Relationship dossier
Kenya
Kuwait
Relationship assessment
Practical cooperation, alongside concerns over Kenyan workers’ protection in Kuwait
Kenya toward Kuwait
+10Kenya concluded bilateral cooperation agreements with Kuwait during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s 2014 visit. Kenya also suspended recruitment of domestic workers to Gulf countries amid worker-protection concerns, affecting recruitment to Kuwait.
Kuwait toward Kenya
+20Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has financed development projects in Kenya, providing a concrete channel of Kuwaiti government-linked assistance. The scale and terms of this support are unclear.
Overall relationship
+15The relationship combines development cooperation, including Kuwait Fund financing and bilateral agreements, with labor-protection concerns affecting Kenyan workers in Kuwait. The available scope of these arrangements and the extent of follow-through are uncertain.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Kenya and Kuwait have pursued practical cooperation, including agreements concluded during Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s 2014 visit and Kuwait Fund financing for development projects in Kenya. Relations have also faced labor-protection concerns, including Kenya’s suspension of domestic-worker recruitment to Gulf countries. The scope and implementation of bilateral cooperation are not fully clear.
Areas of tension
- Protection and recruitment conditions for Kenyan domestic workers in Kuwait
Key developments
President Uhuru Kenyatta visited Kuwait and the two governments concluded bilateral cooperation agreements.
Kenya suspended recruitment of domestic workers to Gulf countries amid worker-protection concerns, affecting recruitment to Kuwait.
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development provided financing for development projects in Kenya.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of agreements concluded during the 2014 visit are unclear.
- The extent of Kuwait Fund financing and other Kuwaiti development assistance to Kenya is uncertain.
- Details of bilateral measures addressing Kenyan workers’ protection in Kuwait are limited.