Speaking at the African Trade Insurance Agency’s (ATI) Annual General Meeting in Nairobi, the president underscored the need to create and sustain conditions that are conducive to the private sector’s development/PPS
Speaking at the African Trade Insurance Agency’s (ATI) Annual General Meeting in Nairobi, the president underscored the need to create and sustain conditions that are conducive to the private sector’s development.
“Our manifesto and Kenya’s Vision 2030 identifies a number of elaborate policy interventions aimed at enabling, guaranteeing and funding the economy,” President Kenyatta said.
He said that he is keen in removing structural impediments that stand in the way of businesses in the country and also lower administrative barriers that impede trade and investors.
Kenyatta commended Africa for maintaining its economic resilience and a faster growth.
Despite the difficult global conditions, the president noted, Africa has maintained its economic buoyancy and its output is now growing at a faster pace than any other region in the world.
He pointed out that regional output is set to rise in 2013 with overall economic growth projected to increase at an average of 5.6 percent.
“Factors that influence this growth include high public investment spending, strong commodity export prices, new resource exploitation, and increasingly diversified trade with growing emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India,” the president said.
He advised African countries to work towards reducing vulnerability to external shocks “especially volatility in the euro zone – a region which provides a large market for many African exports including Kenya, and accounts for 26 percent of Kenya’s total exports,” he said.
Speaking during the occasion, ATI Chief Executive Officer George Otieno said his agency is diversifying its investment portfolio in order to ensure that its services remain competitive not only among the member states but the continent.
Otieno pointed out that ATI is further seeking innovative ways of collaborating with other key players in the member states and globally to deliver on its mandate.
On her part, Tanzania’s Finance Deputy Minister Janeth Mbene who is the acting chairperson of the AGM, rooted for more African countries to join ATI in order to enhance its capital investment base.
Mbene noted that ATI, the African premier insurer’s rating should be based on the number of ordinary Africans benefitting rather than the number of transactions.
Other speakers included the Sierra Leone Consul-General Abdul Ko Kargbo who read a goodwill message from his country’s President Ernest Bai Koroma, ATI Chairman Israel Kamuzora and African Development Bank, Regional Director Gabriel Negatu.
