Uhuru Launches Kenya’s First Green Bond at London Stock Exchange

The President urged UK investors to use Kenya as a gateway to investing into Africa and a bridge to the emerging market of more than 1.2 billion people created by the African Continental Free Trade Area while speaking at the launch.

President Kenyatta said, “Kenya is one of the top ten fastest growing economies on the continent and also one of the most pro-business nations in Africa,”

The President pointed out that Kenya’s business environment is ranked among the top three in Africa with a dynamic and diverse business sector.

Over 60 Kenyan companies are featured in the London Stock Exchange’s “Companies to Inspire Africa” report in sectors ranging from agriculture to FinTech.

The President, who is in London to attend the UK–Africa Investment Summit said he was delighted to open the day’s trading at one of the world’s oldest Stock Exchanges.

“There is no better place to appreciate the realities of global economic activity and investment trends than this trading floor,” said the president.

The President assured that Kenya will continue to develop the investment environment for sustainable finance, saying that a policy framework that will enable the country to issue a sovereign green bond and strengthen its position as a regional financial hub has been finalized. “I invite the LSE to continue working with Kenya towards achieving this goal,”

The President also commended LSE for being the first global exchange to set up a dedicated green bond segment in response to the global need for climate smart infrastructure.

“I note that to date the LSE has admitted over 200 bonds from across the world, raising over 33 billion Pound Sterling worth of capital for sustainable development,” he pointed out.

The Kenyan leader also applauded last year’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and the London Stock Exchange to work with Kenyan companies to help them expand their footprint by jointly listing on the bourse in Nairobi and in London.

President Kenyatta said the UK has a renewed mandate to build even stronger investment partnerships with Africa, following the decision to withdraw from the European Union.

Secretary of State for International Development, Rt. Honorable Alok Sharma, said one of the reasons the green bond was happening was because of the support the UK government has provided in terms of the regulation environment and the partial guarantees for investors.