State seeks professional jobs for Kenyans in Saudi
Kenya and Saudi Arabia have signed bilateral agreements to create a favorable environment for Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia.
Because of this, foreign investors will be more likely to set up shop in the country, creating more jobs for both domestic and skilled laborers.
Alfred Mutua, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, has said in a statement that there will be opportunities outside of domestic work.
For those in Kenya who have completed relevant coursework, he stressed the importance of being prepared to enter the Saudi labor market.
The number of Kenyans permitted to work in Saudi Arabia has been reduced, so we have requested an increase in quotas,” Mutua said.
They have stated that they require Kenyan labor, so we are lobbying for increased access for Kenyan college graduates in the fields of hospitality engineering, nursing, and medicine.
The CS added that they reached an agreement to boost the country’s trade and investment, as well as its tourism.
He proclaimed, “This will expand opportunities for employment and bring more wealth to our people.”
According to Mutua, Kenya is considered a top partner by the Saudi Arabian government.
He also claimed that they had proposed concrete measures to improve the situation for Kenyans in the Gulf.
Some of the ideas include establishing more Kenyan agency branches, exposing and punishing illegal agencies, enforcing worker rights as portrayed by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kenya, and dismantling cartels.
The CS claimed that a significant factor in Kenyans’ difficulties in Saudi Arabia is the widespread corruption that characterizes the training they receive for domestic work there.
We need to dismantle cartels and streamline agencies, some of which are owned by influential Kenyans. To all of us, including the Saudi Arabian government, this is of great concern,” he emphasized.
The move by the Cabinet secretary is part of an effort by the government to boost GDP by increasing employment in the formal and informal sectors.
GDP in Kenya is predicted to have increased by 7.5% in 2021, up from a contraction of 0.3% in 2020, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
There were 926,100 new jobs added to the economy during the review period; 172,300 were in the formal sector and 753,800 were in the informal sector.
The number of private sector wage earners rose by 68.0% from 2020’s 1,858,000 to 2021’s 1,984,200.
Wage employment in the government grew from 884,600 in 2020 to 923,100 in 2021.
Compared to last year, when it was Sh2.2 trillion, the nominal wage bill for the private and public sectors is now Sh2.4 trillion, an increase of 8.4 percent.
