Raila calls for laws to protect local entrepreneurs – Kenya News Agency
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said there is a need for Kenya and the entire African continent to develop laws and regulations that will prevent investors from exploiting people in the countries where they operate.
Raila said some investors come to capitalize and create money and in the end the profits are repatriated to their countries, noting that the guidelines will protect the interests of Kenyans and prevent them from being used as vehicles to create a monopoly. in the country.
“There are laws in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates that require an investor to partner with a local who owns 61% of the company’s shares, while the investor owns 49%. Why, as Kenya, are we not also making regulations to protect our people? Asked Raila.
He said Mpesa makes billions of shillings and makes people rich, while the Kenyan who came up with the innovation is rotting, adding that Kenya has so many young people who are able to come up with innovations. “We don’t want our people to become horses after generating ideas, and that requires putting in place laws and regulations that protect local entrepreneurs because we need our people to keep inventing,” he said. he said, adding that Kenya’s quest is to promote local people in the trades of industrialization.
At the same time, Raila noted that the 4e The industrial revolution will be driven by technology, not wheelbarrows.
The former prime minister was speaking at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday at the launch of the Investera Plus Africa platform, a leading market research platform featuring information on companies, start-ups to listed companies.
The former prime minister who invited Investera Plus Africa to seek partners and links in Kenya and across the continent, said the African Union would provide them with fiber optic cable to allow them access to n any capital of the continent from Nairobi.
He said that inter-European trade is negotiated at 70 percent, inter-Asian trade is at 50 percent, while inter-African trade is low at 15 percent due to lack of infrastructure to do business, while free -African exchange creates a market for 1.3 billion people on the continent.
Raila, who is also chairman of the African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development, said the African Union has created an African Continental Free Trade Area, which is the world’s largest trading area, creating a market for 1.3 billion people.
The former prime minister said that the African Union is accelerating the monitoring of the intercontinental highway, the trans-African railway line, the fiber-optic network of ICT links across the continent and the promotion of space open air transport to allow airplanes over the continent to pay reasonable fees.
He said that technology is very important for the development of a country, hence the need to promote information, communication and technology services and infrastructure.
Speaking at the same event, ICT and Innovation PS Jerome Ochieng said technology is a key driver and catalyst of the global economy as it transforms countries into knowledge-based societies to achieve the sustainable development goals of United Nations.
Ochieng said the dynamic growth of technology-driven transformation on a global scale has created new opportunities for economic growth, social empowerment, innovation and cross-border trade.
“Through digital transformation, oceans of new data are being generated by digital transactions. Organizations need to harness and analyze this data to uncover new insights and stay competitive, ”he said.
Regarding the changing business and technology landscape, Ochieng said that for businesses to thrive, organizations must take a 360-degree approach to transformation, as well as reinvent their customer experience, reimagine the use of data and integrate technology into investment and product decision making. capabilities.
The PS, who praised Investra Plus Africa Company for choosing Kenya as their African headquarters, said their choice was proof of confidence that Kenya is a preferred investment destination in the region.
He praised Investera for using its platform to help investors and businesses manage all aspects of their investment processes on one digital platform.
The PS announced that the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth, in collaboration with other government agencies, the private sector and academia, has been at the forefront of promoting the changing ICT policy and regulatory environment to achieve Kenya’s Vision 2030. blue print, the Big Four Agenda and the Digital Economy Blue print.
The policies include the Data Protection Act 2019, the ICT Policy Guidelines 2020, the Kenya National Addressing System Policy and Ongoing Bill, among others, which aim to transform the technology landscape from the country.
He announced that the government has made a lot of investments in ICT infrastructure to boost the adoption of technology, spur innovation and increase investment in the sector, adding that Kenya is currently ranked third in sub-Saharan Africa. in the ease of doing the World Bank. Company rankings.
“These interventions are part of a broader government approach aimed at positioning Kenya as a preferred investment destination in Africa and promoting the socio-economic well-being of our citizens through job creation and reduction of poverty, ”he said.
The Investera Plus Africa platform, a leading market research tool based in the United Arab Emirates, offers industry reports, news and market maps in different markets across the world.
By Bernadette Khaduli