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A Highlight of President Ruto's Speech at Med-Or Organised Event
"We see the future of Africa’s partnerships with Europe and the wider international community: not as relationships defined by extraction, but by co-production and co-creation"
Med-Or Italian Foundation hosted President William Samoei Ruto in Rome on 21 April 2026, for an event convening the political, security, business, and research and academic sectors in Italy and beyond. His keynote address, which followed Med-Or’s Chairman Marco Minniti’s intervention, tackled the theme “Kenya: A Country Looking to the Future”.
In his opening, he posed the rhetorical question: ‘What truly defines a capable State?’ He argued that such a state is responsive, collaborative, innovative, resilient, and ambitious.
"A collaborative State recognises that no nation succeeds alone and must therefore cultivate partnerships and alliances"
He outlined his dream to transform Kenya into a first-world economy within this lifetime, focusing on three critical pillars: rapid expansion of critical transport and connectivity infrastructure; strengthening of the export-led agricultural transformation and food security; and tripling of Kenya’s installed electricity capacity within the next seven years to boost modern technology, power industrial growth, and sustain economic expansion. His official visit to Italy was in furtherance of advancing progress on these pillars.
The intention of the event was to focus on Kenya and understand its role and strategy to manoeuvre a currently dynamic global order, but President Ruto clarified from the outset that Kenya’s destiny is inseparable from Africa’s.
"Kenya’s national aspirations are inseparable from the destiny of Africa. Our progress cannot be secured in isolation; it is fundamentally linked to the advancement of our continent as a whole."
Africa is the next frontier of global trade and investment. Focusing on EU-Africa engagements, he recalled that the EU is Africa’s largest trading partner, with annual trade volumes of over €400 billion. Despite this, ‘much of this trade remains concentrated in raw materials, an imbalance we must urgently address together. Now.’ Importantly, cognisant of historical and current realities, he emphasised the need for Europe-Africa relations to evolve:
"We see the future of Africa’s partnerships with Europe and the wider international community: not as relationships defined by extraction, but by co- production and co creation."
Addressing global governance, he delivered his persistent message that the UN and its peace and security architecture are in need of urgent inclusive reform. African countries, against principle and justice, remain excluded from the highest levels of global decision-making on peace, security, and development. With the current increase in wars and conflicts, he invoked the rationale for the establishment of the UN (to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war) and cautioned against violating the rules-based order on which it was founded.
"When power begins to outweigh principle; when established norms lose their authority; when might is allowed to define right; and when the international community stands divided or paralysed in the face of aggression, we move dangerously close to the precipice of global disorder and anarchy."
President Ruto closed his address with an assertive affirmation as a representative of Kenya and Africa, stressing collaboration and cooperation.
"Today, both as a nation and as a continent, we are ready: ready to confront our challenges with honesty, and ready to take responsibility for shaping our future. We are doing our part. What we ask of the world is straightforward: partnership and solidarity. Partnership that recognises our potential, and solidarity that translates ambition into action."
For further reference, you can find President William Ruto’s speech here.
