Details of Ruto’s meeting with President of Finland Alexander Stubb
By Francis Muli, May 12, 2025President William Ruto on Monday, May 12, 2025, hosted Finland President Alexander Stubb and First Lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb, who are on a historic first state visit by a Finnish president.
During the visit, the two presidents held high-level bilateral discussions focused on deepening cooperation in education, health, renewable energy, trade and investment, peace and security, multilateral engagement, and climate action.
Ruto says Kenya agreed with Finland to deepen collaboration to support Kenya’s transition to a Competency-Based Education system.
“A cooperation framework will soon be concluded, focusing on basic, technical, vocational, and higher education to equip our youth with the skills needed in a digital economy. During this visit, President Stubb will tour one of our technical training institutions to witness firsthand the transformative impact of technical and vocational training on our youth,” Ruto stated.
The two presidents also witnessed the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding on Political Consultations and Peace Mediation and Conflict Resolution.
“Our respective teams will fast-track cooperation frameworks in education, tourism, and labour recruitment frameworks that will foster knowledge exchange, skills development, institutional partnerships, and deeper people-to-people ties,” he added.
The two also agreed to share experiences and explore joint efforts to address health challenges and improve service delivery.
They also engaged on trade and investment, and the need to expand it between the two countries.
“I welcomed President Stubb’s inclusion of a business delegation in this visit, which will participate in a Finland-Kenya business seminar. This underscores our shared commitment to deepening private sector engagement and unlocking mutually beneficial opportunities. Our two nations remain committed to the effective implementation of the Kenya-EU Economic Partnership Agreement, which came into force in July 2024,” he added.
Other ares
The meeting also identified forestry as a key area for collaboration, including a commitment to a rules-based international order and fair, inclusive financing for sustainable development.
“I commended Finland for maintaining a forest cover of over 75% of its landmass, and we will collaborate closely to draw on Finland’s expertise as we pursue our ambitious goal of achieving 30% forest cover by planting 15 billion trees by 2032. We equally look forward to learning from Finland’s expertise in sustainable forest management, reforestation technology, biodiversity conservation, and balancing economic and environmental goals,” Ruto added.
“At the multilateral level, we reaffirmed our shared commitment to a rules-based international order and fair, inclusive financing for sustainable development. We also pledged continued support for global climate action. I briefed President Stubb on the outcomes of the Africa Climate Summit, held in Nairobi in September 2023, including Africa’s commitment to leading a green energy transition.”
“We recognised the alignment between Finland’s climate diplomacy and Kenya’s ambition to achieve 100% clean energy by 2030. We agreed to strengthen partnerships in climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, and biodiversity conservation.”
The two heads of state also had discussions on global and regional security concerns, with a promise of mobilising international support for peace efforts in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region.
“In our discussions, we also addressed pressing global and regional security concerns. We noted the devastating impact of conflict on livelihoods and sustainable development and reaffirmed our commitment to mobilising international support for peace efforts in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. I also assured President Stubb of Kenya’s continued advocacy for dialogue as a path to resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” Ruto added.