CS Kuria Woos US Billionaires to Buy KenGen and 2 Other Parastatals

by Steven Thuku on Wednesday, 26 April 2023 - 11:57 am

Trade and Investments Cabinet Secretary, Moses Kuria (right), makes his remarks at the US Chamber of Commerce in the USA, on April 25, 2023. Next to him is Scott Eisner, the president of the U.S.-Africa Business Center (USAfBC) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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Moses Kuria

Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria, on Tuesday, April 25, hinted at Kenyan Government's plan to sell Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), and Geothermal Development Company (GDC) to private investors.

While speaking at the Financial Services Forum during the US-Kenya Business Roadshow in New York, the CS called upon a group of US investors to invest in Kenya.

“We are lining up privatisations for our pipeline company and two others controlling our renewable resources, KenGen and Geothermal.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria during trade negotiation on the US on Monday, April 25, 2023.

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Ministry of Trade

“Government of Kenya wants to ensure we exit the enterprise space and let the private sector grow. What we are doing is providing an environment that is conducive for investment,” Kuria stated.

CS Kuria was accompanied by Foreign Affairs CS Alfred Mutua to woo American investors to invest in Kenya.

Additionally, Kuria urged investors to take advantage of the e-citizen platform, which eases access to government services.

He also challenged businessmen and women to invest in the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), noting that it was one of the best security exchanges in Africa.

“Most of our services are digital. By the end of July, we will have 5,000 government services available online on our digital platform, the e-Citizen, as part of our e-government approach, and you can take advantage of that.

“You can also choose to invest in the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). One of the most robust, most liquid exchanges in Africa, and this year we are going to deepen the scope and the breadth of the capital markets through a number of listings and privatisation,” he noted.

His remarks followed a Cabinet decision that allowed the government to sell parastatals to private investors without going through Parliament.

On March 21, 2023, the Cabinet approved the Privatisation Bill to create a more facilitative and non-inhibiting legal and policy framework to oversee privatisation in the country.

“The proposed Bill gives power to the Treasury to privatise public-owned enterprises without the bureaucratic approvals of Parliament,” the Cabinet dispatch read.