France and Kenya to sign MOUs for Development
Posted on : Thursday, 21st February 2019
There has been remarkable investments in Uganda, Tanzania but Kenya has seen the considerable share of investments.
French President Emanuel Macron is likely to visit Kenya in March for official contract with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and is among other things likely to conduct talks on how Nairobi can begin an urban rail system.
A visit that will see the two countries sign bilateral agreements, as the governments meet, the private sector has already made notable entry into the country.
The announcement made in Nairobi by President Uhuru Kenyatta after meeting French envoy to Kenya French Ambassador Aline Kuster-Menager and declared of greater cooperation between Kenya and France. In a statement to the newsrooms, Mr Kenyatta said his visit would “break new ground in the bilateral relations” between Kenya and France.
France is relishing a growing impact in business and trade in the continent with considerable investments in energy, transport, communication and manufacturing.
There is also growing in the East African Community by French with a French delegation visiting Arusha in 2018 to talk about the concrete priority areas at the EAC that could be supported by France via the French Development Agency (AFD).
A statement from East African Community secretariat noted that EAC commenced discussions with AFD to look into the feasibilities of the latter supporting EAC priority projects in various sectors.
AirFrance has restarted the Kenyan market after a 18 years absence. While opening AirFrance, the airline senior vice president for Africa Franl Legre said, “To date, we have over 80 French companies that have selected Nairobi as their regional hub and this is one of the many opportunities and occasions we are looking to tap and utilize.”
Leading among these investments include Rubis Énergie has offered a takeover of Kenyan oil marketing company Kenol Kobil in the latest union and accession deals in East Africa.
The EDF Group- a French electric utility company and a global leader in low-carbon energy – obtained changeable bonds interest in the Kenyan start-up SunCulture, a technology company that designs and sells reasonable solar-powered water pumps and customized irrigation systems, bundled with ongoing support for small-holder farmers.
France24 which became the first international news channel from either Europe or America to provide free to air content in Kenya.
In healthcare, French Tech Company Tech Care For All (TC4A) recently inaugrated its operations in East Africa to be headquartered in Nairobi after boosting $2.5 million ( Ksh250 million) capital for its international business.
The company, which is registered in Belgium, has over the last year entered the Indian and West African markets, choosing Senegal as a hub for the latter. The firm focuses on improving health outcomes through leveraging on technology.
TC4A Founder and Chief Executive Emmanuel Blin says the company was attracted to Kenya by the country’s leadership in hitching up the power of digital tech in other sectors such as financial services and by its dynamic entrepreneurial culture.
“We chose Kenya because of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda that has Universal Health Coverage as a key priority, so there is a national plan behind that; there is also a great digital health ecosystem here. We are elevated to be creating direct and indirect jobs in the Kenyan market,” Blin said.
According to an MoU drawn between the two firms the change of manufacturing and distribution in the East African region which was controlled by Haco Industries will see Haco continue in its core business which include production of body care products with its signature lotion Amara.
The investments in Kenya by the French businesses will offer a flurry of direct jobs to the Kenyan market, as the East African nation fight out the high rate of unemployment particularly among the youth.
Infrastructure, energy and manufacturing are among the important areas that will get a increase from the firms, catapulting their presence in the market.
French firms have had a warm welcome in Kenya and their progress has opened a path for more of such investments to be made possible.
