President Kenyatta with KenInvest chairperson Anne Kirima-Muchoki during the launch of the Kenya International Investment Conference 2014 at KICC in Nairobi
The government will set up a one-stop centre for investors to get approvals and permits for setting up businesses in a move meant to attract more investment in the country. The centre will help to cut the time taken by investors, both local and foreign, in setting up and complying with regulations to operate businesses in Kenya. It will now take only a day to register their business, file taxes electronically and access both regional and international markets easily.
This was announced at the first Kenya International Investment Conference, organised by the government in its efforts to encourage investors to put their money in local ventures. Speaking during the conference, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that his government is keen to provide investors with clean and cheap energy. The government aims to expand power generation capacity by 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2017, adding to installed capacity of 1,664 MW in a bid to tem high cost of power that has inflated the cost of doing business hence scaring off potential investors.
The standard gauge railway project that aims at connecting the country to other East African states is a huge baby step towards diversifying transportation means. Apart from lowering the cost of transport, the bulky rail transport is industrial friendly as it provides direct link between industries and sources of raw materials. The first phase of the project will cover 609.3 kilometers from the port of Mombasa to Nairobi and will cost $3.6 billion (Sh314.2 billion at today exchange rate). 90 per cent of the financing will come from China Exim Bank while the remaining 10 per cent will be from the Government of Kenya.
A single window system, an electronic platform that serve as a single entry point for shippers involved in international trade, also started to operate in October. The system aims at speeding up the clearance of imports at Kenyan ports hence cutting on trade transaction costs, delays from bureaucratic procedures, corruption in addition to improving space utilization at ports.
Kenya, together with other East African states, is championing one network in communication sector that will see calling rates lowered. The talk on one network comes barely a few months after the successful launch of the East Africa Payment System (EAPS) that has seen the cost of money transfer within East Africa lowered. This platform offers a secure and cheap money transfer mode especially for huge investors in the region.
Other reforms initiated by the government in a bid to woo international investors include opening of capital markets for foreign participation, abolishment of exchange controls, freeing of the Kenya shilling exchange rate to be market driven and removal of price controls. The President promised the government’s commitment signing a double taxation agreement that aims at exempting foreign investors from harsh tax regime. The decentralized form of governance also point investors to economic resources in every part of the country.