Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has told investors the county was working to create an enabling environment for doing business.
There have been claims of harsh business conditions with businessmen and stakeholders in the county accusing Joho's administration of arbitrarily increasing taxes.
The tax increments have caused the closure of many businesses leading to many job losses, the investors said.
The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Coast chief executive James Kitavi said at least 1,200 businesses had shut down by the end of December last year.
However, Joho on Thursday his county was responsive to the demands of investors and that is why they entered a partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in a bid to find ways of ensuring the business environment is conducive.
He denied that Mombasa was killing businesses.
“What are you trying to say? That Mombasa is not responsive to the demands of people? We are,” Joho said.
“That is why USAID is here. We, as a government, are looking critically on how we shall be able to achieve what we call ease of doing business in Mombasa,” he said.
He spoke after signing an MoU with USAID for a joint commitment to improve socio-economic development.
The partners will jointly create, implement and measure programmes to address problems at the county level.
USAID Mission Director Mark Meassick said Mombasa is a focus county under the US Government’s Prosper Africa Initiative to increase two-way trade and investment between the US and Kenya.
Other focus counties include Isiolo, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kisii, Kisumu, Makueni and Nakuru.
Joho said the partnership between the county and USAID will help them achieve county objectives.
He said he had just returned from a US trip during which he met “serious private sector players” in a bid to convince them to invest in Mombasa.
“We are going to make each of our investments work better to create more jobs and more opportunities for the people of Mombasa,” Meassick said.
The mission director said they will be looking at different sectors including health, agriculture, education and environment.
“We think Mombasa has incredible opportunities for links with US businesses and incredible opportunities for growth as a port city, especially one that’s 800 years old,” Meassick said.
He added, “We really want to help move things to the next level for the people of Mombasa and the port itself.”
He said the USAID is looking to get US investors to come to Mombasa.
Meassick said the USAID was not in Mombasa as a development partner but as a partner with an inclination towards supporting projects both financially and in kind.
“You cannot address HIV/Aids with just money. You need community network, government systems, the health facilities to make all of that work,” he said.
He said the MoU will help them understand the full magnitude of the effort needed to solve issues around different subject matters, including the contribution of the partners, the county government and the community.
“This is not a partnership where we are just giving money and the government is doing nothing,” Meassick said.
He said they will be in discussions to determine the priority areas of the partnership in 90 days' time.
“Then you will see a full plan about what we want to achieve in five years and then we will jointly develop work plans so that we understand how much money we are bringing to the table and how much resources the county government and the communities are bringing to the table,” Meassick said.
He said the USAID is changing the nature of its partnerships to end the need for foreign assistance for countries like Kenya so they can find ways for self-sustainability.
“Eventually, what we are looking for is to move from aid to trade,” he said.
edited by p. obuya