President Ruto leads the Kenya Investment Forum in New York at the sidelines of the UNGA@80

On September 22, 2025, His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto led the Kenya Investment Forum in New York, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 80). The high-level forum brought together over 150 American companies, alongside senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest), the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). The event served as a strategic platform to deepen trade and investment ties between Kenya and the United States, showcasing Kenya’s positioning as a preferred destination for global capital and a gateway to broader African markets.
In his keynote address, President Ruto emphasized that Kenya stands at the center of a rapidly shifting global economy, with supply chains reconfiguring around resilience, sustainability, and cost-efficiency. He highlighted Kenya’s strong investment case: a stable macroeconomic environment, a youthful and tech-savvy workforce, competitive energy costs powered by clean sources, and investor-friendly regulatory reforms. The President noted that in 2024, bilateral trade between Kenya and the U.S. reached USD 1.51 billion, with Kenya exporting USD 600 million in apparel, driven by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Landmark U.S.-backed projects such as the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project, Kipeto Wind Farm, and Olkaria III Geothermal Plant were cited as examples of the depth and success of this partnership.
President Ruto made a compelling case for investing in Kenya by outlining four core pillars: predictability and stability, regulatory clarity and competitiveness, strong legal protections for investors, and access to regional and global markets. He noted that Kenya’s inflation remained stable at 3.8%, foreign exchange reserves had doubled over three years, and the Nairobi Securities Exchange was the top-performing exchange in Africa in 2024. He also referenced key reforms such as the removal of the 30% local equity requirement in ICT, zero-rating VAT on exported services, and the establishment of a fully digital One-Stop Centre for investors by mid-2026. These, he said, signal Kenya’s commitment to creating a transparent and enabling business environment.
The President concluded by inviting participants to Nairobi in March 2026 for the Kenya International Investment Conference (KIICO 2026), encouraging them to seize the moment and turn shared ambitions into transformative ventures that create jobs, unlock value, and promote sustainable development. Underscoring Kenya’s role as Africa’s financial and innovation hub, he urged investors to view Kenya not as a peripheral market but as a strategic anchor for expansion across Africa and beyond. "Kenya is open and ready for business," he declared, reaffirming the country’s unwavering commitment to being a trusted and forward-looking partner to global investors.