admin, Author at Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest)

Konza wins bid to host global innovation conference in 2024

Posted on October 4, 2022

Members of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) have voted for Kenya’s Konza Technopolis to host their annual high-level conference in 2024. Konza is one of the key flagship projects of Kenya’s Vision 2030 economic blueprint. IASP revealed the decision via their official social media platforms, sparking excitement among various players in Kenya’s ICT sector who hailed the move as one that will deliver vast opportunities for ICT growth in the country. “It’s the news we’ve been waiting for. IASP members have voted and we are delighted to announce that in 2024 we will meet in beautiful Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by our colleagues at Konza,” IASP said in a tweet. Konza Chief Executive Engineer John Tanui thanked IASP members for settling on Kenya, saying it was a demonstration of confidence. “We are elated by the news of winning the bid to host the 2024 World Conference of International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation. We thank members for the confidence in Kenya,” said Mr Tanui. IASP is a global network of science parks, innovation districts and other areas of innovation, boasting members in more than 70 countries worldwide. In the past decade, Kenya has made remarkable strides in ICT infrastructure, consequently cementing its status as one of the leading tech hubs in the region. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that value addition in the ICT sector stood at Sh294 billion in 2021, registering a 30 percent rise from Sh223 billion in 2017. The Kenya National Digital Master plan 2022-32 targets spending Sh585 billion in the sector over the next 10 years. Based on various awards, covering areas such as fintech, Kenya is increasingly gaining recognition as an innovation district. President William Ruto has nominated Eliud Owalo for appointment as the country’s next ICT Cabinet Secretary, pending approval by Parliament. Source: Business Daily Newspaper.

Israeli investors eye Kenya’s agricultural sector

Posted on September 21, 2022

The Israeli business community is keen to invest in Kenya’s agricultural sector which is yet to reach its full potential, a government official said on Tuesday. Michael Lotem, Israel’s Ambassador to Kenya, told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya that the country’s agricultural sector offers significant opportunities due to the presence of large tracts of arable land coupled with the rising population. “The leading Israeli technology, financial and agricultural companies are exploring strategic business development and partnership opportunities that will enhance Kenya’s food security,” Lotem said during the Kenya-Israel Agribusiness Roadshow. He said that Israeli firms have developed technology that will enable Kenya to achieve food production with minimal use of water and soil resources. The envoy noted that Israel is a leader in precision agriculture that involves the use of drones, sensors, and farm management software to boost farmers’ yields. Oscar Magenya, Secretary of Research and Innovation at Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Co-operatives said that a vibrant agribusiness sector has tremendous potential to be a powerful engine for transformation. Government data indicates that the agricultural sector contributes over 33 percent of the gross domestic product, employs 40 percent of the population, and accounts for 65 percent of the country’s export earnings. Magenya added that Kenya is seeking technologies from Israel that will lower the cost of production and make locally grown agricultural produce competitive in the global market. He observed that Kenya will also leverage modern technologies to transform from being a net food importer to a food exporter.

3rd Kenya Business Dialogue

Posted on August 2, 2022 (December 17, 2023)

The State Department for Industrialization, together with KenInvest and the Embassy of Japan in Kenya, organized the 3rd Kenya Business Dialogue in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday, 22nd July, 2022. The Business Dialogue brought together representatives from Japan Embassy in Kenya, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), JICA, Japanese Business Association in Kenya, State Department for Industrialization, State Department for Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, KenInvest, KRA, KEBS, SEZA, KEPHIS, KAM, KEPSA and KNCCI. The Business Dialogue, hosted by the Principal Secretary State Department of Industrialization, was co-chaired by KenInvest Ag. Managing Director, Ms. Olivia Rachier and the Japan Deputy Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Yasuhisa Kitagawa. This is the third of such Business Dialogues, following two successful ones held in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Mooted in 2018, the main objective of these dialogues is to improve the Business Environment in countries where Japanese companies do business through identification of challenges which have remained barriers for the expansion and formulation of an action plan to resolve such challenges. This particular meeting was convened as an information sharing session to address the specific progress and challenges in the development of Dongo Kundu SEZ (DKSEZ) and other challenges in doing business in Kenya.

