President William Ruto has flown to Madagascar for an official State visit, just days after returning from a five-day European tour that culminated in his attendance at the G7 Summit in France.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Kenyans.co.ke has learnt that several Cabinet Secretaries from Kenya have accompanied the Head of State in seeking to deepen bilateral ties with the island nation.

Among those who have joined the delegation are Trade CS Lee Kinyanjui, ICT CS William Kabogo, and Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe, who are scheduled to participate in a Kenya-Madagascar business forum.

President Ruto is attending Madagascar's 66th Independence Day celebrations and will, after that, hold bilateral talks with the country's leadership, with discussions expected to focus on agriculture, ICT, trade and aviation.

📌 What You Need to Know

The discussions are expected to focus on strengthening cooperation in agriculture, information and communication technology (ICT), trade, and aviation, as the two countries seek to expand economic and investment partnerships.

The Madagascar mark's Ruto's seventh foreign visit since late April, having previously travelled to Kazakhstan, South Africa, Belgium, Norway, Finland and France as part of his administration's push to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with key international partners.

The visit also comes just over a month after Ruto hosted Madagascar's transitional leader, Colonel Michaël Randrianirina, in Nairobi during the Africa Forward Summit, where the two leaders pledged to strengthen cooperation between their countries.

During the May meeting, Ruto commended Madagascar's ongoing constitutional and governance reforms and reaffirmed Kenya's commitment to expanding trade, investment and regional cooperation with the Indian Ocean island nation.

Ruto's visit to Antananarivo marks the first official State visit by a Kenyan Head of State to Madagascar since both countries attained independence.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke