Kenya: Africa's rising star

Kenya's outstanding biodiversity is crucial to its thriving tourism industry, which is why Brand Kenya says it is thrilled to be supporting the Giants Club Summit  

Najib Balala
Nairobi
,Cabinet Secretary,Kenya's Ministry
Friday 22 April 2016 12:25 BST
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Elephants roam the Loisaba Conservancy
Elephants roam the Loisaba Conservancy (Maurice Schutgens)

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Brand Kenya is delighted to sponsor the Giants Club Summit. This event will draw attention to our country – truly Africa's rising star – and help to protect one of its greatest attractions, the diverse and precious wildlife.

One of Africa's most vibrant countries, Kenya has become a popular destination for people from all over the world looking for a peaceful, natural and temperate place to settle. Wild and unadulterated, yet modern and sophisticated, Kenya is now home to people from different parts of the world who have made it their second home. The Kenyan people are warm, hospitable and most celebrated for their boundless generosity. Their resilience and hardworking nature has greatly contributed to the greater Africa’s rising story.

According to a report by London-based Brand Finance, a leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy, Kenya’s nation brand value in 2015 increased by a whopping 43 per cent to $31Billion, compared with $22Billion, the previous year. This ranking is an important milestone for Kenya in her quest to build an independent and distinct nation brand.

Kenya’s growth momentum is a result of reforms to the country’s business environment, enhanced Infrastructure projects, particularly the Standard Gauge Railway, Highway project, growing services sector, greater regional integration, devolution and the impact of the 2014 rebasing exercise. These developments have also gained recognition by the World Bank, which ranked Kenya as the third most reformed country in its global Ease of Doing Business 2015 report.

Kenya is the ultimate safari destination, providing travelers the heart of Africa. The country’s attractiveness as a tourism destination is continually reaffirmed by brand loyalty as Kenya scored an impressive 82 % in the 2013 Country Brand Index Report. Travel & Tourism’s has a huge impact on the economic and social development of Kenya. According to the World Tourism and Travel Council, Tourism attracted capital investment of Kshs. 69.3 billion in 2014. In the same report, tourism was listed as having contributed Kshs. 561.8 Billion to the GDP.

Similarly, a report released by the Global Consultancy Control Risks vouched for Kenya’s investment attractiveness. It attributed this to increased consumer spending and greater trading amongst members of the East Africa economic block. The Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, 2016 ranked Kenya among the top-four countries in Africa. According to the survey, Kenya was the third-largest emerging market air export trade lane by tonnage. Steady growth in trade volumes in Kenya continues to attract multi-billion shilling investments in the logistics industry.

According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Kenya is among countries that have made significant progress in adopting appropriate legislation towards combating illegal trade in wildlife. This is in tandem with the 2015 United Nations resolution which requires countries to take decisive steps at the national level to prevent, combat and eradicate the illegal trade in wildlife, on both the supply and demand sides, including strengthening the legislation necessary for the prevention, investigation and prosecution. On this front, Kenya has remained committed and has made it a top priority to secure a future for wildlife, sustain the beauty and ecological integrity by putting in place laws that protect endangered species such as elephants and rhinos as well as working with stakeholders to conserve its natural heritage.

In terms of sports, the Kenyan Rugby Sevens team recently made history at the HSBC Sevens World series for becoming the African team to ever win a leg in the World Sevens Series. Kenya’s ardent 30-7 victory against Fiji at Singapore Sevens highlights just how the Kenyan side has come of age in the world of rugby sevens. On the other side, the Kenyan athletes have continued to dominate the athletics arena and Kenya has been accepted by the world, as a nation of elite athletes. Kenya came top of the overall medal table at the 2015 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, with seven gold medals.

Kenya is truly the natural choice for investment, trade, tourism and residence. Make It Kenya!

The Kenya Ministry of Tourism is the Supporting Partner of the Giants Club Summit

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