Ndemo: Ethiopia is welcoming the investors Kenya has frustrated

[RVtitem]

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www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/ndemo/-/2274486/2995990/-/cbjjj/-/index.htmln

[RV Pundit]

Why do you need a minister or governor to invest. That sort of investment we don't need. Kenya is a free country. Pop in, register your local company, and get going.

[Kadudu]

You live on Mars.
Where in this world do foreign investors just come to town and start setting shop without getting the political backing from the regime that is ruling the country in which they want to invest in the economy? Politics and economics go together and that is why when leaders of a country like Obama come to Kenya they bring CEOs of companies along with them.
If the politicians in a country cannot keep appointments it tells you how the country is run and you as an investor can be assured of trouble trying to set shop in that country.

Why do you need a minister or governor to invest. That sort of investment we don't need. Kenya is a free country. Pop in, register your local company, and get going.

[RV Pundit]

That is absolute nonsense. You should invest after studying the market, not getting political commitment from a politician who won't be around 2yrs from now. Politicians job is to sell the country. Gov job is to faciliate that by making sure you can work in, set up your company and get going.

The investors making it a prerequisite to meet politicians are probably upto no good.

You live on Mars.
Where in this world do foreign investors just come to town and start setting shop without getting the political backing from the regime that is ruling the country in which they want to invest in the economy? Politics and economics go together and that is why when leaders of a country like Obama come to Kenya they bring CEOs of companies along with them.
If the politicians in a country cannot keep appointments it tells you how the country is run and you as an investor can be assured of trouble trying to set shop in that country.

Why do you need a minister or governor to invest. That sort of investment we don't need. Kenya is a free country. Pop in, register your local company, and get going.

[hk]

Unless an investor wants a special concession there's no need to meet ministers or governors besides kenivest http://www.investmentkenya.com/about-keninvest was created for that purpose.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

I think in a region trying to attract elusive industrialization, governments that lay out the red carpet are going to get ahead. 

One would think kamwana's ministers would go out of their way to attract these investors. 

Why would kamwana burn Wanjiku's money traveling to "attract investors" while his minions are too busy to lock up deals with those already knocking on the door? 

Maybe his time would be better spent personally welcoming the investors that his minions are too busy for.

[RVtitem]

I think in a region trying to attract elusive industrialization, governments that lay out the red carpet are going to get ahead. 

One would think kamwana's ministers would go out of their way to attract these investors. 

Why would kamwana burn Wanjiku's money traveling to "attract investors" while his minions are too busy to lock up deals with those already knocking on the door? 

Maybe his time would be better spent personally welcoming the investors that his minions are too busy for.

Well said!!

I heard rumour of Samsung abandoning Kenya and setting up factory in Ethiopia instead due to hurdles put by bureaucrats eg kick-backs etc.

In Ndemo story, we see governer's wife asking for funding for children home so that she can smoothen the way for the investor. These are the obstacles!

[RV Pundit]

World Bank has "Doing Business" thing that they use to track serious (small or big) investors and Kenya has been doing well lately.  Those are the stuff that should worry us...how many days to register a company, how cheap and reliable is our power, how affordable is land, how credible are land title deeds, does the justice systems works, does our road network works, how is our labour market, how competitive is our markets, how liberalized is our sectors of economy, how is regulation done, do we have sizeable middle class that can afford stuff, how is our productivity & efficiency, how is the security?

Those are the KEY DECISION that serious investors consider...not whether he met serious or not serious politicians.

The kind that require red carpet...should invest in a place without laws and regulation.

Anyone who need a politician to roll a carpet down before they commit money is really upto NO GOOD. You want to invest in kenya, because there is an opportunity to make more money, not because you're doing us a favor.

I would say politicians should only roll out a carpet to donors...guy wanting to invest money here, going around with brokers and such...get a lawyer first.

I think in a region trying to attract elusive industrialization, governments that lay out the red carpet are going to get ahead. 

One would think kamwana's ministers would go out of their way to attract these investors. 

Why would kamwana burn Wanjiku's money traveling to "attract investors" while his minions are too busy to lock up deals with those already knocking on the door? 

Maybe his time would be better spent personally welcoming the investors that his minions are too busy for.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

World Bank has "Doing Business" thing that they use to track serious (small or big) investors and Kenya has been doing well lately.  Those are the stuff that should worry us...how many days to register a company, how cheap and reliable is our power, how affordable is land, how credible are land title deeds, does the justice systems works, does our road network works, how is our labour market, how competitive is our markets, how liberalized is our sectors of economy, how is regulation done, do we have sizeable middle class that can afford stuff, how is our productivity & efficiency, how is the security?

Those are the KEY DECISION that serious investors consider...not whether he met serious or not serious politicians.

The kind that require red carpet...should invest in a place without laws and regulation.

Anyone who need a politician to roll a carpet down before they commit money is really upto NO GOOD. You want to invest in kenya, because there is an opportunity to make more money, not because you're doing us a favor.

I would say politicians should only roll out a carpet to donors...guy wanting to invest money here, going around with brokers and such...get a lawyer first.

I think in a region trying to attract elusive industrialization, governments that lay out the red carpet are going to get ahead. 

One would think kamwana's ministers would go out of their way to attract these investors. 

