Kenya is looking to receive a foreign direct investment (FDI) boost from the West following meetings between the country’s president William Ruto and Japanese and Polish officials in Tokyo and Nairobi.
On Wednesday, the Kenyan Government signed a framework agreement with officials from Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Toyota’s trading arm, which includes collaboration on renewable energy projects as well as in the car manufacturing sector.
The agreement includes $467.3m (Ks75bn) to be invested in the Menegai geothermal plant and an additional $93.5m that will go towards Kenya’s Meru County wind farm, an 80MW onshore wind power project.
In addition, the agreement will enable Toyota to set up a vehicle manufacturing plant in Kenya, with an initial investment of $4.98m in vehicle manufacturer Kenya Thika.
In a press statement issued by the Official Website of the President of the Republic of Kenya, Rutto said the goal is “to ensure locally manufactured affordable and thus discourage the purchase of used cars”.
“We must have a balance between the number of imported and newly manufactured vehicles,” the Kenyan leader stated.
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By GlobalDataNews of the framework agreement came two days after a delegation of businesspeople from Poland visited Nairobi.
President Rutto told Polish invitees his country is “strategically positioned as an ideal investment hub for foreign investors eyeing the African market”.
The economic dialogue, which took place at a hotel in Kenya’s capital, was attended by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda. Duda said: “One of the most important tasks necessary to promote our mutual investments is to show the Polish people the attractiveness of potential business opportunities in Kenya.”
In 2015, Kenya approved the Special Economic Zone Act, which looks to create several special economic zones for local and global investors, with five currently being set up across the country.
“We will continuously refine these opportunities and incentives to make sure that they reflect the wishes of the market,” Rutto noted.
