KENYA-UK TRADE AND INVESTMENT FORUM HAS UPBEAT MOOD
IN 2015, EY RANKED KENYA’ S INFRASTRUCTURE AS‘ MODERATE’ AND THE WORLD
ECONOMIC FORUM GAVE IT A SCORE
OF 4.16 OUT OF SEVEN.
AMBASSADOR AMINA MOHAMED, KENYAN DIPLOMAT
the fact that the UK is Kenya’ s top exporter and source of FDI, making up 23 % of inbound investment. Tobias Ellwood, a UK member of parliament and the country ' s minister for the Middle East and Africa, announced at the forum the government’ s impending investment of £ 500m($ 651m) into Kenyan renewable energy, which was“ an example of post-Brexit business as usual”.
Kenyan allure
In her keynote address and interview with fDi, Amina Mohamed,
Kenya’ s cabinet secretary for foreign affairs, elaborated on the country’ s attractions for FDI. With its business-friendly environment, she says, Kenya has“ the right regulatory framework is in place” and commercial laws and courts have been improved. Kenya is reputedly one of sub-Saharan Africa’ s foremost open economies. The World Bank’ s Doing Business report ranks it as one of Africa’ s top five countries by this measure( although it fares poorly by global standards). Since 2013, president Uhuru Kenyatta has introduced a number of business-incentivising policies, such as lowering energy costs and offering a 10-year tax holiday for foreign investors setting up shop in the country. However, Mr Kenyatta’ s recent cap on bank loan interest rates, criticised by some as a populist move, could yet dent Kenya’ s reputation and FDI attractiveness. On this matter, the country ' s central bank governor, Patrick Njoroge, says:“[ Sometimes ] one takes two steps backwards to leap forward. Kenya is wedded to market-based solutions … something we’ ll go back to. Our positive direction is clear.” Mr Njoroge also emphasises the resilience, diversity, stability and ongoing growth of the Kenyan economy.“ Kenya has navigated shocks for 50 years. The story is of east Africa rising, not Africa,” he says. Indeed, in 2015 Mr Njoroge was widely praised for the manner in which he stabilised the Kenyan currency market.
Infrastructure and talent
When it comes to Kenya ' s immediate prospects, Ms Mohamed says:“ Seven percent GDP growth is possible for 2017. [ No wonder ] foreign companies in Kenya number 210, compared with 100 in 2010.” Ms Mohamed is also keen to emphasise Kenya’ s position as east Africa’ s main logistics and trade hub, which makes the country the gateway to surrounding markets. Like many emerging markets, bridging the infrastructural deficit is essential for Kenya, and with FDI and trade increasing, the country has shown signs of struggle. For example, Nairobi’ s traffic is notoriously slow moving, and delays at Mombasa’ s port
2016 | Business Times Africa 55