Top 10 Investment Options To Watch in 2018

Kenya is developing the economy with its GDP being the highest in East Africa Community and showing tremendous growth in its investment opportunities.

Even with the just concluded electioneering period, which unfortunately had the adverse effect on the economy and which led to Kenya’s GDP growth projected to decelerate to 5.1 although the World Bank has brought it further down to 4.9 percentage point mark, down from the 2016 forecast. The World Bank revised the projection in a report named “Kenya Economic Update: Poised to Bounce Bank?”

As the country continues to create more investment opportunities for Kenyans, there is a list of ongoing projects that the country is spending billions of shillings as shown in the image below:

The untapped potential can be reflected in the following investment options;

Agricultural Processing

The Kenyan agricultural sector contributes to 35 percent of the GDP and contributes to 40 percent of the export earnings.

In terms of agricultural production, Kenya is doing quite well in terms of a means of livelihood to majority Kenyans and a driver of the economy.

However, in terms of processing of the agricultural processing and marketing, there is still a huge problem as we still have the country spending a lot of money in the importation of processed food items that could otherwise be internally produced.

This will aid in stabilizing food prices and even making them cheaper. There is an investment opportunity in the processing sector and also the packaging sector after the banning of plastic bags.

In the agricultural sector, opportunities lie along the value chain. In every category, there is an investment opportunity. For instance, the advent of armyworms provides an opportunity for the pesticide sector.

In Kenya, investment opportunities in the agricultural sector as well as in food processing exist in seed production, manufacture of sprayers and pesticides, veterinary services, construction of dams and boreholes, installation of irrigation systems and services.

Read more on investing more in Kenya’s agricultural sector on “Investing in Kenya’s Agricultural and Food Processing Industry.”

Real Estate/Construction Industry

The real estate sector is assured to come back after the conclusion of the General Election.

The government is undertaking major expansion projects as from 2018, an investor can take advantage of the infrastructure tenders.

Investors in the industry should also expect good times as a result of fair prices in construction materials. The tax waiver incentives in the industry also provide favorable opportunities for investors.

There is an amazing opportunity in the low-cost houses. Currently, the government is heavily investing in low-cost houses and firms that engage in building them are being supported. The government is also giving incentives to constructors of low-cost housing.

The real estate sector has turned out to be a very lucrative investment if well planned for. Many people are investing their finances in this sector. Get some Important Points to Consider before investing in Real Estate Sector in Kenya.

Renewable energy

The world is slowly moving towards the use of renewable energy as a result of the global campaigns advocating for the use of clean energy so as to conserve the environment.

Having parts of Kenya still using charcoal and firewood as a source of heat means that the there is still a hugely profitable market for renewable energy that is yet to be fully exploited.

African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank have been on the forefront in supporting those taking part in the investment of renewable energy.

Last year, the United Kingdom committed to investing more than 70 billion shillings in Kenya’s renewable sector.

Urban Transportation

Businesses are constantly moving towards controlling the interface between the consumer and the provider of the goods or services. The interface is the source of the profit the company gets.

As we have seen with how Uber has set the pace for entrepreneurs to reap the rewards of serving especially the urban community.

The concept is still a viable business opportunity. There are opportunities in other urban centers where the services are yet to hit.

Fintech industry

Advancement in technology has led to the outburst in ICT advancements especially in conducting business operations.

There is need to always refine operational knowledge and with the backup of technology banking and financial services are being revolutionized.

There is, therefore, demand for new and innovative developments that will cater to this industry.

Nairobi Stock Exchange

According to KNBS research, The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) 20 share index decreased from 3,751 points in September 2017 to 3,730 points in October 2017, while the total number of shares traded dropped from 556 million shares to 314 million shares during the same period.

The total value of NSE shares traded dropped from 16.2 billion shillings in September 2017 to 9.4 billion shillings in October 2017.

These statistics are nothing of a surprise given the electioneering period but to an investor, this means that there will be an onset of a bull market which will be an indicator of economic expansion.

Tourism travel agency

The travel industry is a major component of the tourism industry. With the recovery of the industry after the electioneering period and the government boosting the security of the industry then it is bound to grow steadily within two years’ time.

Tourists need to be comfortable in their travels so this will be a lucrative business especially if an investor takes advantage of the internet to provide preferred reservations online.

Online advertising

Companies are slowly moving away from the traditional ways of advertising their businesses and taking on social media platforms which provide a cheaper means of accessing a large target market.

This is being done by search engine optimization, creating online campaigns and videos. This means of advertising is proving to be a gold mine especially for the youth who are much more conversant with the social media trends.