Germany to welcome 250,000 skilled Kenyans under a labor and migration deal

In order to support the hiring of qualified individuals who can close skills gaps in Germany’s labor market and to make it easier for Kenyans who don’t have the legal right to continue living in Germany to return home, German and Kenyan officials signed an agreement in Berlin.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Kenyan President William Ruto signed the agreement while Ruto was in Germany.
Following the signing ceremony, Scholz told reporters that the agreement was significant and represented a strategy by Kenya and Germany to work together more closely on migration.
“This can help us make up for a shortage of skilled workers,” Scholz added, noting that the labor shortage is already affecting Germany and “will be with us for years and decades to come.”
Germany has struggled for years to draw in more highly skilled laborers from outside the EU. As the nation’s aging workforce declines, experts estimate that the nation needs 400,000 skilled immigrants annually.
Conversely, the agreement outlines efficient protocols for repatriations for individuals who arrived from Kenya but do not have or are unable to obtain residency rights. Now, they can get back home much quicker and with greater ease,” stated Scholz.
According to Ruto, the agreement is advantageous to both parties since it combines German resources and technology with the potential of young, educated Kenyans.
He noted that Kenya has a large population of young people, with a median age of about 20, and expressed no concern that the departure of some Kenyans could harm the development of his own country. According to him, there were sufficient to encourage Kenya’s and Germany’s continued development.
Scholz stated that the abundance of IT experts from Kenya would be advantageous for Germany.
According to the German news agency dpa, Germany will sign a similar agreement with Uzbekistan this weekend during Scholz’s visit there. Germany has already signed agreements of this kind with India, Georgia, and Morocco.
In a ceremony held on Friday at the Berlin chancellery, Scholz and Ruto stood behind Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser as they signed the agreement.
The far-right, racist and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is posing a threat to Scholz’s unpopular coalition government. The AfD performed well in two recent state elections in eastern Germany. In Brandenburg, the state encircling Berlin, there will be another on September 22.