Keynote address by His Excellency Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o Governor, Kisumu County at the Grand Strategy Fellowship Forum themed “nurturing impactful geopolitical footprints”

Distinguished Excellencies, Esteemed Members of the GLOCEPS Council of Advisers, Academic Fellows, and Policy Practitioners, Good Evening. It is a profound privilege to deliver the keynote address at this inaugural Grand Strategy Fellowship Forum. I commend the Global Centre for Policy and Strategy (GLOCEPS) for convening an intellectual space that bridges rigorous scholarship with actionable statecraft under the vital theme: “Nurturing Impactful Geopolitical Footprints for Peace and Prosperity in Africa.” As we reflect on the deliberations across our five thematic tracks—spanning global security, geo-economics, digital diplomacy, and policy research—we are confronted with a singular, defining imperative:geopolitical influence is not an abstract diplomatic artifact. Rather, it is the structural crystallization of economic resilience, institutional credibility, and collective agency. The structural realities of the contemporary global order The international system is undergoing a profound structural transition, marked by intensifying great-power competition, technological fragmentation, and volatile financial architectures. This environment presents Africa with both acute vulnerabilities and historic opportunities. While continental growth projections— hovering at 4.4 percent for 2025 and 4.2 percent for 2026—demonstrate the resilience of African economies, our fundamental structural challenge persists. For generations, Africa’s integration into the global economy has been defined by an unequal exchange: the export of raw materials coupled with the importation of higher-value manufactures. Overcoming this dependency requires a deliberate shift toward industrial sovereignty, regional value chains, and robust implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) alongside the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Resource governance and the imperative of industrial sovereignty Africa’s immense endowment of critical minerals—underpinning the global transition toward renewable energy and digital technologies—places the continent at the epicentre of twenty-first-century geopolitics. Yet, as UNCTAD data illustrates, capturing a mere fraction of the multi-billion-dollar global mineral market without localized value addition perpetuates historical inequities. Economic diplomacy must transcend traditional trade promotion. It must actively secure technology transfer, foster indigenous Research & Development, and construct transparent, accountable institutions capable of mitigating illicit financial flows and environmental degradation. Furthermore, the nexus between resource mismanagement and security cannot be overstated; the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Sudan, with millions displaced internally and across borders, serves as a stark reminder that fragile governance directly compromises regional peace and collective prosperity. Regional integration and Kenya’s strategic calculus For Kenya, strategic agency begins within our immediate geopolitical neighborhood. With intra-African exports demonstrating our encouraging momentum—surpassing KSh 452.8 billion in 2025, led heavily by the East African Community our national interest is inextricably linked to regional stability and economic integration. Borders must cease to be friction points and instead become conduits for seamless commerce, governed by harmonized standards and robust infrastructural connectivity. Kenya’s diplomatic posture must remain anchored in a pragmatic synthesis: respecting national sovereignty while actively championing multilateral dialogue, conflict mediation, and regional cohesion. Financing long-term development: From Vision 2030 to Vision 2060 Ambitions without financing are mere rhetoric. Africa currently faces an annual development financing deficit exceeding USD 1.3 trillion, even as domestic resource mobilization potentials offer vast untapped horizons. As we transition from the lessons of Kenya’s Vision 2030—where resource constraints periodically impeded full realization—toward the design of Beyond Vision 2030, fiscal realism must be our guiding compass. Co-chairing the advisory consultations for Beyond Vision 2030 or for that matter vision 2060, has underscored that sustainable national transformation requires credible, diversified financing architectures, rigorous public financial management, and innovative domestic mechanisms like sovereign wealth funds, insulated from political volatility and anchored in unwavering transparency. Digital sovereignty and epistemic capacity In an era defined by artificial intelligence and digital platforms, geopolitical influence is increasingly mediated through technological inovations and information platforms. Yet, the persistent digital divide— where internet penetration remains starkly skewed between urban centers and rura peripheries—threatens to worsen internal inequalities. In other words, lack of digital inclusivity will simply perpetuate inqualities. True strategic autonomy demands that African states transition from passive consumers of foreign technologies to active architects of global digital governance, cybersecurity standards, and data protection frameworks. This intellectual leap requires anchoring policy in homegrown research. Think tanks like GLOCEPS should continue to bridge the chasm between empirical scholarship and  executive statecraft, ensuring that policy design is guided by rigorous, locally grounded analysis rather than external orthodoxy. In conclusion ladies and gentlemen: Grand strategies are only useful to society if they are transferred from one generation to onother. The fellows and emerging leaders gathered in this forum bear the heavy responsibility of converting theoretical insights into actionable public policies. Let us leave this forum with a renewed commitment: let our research inform our legislative frameworks, let our diplomacy expand our economic horizons, and let our collective resolve shape an international order that honors the dignity and aspirations of the African people. It is now my distinct honor and profound duty to officially declare the Inaugural Grand Strategy Fellowship Forum 2026 closed.

I thank you.