John Mwendwa left his role as secretary for strategy execution in the Executive Office of the President at the State House after 15 months to become chief executive of Kenya Investment Authority from last January.
He previously oversaw formulation and implementation of strategic business reforms aimed improving Kenya’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ between August 2015 and September 2022, first at Industry and Trade ministry and then East African Community ministry.
He spoke to the Business Daily on reforms that will make KenInvest the ‘leading provider of investment promotion services in Africa’.
You were at the core of reforms that World Bank Group used to compute the now discontinued ‘Ease of Doing Business’ reports. How did that experience prepare you for the current role?
To be honest, that is the one role I did that set me up for job I am doing today. It was all about understanding investor pain points, coordinating your colleagues across the government to understand them, the way you see them and the way investors see them and then agreeing on how to resolve the challenges all the way from the technical level to the highest level in the executive.
Nothing could have prepared me better for this job than that experience. We brought Kenya from position 137 in World Bank ranking to 56.
What aspect from that experience are you finding useful in your current job?
Improving the business climate is the centre stage of what we do here just like it was back in the day. We worked on delays at the Port of Mombasa, taxation issues at KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority), power connections at Kenya Power, construction permits at NCA [National Construction Authority], environmental assessment at Nema (National Environment Management Authority), water connection at Nairobi Water & Sewerage Company, company registrations where I was a board member for nearly seven years at BRS [Business Registration Services], issues of insolvency when companies face difficulties, among others.
The World Bank discontinued the global surveys on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in 2021 citing ethical matters involving its staff following audits of the report and its methodology. What are some of tangible achievements realised before the global surveys were paused?
We did reforms on about 15 pieces of legislation which are now law. These include the Insolvency Act, Business Registration Service Act, Special Economic Zones Act, capital markets regulations on what happens in certain circumstances around company processes and compliance and protection of interest of minority investors. So, it will really be good to use that to do a good a good job here, and I would have no excuse if we don’t do a good job.
There are those who argue that Kenya is no longer the darling of foreign investors seeking to set up operations in eastern and southern Africa it was in the 1960s and 1970s…
Historically, Kenya has been making leaps and bounds in this space. Today, if you look at number of foreign companies operating in the region, you will find that nearly 200 are headquartered in Kenya. How many were there in 1990s? Why have they continued to come? It means certain things are headed in the right direction.
At macro level things are working. Our infrastructure is an enabler to investments. Things like rail, airports and seaports were not at levels they were back in the years. But of course, there are challenges here and there.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD’s) World Investment Report 2024 on foreign direct investments (FDIs) seem to suggest otherwise?
On public record, the amount of FDIs was $1.5 billion in 2023 as per the UNCTAD report. But we don’t believe that is exactly inclusive. We think we are in the region of about $2-3 billion.
If you look at sub-Saharan Africa, and if you strip out South Africa and Egypt, we are okay. But we could do better and we want to do better. There are always certain circumstances that will present challenges, which are then amplified more than the good things.
Perhaps, it is more of how you address those challenges for some investors…
We [KenInvest] have a one-stop centre that helps foreign and domestic investors. If you have a power connection issue, work permit, environmental compliance issue and even export promotion zone issue, you come to us for facilitation. We also do aftercare for existing investors facing different challenges.
What have been your priority areas of focus in the first three months on the job?
The first item, which we have just completed, is the draft Investments Promotion and Facilitation Bill of 2025. It is good to offer an environment that is predictable to investors. That’s done and it’s now with the Ministry [of Investments, Trade and Industry].
Number two, it is about improving investor experience from when they start the journey whether out there [abroad] or on the ground here by facilitating them and sharing information through a digital ecosystem under the Kenya Investment Single Window project. We plan to launch our minimum viable product in May or June.
The third is on investment promotion pitch decks for value chains and sectors we think we are competitive. We target to complete pitch decks on leather and textiles sub-sectors end of April, while those on BPO [Business Process Outsourcing] and ICT—because of the job creation component —could be done by end of May.
How will the Kenya Investment Single Window project help investors seeking to set up shops?
This is a real one-stop centre we will give all investors to ensure we lessen their burden of compliance, licensing etc. as part of our value proposition. It will be an ecosystem where investors get a real one-stop experience.
You can go to the system, do everything and on the back end, we have integrated with other institutions and investors doesn’t have to go to two places.
The soft launch of it will be in eight to 10 weeks. We will do [integrate with] the first initial four agencies—KRA, Nema, Immigration and BRS—and then add other regulatory agencies.
What are the three things out of the many that you and the board have set up to achieve will make you most proud if you accomplished?
Number one outcome will be to have a true one-stop digital shop that really works for investors. The second will be when we become the home of all investment data and opportunities.
The last one is when we improve our deal completion rate; we must better our conversion of investment deals. Our target is closing two in every five deals. You do the percentage (40 percent).
