Markets & Finance

Dubai entrepreneurs seek investment and trade deals in Kenya

DUBAI

An aerial view of Dubai. Investors from the UAE have in recent years been aggressively seeking opportunities in Africa. PHOTO/FILE

A delegation of Dubai traders, including tycoons from the giant Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), will pitch tent in Nairobi beginning next month in search of trade and investment deals.
The chamber, which represents the United Arab Emirates (UAE) investors, said the mission to Kenya and Ethiopia will take place between October 3 to 7.

“The 15-member Dubai Chamber delegation, led by chairman Majid Saif Al Ghurair, will hold business meetings and round-table discussions with the public and private sector focus groups and a chamber to chamber dialogue in the presence of leading business and government leaders as well as field visits in both the countries,” said a news report published in the UAE media.

Investors from the UAE have in recent years been aggressively seeking opportunities in Africa, coming in the wake of forays by other nations such as China and India.

The DCCI has recently opened liaison offices in Ghana and Ethiopia and had announced plans to open one in Nairobi as part of a strategy to grow business and investment ties with Africa.

The Dubai-Kenya trade has grown over the past years, especially because the UAE is a re-export hub. Kenya was Dubai’s third largest trade partner in Africa in 2014.

The latest trade mission follows a mid-year visit to South Africa and Mozambique where opportunities for joint cooperation were explored besides the opening of the chamber’s international office in Maputo, the Mozambique capital.