Why would kamwana burn Wanjiku's money traveling to "attract investors" while his minions are too busy to lock up deals with those already knocking on the door? 

Maybe his time would be better spent personally welcoming the investors that his minions are too busy for.

I am sure the serious investors do consider those things.  Including the ones seeking face to face meetings with senior officials.  A CS can legitimately put his country's best foot forward to meet and welcome an investor. 

It's a continuation of the same thing they do when they go abroad to sell the country.  At the end of the day, even if it's not a favor, you have to compete in a region that is competing for the same thing.  If we extend your logic, even these trade shows should just be shelved.

It would be tragic if some of these guys came in after meeting kamwana on one of his too many trips abroad only to be shown a cold shoulder by a minion or be asked for a bribe.  Though Bitange seems to have a beef with appointments that are not kept.

In any case landlocked Ethiopia ought not to have any selling point over Kenya.

[RV Pundit]

The meetings/trade shows/fairs would be nice photo ops...but should never be prerequisite. Ethiopia has their fundamentals. They have twice our population. They have very cheap albeit low quality labour, lots of really cheap land that get dolled out by gov -like TZ--it leasehold- and have rolled out tax incentives. Their gov is also least corrupt and is marxist command sort of economy. Those are the things that probably made them set shop there. Ndemo's little chat for cannot be for me what made the difference.

I am sure the serious investors do consider those things.  Including the ones seeking face to face meetings with senior officials.  A CS can legitimately put his country's best foot forward to meet and welcome an investor. 

It's a continuation of the same thing they do when they go abroad to sell the country.  At the end of the day, even if it's not a favor, you have to compete in a region that is competing for the same thing.  If we extend your logic, even these trade shows should just be shelved.

It would be tragic if some of these guys came in after meeting kamwana on one of his too many trips abroad only to be shown a cold shoulder by a minion or be asked for a bribe.  Though Bitange seems to have a beef with appointments that are not kept.

In any case landlocked Ethiopia ought not to have any selling point over Kenya.

[Georgesoros]

A business person looks at the costs vs return before investing. Political instability is a cost. Corruption is a cost. Land prices are a big cost. Insecurity is a cost. All these does not favor Kenya. Businesses may start in Kenya and quickly move somewhere else if they see its not in their favor. Even us Kenyans need to look outside the box.

The meetings/trade shows/fairs would be nice photo ops...but should never be prerequisite. Ethiopia has their fundamentals. They have twice our population. They have very cheap albeit low quality labour, lots of really cheap land that get dolled out by gov -like TZ--it leasehold- and have rolled out tax incentives. Their gov is also least corrupt and is marxist command sort of economy. Those are the things that probably made them set shop there. Ndemo's little chat for cannot be for me what made the difference.

I am sure the serious investors do consider those things.  Including the ones seeking face to face meetings with senior officials.  A CS can legitimately put his country's best foot forward to meet and welcome an investor. 

It's a continuation of the same thing they do when they go abroad to sell the country.  At the end of the day, even if it's not a favor, you have to compete in a region that is competing for the same thing.  If we extend your logic, even these trade shows should just be shelved.

It would be tragic if some of these guys came in after meeting kamwana on one of his too many trips abroad only to be shown a cold shoulder by a minion or be asked for a bribe.  Though Bitange seems to have a beef with appointments that are not kept.

In any case landlocked Ethiopia ought not to have any selling point over Kenya.

[RVtitem]

It is clear that chinaman has evaded kenya when it comes to long term strategic investments like factories. They only set up retail shops, built apartments for sell and do infrastructure for GOK.

In addition to much hyped industrial parks, many major companies have also set base in Addis-heineken, samsung, atlas, carlsberg etc. Many attribute this to cheap labour but political climate play a key role. We will soon witness so called kenya talent moving en masse to ethiopia.

[RV Pundit]

Outside Jo'burg, kenya is the preferred destination for many global companies. And is the main sources of FDI for countries in Eastern Africa. We have issue attracting low cost manufacturing...due to unreliable & expensive power, high cost labour, high transport and such issues....that we need to deal with.

It is clear that chinaman has evaded kenya when it comes to long term strategic investments like factories. They only set up retail shops, built apartments for sell and do infrastructure for GOK.

In addition to much hyped industrial parks, many major companies have also set base in Addis-heineken, samsung, atlas, carlsberg etc. Many attribute this to cheap labour but political climate play a key role. We will soon witness so called kenya talent moving en masse to ethiopia.

[RVtitem]

Outside Jo'burg, kenya is the preferred destination for many global companies. And is the main sources of FDI for countries in Eastern Africa. We have issue attracting low cost manufacturing...due to unreliable & expensive power, high cost labour, high transport and such issues....that we need to deal with.

It is clear that chinaman has evaded kenya when it comes to long term strategic investments like factories. They only set up retail shops, built apartments for sell and do infrastructure for GOK.

In addition to much hyped industrial parks, many major companies have also set base in Addis-heineken, samsung, atlas, carlsberg etc. Many attribute this to cheap labour but political climate play a key role. We will soon witness so called kenya talent moving en masse to ethiopia.

The problem is that we are not getting
tangible investment that is
commensurate with kenyans level of
education and pay.
We have to accept that we can't
compete with Ethiopia on salaries....so we should find how we can attract
investment willing to pay kenya rates.