Kenya, US Launch Trade And Investment Partnership

Posted on July 15, 2022

Kenya and the United States have launched a strategic trade and investment partnership to pursue commitments to boost economic growth, support African regional economic integration and deepen trade cooperation. The two countries will in the next three months develop a detailed roadmap for engagement in the areas of agriculture, digital trade, good regulatory practices, trade facilitation and customs procedures, anti-corruption among others. During a virtual meeting held Thursday, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development CS , Betty Maina and United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai noted that those issues will assist them develop a roadmap for enhanced cooperation between the two countries. In the deal, Kenya and the United States will consider measures to facilitate agricultural trade and enhance transparency and understanding of the application of science- and risk-based Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)measures. The two countries will also engage in information sharing of best practices to prevent and combat bribery and corruption and will explore negotiating specific commitments. “Kenya and the United States believe that MSMEs are key elements to promote sustained economic growth, including for women-owned enterprises. The two countries will discuss approaches to integrate MSMEs into international trade,” a statement from the Trade Ministry reads. Further, the two countries will discuss the role of standards, conformity assessment procedures, and technical regulations that have a significant impact on trade, including opportunities to reduce impediments to trade due to differences in their respective systems. The US will also seek to enforce a deal signed in 2014 that provides for “the legal framework for the exchange of information and evidence to assist countries in the enforcement of customs laws, including duty evasion, trafficking, proliferation, money laundering, and terrorism-related activities.” Kenya has long sought a full free trade agreement with the United States, and negotiations for such a deal to lower bilateral tariffs were launched by the Trump administration with the east African country in 2020. But the Biden administration, which has shunned traditional trade deals, sought more time to scrutinize the pact. The talks were also disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic before the US elections. The US is pushing for favorable terms among them a duty-free market access for its goods, including agricultural and industrial, in a move aimed at taming the growing dominance of China’s trade with Kenya. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, export earnings from the United States of America went up by 12.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 from Sh14.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021. Source: Capital FM Kenya.

Kisumu Establishes Tomato Processing Plant To Boost Earnings

Posted on July 12, 2022

Tomato growers in Kobura Ward, Nyando Sub-county expect to reap big after the completion of a tomato processing plant in the area, to promote agro-industry and improve livelihoods. The construction of the Kochieng’ Tomato Processing Plant in Nyamware village that was undertaken by the Kisumu County Government has been completed and fully equipped and is now awaiting commissioning by Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o in the coming weeks. Chief Officer for Industrialization and Energy,Joseph Oganga, confirmed to Kenya News Agency on Friday that the Department spent Sh20million for the flagship project in the 2021/22 Financial Year. Oganga said Governor Nyong’o’s manifesto on promoting industrialization in the Lakeside County which is in line with the National Government’s ‘Big 4’ Agenda on food security and manufacturing, gave impetus to the project which is envisioned as Kisumu’s next economic frontier. “The County is committed to promoting local value addition, establishing cottage industries, and promoting diversification of production of goods and services with an aim of establishing business hubs in the villages out of the city of Kisumu,” Oganga said. Oganga said the agro-industry project is the first of its kind to be funded by the County government to promote sustainable agricultural-based development and industrialization in rural areas. The Chief Officer for Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock and Fisheries, Dr. Paul Omanga, said tomato production in the rice schemes during the off-peak season is of a significant rate to sustain the factory production. Tomato is among the high-value crops planted post rice harvest in the vast Ahero, West Kano, and South West Kano irrigation schemes with 200Ha of land and over 11,000 farmers. Other horticultural crops planted in the region include African vegetables, hot pepper and watermelon. However, Dr. Omanga stated that at the onset the plant would focus on tomatoes and eventually expand to process more agricultural value-added products. The same equipment can be used to process mangoes, avocadoes, pineapples and other fruits which will be transported from far off areas to the site for processing,” stated Dr. Omanga. The achievement marks a significant stride for small-scale tomato farmers, by reducing post-harvest losses, increasing profit margins and creating job opportunities. “Upon its operationalization, the facility will bolster farmers by ensuring they observe best farming practices, provision of quality seeds and tools, capacity building, access to financing and sourcing of markets for the processed products,” said Dr. Omanga. The project will be managed by the Kochieng’ Multipurpose Cooperative Society to revolutionize tomato processing in the region. The plant has a modern ablution block with a bio digester and a 15-meter high mast solar powered floodlight and drilled borehole to supply water to the community for domestic use. Kochieng’ tomato processing plant is intended to produce tomato juice, tomato paste and other by products that will be branded and supplied to local supermarkets. In addition, the Department of Industrialization and Energy, plans to commercialize the water project by procuring, and installing a water purifying and bottling plant to produce branded mineral water for sale. “This can be managed by a youth cooperative society to provide employment and boost household income thus transforming the livelihoods of the locals,” said Oganga. Source: Capital FM Kenya.

