Kenya Signs Agreement With HBCUs To ‘Empower A New Generation’ Of Students

Kenyan President William Ruto announced that his government signed an agreement with HBCUs, including Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Howard University. The goal is to boost STEM education and economic development in Kenya and the United States.

The news comes as Ruto is on a state visit, the first by an African leader under the Biden administration. He made Atlanta his first stop when he landed on Monday and will meet with President Joe Biden on Thursday. 

“We shall empower a new generation of disruptive thinkers, ambitious visionaries, and innovative problem solvers, and thus divine a brighter knowledge-driven future where progress transcends borders, transforms lives and delivers prosperity,” Ruto said during his stop at Spelman College yesterday.

The HBCU noted that the frameworks of the program still need to be discussed but that it will open a new opportunity for students to travel abroad.

“We still have details to work out in terms of the partnership, but you know, what we really hope is that our students have the opportunity to go and learn in Kenyan schools, and Kenyan students will have the opportunity here,” Spelman President Dr. Helene Gayle told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Our faculty will have opportunities to do research together and really build out partnerships in this very important area of STEM and technology,” she said.

Ruto highlighted that the agreement follows in the footsteps of the “airlifts.” He referred to a program run between 1959 and 1963 during which hundreds of Kenyan students attended college in the United States. Barack Obama Sr. participated in the program at the time.