On 23^rd September 2023, KEPSA in partnership with the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) held the U.S.-Kenya Business and Investment Roundtable with H.E. Dr. William Ruto - President of the Republic of Kenya at Westin Hotel in New York, U.S.A. The KEPSA team was led by the Chairperson Dr. Jas Bedi representing the CEO Ms Carole Kariuki while CCA was led by President and CEO Ms. Florizelle Liser. The roundtable was held alongside the 2024 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and aimed to market investment opportunities in Kenya for U.S. businesses and identify potential partnerships between Kenyan and US businesses.

President Ruto was accompanied by Hon. Musalia Mudavadi - Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign & Diaspora Affairs; Hon. Hassan Joho - Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy & Maritime Affairs; Mr Adan Mohamed - Chief of Strategy Execution, among other senior government officials. Other KEPSA leaders who spoke at the event were Mr. John Gachora – KEPSA Director & Group Managing Director of NCBA and Mr. Peter Ndegwa - CEO of Safaricom.

KEPSA and CCA have a longstanding relationship focused on increasing Kenya-U.S. trade and investment, formalised by an MoU in 2012. The collaborations have yielded fruitful engagements, benefiting the private sector, and with a strong focus on women, youth and minority groups. Similar past events have led to an increase in the country's total exports to the US by 67.6% in the year 2022 compared to 2021.

In his remarks, H.E. President Ruto highlighted opportunities in manufacturing and renewable energy in Kenya. He noted that Kenya has established trade agreements to facilitate trade and investments.  “Kenya is a robust democracy. You have no risk of anybody appropriating your business. We have a very strong judiciary, we have an accountable administration, we have a parliament that works and we have systems that protect business and protect the rights of everybody,” said H.E. President Ruto.

The roundtable featured a question-and-answer session where attendees presented issues to a panel consisting of H.E President Ruto; Dr. Jas Bedi; Mr. John Gachora; Ms. Florizelle Liser and Mr. John Olajideand the Chairman of CCA. The discussions revolved around the Kenyan government's efforts to make government services more accessible through digital means which included the expansion of fibre optic networks, aiming to connect 10,000 institutions. Another issue was around financial reforms where the Kenyan government is working on creating predictable tax regimes. The conversation also touched on the importance of AI in driving economic growth and the collaboration between the government and companies like Google to achieve this.

In her closing remarks, Ms. Florizelle Liser lauded President Ruto for being a visionary leader, not only for Kenya but also for Africa. She reiterated CCA’s commitment to strengthen commercial ties between the United States and Africa by supporting trade and investment and exploring new avenues for collaboration.