{Kenya’s development level compared to other East African countries is a key advantage to American businesses keen on opening regional offices in the region, a visiting US trade delegation has said.}
According to Diane Wilkens, a board member of the Corporate Council on Africa, most American businesses are looking to open or expand their operations in Nairobi as they seek to reach the rest of the continent because of Nairobi’s ease of connection, a developed transport network and a highly skilled workforce.
The objective of the CCA ten day trip to Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda in the 2014 East Africa Trade Mission is to introduce US business interests to the region’s public and private sectors with a view to partner in business opportunities.
“The delegation is interested in opportunities where they can partner on issues of health, infrastructure, investing in skilled technology, Information Technology, agribusiness among others,” she said in an interview.
The business group leads trade missions to the continent, providing participants with opportunities to meet and network with senior government officials and explore business opportunities in the most promising sectors in order to gain a deeper understanding of investment climates.
The trips also afford the Americans the chance to discover new business partners with African local businesses. The group visited Kenya and Ethiopia early this year in February. They have done other trips to central and West Africa with the same business objective.
Kenya’s devolved government is providing numerous opportunities for investment, which the US is interested in, she said.At a meeting in the US embassy on Monday, Vision 2030 Delivery Board chairman James Mwangi invited the investors to partner in on-going capital intensive projects which will yield high returns.
He told the group that the country’s flagship projects within the scope of Vision 2030, particularly the LAPSSET Corridor and energy related infrastructure are ripe for financing under a public-private partnership framework, joint ventures or sole ownership.
“Iron smelting economic activities in counties, mining and process industries, irrigation, electrification of rail; powering resort cities and new economic zones will require a total of 5000MW in the next few months with Geothermal development the key driver at a cost of approximately US $3 billion,” he told the delegation.
Stephen Hayes, president and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, said that his members are angling to invest in sectors where immediate deals can be made namely in infrastructure and renewable energy.
The Star
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