Kenya gambles on Washington powerbroker to revive Ruto’s image and AGOA
Nairobi hopes such connections will unlock access as formal negotiations begin with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Kenya is gambling on Trump's Washington allies to clean President William Ruto's administration's image and push through a preferential trade pact with America, as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) nears expiry in September.
Nairobi has inked a $2.1 million (Sh271 million) deal with Continental Strategy, a lobbying firm founded by Carlos Trujillo, Donald Trump's former ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS).
The hire is no accident. Trujillo was a campaign surrogate in 2024, while his partners include Marco Rubio's former chief of staff and the daughter of Trump's onetime chief of staff.
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Nairobi hopes such connections will unlock access as formal negotiations begin with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Kenya has tried before. In 2020, Washington under Trump demanded support for Israel's political and economic interests as the price of a deal; talks under Joe Biden also fizzled.
Now, President William Ruto's administration is betting that paying Trump-world insiders may tilt the odds.
Trade minister Lee Kinyanjui says an agreement is vital to "secure long-term access to the US market" and encourage American investment.
But the context is awkward. Ruto has just as warmly embraced Beijing, calling China a "co-architect of a new world order" during an April state visit.
That rhetoric plays poorly in Washington, where China is seen as the strategic rival.
Kenya's gamble, then, is that it can play both capitals at once, leveraging Beijing for investment and Trump's Washington for market access and security cooperation.
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