The recent state visit of Kenyan President William Ruto to the US saw the two countries announce new initiatives and public diplomacy programmes to elevate culture as a diplomatic platform that can bring people together, preserve cultural heritage and strengthen the economies of the two countries.

The US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) will continue the United States’ long-term investments across Africa to preserve and protect cultural heritage and boost tourism.  

In addition, in partnership with key industry leaders such as the Recording Academy, the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and other leading private sector and civil society institutions, the US will launch new programmes that will promote collaboration, build capacity and bolster professional creative industry ecosystems.  

Through these initiatives, the US and Kenya will connect industry leaders in music, film, and television, and provide key technical and vocational skills needed to support a sustainable and thriving creative infrastructure.

As part of the shared focus on tourism and cultural heritage, the AFCP will support efforts led by the National Museums of Kenya to preserve the archaeological site of Takwa, a 15th and 16thcentury Swahili trading town.

The AFCP projects help preserve a wide range of cultural heritage – such as historic buildings, archaeological sites, ethnographic objects, paintings, manuscripts, indigenous languages, and other forms of traditional cultural expression – and contribute to local economies by supporting tourism.

Since 2001, the AFCP has invested $18.2 million in the preservation of cultural heritage in over 45 countries in Africa.

Shared efforts to bolster Kenya’s growing creative economy will begin during the US summer season. The African Creative TV (ACTV) initiative will bring television professionals from Kenya and across the African continent to Los Angeles for a four-week residency at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where they will be mentored by American television writers, producers and industry experts. 

The ACTV focuses on professional development and networking opportunities for television writers, producers, and other technical fields such as art direction, cinematography, editing, and line producing.

In addition, mid-level music industry professionals from Kenya will participate in the first-ever American Music Mentorship Program (AMMP), which is a partnership between the US Department of State and the Recording Academy.  

The AMMP connects international mid-career music industry professionals with mentors selected by the Recording Academy and was first announced at the launch of the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative in September 2023.

As part of the Community College Initiative Program, which taps into the US community college system to provide educational and technical training to international students, the US will provide Kenyan participants with a tailored academic programme at US colleges that will build the students' technical skills in film and television production, enhance their leadership capabilities, and prepare them to enter the workforce upon returning to Kenya.

Finally, as part of the American Film Showcase programme, the Film and TV Leadership Initiative will bring Kenyan and other African film makers to the US for workshops and networking with their American counterparts, including the 2024 Middleburg Film Festival in Middleburg, Virginia.  

They will also engage with their American counterparts in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington.  

The US Department of State will also send leading US film and television professionals to conduct workshops in Kenya as a reciprocal exchange.