NAIROBI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Monday launched the Nairobi International Financial Center (NIFC) to help spur the inflow of foreign capital to fund the country's development agenda.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a speech read on his behalf by Joseph Kinyua, Head of Public Service that the center seeks to enhance the business environment to enable companies to raise funds for projects, support innovation, and tap into new investments coming into Africa.
"The Nairobi International Financial Center has been designed as an efficient and predictable business environment to give more confidence to the large pools of global capital that have been watching our progress but have not yet taken the decision to invest," Kinyua said.
He added that the center is also expected to support Kenya's financial sector to attract sufficient capital and investment to build a diversified, innovative, and sustainable economy.
According to Kinyua, the center's focus on attracting green financing is a strategic enabler of Kenya's broader green economy strategy that entails developing the domestic green manufacturing capacity by connecting energy-intensive manufacturers to cheaper, renewable sources of energy.
Ukur Yatani, Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury and Planning said that the establishment of the financial center is a demonstration of the commitment of the government to support and strengthen Kenya's position as the leading financial hub, not just in the East African region, but across the larger sub-Saharan Africa market.
"The center will also offer an important platform for businesses in Africa seeking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area to finance investment and trading activities within the sub-Saharan Africa region," Yatani noted.
Vincent Rague, Chairman of NIFC Authority said that the center has finalized an agreement with AirCarbon Exchange, a Singapore-based global carbon trading platform, to set up an exchange in Kenya in collaboration with the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Rague observed that through the deal, NIFC will bring the global carbon markets closer to Kenya and enable local businesses as well as companies across the region to connect to the market and gain new revenues for their clean activities.
