Kenya Sees Spike In Obama Administration-Funded Projects.

Kenyan businesses lately are increasingly becoming recipients of U.S. government largesse, as the Obama Administration, among pursuing other endeavors, aims to expand "livestock-related economic opportunities" in that nation. Although this and other recently released presolicitation notices for unrelated programs serve as advance alerts to potential vendors—and therefore do not offer cost estimates and other details— a review of U.S. government contracting actions nonetheless indicates a spike of activity in Kenya in a variety of sectors.

The White House is committing to a five-year effort to "improve the inclusiveness and competitiveness" of the livestock industry specifically in Marsabit and Garissa counties, Kenya, according to a presolicitation notice released April 12 that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitorlocated via routine database research.

The Feed the Future-related initiative, known as the Resilience and Economic Growth in the Arid Lands-Accelerated Growth, or REGAL-AG, program, will be carried out by contractors hired by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to the document.

The agency did not disclose the project’s estimated cost: "No additional information regarding this planned RFP [Request for Proposals] is available at this time."

USAID that same day separately alerted potential contractors to the launching of yet another endeavor in that nation, known as the Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprises, or KAVES, program.

The KAVES presolicitation notice simply states the agency’s intention “to use full and open competition for the contract, which will be performed in Kenya. USAID intends to release the solicitation within the next 45 days.”

The agency pointed out that the presolicitation number——will change upon release of a bid request, but the program name would remain the same.

Other recent contracting actions include:

• Up to $50 million in U.S. Navy-coordinated military construction projects on the horizon at Camp Simba, Kenya, and at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
• Deployment to Kenya of a privately contracted Regional Advisor for USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). as well as an Emerging Pandemic Threats Advisor.
  
• A U.S. Trade & Development Agency-led search for a contractor to perform a “definitional mission” exploring possible funding of geothermal energy projects in Kenya and Rwanda.

The above-mentioned endeavors have taken place in recent weeks; however, other notable U.S.-funded Kenyan projects thus far in 2012 include the launching of a National Institutes of Health-led initiative to hire contractors to conduct genetic research of Kenyans with Type-2 diabetes. Separately, the U.S. Army embarked upon a market survey of potential vendors to provide helicopter flight-training simulators to the Kenyan government.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The reference to Kenya as "the former home nation" of President Obama has been removed. The Monitor acknowledges this lapse in judgment, and intends to more vigorously ensure the editorial integrity of this site.