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KEPSA is the private sector apex and umbrella body set up in 2003, to bring together business community in a single voice to engage and influence public policy for an enabling business environment. over 500,000 direct and indirect members..
KEPSA
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info@kepsa.or.ke
THE 3RD KENYA INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT CONFERENCE (KIICO 2023)
- Published On: 2023-05-30
KEPSA led the Kenya private sector players on 30th May 2023, the second day of the 3rd Kenya International Investment Conference (KIICO 2023) in Nairobi which was attended by key businesses from around the African continent. Themed “Unlocking Africa’s Gateway”, the event deliberated on strategies for unlocking Africa's potential in investments and trade.
In her opening remarks, KEPSA CEO Ms Carole Kariuki noted that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Private Sector Strategy had already been developed and sought to engage stakeholders from both the private and public sectors across the continent to ensure an inclusive approach to implementing the AfCFTA. She said that under this strategy, regional value chains had already been identified for development to offer African countries an opportunity to use regional advantages to boost competitiveness, diversify product supply, export products with higher value-addition and reduce economic vulnerabilities.
“The full liberalization of the African market under the AfCFTA is needed to open Africa for Africa. In the case of Kenya, the removal of non-tariff barriers on agricultural products could increase Kenya’s agricultural exports by an average of 30% into Africa,” Said Ms Kariuki while adding that Africa must develop competitive human capital that is STEM-oriented and strengthen industry-academia linkages, an asset she said was the most ignored and underexplored.
The Principal Secretary of the State Department for Investment Promotion Hon. Abubakar Hassan Abubakar noted that the Government of Kenya had collaborated with other partners to develop additional export processing zones and special economic zones that provide incentives to investors such as graduated corporate tax holidays, perpetual import duty and VAT exemptions, capital investment deductions, expedited projects approvals, investor support and aftercare through a one-stop centre and immigration custom and operational support.
During the conference, two collaborative partnership agreements were signed, which included an MOU between the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) and the Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce that will foster stronger economic ties between Kenya and China, opening up new avenues for investment, trade, and collaboration. The second MOU was between Wise Bridge (Korea) and DL Group (Kenya).
During a high-level panel discussion on Unlocking Africa’s Gateway, KEPSA’s Vice-Chairperson Dr Jaswinder Bedi noted that in order to have significant value addition, Africa needs to overcome the historic extractive infrastructure system that was inculcated by the colonialists to ferry goods out of Africa. “We need to talk about insertive infrastructure where we can trade amongst each other by sorting the serious logistical issues. Connectivity in the continent is super important,” he said.
Dr Bedi was joined in the panel by General Electric East Africa President Ms Brenda Mbathi; Copia Global CEO Mr Tim Steel; Afreximbank Regional Manager Mr Kudakwashe Matereke; AU Commission of ETTIM Mr Jean Bertrand Azapmo and UAE Trade Center CEO Mr Walid Hareb Al Falahi. The discussion covered the business environment in Kenya; infrastructure development as an enabler; opportunities under the AfCFTA and policy frameworks to accelerate growth. The high-level session concluded with a keynote address that was delivered by Dr James Mwangi, CEO Equity Group.
The event later in the day hosted various panel and roundtable discussions including Tourism, Sports and Culture; Sustainable Blue Economy; Sustainable Trade and Investment - Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and the AfCFTA; Digital Transformation in the Water Sector; K-Bio Medical Roadshow and Digital Trade.
KEPSA was well represented across the various sessions. At the K-Bio Medical Roadshow session, Dr Amit Thakker (KEPSA Advisor) and Dr Elizabeth Wala (KEPSA Director) made presentations in a discussion that focused on investing in the biomedical sector.
The conference continues and will come to a close on the 31st of May 2023 with many more exciting sessions that will deliberate on the private sector growth and development in Africa.