Kenya eyes greater Indian investment to bridge trade deficit

A trade delegation from Kenyan led by former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga today urged Indian businessmen to come forward and invest in the East African nation, which it said, had the right political and economic climate.

High on the delegation’s agenda is finding ways to bridge the growing deficit in its merchandise trade with India.

The bilateral trade between the two countries stood close to $4.47 billion in 2013-14, with India's exports to Kenya at $4.18 billion. To improve this, Kenya is now keen on having industry value addition ecosystem, a strategy which it says would help in correcting this deficit.

Odinga said, “While we want the bilateral trade with India to grow, we expect the trade imbalance is also taken care of.”

He said, it was the opportune time for Indian investors to pour investments in the identified thrust areas like auto and auto equipment, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and health care sectors.

Kenya has the largest population of Indian diaspora in the entire Africa. According to estimates, Indian-origin population living in Kenya stands at more than 100,000 now, he said.

The visiting delegation was here as part of its week-long exchange in India starting with Mumbai. It will wind up the India visit by travelling to Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) southern region chairman Walter D Souza said the East African nation had turned into a better investment destination as the labour availability and its quality had seen good improvement over the last few years.

Three-day Indian expo at Nairobi
He said, in order to create more investor awareness, FIEO is organising a three-day Indian expo starting from March 27 in Nairobi, Kenya.

FIEO is expecting participation of close to 100 Indian business houses for the meet. Investment opportunities include engineering goods, medical equipment, leather industry, food processing and machinery, pharmaceuticals, construction materials and healthcare services.