Access to the American market
Kenya is a beneficiary of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) under which initiative, Kenya’s manufactured products enjoy duty free access to the US market. Both foreign and local investors in Kenya are encouraged to invest in the production of textile, leather, horticulture, fish, rubber, iron and steel products which offer benefits under the AGOA scheme.

Kenya’s manufacturing sector has vast opportunities for investment, especially in providing forward and backward linkages. Untapped opportunities exist in agro-processing, manufacture of textiles and apparel, automotive components, electronic assembly, plastics, paper, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metals and engineering.

Agriculture
Agriculture is the largest sector of the Kenyan economy and provides a source of revenue for approximately 75 per cent of the population. It offers significant range for diversification predominantly in the area of non-traditional exports.

Agriculture provides substantial investment opportunities in the beef export industry which encompasses the establishment of quality abattoirs, establishment of EU compliant disease-free zones, milk processing and manufacture of animal feeds amongst others. Other opportunities exist in the poultry sub-sector, honey refining and packaging and ostrich farming.

Fisheries
The fisheries sub-sector specifically has extensive opportunities that have not been exploited.

Such opportunities include provision of cold storage facilities, fish-harvesting, fish-processing plants, utilization of by-products like fish-bones to make fish-meal, aquaculture, mari-culture (Shrimp farming), and joint fishing ventures in the exclusive economic zones.

Conserving the environment
Since independence, successive Kenyan Governments have always recognized that environmental degradation adversely affects productivity thereby increasing poverty levels. This appreciation is rooted on the fact that Kenya is endowed with immense resources in its flora and fauna and these natural resources are the backbone of growth and livelihood.

Kenya has therefore been at the forefront in advocating for sustainable development, a fete reinforced by the fact that UNEP and UNHABITAT are headquartered in Kenya. There are remarkable efforts in environmental conservation from local and international organizations. One of the most notable local initiatives is the Green Belt Movement founded by Professor Wangari Mathaai whose efforts over the years were recently awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Development of infrastructure
Given the inadequacy of some of Kenya’s physical infrastructure, the sector offers extensive opportunities for investment.

These include the upgrading of slum and informal settlements, construction of urban middle and low-income housing, manufacture and supply of building materials and components, participation in the concessioning and dualing of the Mombasa-Malaba and Busia highway on the Northern Corridor Programme, and provision of credit to construction companies.

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