Uhuru announces plan to create 600,000 jobs before retiring

President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke at the 76^th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.

He said Kenya is blessed with a youthful, well-educated, and productive population that has managed to build one of the most vibrant mixed economies in Africa.

"We are implementing ambitious programmes to prepare the country to produce decent and rewarding jobs. Our investments in roads, air and port infrastructure, and critical health care facilities throughout the country, are the most extensive and ambitious in our history.

"We have also delivered a national competency based curriculum and on universal access to schooling, which will further boost competitiveness of our workforce.

"By next year, we will have achieved a 27% reduction in malnutrition among children under 5 years of age, created 1,000 agro-processing SMEs and 600,000 new jobs. We will also have recorded a 48% increase in agriculture sector contribution," the head of state spoke.

Uhuru also stated he was looking forward to co-hosting the second United Nations Ocean Conference with Portugal in late June 2022.

The event's agenda is to galvanise commitments and partnerships that will promote ambitious global ocean action, and scale up investments in the Blue Economy.

Speaking about climate change, President Kenyatta also said he aims to lower Kenya's greenhouse gas emissions by 32% by 2030.

The country's “Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (2016-2030)”, will enable Kenya to achieve higher economic growth and support a low-carbon development path.

Kenya has also identified a range of ocean based adaptation priorities to integrate Ocean-based climate solutions with the global response to climate change.

"Kenya is ready to become a leading green industry country. We have mounted a strong climate change response," the head of state spoke.