Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has taken up Chairmanship of the World Bank African Group 1 Constituency.
The Constituency Panel will engage the World Bank management to advocate for an increase in the recruitment of Africans on managerial positions of the Bank.
The group comprises Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Lesotho, Swaziland, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
He has taken over from Gambian counterpart Amadou Sanneh where he will be at the reign until 2020.
The CS also held meetings with the Vice President of the World Bank-Africa region, Hafez Ghanem, the Vice President of the International Finance Corporation, Sergio Pimenta, the Director of African Department in the IMF, Abebe Selassie among others.
He updated them on the recent economic developments in Kenya and the emerging challenges, noting that economic growth remains strong and is accelerating.
“This strong growth followed improved weather conditions in 2018 relative to the drought conditions experienced in 2017. That coupled with the prolonged electioneering period last year affected business activity and growth,” mentioned Rotich.
He added that business confidence has continued to improve in 2018, which was facilitated by macroeconomic stability.
The CS further indicated that Kenya is progressing well with the Fiscal Consolidation Plan and the fiscal deficit is declining as planned to 7.2 percent of GDP in FY 2017/18.
Prior to joining Treasury, Rotich worked at Kenya's Central Bank Research department for 12 years.
