Doing business in Kenya

The geographical context


East Africa’s Largest Economy

Kenya is the largest and the most advanced economy in East and Central Africa; with strong growth prospects supported by an emerging, urban middle class and an increasing appetite for high-value goods and services.

Low Risk Investment Environment

Kenya’s investment climate is the strongest in the EAC, with FDI flowing in from emerging and developed markets and a high volume of multinational companies with regional and continent-wide headquarters in the country.

Kenya in numbers

Strategic Location as Regional Financial, Communication & Transport Hub

Kenya is strategically located as a gateway to East and Central African region. Kenya’s membership to regional economic blocs coupled with her strategic geographic position makes the country the gateway to the huge East African Community (EAC) market with over 135 million people and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) market with over 450 million people. Kenya is a beneficiary of several trade preferential arrangements which includes The African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) which allows for quota free and duty free access to the USA market for over 6,000 items produced in Kenya.

Relatively Well Established Social & Physical Infrastructure

Kenya has relatively well developed physical infrastructural facilities including, four international airports, an extensive road and railway network, a modern deep sea port at Mombasa capable of handling bulk and other containerized cargo, an expanding, liberalized energy sector and digital telecommunication networks. As a result, Kenya continues to develop as financial, other services and transport hub for the East and Central African region.

Strong Entrepreneurial & Innovative Environment

Kenya pursues a mixed economy and her dynamic and diversified private sector comprises numerous small scale local enterprises, medium sized businesses and multi-national companies. They provide an array of manufactured goods, business services and agricultural products for local consumption and also for export. Kenya was the first country in the world to launch mobile money, “M-PESA;” an innovation which allows users to transfer cash using mobile phones. Based upon its success in Kenya, M-PESA is currently under replication in a number of countries across the globe.

Kenya in numbers