Invest

• North Rift is an Investment destination of choice
• The bloc is a secure haven to live, enjoy and do business
• The expansive market with opportunities to increase the volume of trade
• The Climatic conditions that favors Agricultural production
• The synergy of the counties providing opportunity to leveraging on the potentials of individual Counties
• Increased enthusiasm and empowerment of the local entrepreneurs providing avenues to seize the opportunities as well as attract foreign direct investments
• Network to explore and harness existing opportunities

• The Region strategically borders and is a gateway to EAS partner states and therefore offers an outlet to COMESA member states with a population of about 400 million people. This positioning provides a good market for goods and services.
• Availability of abundant variety of labor force both skilled and unskilled.
• Individual counties have unique opportunities and competitive advantages over the other. Investors can take advantages of economies of scale by trading in large quantities which contribute to low cost of providing services and goods due to lower costs of labor, cheaper natural resources and easier access to quality services.
• Joint trade and investments within the North Rift counties will be promoted and this will result in improved quality goods and services to consumers at competitive prices
• Opportunities for investments are abundant that can be exploited for sustainable development. NOREB provides a one stop shop to facilitate investors seeking opportunities

Energy (HEP, Solar, Wood-fuel, Geothermal and Wind etc) Water Resources (Lakes, Dams, Waterpans, Rivers, Boreholes etc) Land (Agriculture, Horticulture etc) Minerals (Marble, Diatomite, Limestone, Gypsum, Talc) Livestock (Bee keeping, Livestock, Fisheries etc) Forestry Tourism and Wildlife Transportation (Eldoret Int. Airport, Pipeline, Rail, Road etc) Human Resources

Agro-processing

The Kenya Vision 2030 underscores value addition and marketing efficiency as one of the priority areas under the economic pillar. The NOREB region has a strong co-operatives movement which plays a critical role in the production, processing and marketing of major agricultural commodities and access to financial services through Savings and Credit Co-operatives Societies (SACCOs).

Limited value addition to commodities produced in the region continues to imply that producers experience reduced net returns and denial of other multiplier benefits from further processing into higher value products and by-products (e.g. employment in processing, forward and backward linkages with other service and complementary raw material suppliers etc).

In order to encourage technology transfer, especially to the rural economy where further processing ought to occur, NOREB has prioritized product value addition in six value chains with a high potential in the region, including coffee, horticulture, honey, fish, milk and mangoes.

There exists great investment in manufacturing opportunities in these value chain development areas, for private investors and those that can be implemented under the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

Tourism

Tourism is a key foreign exchange earner, and third largest contributor to the GDP after agriculture and manufacturing. The NOREB region prides itself with key tourism destinations that cement Kenya’s position as the ultimate safari destination globally.

In addition to the popular national game reserves in the region NOREB has earmarked the sandy beaches of Lake Turkana, Adventure Tourism, Cultural Tourism and Home stays as the new products for branding and marketing to compliment the already existing attractions like the Samburu and Lake Bogoria National Reserves and the Great Rift Valley scenic beauty.

Attractive investment opportunities exist in the development of high value niche products, tourism logistics and new hotels amongst others.

Sports

The North Rift region is undoubtedly a sports powerhouse, excelling in athletics in a spectacular. With improved investments in the sector, it is an important player in the economy of the region.

The sports economy encompasses as all economic activities which require sport as an input. This includes all goods and services which are related to a sport activity.

These include sport clubs, public sport venues, sports event organizing and sports equipment sales and corporate sector marketing through sport.

The multiplier effects of the sports economy are significant, positively informing activity in the sports education and training sector, media coverage and even the hospitality industry.

Renewable Energy

The Ministry of Energy developed Kenya’s Wind Atlas in 2003 to provide investors with indicative data on the strength and location of wind resources in Kenya. It established that there are high wind speeds in various parts of Kenya. Specific areas identified with a high wind power generation potential are Marsabit, Laisamis, Turkana and Samburu. The latter two are member counties of the North Rift Economic Bloc.

Kenya, and by extension the North Rift Region has high insolation rates, with an average of 5-7 peak sunshine hours and average daily insolation of 4-6 kWh/m2. 10-14% of this energy can be converted into electricity due to the dispersion and conversion efficiency of PV modules. The total potential for photovoltaic installations is estimated at 23,046 TWh/year. This, coupled with the availability of land, presents a huge potential for the setting up of solar energy farms in the region.

To facilitate investment however, detailed feasibility studies would be carried out to determine the viability of specific sites identified in the wind and solar maps. The Kenya Government invites the private sector to invest in wind power electricity generation, a process NOREB will be more than willing to facilitate.