Kenya to enhance partnerships in trade and investment with Turkish private sector, Mudavadi says
Kenya to enhance partnerships in trade and investment with Turkish private sector, Mudavadi says
Kenya is opening up to new partnerships in the private sector globally to broaden its investment opportunities and attract business.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said the partnerships are aimed at improving the ease of doing business in Kenya and laying the requisite policy and infrastructural framework for investment.
Mudavadi said the government has put in place structures to ensure that Nairobi commands its stature as the regions business and financial hub, thus serving as a gateway to Africa.
“Looking at the new global order, Kenya is open and ready to seize every opportunity that will deepen our bilateral cooperation and integration globally. What we are looking for are opportunities which are becoming scarce and attracting intense competition,” said Mudavadi.
Mudavadi spoke when he met investors, business leaders, and strategic partners at during the Türkiye-Kenya Roundtable meeting in Istanbul, hosted by the Türkiye Business Council.
He said Kenya’s robust programs in areas such as the affordable housing, upgrading infrastructure (roads and rail network), Universal Health Care, renewable energy, Agriculture, finance and banking, manufacturing and ICT and High-Tech are among the market drivers that call for stronger public private partnership engagements.
He told the meeting that Kenya has the most liberal financial market in Africa and they should look at Kenya as a key investment destination and gateway for the East African region and beyond.
“In terms of the financial sector, Kenya has the largest footprint in the East African region boosting of over 500 banking branches across the region and in terms of the Gross Domestic Product it has the largest economy compared to the rest regionally,” Mudavadi explained.
“Kenya is a democratic country and its legal systems are working seamlessly both to support the citizens and investors. The legal framework outlines how the government engages with those who want to invest in various sectors and this adds up to the fundamental pillars that make Kenya attractive to investment.”
Mudavadi said the young population comprising of about 70% of the total population in Africa, Kenya enjoys a fair share of tech-savvy youth who are ready to embrace the opportunities presented by the digital space to place Kenya on the competitive global technology map and enhance job creation in the country.
“There is ready labour which is skilled and competent. Our youth have proven that technology is the next frontier of government operations and businesses. Kenya is working on Tech solution-based approaches and recently we launched the Artificial Intelligence Strategy (2025–2030), through the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy.”
“The core of this strategy is Kenya’s aspiration to adopt AI technologies and lead in AI model innovation and commercialization, creating solutions tailored to its unique needs and those of the African continent. This assures our investors of a safe haven since we are also working on policies that will help addresses issues related to cyber crime and other ICT related threats to businesses,” he added.
He said Kenya’s advancements in the renewable energy sector gives it an edge as an estimated 93% of Kenya’s power grid is sourced from wind, solar and geothermal power.
He revealed that Kenya amongst other African countries is looking at ways of making the energy sector more attractive to investors noting that a number of incentives will be made possible to ease the cost of investing in the sector.
“Capital goes to where there is good will. Kenya is investing significant resources to unlock the existing bottleneck in the energy sector where unexploited opportunities to create jobs and investment are,” he said.
Turkiye business council Chairperson Omer Karadeli committed to fast-tracking further engagements between the government of Kenya and Turkey’s private sector with the Kenyan Ambassador to Türkiye, Leonard Boiyo, tasked with ensuring a proper plan for further bilateral engagements is set out before the end of the year.
Mudavadi is in the Republic of Türkiye to attend the 4th Antalya Diplomatic Forum to be held between April 11 and 2025 in the city of Antalya.
The forum will gather global leaders, policymakers, academics, business experts and civil society to explore how diplomacy can turn the tide and navigate the society through a fragmented world to find a common ground for collective action.