Various media reports from Washington indicate that the U.S. will accord Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status to Kenya during the current state visit by William Ruto.

A fact sheet from the State Department’s Bureau of Political and Military Affairs copied below outlines the legal framework:

Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status is a designation under U.S. law [1] that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation. The Major Non-NATO Ally designation is a powerful symbol of the close relationship the United States shares with those countries and demonstrates our deep respect for the friendship for the countries to which it is extended. While MNNA status provides military and economic privileges, it does not entail any security commitments to the designated country.

Privileges resulting from MNNA designation under 22 U.S.C. §2321k :

• Eligible for loans of material, supplies, or equipment for cooperative research, development, testing, or evaluation purposes.
• Eligible as a location for U.S.-owned War Reserve Stockpiles to be placed on its territory outside of U.S. military facilities.
• Can enter into agreements with the United States for the cooperative furnishing of training on a bilateral or multilateral basis, if the financial arrangements are reciprocal and provide for reimbursement of all U.S. direct costs.
• Eligible, to the maximum extent feasible, for priority delivery of Excess Defense Articles  transferred under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act (if located on the southern or south-eastern flank of NATO).
• Eligible for consideration to purchase depleted uranium ammunition.

Privileges resulting from MNNA designation under 10U.S.C. §2350a :

• Eligible to enter into an MOU or other formal agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense for the purpose of conducting cooperative research and development projects on defense equipment and munitions.
• Allows firms of a MNNA, as with NATO countries, to bid on contracts for maintenance, repair or overhaul of U.S. Department of Defense equipment outside the United States.
• Allows funding to procure explosives detection devices and other counter-terrorism research and development projects under the auspices of the Department of State’s Technical Support Working Group .

Currently 18 countries are designated as MNNAs under 22 U.S.C. §2321k  and 10U.S.C. §2350a :

• Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand, and Tunisia.
• In addition, Pub. L. 107–228  provides Taiwan shall be treated as an MNNA, without formal designation as such.

So Kenya will be the first country in “Sub-Saharan Africa” with such designation and will join Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco on the Continent and Tunisia and Morocco within the AFRICOM Area of Operations.

I do not know that this will generate a great deal of additional defense trade activity soon, but I do think it will help cement Kenya’s profile in Washington generally and within Congress and further solidify Kenya’s status as “America’s favorite African country” for purposes of all sorts of economic, development and diplomatic endeavors and Nairobi’s status as the city of choice for the US as it is for the UN.