Nairobi, February 20-23, 2017 - A delegation of 20 MPs from 15 countries convened in Nairobi to take part in a field visit of World Bank projects in Kenya. The visit aimed to build the understanding and political capital and financial support for World Bank programs, through a presentation of the Bank program and portfolio in a key IDA recipient country, and a visit of World Bank projects showcasing the Institution’s impact on the ground. The visit also included meetings with local parliamentarians, officials from the Kenya Government (Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank), the IMF and World Bank experts in Kenya, civil society and private sector representatives.
The delegation had the opportunity to extensively discuss the implications of the Kenya new constitution during meetings with the Parliament of Kenya, with the World Bank and IMF country teams, as well as with private sector representatives. In addition, the delegation learned about the Macroeconomic performance and the challenge of debt management in Kenya, through a presentation by the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury. Lastly, MPs discussed good governance efforts and corruption, which has been unanimously cited by the stakeholders as one of the main obstacle for Kenya’s development.
The delegation visited three on-the-ground projects: 1) The East African School of Aviation (part of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, 2) Kenya’s Huduma Centers; and 3) Bidii Primary School Early Childhood Development centre.
“It is very enriching for us to visit projects like the Huduma Centre of Nairobi because we can learn from a public service-delivery success story and we can inquire how to replicate similar projects in our respective countries. What is done in Kenya in the area of banking, ICT and services in general is best practice” said Hon. Olfa Soukri Cherif, MP, Tunisia and Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF.