The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland KC will join President William Ruto at the opening of the Kenya Innovation Week in Nairobi next week.

The Secretary-General will give the keynote speech at the conference on Tuesday 6th December and will also make a courtesy call to President Ruto during a four-day visit to the country.

The visit to Kenya is an opportunity to build on relationships and discuss shared priorities for collaboration, particularly in regard to the country’s ambitious innovation agenda and how knowledge-sharing between the Commonwealth’s 56 member states can further unleash Kenya’s potential.

It will also be an opportunity to reflect on the outcomes from the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda in June, where Heads pledged to work proactively to ensure technological progress is made available to nations and used to close the digital divide.

The Secretary-General said: “It is always a pleasure to visit Kenya, a much valued and respected member of the Commonwealth family which is making huge strides in innovation.

“I look forward to meeting with President William Ruto, ministers, and our partners in the region, to listen and learn from Kenya’s forward-thinking example and explore how the Commonwealth Secretariat can provide support, especially when it comes to using innovations to ensure post-Covid recovery and upskill young people with the digital skills needed to access the labour market.”

The Secretary-General will arrive in Kenya on Sunday 4th December and depart on Wednesday 7th December 2022.