Kenya will benefit from a mix of good and bad predictions as RiskMap 2019 predicts new turf wars such as control over data, extreme weather patterns and multinationals that eventually become nationless to be among business risks to watch out for.
USA is expected to invest more in infrastructure as the US-China rivalry that began in 2018 with the onset of the tariff wars escalates to Kenya and other African countries as both nations fight to maintain their influence on the continent.
“Support for China or the US has not emerged as a defining issue in African politics... In 2019 we might see this changing,” said Daniel Heal, the senior partner Control Risks, East Africa in a statement.
Although US is the biggest investor in Africa, the report notes that China has also made deep inroads especially in infrastructure development.
“2019 will show revived US interest in development finance on the continent and a more concerted US commercial strategy towards Africa is likely to take shape,”Heal said.
He added that increased rivalry will therefore open up additional investment opportunities but will also present African countries with increasingly starker foreign policy and commercial choices.
