Kenya, it seems, may be in the sights of the tax haven capital of the world: The City of London. This time, the Corporation of the City of London is trying to expand its shadow economy into Kenya. The City of London and its ‘independent’ lobbying arm, CityUK, have been conducting high-level negotiations to help the country develop as an ‘International Financial Centre’. This may sound like a benign and even worthwhile activity. Kenya, after all, must develop, and being an International Financial Centre sounds like a good way of going about it. But what does being an “International Financial Centre” actually mean? When speaking to business insiders, the Kenyan authorities are clear. Alex Owino, a project manager at Kenya’s Finance Ministry, told a meeting in the City of London in 2011 that they plan for Nairobi to become a regional ‘offshore’ financial services hub, modelled on Ireland.
Here is an article from a magazine in Kenya.
Nairobi’s vision of following the footsteps of London, and becoming a global financial centre, has started taking shape with a financial firm appointed to deliver the work — TheCityUK — seeking partners to participate in the development of the project. This month will mark another chapter where top UK City businesses and officials are expected to receive a high-level Kenyan delegation to London to discuss plans to transform Nairobi into a world-class financial centre or destination. The bodies appointed to deliver the work, under the sponsorship of the Lord Mayor of the City of London and the Ministry of Finance in Kenya, are TheCityUK and the Kenyan Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Experts say the success of the project — aligned to objectives of Vision 2030 of positioning Kenya to attract fund flows into the country to support productive economic activities — depends on the proposed 5,000-acre Konza Technology City in Machakos County that would provide the vital high speed Internet infrastructure.
Proposed Konza Techno City
Watch the promotional video of Konza Techno City. See also my previous post about Konza. They call it the "Silicon Savannah" of Africa.
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