On Tuesday afternoon, Al Shabaab militants stomped the upscale dusitD2 hotel, Nairobi and started shooting indiscriminately at civilians killing at least 21 people before they were neutralized. More than 700 people were safely evacuated during the attack.
One of the victims of the heinous act was I-DEV CEO and co-founder Jason Spindler who was killed during the attack.
The international companies with regional headquarters in Kenya have, however, said the terror attack would not scare them away from a city that has long been East Africa’s business hub.
“We are very committed to Nairobi. GE is very committed to Kenya,” said Brenda Mbathi, executive director for government affairs in East Africa at General Electric.
The American conglomerate set up its regional headquarters for sub-Saharan Africa in Nairobi in 2011 and now provides medical equipment to the Kenyan government and turbines to private power plant developers.
Strategically located with an international airport making it convenient to easily enter and leave the country coupled with a large skilled English-speaking workforce are some of the reasons which persuaded multinationals like GE and Alphabet Inc to set up regional hubs in the city.
According to Kenya’s investment Authority, Kenya is also the largest and most advanced economy in East and Central Africa. Its GDP accounts for more than 50 per cent of the region’s total and in terms of current market prices, its 2014 GDP stood at $58.1 billion.
Equipped with a relatively well developed physical infrastructural facilities also makes Kenya ideal for business.
