In a decade, ten US firms have channelled Ksh207 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) to Kenya.
A recent report released by the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya shows that under the same period, the US firms hired 5, 964 more Kenyans from the investments made in the country.
The report was compiled by AidData, a global research arm of the William and Mary’s Global Research Institute.
The report cited that the US has increasingly viewed Kenya as a prime investment destination and as a result, more revenue is coming in in form of FDI.
“US companies increasingly see Kenya as a destination for investment: they are building new facilities, expanding existing operations, and creating manufacturing jobs in line with Kenya’s goals of modernising its economy that is predominantly occupied by domestic workers,” the AidData report reads.
“Since 2010, 85 American companies have invested an estimated total of Sh311.78 billion in Kenya through greenfield investments and acquiring physical assets (as opposed to mergers and acquisitions or leasing of existing facilities),” the data indicates.
Some of the American entities that have heavily invested in Kenya include Cummins (Sh48.95 billion), Dupre Investments (Sh42.35 billion), General Electrics (Sh38.20 billion), Coca-Cola (Sh25.86 billion), IBM (Sh13.51 billion), Ormat Technologies (Sh11.07 billion), Alternate Systems (Sh7.77 billion), Mars (Sh6.92 billion), Mastercard (Sh6.597 billion) and Microsoft (Sh5.85 billion).
Kenya’s health sector has been the biggest beneficiary of American FDIs at 61.6 percent followed by social development (17 percent), crisis and conflicts (8.7 percent), agriculture and food security (6.1 percent) than education (1.7 percent).
Trade policies also took a huge chunk at Ksh58.6 billion, investment guarantees at Ksh8.38 billion and scholarships worth Ksh1.9 billion.
The report further named Arcus Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Ford Foundation as the biggest US donors to Kenya.
