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Kibaki: Investors can come back
16/04/2008 11:21 - (SA)
Nairobi - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Tuesday pleaded with investors to return, saying a new coalition government that ended a political crisis had restored the country's status as an investment hub.
In talks with France, Telecom chief Didier Lombard, Kibaki said "the formation of the grand coalition Government has boosted the country's status as an investment destination of choice for investors", his office said in a statement.
Kibaki said "new investments were critical in employment creation in the country", it added.
On Sunday, Kibaki named his rival in the December presidential polls Raila Odinga as prime minister and announced a 42-member coalition cabinet, a key step in resolving the deadly crisis that erupted over the disputed elections.
Odinga had accused Kibaki of stealing the election and each party blamed the other for the ensuing eruption of violence that claimed 1 500 lives nationwide and left hundreds of thousands displaced.
Lombard visits Kenya
The violence mainly affected the mainstay tourism and agricultural sectors and prompted many foreign investors to halt expanding or introducing new businesses in the country, officials said.
Lombard was making his first visit to Kenya, four months after a consortium led by France Telecom took control of 51% of the state-owned Telkom Kenya in a move expected to boost internet services and set up a new mobile phone network in the country.
Since then, France Telecom had started to restructure the firm, laying off thousands of workers and launched a CDMA wireless network across the east African nation to take on two mobile phone companies.
Kenya became the 13th African country in which the French giant had established a presence since it started its operations in the continent in 1996.
In November, the firm bought a telecom licence in Niger and it was eyeing another investment opportunity in Ghana, the latest in a drive to expand its operations in Africa.
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