor trial and error, but part of a deliberate strategy geared toward what is best for Kenya.
In his view, the wide-ranging U.S.–Kenya partnerships in defence, tourism, capital markets, labour, and health demonstrate a strong, documented relationship between the two nations.
He said that, whether through the recent health agreement, the ongoing trade discussions, or the potential labour deals under negotiation, the United States has consistently demonstrated a partnership grounded in mutual respect and shared interests.
Ruto stressed that Kenya’s engagement with Washington is neither exploitative nor one-sided, but is anchored in a long history of cooperation spanning security, investment, tourism, and development.
“We don’t want to take advantage of anybody. And I promise you; nobody will take advantage of us. Nobody. And I don’t think the United States, being the responsible friends that they are, would want to take advantage of us. There is a clear, demonstrable, documented, strong relationship between the United States and Kenya, whether it is our defense agreements and support that we get from them.”
Health agreement
The announcement comes after the United States and Kenya signed a five-year, $2.5 billion Health Cooperation Framework last week.
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Under the framework, the United States plans to provide up to $1.6 billion over the next five years to support priority health programs in Kenya, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, maternal and child health, polio eradication, disease surveillance, and infectious disease outbreak response and preparedness.
Over the five years, Kenya pledges to increase domestic health expenditures by $850 million, gradually assuming greater financial responsibility as U.S. support decreases over the course of the framework.
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