Governor Hassan Joho has penned a deal that will see Mombasa City become a sister city to the Morrocan City of Tangier.
The partnership is a first for Mombasa with a country in the Arab region and is set to offer new possibilities to the two towns.
"The partnership takes off with immediate effect and is set to facilitate investment, technology, and skill transfer between the two cities.
"We have agreed to prioritize tourism, blue economy, youth cultural and exchange programs as the initial sectors of engagements," Joho revealed.
After the signing Joho was later accompanied by the Chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Mombasa Chapter Mustafa Ramadhan, Mombasa Businessmen and county officials on a visit to the Tanger-Med Port for an extensive executive education tour.
The Memorandum of Understanding with the Tangier Tetouan AlHoceima Regional Council under The Sister City program.
Under the programme, a relationship is officially recognised after the highest elected or appointed official from both communities sign off on an agreement to become sister cities.
Each sister city organization is independent and pursues the activities and thematic areas that are important to them and their community including municipal, business, trade, educational, and cultural exchanges and projects with their sister city.
Mombasa already has six other sister cities, Seattle, Long Beach and Honolulu in the United States, and Guangzhou and Fuzhou China. and Durban in South Africa.
The Seattle-Mombasa Sister City Association (SMSCA) coordinates the activities between Seattle and Mombasa.
The association has worked on several projects in Mombasa including helping to remodel and expand the Utange Health Center to include a maternity and dental clinic to serve the rural area of Mombasa as part of the African Urban Poverty Alleviation Program.
They also support the Mombasa Sustainable Coconut Oil Making Project which helps to alleviate poverty by providing employment to local women in the making, marketing, and selling of coconut oil and coconut-related products.
The association also helps support 50 children at the Shanzu Good Hope Children's Orphanage and sponsors.
