The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb Dr. Monica Juma

Kenya’s Ambassador to the U.S. Amb. Robinson Githae

Permanent Secretaries Present

County  Governors Present

Chief Executive, Corporate Council for Africa 

Chair Kenya National Chamber

Chief Executive, Kenya Private Sector Alliance

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, Joel Szabat

And all protocol observed

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

The Kenya – U.S. commercial relationship has achieved tremendous milestones this year. Beginning with the PACDBIA fact-finding mission to Kenya in June. During this visit the U.S. Government and the Government of Kenya took up the challenge to make deliberate effort to expand trade and investment between the two countries, and committed to doing so in a coordinated manner through the provisions of an MoU, focusing on development and implementation of strategic infrastructure and Big Four priority projects in Kenya.

Further commitment was made by the heads of state of both countries during the visit of Kenya’s head of state to the White House in August to form a technical working group to drive the MoU. We had the opportunity just last week to share with the United States Trade Representative delegation that was visiting Kenya, the American private sector’s perspective on opportunities to advance trade and investment between Kenya and the U.S. as well as the challenges faced, with specific areas that need focused engagement and that could input into bilateral discussions and the deliberations of the working group.

Another important milestone, The Build ACT, will expand opportunities for financial support for projects in developing countries demonstrating U.S. Government commitment to enabling American private investors take advantage of and participate in existing opportunities in Kenya and other African countries.

In all this, business organizations such as AmCham and CCA act as liaisons between the government and the private sector in support of these endeavors and ensure that the business and regulatory environments are conducive to business. 

One of the issues highlighted in the PACDBIA report that is hindering U.S. private sector participation in opportunities in Africa is simply that U.S. companies are not competing for these opportunities. They recommended that one way to encourage more interest in these opportunities for businesses of all sizes is to better disseminate information on the opportunities while being plain about the existing challenges and how to mitigate risks. This is exactly the goal of this forum.

While Kenya, just like everywhere else globally, is not yet a perfect case; it is a model. It has the opportunities and is building essential structures to enable you to do business the right way. Doing business in Africa is a good idea. Doing business in Kenya is an even better one.

 

Thank you