The development of Konza Technopolis is said to take advantage of two bills to stimulate growth in the futuristic city.
Named the Konza Bill, 2020 and the already published Startup Bill, 2020, the bills will play a key role in lowering taxes and de-risking investment in the country, at least according by a statement by Konza.
The bills were mentioned by Senators Mutula Kilonzo Jr. and Johnson Sakaja. According to Kilonzo, Konza is looking forward to investors dedicating more than USD 3 billion. The senator adds that some investors are avoiding Kenya for other places with friendly investment packages.
“The future of Konza is anchoring it firmly under the law. Being a smart city, you want to give investors’ confidence irrespective of any political upheavals or change of Government that their investment is protected,” added Kilonzo.
According to the Makueni senator, giving investors incentives such as tax holidays and allowing the planning of Konza and its physical planning have their own regime of laws. These laws hasten approvals for investors.
It has also been pointed out that investors get permissions, trading licenses after an extended period, which is why Kenya has lost some investments following stringent tax regimes.
To this end, the Konza Bill, 2020 seeks that approvals and licenses are given to investors in a timely manner via an e-platform. This, however, can only be achieved with a robust legal foundation.
“So, I envision a situation where all the concerned officials at national levels will be sitting in Konza so that investors don’t have a problem wherever they are,” said the Makueni Senator.
“We have published a Start-Up Bill 2020 and we want to work together with Konza to see how we can link it and how we can link these innovators, those interested in doing incubation, how we can get them registered and really breath in life into Konza because it is more than buildings; brick and mortar and infrastructure,” Mr. Sakaja said.
