Kepsa pushes for key Bills to attract foreign investments

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) is lobbying Parliament to speed up the enactment of three crucial Bills to attract foreign investments.

Kepsa business development manager Victor Ogolla said MPs must urgently enact the Companies Bill, Insolvency Bill and the Business Registration Bill which have been pending before the House since 2013.

Last July, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development World Investment Report 2014 said Kenya’s foreign direct investments inflows in 2013 stood at $514 million (Sh45.18 billion), up from $259 million (Sh22.7 billion) a year earlier, a 98 per cent increase. The report said the capital mainly went to the oil, gas and the manufacturing industries.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said the Companies Bill and the Insolvency Bill, which had been withdrawn to pave the way for further talks with stakeholders, were reintroduced in the House for first reading last week.

“The Companies and Insolvency Bills are now likely to be passed much faster, latest end of July, because of greater understanding of provisions of the proposed legislation which were originally convoluted,” he said at the Speaker’s Roundtable meeting with the private sector in Mombasa last week.

READ: Foreign direct investment to Kenya doubles to Sh115bn

He directed the committees on Legal Affairs and Finance to scrutinise the republished Bills before passing them “to ease the flow of debate”.

“There is much work to be done on the Business Registration Bill which we should be through with its enactment by end of July. Since it’s a mandatory requirement that we must do public participation, I want to invite Kepsa to engage with relevant committees of Justice and Legal Affairs, and Finance, Planning and Trade to fast-track the passage of the laws,” said Mr Muturi.

Kepsa vice chairperson Laila Macharia called for an improved business environment to achieve targeted 10 per cent annual gross domestic product growth.

“Private sector can’t thrive without progressive laws for business to grow. As Kepsa coordinates private sector engagement with government, our main goal is to support pro-growth laws that support business agenda,” she said, adding that they had developed a five-year business agenda that runs concurrently with the presidential term.