CS Kandie with KenInvest MD Moses Ikiara.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 21 – The second edition of Kenya International Investment Conference will take place next month.
Cabinet Secretary Ministry of East Africa Affairs Commerce and Tourism Phyllis Kandie said that the conference is an opportunity to bring foreign investment into the country.
“We want to encourage innovators and entrepreneurs who will be present at the conference to present bankable projects to the local and international investors who will be present,” said Kandie.
The conference will be hosted by Kenya Investment Authority (KenIvest), an agency of the Ministry of East Africa Affairs Commerce and Tourism, in partnership with East Africa Trade and Investment Hub, IFC, Oxford Business Group, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI).
Sectors encouraged to participate at the conference include agribusiness, leather and textile, ICT, renewable energy and tourism.
According to Kandie, research by IBM International and World Bank shows that the sectors are currently the most profitable and viable.
However, other sectors will not be locked out.
“In order to promote exports and bring in foreign investments, we need to table projects that have enough information for investors to put their money into. Agribusiness for instance has a lot of opportunities, so does tourism and renewable energy,” she said.
The government hopes to transform KIICO into the biggest investment conference on the continent. According to Kandie, the conference will be used to expose Kenyan investment ideas to the world.
“The conference comes at a time when Kenya is driving and facilitating high levels of global investor interest across the country,” Kandie said adding that the conference’s theme will be, ‘Think Investment, Make it Kenya’.
KIICO is set to receive a lot of publicity worldwide as it will be a few days ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to Kenya and his first in Africa since taking over as the Pope.
Kandie therefore called out to local and international investors and exhibitors to register for the conference which will be held at KICC from 23rd to 25th of next month.
