Many boardrooms still see Africa as 54 small, risky markets. That view is now out of date. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is stitching those markets into a single market of 1.4 billion people and US$3.4 trillion in combined GDP. This creates competition amongst African nations for investment. Investors will settle where it is easy to set up, get licensed, move money and reach the next border. Kenya intends to be that place.
For American companies the pitch is simple: Build one factory in Kenya and sell around the world. AGOA allows Kenyan-made goods into the United States duty free. Trade deals with the European Union and the United Kingdom do the same. Across Africa, AfCFTA is bringing tariffs down, and from Nairobi a firm reaches the East African Community’s 331 million people and COMESA’s more than 640 million, through Mombasa, the largest port in East Africa, and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, one of Africa’s busiest air cargo hubs, with direct flights across the continent. Kenya remains the environmental capital of the world, with power that is 93% renewable, hence a manufacturer here can meet its carbon targets while keeping production green and competitive. Kenya and the United States are also negotiating a reciprocal trade framework to give exporters certainty well beyond 2028.
The money is already moving. On 7 September, Digital Realty, the New York-listed data centre operator, opened NBO2 in Karen, a US$80 million, 6.4 MW facility that doubles its Nairobi capacity. Coca-Cola is reinvesting US$175 million across Kenya. Mars Wrigley has put US$103 million in Athi River. Oracle is building a cloud region here with iXAfrica. Overall, more than US$600 million in new American commitments have landed since the 2024 AmCham Business Summit, and total foreign direct investment more than doubled, from US$1.5 billion in 2022 to US$3.2 billion in 2025.
US$3.2 billion is a record, and a step in the right direction, but we keep asking investors what would make Kenya easier to do business in. Government has acted on what they told us over the past few years. We have removed VAT on exported services, committed to paying verified refunds within six months and dropped the 30% local equity rule for the ICT sector.
The next wave of investment has to drive industrialisation. For decades Kenya has exported raw tea, coffee and hides and bought back the finished goods. The jobs and margins went elsewhere. American partners who process here can change that, and make money while at it.
AfCFTA has built the market. Kenya is building the door. The companies that walk through it first will set the terms for everyone who follows.
Build in Kenya, Sell around the worldBuild in Kenya, Sell around the worldBuild in Kenya, Sell around the world