Kenya Private Sector Alliance Appoints a New Chair

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has appointed Mr. Nicholas Nesbitt as the new KEPSA Chair.  Mr. Nesbitt, who is also the General Manager IBM East Africa, takes over from Ambassador Dennis Awori, Chairman Toyota Kenya Limited who served the Board of KEPSA as chair for two years.  Members also appointed Ms. Rita Kavashe who is also the Managing Director of General Motors East Africa Limited to serve as the Vice Chair. These appointments come after a successful Annual General Meeting held on April 27^th, 2017 at Intercontinental Nairobi.

In his address to the AGM, Mr. Nesbitt highlighted and commended the achievements by KEPSA over the years. “KEPSA has emerged as a respected leader worldwide and a force to reckon with and many seek to learn from us and our experiences,” he said. On Kenya’s Global Index Competitive ranking, Mr. Nesbitt said that the country should equally focus on Local Direct Investment (LDI) as it does on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to grow the economy.

Mr. Nesbitt commended politicians for keeping the peace and bowing out gracefully in the ongoing primaries. “Political stability is key to the transformative agenda of ensuring the competitiveness of the country as a business and investment destination” He added.

KEPSA CEO, Ms. Carole Kariuki, highlighted key organizational developments since the last AGM. KEPSA has continued to play a critical role in advocating for an enabling business environment.

Ms. Kariuki added that KEPSA continues to strengthen its engagement structures to meet the needs of its members and support investment through policy reforms which were critical to the country’s development agenda. The engagement structures were anchored on the National Business Agenda II (NBA), whose five-year strategic focus is aligned to the overall goals of the National Vision 2030.

Outgoing KEPSA Chair Amb. Awori highlighted the numerous Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) platforms established by KEPSA in pursuit of action-oriented advocacy on behalf of its Members.  These include the Presidential Roundtable (PRT), Speakers Roundtable, Ministerial Stakeholders Forums (MSFs), among others. “Our public-Private dialogue engagement platforms remain an important feature in deliberating areas of reform and improvement in the regulatory environment,” He said.

Amb. Awori also highlighted the enactment of key bills some of which were spearheaded by KEPSA, as well as the impact and achievements of the Alliance’s Work.

In view of the forthcoming elections, Amb. Awori said that over 225 leaders drawn from the 3 arms of government and county governments have signed the peace pledge. He urged the public to hold them to account in their commitment and dedication to peaceful campaigns and elections. “Political stability is an essential component in creating a conducive business environment and KEPSA will continue to work with various stakeholders to champion peace and national cohesion,” he said.

The AGM was attended by KEPSA members drawn from Business Membership Organizations and Corporates.