President William Ruto has sealed three deals with Japan's Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the trading arm of the Toyota Group, aimed at boosting the volume of vehicle brands and models assembled locally.
Statehouse spokesperson Hussein Mohamed announced on his platforms that the collaboration framework agreement between the Kenyan government and the Japanese company would lead to a sales resurgence in the market as motorists will purchase the vehicles at lower prices.
Toyota agreed to invest in Kenya's car assembly industry to boost the local manufacturing sector.
Currently, locally assembled vehicles accounted for the bulk of new vehicles sold in Kenya from January 2023 to July 2023.
Out of the 6,636 new vehicles sold during the review period, assembled vehicles accounted for 77.6 per cent.
The second agreement involved the promotion of Hydrogen Electric Vehicles. In the past year, Kenya has been seeking to attract firms that have already adopted the new technology to cement its bid to transition into renewable energy.
Toyota has been manufacturing hydrogen-powered cars since 2014, using fuel cell technology.
The final agreement involved investment in the green energy value chain with a key focus on wind, solar and Geothermal energy. This will aid President Ruto's quest to reach 100 per cent clean energy by 2030.
Part of the deal involves investing in the Meru Wind Power Project, Menengai Geothermal and Isiolo Solar Power Project.
The three deals were signed by CSs; Kipchumba Murkomen (Transport), Rebecca Miano (Trade) and Davis Chirchir (Energy) alongside Ichiro Kashitani, President and CEO of Toyota Tsusho Corporation. The deals were witnessed by President Ruto and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi.
The head of state travelled to Japan on Tuesday to secure funding for various government projects to boost the local economy.
"We are heading to Japan because we have a program valued at Ksh160 billion and Japan is helping us and we must plan properly," Ruto stated on Sunday, February 4.
