• Ngatia takes over from interim chairman Laurent Yogo.
• He called for a three-pronged approach in strengthening the regional body’s integration including its attractiveness and competitiveness.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Richard Ngatia was on Wednesday elected as the Great Lakes Region Private Sector Forum first chairman.
He was elected during the General Assembly of the Great Lakes Region Private Sector Forum held at a Nairobi hotel.
Ngatia takes over from interim chairman Laurent Yogo.
He has been tasked with developing the strategic plan and action plan for the organization and setting up the secretariat of the private sector
He will also be required to engage the regional inter-ministerial meeting which has foreign affairs ministers from the member countries and the heads of state held every two years.
In his acceptance speech, Ngatia called for a three-pronged approach in strengthening the regional body’s integration including its attractiveness and competitiveness.
“One key question underpinning Great Lakes economic integration is whether our past experience and achievements are enough to sustain the attractiveness and competitiveness of the regional grouping or we must join the international global value chain competitiveness on the way we do business,” he said.
Congratulations to our Chamber President @Ngatia_Richard on being elected the 1st Chairperson of the Great Lakes Regional Private Sector Forum taking over from interim Chair Laurent Yogo #GreatLakesRegionForum @DrEricRuto @AngelaNdambuki @un_greatlakes @EACCIA @MuitaMuburi pic.twitter.com/pxKdqcd3c7
— Kenya Chamber (@kenya_chamber) September 18, 2019
“We, therefore, need to compete by assessing whether current production is efficient and meets market requirements, to connect by acknowledging that to be competitive firms must link to customers, business, institutions and be ICT- literate and to change by assessing whether firms have the capacity to make investments to adapt to fast-changing markets.”
The general assembly was organised with the support of the office of the special envoy of the Secretary General of the Great Lakes Region and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) under the European Union funded programme in support of peace and security in the Great Lakes Region.
The ICGLR is an inter-governmental organisation of the countries in the African Great Lakes Region.
It was established on the recognition that political instability and conflicts in these countries have a considerable regional dimension and thus require a concerted effort in order to promote sustainable peace and development.
Most notable among the conflicts that have had cross-border impacts or origins are the 1994 Rwandan genocide that led to the loss of more than 800,000 lives, and the political instability in DRC.
These conflicts constituted a major threat to international peace and security.
The organisation is composed of twelve member states.
They include Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.