Nairobi - Kenya is betting on the discovery of oil and natural
resources and its improved infrastructure to grow its foreign direct investment
inflows, which last year stood at $514n, but were still trailing its regional
peers Uganda and Tanzania.
Kenya's foreign direct
investment (FDI) as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) currently
stands at below one per cent. The manufacturing sector, one of the flagship
sectors identified as key in driving the country to mid-level economic status
by 2030, has additionally seen its share of FDI declining over time. This has
seen Kenya's current account deficit deteriorate to now 10 per cent of GDP.
However, a rising middle
class, touted as among the fastest rising in Africa, and major infrastructural
investments, especially of the the standard gauge railway and the Sh2trillion
Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor( LAPSET), are now creating an
appetite among investors into the country. Kenya’s attractiveness to investors
has grown by some 24 per cent a year between 2007 and 2014, according to the
Ernst and Young Africa Attractiveness Survey.
The country, aware that
achievement of the double-digit growth as envisioned in the national economic
blueprint Vision 2030, cannot happen in isolation, has now set out to market
itself as an investment hub, aiming to lift investment as a ratio to GDP to at
least 32 per cent.
This drive today marked the
opening of the inaugural Kenya International Investment Conference 2014,
launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, which brought together over 1,000 local,
regional and international business leaders and investors. “With a skilled labour
force, a strategic location as a gateway to the region, a large domestic
market, and advanced infrastructure, Kenya offers a world of unlimited
opportunities and I welcome investors across the world to take advantage of the
businesses in the country,” said President Kenyatta while opening the
conference.
Investors at the conference,
motivated by business reforms the country is instituting, expressed confidence
in Kenya as an investment hub. “The investment in
infrastructure, and the commitment by Kenya to sign double taxation treaties
making it favourable for businesses is a step in the right direction and we are
glad that Kenya, more than its regional peers, has actively demonstrated its
commitment to working with investors,” said Mr. Patrick Yohannes a delegate at
the conference from Lightview Investment, a Turkish company with interests in
energy, and textile industries.
Over the last seven years,
Kenya has benefited from investments made by 14 companies considered to be the
continent’s growth leaders, which collectively have made investments in over
200 FDI projects with a combined value of Sh1.8 trillion, creating 33,000 jobs,
according to the Ernst and Young survey.
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