These six reasons shows investing in Kenya is solid as betting on its legendary runners on the tracks
Kenya is the ninth-largest economy in Africa and is steadily climbing up.
In 2015, Kenya emerged third in the top 20 fastest growing economies in the world according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg Business.
Kenya and Nigerian were the only African countries that have made it to the list.
“Kenya is emerging as one of Africa’s key growth centers with sound economic policies in place for future improvement” Diarietou Gaye, the World Bank’s Country Director for Kenya said at a past event.
Kenya is the ninth-largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $55.2 billion after rebasing its Gross Domestic Product.
The above reasons and more go to proof without a doubt why the future is Kenya.
Speaking during the launch of the campaign, why the future is Kenya, Brand Kenya Chairman, Dr. Chris Kirubi said that Kenya is ahead of her pears thanks to factors including increasing innovation, a thriving business environment, as well a rising middle class.
“Given Kenya’s diversifying and robust growth prospects, strong private-sector participation, ongoing pro-business reforms, as well as a rising domestic and regional consumer market, Kenya is treading on the right path as it seeks to establish itself as an investment hub in Africa.” Dr. Kirubi said.
Also read: THESE 10 SECTORS OF THE KENYAN ECONOMY HOLD THE MOST POTENTIAL AND HAVE THRIVED IN THE LAST DECADE
Here are six reasons why Kenya is indeed the future.
#1. World’s investment hub
Nairobi is one of the leading regional destinations companies establishing international headquarters, According to Infomineo.
Kenya’s capital is the leading destination for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies and appears on the Fortune 500 list where it competes with cities like Dubai and Johannesburg as one of world’s investor's hot spots.
Furthermore while doing business in Kenya, one doesn’t need to worry about lack of internet, a key component in facilitating business.
Kenyans enjoy faster mobile internet speeds than Americans, Taiwanese, Irish and Swedes, according to a new report by Akamai.
#2. Youthful population
The most important and valuable asset a country can possess is its people and Kenya has no shortage of patriotic, hardworking and above all youthful populations to spur economic growth and prosperity.
According to the latest UN World Population report, from only 22 million working-age people today, Kenya by 2050 will have about 56 million working-age people.
Also read: 4 KENYAN WOMEN WITH IMMENSE TALENT WHO ARE LIFTING THE KENYAN FLAG HIGH ON THE GLOBAL ARENA
Unlike the west which is struggling with an aging population and governments have been forced to even entice its population to reproduce more to ensure continuity, the proportion of the working-age population in Kenya will grow much faster than the young and elderly population groups that depend on them.
What’s more, life expectancy in Kenya is projected to increase from 54 years today to 68 years by 2050.
#3. Ease of doing business
Kenya was ranked 92nd out of 190 countries in the in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report, 2017.
Kenya moved up 21 places from the previous year and the government can toast champagne in its honor after it simplified procedures for setting up businesses, as well as improving access to credit and protecting minority investors.
Kenya outdid itself even more in its quest to become the business hub of the world and launched a national trade policy this month.
#4. Skilled labour force
Kenya has one of the most skilled labour force in the continent if not the world.
Kenyan education system is also one of the most rigorous in the continent; furthermore in a bid to improve its educations standards even more and keep up with changing trends; Kenya recently introduced a new curriculum specifically catered to equip learners with practical and theoretical skills to solve some of the today’s world problems.
Also read: Kenya ranked third most Innovative country
Annually, thousands of skilled Kenyans graduate from universities and tertiary colleges with all range of skills and can easily meet market demands.
The invention of mobile money transfer, Mpesa and recently the world's first mobile-only traded government bond, M-Akiba is proof enough of the skills found in Kenya.
Nairobi was also ranked as the most intelligent city in Africa according to an article appearing in the CNN.
Kenyan entrepreneur, Charity Wanjiku, for instance, was named one of the top female tech innovators in Africa. she was crowned one of the winners in the technology innovators and entrepreneurs awards, 2017 during the just concluded World Economic Forum (WEF).
#5. Market
Kenya is the gateway to East Africa and the regional commercial hub.
Kenya gives you access to one of the biggest markets in the world with a population of 200 million, which is the same size of Brazil and larger than Japan.
Without Kenya, penetrating the East African market is a hard nut to crack.
Intra-trade within EAC is also one of the biggest in the world, in 2010, for instance, the EAC accounted for 53 percent of Kenya’s total exports to the rest of Africa and 24 percent of its total exports to the world.
Kenya’s also has one of the largest and fastest growing middle class who are consumers.
Early this year they forced one of the biggest mobile brands in the world to unveil its latest gadget in Kenya with a view of branching out to the rest of the African markets.
"Kenya is one of our most important countries in Africa for the past ten years. In Kenya, we have one of the biggest consumer base and therefore we have been constantly improving our solutions to the consumer in the Kenyan market” Ms. Beehong Hong, Transsion Chief Marketing Officer said during the launch of the Camon CX.
#6. Strong private-sector
Kenya’s private sector is the envy of the continent.
Kenya Private Sector Association (KEPSA) is one of the most active bodies in the country and strives to keep all arms of the government in check.
A lot of developments have been realized through public-private partnership (PPP).
In 2016, it went a step further and adopted the global code of ethics to address graft in the private sector.
“we have very strong local brands that is one thing we love about this country, the strength of our corporate sector, we have a strong inbuilt corporate sector that is able to power our economy, that is able to support business like ours and millions of others, that is able to give jobs to millions of Kenyans something we should be very proud of.” Allen Kambuni, co-founder of Bean interactive company which won the AVA digital awards, 2017 told Business Insider.
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