Netherlands opens Nairobi office with eye on EA business
A view of Nairobi. Netherlands has recently raised its economic interests in Kenya through a number of high profile investments. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The Netherlands Business Hub will provide members and clients with services including market information, partner research, networking and business opportunities.
Its establishment comes at a time when the Netherlands has raised its economic interests in Kenya through a number of high profile investments.
The Netherlands has opened an office in Nairobi to support the entry and expansion of Dutch businesses in Kenya and the rest of East Africa (EA).
The office, dubbed The Netherlands Business Hub, is an initiative of the Dutch business community, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nairobi, the Netherlands African Business Council (NABC) and the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP).
“It intends to promote, support and service Dutch business in East-Africa and to contribute to strong (economic) relations between the Netherlands and East-Africa,” the local Dutch embassy said in a statement.
The office will provide members and clients with services including market information, partner research, networking and business opportunities.
Its establishment comes at a time when the Netherlands has raised its economic interests in Kenya through a number of high profile investments.
Dutch sovereign wealth fund FMO last year committed €53.5 million (Sh6 billion) to the 300-Megawatt Lake Turkana wind power project in the form of senior debt, equity and grants.
FMO in January invested $2 million (Sh204 million) in Orb Energy, which entered the Kenyan market to manufacture, distribute and install solar energy systems for residential and commercial customers.
The Dutch fund, alongside other institutional investors, earlier this month lent the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Sh5.5 billion to construct seven small hydropower projects.
FMO also has interests in the local financial services sector where it has previously invested in and exited companies including Family Bank.
The Dutch fund says it has committed three per cent of its total investments in Kenya which now ranks as the fourth largest investee after Turkey (four per cent) and India (seven per cent).
The Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) is the second largest shareholder in Kenya Airways with a 26.73 per cent stake, further boosting economic ties between Nairobi and Amsterdam.
The two airlines have operated a longstanding joint venture that sees them co-operate on passenger and cargo routes, especially those linking East Africa to Europe.
“The Netherlands Business Hub will build on strategic alliances that arose from development cooperation initiatives and will forge new alliances to create ‘shared value’,” the local Dutch embassy said.
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