•Google, Coca Cola, BAT, Nestle and Microsoft are some of the major companies that have made huge investments in Kenya, creating jobs and tax revenues to the government.
•About 80 per cent of East African regional trade passes through the Port of Mombasa.
Image: HANDOUT
The Kenyan government must ensure a predictable policy and regulatory environment, the business community now says, if it is to attract more investments both local and foreign.
This is mainly on tax policies enshrined in the Financial Bill (Financial Act) which changes every financial year.
The National Treasury has in recent years been making upward tax adjustments and coming up with numerous tax policies, blamed for raising the cost of doing business in Kenya.
Speaking during a press briefing at the American Chamber of Commerce regional business summit in Nairobi, AmCham Kenya CEO Maxwell Okello said for companies to engage effectively in a particular market, especially multinational companies, they need predictability.
“The biggest challenge we have had from the business environment is the unpredictable policy and regulatory environment. For investment to be made, there has to be a long-term view that a company can take and if they can’t see that sort of predictability in the environment, it becomes difficult to make big investments,” Okello said.
He said the American Chamber of Commerce in Kenya (AmCham)has been the government to solve some of the major challenges affecting the business operating environment in the Country.
“The policy environment applies to both local and foreign companies, so the business environment in the country has to be good so that we can promote more investments, create jobs, economic development,” he said.
This year’s summit is focusing on economic growth and development opportunities in Kenya and the East Africa region, for American businesses.
The Kenya Kwanza government has been on a charm offensive to attract more Foreign Direct Investment’s (FDIs), with the US major source of multinational companies which have set base in Nairobi.
Google, Coca Cola, BAT, Nestle and Microsoft are some of the major companies that have made huge investments in Kenya, creating jobs and tax revenues to the government.
Investment, Trade and Industry CS Moses Kuria said : “Kenya is the gateway to Africa. The skill, the entrepreneurship and the hard work of ou rpeople is our oil. We must remember that Kenya is not just Kenya. Kenya is a gateway to the African market.”
US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman has described Kenya as “by far the most stable and business friendly country in Africa with a great workforce”
The country has also put in place key infrastructure to support businesses and investments.
“The infrastructure and logistics have come a long way in the last decade, including a network of roads, bridges, highway and reliable power,” Whitman notes.
The U.S.-Kenya partnership has enhanced security, increased prosperity, and improved the lives of Kenyans and Americans, she said yesterday.
“Nairobi’s vibrant technology community is already known as the Silicon Savannah and the Kenyan government is committed to establishing Nairobi as the premier destination for tech sector investment and innovation in Africa," she noted.
The country is considered the gateway to East Africa, with a combined population of about 500 million.
About 80 per cent of East African regional trade passes through the Port of Mombasa.
Kenya’s largest export market is the United States, apparel.
The two countries are currently in talks for a trade pact, as Kenya remains keen to secure a preferential trade agreement before the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) lapses in 2025.
The AGOA program gives Kenya and 40 other sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for over 6,000 products.
More than 70 percent of Kenya's exports to the US are duty-free under AGOA.
With a bilateral deal, Kenya is keen to tap at least five per cent of the US market, which has the potential to earn the country more than Sh2 trillion in export revenues annually.
The value of Kenya's exports to the US grew to Sh59.5 billion in 2021, up from Sh49.3 billion previous year, with increases in the exports of macadamia nuts and articles of apparel and clothing accessories.
It is the biggest economy in East Africa, which has been the continent’s fastest-growing region in recent years, with the African Development Bank projecting a growth rate of 4.7 per cent in 2023.
.On Tuesday, CS Kuria held bilateral talks with a delegation from the Biden Administration led by Commerce Under Secretary Don R .Cravers Jr ahead of the American Chambers (AMCHAM) conference.
“We reviewed the progress of the partnership programme agreed during my visit to Washington DC last December and noted with appreciation the tremendous progress in the negotiations for a Strategic Trade & Investments Partnership, whose next round will take place in April in Nairobi,” Kuria said.