Germany Begins Recruiting 250,000 Bus Drivers, Computer Repairers From Kenya

The deal would also facilitate the deportation of Kenyans who lacked the right to live in Germany.

German and Kenyan governments, on Friday, signed an agreement to hire 250,000 workers, including bus drivers from the African nation and also ease the repatriation process for undocumented Kenyan immigrants.

As part of effort to address his country’s ageing workforce, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recruited workers from Kenya in a labour migration deal that would also facilitate the deportation of Kenyans who lacked the right to live in Germany.

“This can help us to compensate for a shortage of skilled workers,” Mr Scholz told reporters after the signing ceremony at the chancellery in Berlin with Kenyan President William Ruto.

“On the other side of the coin, so to speak, the agreement provides for effective return procedures for those who have come to us from Kenya but do not have or cannot acquire the right to stay here. They can now return home more easily and quickly,” Mr Scholz stated.

While Germany wanted to fill a wide gap in labour shortage, Kenya lacked the wherewithal to provide suitable employment for its millions of youths and the migration deal appeared to resolve their shortfalls.

Already, Flensburg welcomed five bus drivers from Kenya in a pilot project to presumably train and acquaint them with Germany’s driving rules and routes.

Mr Ruto said the migration deal was mutually beneficial to both countries as it would connect competent Kenyan migrants with Germany’s advanced tech tools and resources.

He dismissed worries that Kenya might suffer a brain drain, asserting that the African nation boasted of a massive youth population that would not be adversely affected.

Kenyan’s prime cabinet secretary Musalia Mudavadi and German interior minister Nancy Faeser signed the migration deal in the presence of their principals.

Mr Scholz, who has already signed a similar immigration deal with Morocco, India and Georgia, was looking to sign the same deal with Uzbekistan.