Kenya Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner shortly before leaving Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport for New York City, USA, at 11.20pm on
October 28, 2018. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NMG
Kenyan officials and business leaders moved quickly to
capitalise on the daily non-stop service between New York and Nairobi
that was inaugurated on Sunday.
They were joined by a
senior Trump administration official and dozens of US potential
investors at a conference in Manhattan on “Doing Business in Kenya”
sponsored by the US-based Corporate Council on Africa.
The
challenge facing Kenya now is to “optimise and utilise the linkages
created by this direct flight to create more business, more trade, more
investment and, finally, more tourism,” said Mr Kiprono Kittony, the
chairman of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The
savings of seven hours’ traveling time afforded by Kenya Airways’
non-stop flight will make a big difference to small- and mid-sized
Kenyan businesses, said Ms Carole Kariuki, the chief executive of Kenya
Private Sector Alliance.
Perishable goods intended for the US would often spoil en route due to layovers in Europe, she said.
“We’ve
talked a lot about, ‘Is this for big business?’ No, it’s about the
small businesses — the farmers in Kenya — who are growing the produce
and can really access this market finally,” Ms Kariuki said.
Speedy transport’s importance to economic growth was also
emphasised by Mr Joel Szabat, an aviation and international affairs
official in the US Department of Transportation.
“The
benefits of Agoa [African Growth and Opportunity Act] cannot be fully
realised without an adequate transportation infrastructure," Mr Szabat
said, referring to the US’ preferential trade programme for Africa. "And
aviation is at the heart of it.”
Bookings up
Airline
bookings to Kenya from the US are up 30 percent in comparison to the
same period last year, Mr Szabat said, adding that some of that gain can
be attributed to the availability of a non-stop flight.
Mr Szabat touted the Trump administration’s aim of forging close ties with Kenya.
“Our two presidents also resolved to elevate the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership,” he said.
“They
agreed to establish a US-Kenya trade and investment working group to
establish ways to deepen the trade and investment ties between our two
countries.”
The two countries have concluded or set in motion nearly $1 billion in new business deals in recent months, Mr Szabat said.
Most
of the agreements were announced following President Kenyatta’s White
House meeting with President Trump in August. Others were reached when
members of a US presidential advisory council visited Kenya earlier in
the summer.
Opportunities
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma cited investment opportunities offered by Kenya’s Big Four agenda.
“When
we talk about housing, when we talk about manufacturing, when we talk
about health care, when we talk about food security — we are talking
about viable and bankable projects,” she said.
Ms Juma
added that while conferences such as Tuesday’s were worthwhile
endeavours, “the purpose of this is to make things happen, and to
translate opportunities into real concrete output.”
“It’s
very important to remember that we don’t have a lot of time,” she
added, referring to the urgency of providing jobs for Kenya’s swelling
youth population.
“There’s a lot of pressure, and there’s a lot of young people that ready to go. We just have to do this really quickly.”
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