A total of 15 Tunisian companies are in Mombasa to explore opportunities for collaboration with their Mombasa counterparts as they look to invest in the Coastal county.
The company directors arrived in Mombasa on Sunday ahead of the first-ever Tunisian-Kenyan Business Forum to be held in Mombasa.
The two-day forum will see the exchange of business ideas and explore the different business opportunities available in Mombasa.
Led by Tunisian ambassador to Kenya Anouar Ben Youssef, the Tunisian delegation is eager to walk away from Kenya with business deals or potential deals that will see them expand their businesses.
“This is also an opportunity to reinforce the cooperation at the trade level between Tunisia and Kenya. It shows that we believe in the potential in Mombasa,” Youssef said.
The Tunisian embassy has organized at least three business forums in 2019, 2021, and 2023, but this is the first to be held in Mombasa.
“The choice of Mombasa is because we found out after many years that Mombasa is a key place in the economy of Kenya,” the ambassador said.
The embassy, after the success of the previous fora, invited Mombasa businessmen to Tunisia for different events.
Mombasa, Youssef said, is the gate for Tunisia and for the whole of Africa to the other region.
“Mombasa, and the political position of Kenya, is a key player in the region. Kenya is a member of COMESA like Tunisia. This is very important,” he said.
Tunisia is also a member of the African Free Trade Zone and other regional groupings that Kenya also is.
Kenya’s President William Ruto was two days ago elected as chair of the East African Community, promising job creation and economic transformation for the people of East Africa.
Youssef said the Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and Industry Mombasa chair Abud Jamal played a key role in organizing the forum in Mombasa.
Jamal, who was recently in Tunisia to lobby businesspeople to invest in Mombasa, said the historic forum in Mombasa will look to explore the partnership.
“This is a reciprocal visit after my visit to Tunisia on invitation from the director of CIPRICS and the ambassador,” Jamal said.
The KNCCI Mombasa chair said the forum will create strong linkages and partnerships for businessmen and women in Kenya and their partners in Tunisia.
Mombasa county secretary and head of the County Public Service Board Jeizan Farouk said the county will facilitate Public Private Partnerships in close collaboration with the national government.
“Ours is to support any effort to grow the economy of Mombasa. We want to create opportunities for foreign direct investment \s that would create jobs and empower the local community,” he said.
