Kenya to host East Africa's major investment forum

By LUMITI KHABUCHI
Kenya Times

Kenya will jointly with the Commonwealth Business council host the East African Investment Forum late next month.

The event expected to run from 19th to 21st November in Nairobi will be coordinated by the ministry of Trade and Industry.

The forum whose theme is ‘Trade and Investment: Growth through global partnerships’ will discuss opportunities for investment partnerships in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

The scheduled East African Business Forum (EABC) due to take place in Nairobi will be a follow-up event to the operations of the body founded in November 1997 as an apex body of business associations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Its formation was actively supported by the EAC Secretariat in view of the increasing participation of the private sector players in issues of regional integration. Thus EABC has grown to become the voice of the private sector in East Africa.

The event to be held in conjunction with the Common Wealth Business Council is expected to draw a high number of participants as a show of support to the much publicized East African Federation.

This will come as a timely event in view of the great trade expectations expected to come with the success of the federation.

EABC advocates free movement of people in the region, formation of private-public sector alliances to strengthen Small and

Medium size Enterprises’ (SME) development, pooling of resources to develop infrastructure in East Africa on regional scale and strengthening of good governance and security.

Among other sponsors like GTZ and Celtel who have been sponsoring its operations, the Commonwealth Business Council has also shown interest in the organization.

The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) provides leadership in increasing international trade and investment flows, creating new business opportunities, promoting good governance and corporate social responsibility, reducing the digital divide and integrating developing countries into the global market.

In fulfilling its mission, CBC strives to provide a bridge between the private sector and governments, between emerging markets and developed markets and between small businesses and international private sector.

CBC’s goal is to achieve economic empowerment for shared global prosperity through the enhancement of private sector contribution to social and economic development.

According to the CBS, Many Commonwealth countries offer good investment opportunities but suffer from popular misconceptions, uneven media coverage and failure to promote their economic strengths to important external audiences.