- The term of office of the steering Committee shall be five years renewable
- It will provide policy direction on the execution of the Capital Markets plan
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Kenya is moving closer to establishing its international financial centre with the National Treasury appointing a capital markets task force.
Although the country set up Nairobi International Financial Centre amid opposition from civil societies in 2017, the implementation has been slow.
On Friday, Treasury CS Ukur Yatani appointed a steering committee to be known as the Capital Markets Master Plan Implementation Steering Committee (CMMISC) .
The committee will take overall responsibility for oversight in the implementation of the Kenya Capital Markets Master Plan and facilitating its alignment with the establishment of Kenya as the heart of Capital Markets financing and investment in Africa and Nairobi as an International Financial Centre.
It will further direct the Capital Markets Authority Board to appoint a taskforce, working groups and relevant subcommittees to facilitate the execution of the plan.
It will further direct consultations with relevant government ministries and departments, regulatory agencies, capital markets experts, professional bodies, academics and other stakeholders for the purposes of executing the plan.
The committee will provide policy direction on the execution of the Capital Markets plan.
The committee will comprise The Attorney-General, Cabinet Secretaries National Treasury (chairperson), Agriculture, Petroleum and Mining, Secretary/CEO, Commission on Revenue Allocation, The Chief Executive, Capital Markets Authority and the Governor of Central Bank of Kenya.
The Attorney-General, Cabinet Secretaries for Agriculture and Mining may each, in writing designate a nominee to attend meetings on their behalf.
In a gazzette notice, Yatani said the Steering Committee shall regulate its own procedure.
The term of office of the steering Committee shall be five years renewable with effect from 1st January, 2021.
Rwanda is seeking to extend it range of partnerships with global financial centres to accelerate its development as an African hub.
Discussions are taking place with potential partners in Europe, the Middle East and North America, according to Rwanda Finance, a government-owned company set up to encourage investment in the country and region
According to the Global Financial Centres Index published by Z/Yen, Casablanca is currently Africa’s leading financial centre, holding 53rd place globally.
Kigali, along with Lagos, is counted as an “associate centre” which does not yet meet all the criteria to be on the full list.
An International Financial Centre is a concentration of a wide variety of international financial businesses and transactions in one location.
IFCs are jurisdictions whose laws and institutions provide optimal conditions for the financial services industry.
IFCs share several features: the presence of investment opportunities for foreign capital, low corporate taxes as well as other tax incentives, the infrastructure to facilitate the timely movement of capital in its various forms, all operationalised by a sophisticated regulatory and legislative framework.