Nairobi has been ranked as the best destination for doing business in Africa according to Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).
This came about through a number of factors that were researched on by the investment monitoring platform such as the country attracting a number of private sponsors to fund some of its public infrastructure projects. Among the public projects include the Standard Gauge Railway, Lamu Berth-cum railway line to Ethiopia. Others include private projects in real estate, hospitality and the industrial development
Foreign investors in the country have the advantage of being offered a 10-year tax holiday and are also allowed to pocket all their profits. This are some of the reasons why Nairobi has overtaken Johannesburg, which has been on the top position for the last five years.
Many more investors are eyeing the country as they are also sure of growth in their investments. FDI disclosed that its flows in the country rose by 37 percent, which in turn attracted 12.6 per cent of FDI inflows in Africa.
Recently, Nairobi was also ranked among top 10 African cities that have the highest growth potential. The report stated that Nairobi is expected to have grown rapidly and developed even more in the coming five years.
This research was supported by the fact that the city’s living standards are betters as compared to other countries in Africa and that there is more business setting in Nairobi that have the potential for more growth.
The report went on to state that Nairobi also continues to experience growth therefore overtaking its competitors like Addis Ababa, Durban and Cape Town due to the highest number of a financial account population, made easy by the mostly used mobile money transfer systems.
Article by Vera Shawiza.