NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 8 – Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, has termed the entry of Commercial International Bank (CIB) into Kenya’s market as a significant step towards enhancing trade among Africa’s 54-member states.
Speaking at the Kenya-Egypt Business Forum in Nairobi, which was attended by 40 Egyptian companies, including construction, transport, water, tourism, manufacturing, and healthcare, Mudavadi emphasized the country’s commitment to opening its market to African countries to boost intra-Africa trade, leading to job creation and wealth retention.
“Kenya appreciates the people and the government of Egypt for accepting to have this engagement on Kenya-Egypt cross-border trade on the sidelines of the Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC),” Mudavadi said.
“As a government, we will facilitate and give you the necessary support so that trade, commerce and investments can grow and benefit the people in our two countries,” he added.
He stated that CIB, as part of Egypt’s business community, was welcome to do business in Kenya as well as use it as its launchpad for the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Hassan Shoukry, who accompanied Mudavadi, expressed governmental support to overcome obstacles and foster collaborations to enhance trade, infrastructure, and connectivity for prosperity and security in Eastern Africa and Africa as a whole.
“Our presence here, myself and PCS (Mudavadi), is a clear indication that at the governmental level, we are keen to support to clear any bottlenecks that may exist, to provide the environment conducive for greater collaborations to increase level of trade, participation and infrastructure among other areas, that we need and connectivity between us that has a beneficial effect on creating better environment for Eastern Africa and Africa as a whole for prosperity for peace and security,” he said.
CIB, Egypt’s largest private sector lender with assets exceeding $24 billion, entered the Kenyan market four years ago through the acquisition of Mayfair Bank and is listed on the Egyptian and London stock exchanges.
