Italy’s Ambassador to Kenya Paola Imperiale (left) with Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka during a past event in Nairobi. Italy is the first and only country to have cancelled debts owed to it by Kenya. PHOTO/ FILE | NATION
By WALTER MENYA wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, December 31 2011 at 19:56
Posted Saturday, December 31 2011 at 19:56
IN SUMMARY
- Country a major recipient of Italian assistance, which currently funds 19 projects to the tune of Sh68bn
When the Eurozone leaders met late last year to address the Greek debt crisis, there was palpable anxiety that Italy was also hanging precariously and needed swift action to save it.
Thus went out the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and in came technocrat Mario Monti to restore confidence with a series of austerity measures.
Miles away in Africa, specifically in Nairobi, Italian ambassador Paola Imperiale is confident the hard times are gone and the outlook, though still hazy, is quite promising.
“The situation has improved over the last few days. I am confident of the outlook for the future. The prevailing opinion to the root causes are more of a psychological crisis than economic which makes the situation much more difficult to tackle,” the ambassador said in an interview with the Sunday Nation.
Developing countries
The good news coming from Rome though is that the Italian debt crisis, the ambassador said, would not affect Rome’s international development assistance to developing countries, a majority of which are in Africa, including Kenya.
“At the moment we do not have information that the new budget presented by Prime Minister Monti has affected the international development assistance,” said Ms Imperiale.
Neither have their embassies, particularly those in East Africa where Italy commands a huge presence, had budget cuts, she added.
Kenya is a major recipient of the Rome aid and at present, the Italian government funds 19 projects in Kenya worth Sh68 billion in priority areas of water, health, urban development and emergencies.
Besides, Italy is the first and only country to have cancelled debts owed to it by Kenya. The Kenya Italy Debt for Development Programme (KIDDP) was signed in 2006 with the aim of supporting Nairobi to reduce its external debt burden while at the same time sustaining its efforts towards achieving development targets set by the national policies and the Millennium Development Goals.
The programme converted Sh5.3 billion worth of bilateral debt owed by Kenya to the Italian government into financial resources to implement development projects in the country.
And Ms Imperiale says that her government’s decision to write off debts owed to it by Kenya has been vindicated by the investment particularly in the water sector.
“The reality of the last few months has shown that we were right in choosing the water sector,” she said in reference to the drought in the middle of this year that affected several parts of the country.
Stable Horn of Africa
Italy has embassies all over East Africa except Rwanda and Burundi.
Ms Imperiale herself is accredited both to Kenya and Seychelles.
With such a presence, Rome is keen to see a stable Horn of Africa which Ms Imperiale noted is key to Italy’s interests.
“There is the interest that we have and which we believe should belong to the entire international community that is the stability of the region,” she said. “We believe that the stability of the horn of Africa should be a central programme for the whole international community. And we believe that everyone needs to play a part in ensuring the stability of the region.”
The lawless Somalia is a major concern for her government since it has bred the menace of piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Italy has been a victim of the activities of the Somali pirates. This year alone, Ms Imperiale disclosed, two ships were hijacked. One with six Italians on board has since been liberated but the second one still remains in the hands of pirates.
“There is always at least one Italian navy ship present in the Indian Ocean. On the other hand, we are deeply convinced that you cannot tackle piracy only from the sea. You should tackle the deep roots of piracy, which brings us to the stability of Somalia,” the ambassador said.The Italian government, she said, was working hard for the freedom of its citizens still being held captive.
Kenya remains central to the fight against piracy off the Indian Ocean coast. As such Ms Imperiale disclosed that Italy was negotiating a number of agreements with Nairobi towards that end.
“I follow passionately every aspect of our bilateral relationship because I want a broader spectrum of ties. We are negotiating some important agreements with Kenya some in the scientific field, political, some on defence and we hope that we will conclude them soon,” she said.
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