Baringo County launches first-ever business summit

Baringo County is set to hold its first-ever Entrepreneurship and Expo Summit with a focus on green energy, agriculture and tourism.

The summit will bring together prospective investors to sell ideas such as the availability of land to set up solar energy plants and the resources available in the county for geothermal energy.

Area Governor Benjamin Cheboi launched the summit on Wednesday, where he said his county has the potential for 8,000mw of geothermal energy. This, he said, is nearly half of the country's total projected energy needs of 20,000mw by 2030.

"In Europe, it requires seven acres of solar panels to generate a megawatt of electricity but in Baringo three acres is sufficient to give the same output because of the sun's intensity. Therefore, this is an immense potential for energy to drive industrial development," he said during the launch.

Mr Cheboi said the county's strategic position to others makes it an accessible and ready market for agricultural products and the availability of livestock would boost the production of meat and dairy products.

"Honey and fruit processing is yet another promising venture. This is an area where there are sub-county specific plants for instance a fruit-processing plant in Marigat, milk in Eldama Ravine, coffee in Baringo Central and North, grain milling in Baringo South and meat and leather products mainly in Tiaty, North, South and Mogotio," he said.

He said his county was working closely with both Elgeyo Marakwet and the Kenya Tourist Board on a feasibility study towards establishing the first cable car in East and Central Africa which will link Keiyo and Tugen Hills from Iten to Kabarnet.

"My government will continue to bring more incentives tailor-made to fit an individual investor's needs," he said.

The Entrepreneurship and Expo Summit will be held on November 5 and 6 at the Kabarnet Agricultural Society of Kenya show grounds.