The Panel was made up of Belvas Otieno (Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation), Joseph Murabula (Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Climate Innovation Center), Chibuzo Ene (Chief Executive Officer, Nathan Claire) and was moderated by Lisa Botha (Partner, Pinsent Mason).

Kenya can enhance its attractiveness as a private investment destination by adopting the success drivers from other jurisdictions. The success factors from other jurisdictions also may offer potential opportunities for Kenya in its own context.

Kenya remains an attractive investment destination, albeit more can be done.

Kenya is deemed to have many investment opportunities in comparison to other jurisdictions including in sectors such as climate, water, energy, consumables, infrastructure, energy and many more, due to various factors including being a regional gateway. It was suggested that incentivizing entrepreneurs by lowering tax rates as well as enhancing the ease of complying with tax procedures would be beneficial to the country’s entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem.

Data driven decision making is crucial in enhancing governance in the region.

The panel recognized that the quality of governance has significantly improved in the course of the years in Kenya which has contributed to its success as a financial hub compared to other African destinations. Kenya and other countries in the region should however be more deliberate in harnessing quality data and utilizing such data to guide decision making by government agencies and authorities.

Development impact is clear, but commercial return remains elusive.

Investment in Kenya (and Africa generally) generates clear developmental impact results. However, there is a scarcity of deals that offer promising commercial viability and consequently, there is an apparent need for entrepreneurs to enhance return to their investors in order to deepen investment by attracting commercial investors, whose investment participation is crucial for later stage investment rounds as opposed to development finance institutions (DFIs) whose participation should be more prevalent at the earlier stages.

Lisa, summarized the discussion by noting that there need to maximize returns and narrow the loss gap; entrepreneurs need more clarity on legislation; SMEs need more access to innovative finance suitable to grow business; there is need to incentivize the growth of talent and particularly support top talent with entrepreneurial skills that work independently by assimilating them into functioning entrepreneur ecosystems to ensure that their growth is not limited to ; and there is need to enhance the involvement of stakeholders, including at grassroot level, in decision-making by government.