NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 22-Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), the owner of Tatu city is planning to establish an association for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that is aimed at among others, accelerating development and investments in the country.
The firm through a statement, said the association will champion favourable policies and a conducive environment for SEZs with an ultimate aim of attracting foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country as well as promoting domestic investment.
“The engagement will further enable the upcoming SEZs in the country to speak with one voice, thereby safeguarding their investors’ interests and championing for more development,” the firm said.
Preston Mendenhall, Tatu City’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) said its collaboration with Tatu city to create the association will boost urban development in the country as well as ensure its good implementation
“We are glad for the continued engagement between us and Konza Technopolis. What we have identified as sister cities is that we must collaborate closely on the Special Economic Zones which is relatively new legislation to ensure its good implementation in Kenya to enable it to attract Foreign Direct Investments in Kenya and also benefit all domestic investors,” he said.
Mendenhall noted that both cities are looking forward to positioning Kenya as a global industrialization hub by bringing in more investors while easing the weight of urbanization on cities.
So far, 64 companies have already taken space at Tatu City, with 13 of them operating under the SEZs category.
KoTDA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Tanui noted that the engagement is envisioned to propel the joint development of the smart cities with a focus on three areas; promotion of the cities, promotion of SEZs and the utilization of the cities’ existing infrastructure such as the Data Centre in Konza.
“We are glad that our engagement with Tatu City has continued to bear fruits and from today’s discussion, we are glad that the establishment of the SEZs association will seek to promote investment in our country,” Tanui added.
Tanui added that the Authority is already benefiting from the SEZs incentives with over 50 investors earmarked to taking up space at the Konza Technopolis.
The two cities which announced their collaboration in January 2021 are putting up a mixed-use development with homes, schools, offices, medical centres, nature parks, sport &and entertainment complex and manufacturing.
So far, KoTDA’s National Data Centre and Konza Complex are complete while horizontal infrastructure on Phase One is ongoing. On its side, Tatu City has already established schools and businesses which are operational.
