President Barack Obama visits Kenya next month to attend the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). The visit is significant in two aspects; he is the first sitting US President to visit Kenya. Secondly, he traces his ancestry to a village in Kenya. In 1987, Barack Obama, then a young man, sought to trace his roots and found them in Kogelo, Siaya County. He visited again in 2006 when he was a senator.
It is a source of great pride that the first Black President of America traces his roots to Kenya and naturally, many people thought that would perhaps make him visit Kenya often or, at least during his first term in office. That did not happen. President Obama hosted the Africa Leaders Summit in Washington last year in which he outlined the US government's plan for the world's poorest continent. In attendance was President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Expectations are high, and Kenyans hope the visit portends good for the country. Hordes of entrepreneurs are expected at the summit. That the US economy has thrived mostly on start-ups that morphed into business colossi is a subject of many business school case studies. Local entrepreneurs therefore have a chance to showcase their wares and get noticed.
Kenya-US relations have remained strong despite the ups and down in the recent past. Last month, the US pledged $45 million (Over Sh4billion) in the fight against Al Shabaab. The US Government through various non-governmental organisations, is engaged in a myriad of programmes from agriculture, health to education to civic education. Its role in helping build strong institutions that support democracy cannot be gainsaid; from the Judiciary, Parliament, to the Executive, to the Fourth Estate.
Mr Obama's visit is a stamp of confidence on Kenya. This confidence will no doubt send a signal to investors that Kenya is open for investment. The tourism industry is likely to receive the much-needed boost, having slumped after the issuance of travel advisories following Al Shabaab's murderous forays into our borders. In the last two weeks, Britain has withdrawn travel advisories against Kenya and America is expected to follow suit soon. A revamped tourism industry (earnings in 2013 was 462 billion) means improved foreign exchange earnings, employment and a thriving economy.
Mr Obama's Power Africa initiative in which millions of homesteads across Africa are to have power is commendable. His coming would certainly put the local chapter on course. Nairobi is slowly transforming into a clean city with the anticipation of the visit. The overgrown grass along Mombasa road is gone. Trenches have been cleared and are being repaired. Street lights are working. Hawkers are nowhere to be seen and the city looks generally clean.
Yet it is the obvious lack of plan by the authorities to market Brand Kenya on social media, print and broadcast that is unsettling. If it were, say, a sport tournament, the country would witness the greatest marketing blitz ever. It is unbelievable that with hardly a month to go, all that is being done is applying fresh paint on the roads and a spruced up road infrastructure. Obviously that has been done with the dignitaries in mind. Unfortunately, there have been no campaigns to inform the man across the street what GES 2015 is all about.
When the attendants fold up their mats and leave GES 2015, the abiding memory for city residents will be the myriad inconveniences caused to them rather than the business opportunities offered in the week-long event. The thousands of investors coming to Nairobi want to know what is in it for them. No one is telling them. It would be a great shame if Kenya were to miss the chance to appropriate that value.
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join