Kenyan county courts Chinese investment

Laikipia officials to visit asia to extol area's tourism industry and rich tribal cultures

Laikipia County in Kenya, which recently established an economic partnership with China's Liaoning province, is heavily recruiting Chinese investment to promote trade and its tourism industry.

The county, which banks on its agricultural and tourism sectors, will be sending a delegation to China this year to conduct market research and seek trade deals.

Laikipia officials say the county is gaining more interest from international and domestic tourists looking for an alternative destination to the coastal city of Mombasa, which in recent years has been beset with terrorism attacks, and the capital Nairobi, where the population density is high.

A peaceful respite from the crowded urban areas of the country, Laikipia is filled with a number of hot tourism spots.

"To the south of Laikipia, we have Thomson's Falls. To the north, there is wildlife and livestock farms," says Lantano Nabaala, intergovernmental coordinator and chairman of the investment committee of Laikipia.

Nabaala says the number of wild animals in protected areas in Laikipia comes second only to Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve and adds that they have a large number of wild elephants in the area surrounding Mount Kenya, the tallest mountain in the country.

"We have protected land corridors where elephants go to deliver their offspring," says Nabaala, who adds that the elephants' routes have been unchanged for more than 60 years.

Another distinct advantage for the county is its rich tribal cultures, says Jane Putunoi, county executive of trade, tourism, enterprise and cooperatives. Eighteen major Kenyan tribal communities with unique customs and cultures call the county home.

"We have a lot of cultural tourism in Laikipia. The manyatta culture, for instance. Maasai tribes have traditionally lived in manyattas. We think we can present that to tourists," she says. Manyatta are groups of homes arranged in a traditional circular fashion.

"There are also some world-class lodges managed by the Maasai in Laikipia."

Located on the often-trekked tourism circuit through Kenya, Laikipia can be accessed after visiting Mount Kenya.

"Then you pass through Laikipia and then go to other counties, such as Isiolo, Samburu, Nakuru, Baringo and Maasai Mara," Nabaala says.

Joshua Irungu, county governor of Laikipia, says Nairobi's congested traffic and people's willingness to take weekend trips to rural areas outside the capital are major opportunities for the county.

"Not so many people are going to Mombasa. It's going to take time before the recovery happens. In Nairobi, you can see traffic jams. You can stop for four hours on roads there," he said.

Only a few hours drive from Nairobi, Irungu says the county's pace is worlds apart from the capital.

To attract more investment, he says the county government is planning more hotels and a golf course with the help of a special government office.

"As a government, we are not able to invest. But what we can do is to establish a vehicle for our partners. We have Laikipia investment authorities who will handle all the procedures for investors," he says.

A one-stop information desk established by the investment authority will ensure that investors have access to all of the information they need.

He says there will also be a formal system to file complaints in case of investment issues.

"If the investors want to complain, the channel is open. You have a direct channel to talk with the governor."

The aforementioned delegation, which will consist of business leaders from the county as well as trade and finance officials, will visit China, Singapore, South Korea and India during a two-week trip, half of which will be in China.

"For China, it's a bigger engagement. One of our targets is Liaoning province to promote three things: trade, tourism and infrastructure."

One of the major problems that Laikipia must address is the poor condition of its roads, an issue that the county government is hoping Chinese investors will help with.

Another sector the county hopes to revitalize with investor help is agriculture, namely its cattle, dairy and leather industries, Irungu says.

Laikipia is predominantly rural land, with 43 ranches registered in 2012. Those ranches occupy more than 50 percent of the total land area in the county. According to the 2009 national census on livestock, there were 189,685 heads of cattle and 623,648 sheep and goats in the county.

But because whole animals are sold in livestock trade in the county, farmers reportedly make little in profits.

"My trip to China is to go there and study the market and see what the demand is. We want to produce things based on the market. We are going to discuss what kind of trade we can do," Irungu says.

"There is no limit to the products we export from Laikipia to China. We are going to build a 200-hectare airport to facilitate the export of our products and to facilitate the flow of Chinese tourists into the county."

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/02/2015 page19)