Second EAC Investment Conference

(Daily Nation)--A major investment conference kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday with private companies being challenged to drive economic growth in East Africa.

Regional leaders who included four presidents pledged to create a more conducive environment for more investment opportunities in the region. Already, countries like Kenya and Rwanda have embarked on key reforms in their business regimes, which has led to the reduction of the number of licences that investors need. The reforms have also reduced the number of days it takes to register companies.

The three day investment conference, which is being held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, is expected to showcase the region’s economic potential and market it as one market that is ideal for investment. The theme of the forum is ‘Invest in the East African Community; where challenges are opportunities’ and it is expected to provide a forum for potential investors to build new business links and use the talks as a launch pad into the region.

Led by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, top government officials from countries in the region singled out infrastructure development, agriculture, communications and energy as among the sectors that remain largely untapped but which promise lucrative returns for investors. Among those present were Rwandan President Paul Kagame, President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, President Amani Abeid Karume of Zanzibar and Eriya Kategaya, Uganda’s deputy Prime Minister.

President Kibaki said that even though the region faced various challenges, many of them could be turned into lucrative investment opportunities. However, he lamented that Africa was still not attracting its ‘fair share of the global capital inflows,’ as it only gets a paltry three per cent compared to other regions in the world. He said reforms in various sectors have improved the trade and investment environment in Africa and resulted in improved economic performance.

But despite this, President Kibaki said the availability of financial resources to develop the region’s infrastructure still remained a big challenge because donor funding for projects was declining. There was, therefore, need for a clear policy to guide the role of private investors in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure projects.

While echoing President Kibaki’s sentiments, President Kagame said the ‘East African region has immense potential that has largely remained untapped.’ But for the region to attract more investors, it has to reduce trade barriers and improve the terms of doing business in the region besides improving its roads and railways to boost transport. President Kagame who is also the chairman of the heads of states summit of the East African Community (EAC) called for the strengthening of small and medium enterprises as a way of building economic potential. Such enterprises employ millions of workers and combined, provide more job opportunities than the formal sector.

President Nkurunziza said his government had opened its doors to investors as Burundi was in dire need of trade partners to improve their economy. ‘Those willing to invest will not be disappointed. We shall provide a wide range of incentives to them,’ Nkurunziza told the forum. ‘For instance, we have already cancelled visa fees for Tanzania visitors travelling to Burundi from July this year. We are also implementing reforms in line with the needs of the region,’ added Nkurunziza.

President Karume of Zanzibar said development of the region’s infrastructure was key as this would ease the flow of goods and services from one country to the others. He further called on the five partner states to consider irrigating their farms, as this will ensure that the region becomes self-reliant in food production. ‘If we do this, we shall surely succeed in unlocking the region’s immense potential,’ he said.

Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Uganda’s deputy Prime Minister Kategaya said the region would be more competitive as a common market. ‘It will be more attractive to market the region collectively than as individual countries,’ said Odinga. Kategaya on his part called on businessmen in the region to ensure that their products were competitive by adding value to them.

<< Back to main