Kenya is fast cementing its reputation for remarkable economic growth. With GDP growth averaging well above 5% for the 12 months to September 2015, impressive improvements in government finances, and falls in oil prices significantly reducing its imports bill, the future is bright for Kenya.
The East African Community (EAC) as a whole is emerging as a beacon for trade. It contains fast-developing economies, and last year’s introduction of a single customs territory is already benefiting cross-border commerce. Foreign investment into sub-Saharan Africa grew last year, notably from diaspora communities, and Barclays’ Africa Trade Index identified East Africa as the trade hub to watch.
With favourable economic conditions comes an expanding domestic market; and entrepreneurs are increasingly stepping up to meet this demand. The region’s growing reputation for entrepreneurship goes hand-in-hand with its ambitions for infrastructure development. Any entrepreneur will rely on digital, energy, and transport infrastructures. The World Bank estimates the impact of Africa’s infrastructure gap on productivity as 40%, leading to a 2% drop in growth. Fast-growing economies like Kenya’s require infrastructure that keeps pace with business growth.
The UK is a global leader in many of the sectors for which Kenya has greatest demand: infrastructure, advanced engineering, energy, ICT and defence and security. In these and other specialist areas, UK expertise can help accelerate Kenya’s development and economic growth.
Increasingly, financing and risk insurance for large-scale infrastructure projects across the world come from international export credit agencies. For example, loans used to fund projects may be guaranteed by the governments of countries whose exporters are supplying goods and services; alternatively, specialist export insurance might be a way for both exporter and project sponsor to manage any financial risks involved in the contract. This is highly relevant in Kenya, where numerous large scale public projects are undertaken with international export credit agency support.
The UK’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), has built its reputation on the flexible support it provides both to UK exporters, and overseas buyers of UK goods and services. UKEF offers a high degree of flexibility around where the financed goods and services can be sourced from. It can support contracts where as little as 20% of supplies are sourced directly from the UK, and the finance can be used for Kenyan goods and services, up to an amount equal to 30% of the value of the imported supplies.
UKEF is supporting finance for the construction of the new Terminal Three at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, currently being constructed by UK company BAM Nuttall and due to be completed in June 2016. It recently announced its willingness to offer
Source: The Star

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.