US Steps Up Investment in Kenya Amid Competition from China

Investments in Kenya by the United States have increased in the past few months, entries in the American business deal book in Kenya shows.

The increased investment shows US's renewed efforts to reclaim its financial and investment portfolio and influence in Kenya in the wake of intense competition from China.

Last month, President Kenyatta witnessed the signing of deals worth Sh10 billion ($100 million) at a bilateral conference organized by the US Chamber of Commerce in Nairobi.

The event was attended by a delegation of 60 American investors led by the US Under-Secretary for Commerce Gilbert Kaplan.

Among deals entered during the summit include an agreement between Kenya and an US company, Medtronic, to set up a dialysis centre for $20 million. 

Another deal was struck between Rendeavour and Unity Homes for the construction of 1,200 cheap homes in Tatu City, the US-backed mixed-income development in Kiambu worth Sh4.5 billion ($45 million).

Last week, Ray Washburne, President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic) — one of the US Government agency that supports private companies to invest in developing economies, led a delegation to Nairobi to explore more investment opportunities.

“American businesses are eager to invest in Kenya and Opic is eager to support them” Mr Washburne said in a newspaper opinion on Business Daily ahead of his visit to Nairobi last week.

This came a few weeks after Opic unveiled its Connect Africa initiative on July 2nd, which targets to invest over Sh100 billion ($1 billion) in transport, communications, and value chains in the continent over the next three years.

Kenya looks to exploit new opportunities under the Connect Africa initiative to bolster its growth.

“Opic is seeking to support the Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway Project in co-ordination with American engineering firm Bechtel. The project is critical to enhancing the strategic transportation infrastructure along the Nairobi-Mombasa corridor — a major corridor of national and regional commerce and integration” Mr Washburne said in his Op-Ed last week.

Opic is already doing several projects in Kenya including One Acre Fund where it pumped Sh1 billion in 2015.