A wealthy Nigerian monarch and traditional ruler, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, was in Kenya a few weeks ago scouting for business deals.
Mr Ogunwusi is the 51st king of Ifẹ,̀ an ancient Yoruba city and despite modern times, he is so revered that to greet him, men lie prostrate while the women must be on their knees.
“I love tea and I have drunk a lot of tea from several countries in the world. But the tea in Kenya, this is the best in the world. Why don't we have Kenyan tea in Nigeria?” He asked a room full of investors, his face mystified.
“Because of my love for tea, we are developing a tea plant to import tea from Kenya and manufacture the tea in Nigeria. Kenyan flowers, tea and coffee should be in Nigeria too.”
The King of Ife was in the country with investors from Nigeria, India, and South Africa. The investors are looking to inject more than $1 billion (Sh136 billion) into Kenyan enterprises.
“Before I ascended to royalty, I was a serial entrepreneur, especially in real estate. I am still a serial entrepreneur and my vision is to deepen trade amongst us. Kenya and Nigeria are brothers,” he told the Business Daily.
“With similarities, comes differences too. Kenyans are conservative while in Nigeria, we are very bullish, probably due to our very harsh environment. This is a difference that can be blended for the business and enhancement of trade between the two powerful markets and regional leaders. Kenya is more structured than Nigeria, we need to look at our market differences as strengths,” he said.
On his visit, he held talks with top leaders on ways on enhancing trade in electricity, mining, agriculture, fintech, railway, and tourism.
“One of our plans that have already established legs is the railway that will connect the port of Mombasa to five African countries, inclusive of Gabon. The investment is $1 billion and the contractors have been identified and now groundwork is being laid,” he said, adding. “We need to establish easier and efficient routes for delivery of goods between Kenya and Nigeria to enable practical implementation of AfCTA [African Continental Free Trade Area].”
He said the regional tourism sector is underutilised and it is time more Nigerians explored Kenya.
“Nigerians often travel to Dubai, London, Cape Town, and other cities yet Kenya has so much to offer them.”
The investors were also scouting for deals in oil and gas and mining.
“We are also in a position to partner on power and mining. In the power sector, our investment is between $5 billion and $10 billion, as we explained to President William Ruto,” he said.
“Real estate is another opportunity for us to collaborate, especially in low-cost housing which is a key priority of this government.”
In Kenya, the two regions of interest for low-cost real estate investment include Kisumu and Machakos, which the Nigerian king said, have the potential to grow.
“We have many Kenyan corporate leaders in Nigeria but very few entrepreneurs in Nigeria. We need to change this,” said the king who was accompanied by one of his wives, known as Olori, a Yoruba word for Queen. He is married to six wives.