CFAO Kenya Invests In OFGEN Limited To Contribute To Carbon Neutrality

Posted on July 8, 2022

CFAO Kenya Limited a subsidiary of CFAO group (Corporation for Africa and Overseas) proceeds to invest in OFGEN Limited a leader in solar PV installation for commercial and industrial use in East Africa. CFAO Kenya has worked with OFGEN Limited since 2018 to solarize CFAO Group-owned premises within Kenya and Uganda. CFAO group will continue to leverage OFGEN’s expertise in commercial solar PV installation to solarize all its business premises within the East African Region, in line with the Group’s carbon neutrality program and commitment to 50% reduction in its CO2 emission by 2030. With this investment, the CFAO group’s ambition is also to contribute to promoting initiatives toward expanding the use of renewable energy in Africa. Amb. Dennis Awori, Chairman and Country Delegate of CFAO Kenya said OFGEN’s impressive footprint and project pipeline made it a strong addition to the group’s renewable energy portfolio and the investment will help CFAO group accelerate the penetration of the Commercial & Industrial renewable energy market. ‘Our company shall not relent in creating and passing on a better global environment to the children of the future in countries where we do business by aligning our operations and activities with the global sustainability agenda. With six installations already in operation across Kenya and Uganda, our roadmap is to equip all the remaining CFAO premises in over 10 countries in the East and Southern Africa region with photovoltaic panels to reduce carbon emissions from our business operations in the region by more than 1,000 tons per year by the year 2024” added Awori. ”CFAO’s investment suits OFGEN’s short and long-term objectives of creating sustainable development through the provision of efficient and innovative renewable energy solutions in the region on an exciting new scale. To this effect, OFGEN intends to utilize CFAO Group’s extensive footprint across the continent to expand into other African markets,” said Jibril Omar the Founder and CEO of OFGEN Limited. Kenya’s industrial policy aims at inclusive growth, job creation, and poverty reduction through the promotion of a globally competitive manufacturing sector. Despite being a global leader in the adoption of renewable sources for electricity production, Kenya experiences huge transmission and distribution losses of power. This has contributed to high cost of energy that undermines Kenya’s ability to compete for manufacturing jobs, especially in East Africa. In view of this challenge, OFGEN’s promotion of onsite energy production and consumption through industrial solar PV installation seeks to strengthen the competitiveness of Kenya’s manufacturing sector by reducing energy costs. The company has developed innovative solutions including smart financing models and monitoring systems that can support large-scale deployment of industrial solar PV solutions in Kenya. Source: Capital FM Kenya.

Safaricom Ethiopia to start operations next month

Posted on July 8, 2022

The Safaricom-led consortium aims to start operations in Ethiopia next month but will stagger the rollout of the telecommunication services across various Ethiopian cities until next year, it said Thursday. The Safaricom consortium, which also includes British development finance agency CDC Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, won the licence with a bid of $850 million (Sh97.9 billion) last year. It had been tipped to launch commercial services on April 9, 2022, but this was delayed due to unexplained reasons. The first beneficiaries of the telecommunication services launch will be Dire Dawa – a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia and Somali Region border -, said Safaricom. “We will begin our phased launch in August 2022 in Dire Dawa and switch on the network in 24 cities across the country by April 2023,” Safaricom said during a media briefing with local journalists in Addis Ababa Thursday. “Presently, we’ve recruited 500 staff of which 320 are Ethiopians, continuing with a focus on recruitment throughout the country.” Source: Business Daily Newspaper.

