US travel advisories criticised at Kenya investment forum

WASHINGTON, DC

Kenyan officials sought to allay concerns about security in the country at an investment forum held in New York on Thursday.

The recent US warning on travel to Kenya was overblown and is having “a catastrophic effect” on the Coast's economy, said James Ndungu Mureu, chairman of the East African Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.

“If you say 'don't go to Mombasa, it's unsafe,' there's a trickle-down effect to the old mama who supplies vegetables to the hotel,” Mr Mureu noted.

“The people who bear the brunt of the travel advisory are the common persons.”

The United States withdrew some personnel from Kenya in response to the recent terror attacks in Nairobi and on the Coast, but the US did not “clear out the whole embassy,” Mr Mureu said.

KENYA NO WORSE

Dangers are present in countries all over the world, he added, suggesting that Kenya is no worse in that regard than are some other places that are not subject to US travel warnings.

“I know you can be in the wrong place in this great town of New York and you can get mugged or knifed,” the chamber chief told an audience consisting of Wall Street executives and other current and potential investors in Kenya.

The day-long forum was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. It took place at the think tank's New York offices.

Joining Mr Mureu on a panel focused on US-Kenya relations were Moses Ikiara, managing director of the Kenya Investment Authority, and Eric Vincent Guichard, chairman and CEO of Gravitas Capital Advisors.

Other panels at the event covered banking and finance; industrialisation; and agribusiness and devolution.

'DEVOLUTION IS WORKING'

Al-Jazeera America journalist Ali Velshi, moderator of the US-Kenya relations panel, asked in regard to Kenya's devolution initiative whether more forms of government in Africa offer more opportunities for corruption.

“Devolution is working,” Mr Mureu replied. “We're beginning to get resources right down to the ground.”

Kenya is doing its “very best” in fighting corruption, he added. “We're working to change the perception that we're corrupt, corrupt, corrupt.”

Mr Guichard suggested that the increased grassroots pressures unleashed by devolution have the effect of reducing malfeasance.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to speak at a Thursday dinner in Washington sponsored by the Corporate Council on Africa.

The President is expected to showcase Kenya as a safe and profitable destination for US investment.