Kenya Update

I have returned from a trip to Kenya with my daughter Becca. Becca has started a business, Rafiki Kenyan Imports LLC, to help needy families in Kenya particularly in Nairobi and a remote village area about 5 hours outside of Nairobi. The trip gave me an excellent opportunity to investigate investing opportunities.

My view from a corporate investment perspective is that Kenya and neighboring countries should be avoided. While the people we met were wonderful the attitude to corporations is not favorable and corruption appears to be widespread. The country has a fair amount of poverty that provides incentive for people to improve their financial situation by corruption. This means that little incentive exists for a corporations to take a financial risk.

It is interesting that the only US food company present was KFC. So while McDonald's and Starbucks are prevalent in China, they have avoided Kenya. It appears likely that a successful corporation would suffer from interactions with the government including being nationalized.

If you want to go on a Safari, Kenya is a wonderful place to go. If you want to meet wonderful and unique people it is a wonderful place to go. If you want to attend a worship service, lots of churches are present. If you want to invest in corporations avoid Kenya and the surrounding countries.


Kenya - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Motto: "Harambee" (Swahili) "Let us all pull/pool together"

Anthem: Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu (Swahili) O God of all creation

Kenya (/ˈkɛnjə/ or /ˈkiːnjə/), officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. Kenya lies on the equator with the Indian Ocean to the south-east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2 (224,445 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 44 million as of July 2012.

Kenya has a warm, humid climate along its Indian Ocean coastline, with wildlife-rich savannah grasslands inland towards the capital. Nairobi has a cool climate which becomes colder closer to Mount Kenya, which has three permanently snow-capped peaks. Further inland, there is a warm and humid climate around Lake Victoria, and temperate forested and hilly areas in the western region. The northeastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes. Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh-water lake and the largest tropical lake, is situated to the southwest and is shared with Uganda and Tanzania. Kenya, along with Uganda and Tanzania is famous for its safaris and diverse wildlife reserves and national parks such as the East and West Tsavo National Park, the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru National Park, and Aberdares National Park. There are several world heritage sites such as Lamu; there are also many world renowned beaches, such as Kilifi, where international yachting competitions are held each year.

The African Great Lakes region, which Kenya is a part of, has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic period. The Bantu expansion reached the area from West-Central Africa by the first millennium AD and the borders of the modern state comprise the crossroads of the Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic ethno-linguistic areas of the continent, making Kenya a multi-cultural country. European and Arab presence in coastal Mombasa dates to the Early Modern period; European exploration of the interior began in the 19th century. The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, known starting in 1920 as the Kenya Colony. The Republic of Kenya became independent in December 1963. Following a referendum in August 2010 and adoption of a new constitution, Kenya is now divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties, governed by elected governors.

The capital, Nairobi, is a regional commercial hub. The economy of Kenya is the largest by GDP in Southeast and Central Africa. Agriculture is a major employer; the country traditionally exports tea and coffee and has more recently begun to export fresh flowers to Europe. The service industry is also a major economic driver. Kenya is a member of the East African Community. Compared to other African countries, Kenya enjoys relatively high political and social stability.