Fairmont reopens Mount Kenya Safari Club after Nairobi’s Norfolk

Posted on July 7, 2022

The Fairmont chain of hotels has reopened its third facility on easing of the Coronavirus crisis in the hospitality industry. Nanyuki-based Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club is the latest outlet to resume operations after a 26-month closure. The reopening of the hotel run by French hospitality giant Accor comes months after it resumed operations at Fairmont Mara Safari Club and Fairmont the Norfolk in Nairobi. Low bookings due to the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the hotels to halt operations and send most of their staff home in April 2020. “We have resumed operations at Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club and we are working with 125 workers down from 138 when we closed operations in April 2020,” Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Country General Manager Mehdi Morad told the Business Daily. The hotel closed its doors on April 1, 2020, and sent most of its staff home as bookings remain low due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The closure came at a time the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) survey on hotels had shown that bed occupancy remains low, averaging 23 percent in November and October compared to 24 percent. The doors of Nairobi’s iconic Fairmont the Norfolk were reopened in April 2022 after the facility shut down for over 21 months amid the coronavirus crisis. A dispute over salary cuts forced the owners of the property to close its doors indefinitely and sack all staff nearly two years ago in a row that followed the disruption and revenue loss arising from the pandemic. The closure also came weeks after Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal sold his stake in the Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mara Safari Club to Nepalese tycoon, Binod Chaudhary, for a reported Sh2.8 billion. The prince has been reorganising his portfolio months after being detained in Saudi Arabia’s sweeping crackdown on corruption. Net tourism net earnings jumped 47 percent in the first quarter of this year on the easing of the slump that has hit the industry over the last two years, latest Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data shows. Travel account receipts jumped from Sh15.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to Sh22.4 billion between January and March this year. Source: Business Daily Newspaper.

Nairobi financial hub signs up three global firms on launch

Posted on July 6, 2022

Nairobi’s international financial centre has signed up three companies on the day of its launch including Prudential plc, ARC Ride Kenya and AirCarbon Exchange (ACX). Prudential, one of the world’s biggest insurers and asset managers, became the first firm to formally join the Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC), a special economic zone for financial firms, along Singapore-based global carbon exchange ACX, which seeks to set up a carbon exchange in Kenya. NIFC has also admitted ARC Ride Kenya, a new start-up that is going to produce two and three-wheeled electric scooters and bikes, through the establishment of an electric vehicle assembly plant in Nairobi. The Financial Centre has also signed an MoU with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), to help increase financing and investment in the manufacturing sector in Kenya. The Authority said it is in discussions with additional participants seeking to join the Centre and these will be announced in due course. “Last year Prudential Plc, one of the world’s biggest insurers and asset managers, made a commitment to relocating their Africa headquarters from London to Nairobi and join the Centre. Today we are proud to announce that Prudential becomes the first firm to formally join the Nairobi International Financial Centre,” Vincent Rague, Chairman NIFC Authority. Kenya finally launched its international financial centre eyeing large foreign firms and boosting capital flows to the country and the region. The NIFC Authority has identified four sectors that it will prioritise for growth: green finance, financial technology, investment funds, and becoming a hub for regional multinationals. The Financial centre authority said in order to further strengthen the impact investing ecosystem, a multi-stakeholder platform is currently in formation through the combined efforts of various impact investing entities, and the NIFC will work closely with these investors to help bolster the position of Nairobi as an impact investment hub. Firms considering conducting business through the NIFC must apply for certification from the NIFC Authority. The NIFC general regulations have been enacted and the initial set of tax incentive proposals have been passed. Companies operating a carbon market exchange or emission trading system under the NIFC will benefit from 15 percent corporate tax for the first 10 years of operation. Investor companies certified by the NIFC Authority and have invested a minimum of Sh5 billion will benefit from the certainty that the Capital Gains Tax applicable at the time they make their investments will remain unchanged during the lifetime of the investments. Source: Business Daily Newspaper.

Ride-hailing firm Bolt opens Africa hub in Nairobi

Posted on July 6, 2022

Ride-hailing firm Bolt has launched its African hub in Nairobi, joining a growing list of tech companies that have set their eyes on Kenya to expand in the region. The Estonian-based company has opened its Africa head office in Riverside Drive, which will host top managers overseeing operations in the region. Bolt currently operates in seven African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Tunisia. The firm did not have a centralised African office but operated offices in respective subsidiaries. “Its strategic location in the region and the available infrastructure has enabled us to grow tremendously in the East African Market and we believe we can leverage this to still achieve more across the entire continent,” Bolt regional director Paddy Partridge said. The company says it will use Nairobi’s strategic location on the continent to expand to other Comesa markets as it raises to grow its market share in the ride-hailing sector. “This is just the beginning, and we hope it enables us to develop a cohesive model for sustainable cities engagement that will help improve city services, and urban transportation for the millions of people in the region,” Mr Partridge said. Bolt joins other tech firms that have set up hubs and labs in Nairobi as they race to tap into the African market. American tech giant Microsoft early this year opened a Sh3 billion ($27 million) office and labs for its premier engineering hub, the African Development Centre (ADC). Google also is investing in its first-ever Africa product development hub in Nairobi as part of the tech firm’s Sh115.5 billion investment on the continent over the next five years. Other companies that are setting base in Kenya include Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon, which is opening a data centre and card payment firm Visa. Source: Business Daily Newspaper.