By Dorris Kyalo & Jael Nyabuti
Amason Kingi, the Senate Speaker, recently emphasized the crucial role that Kenya’s business sector plays in addressing climate change issues.
Kingi, speaking at a meeting with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) in Mombasa, advised firms to explore renewable energy, the carbon market, and eco-friendly construction as means to promote climate adaption and long-term growth.
“It is not in doubt that climate change has come with unprecedented challenges and impacts on the lives of our people,” Kingi said.
Recognizing the huge issues posed by climate change, Kingi emphasized the private sector’s ability to play a transformative role in solving these challenges while also capitalizing on emerging opportunities.
“However, in these challenges there are also numerous opportunities waiting to be exploited,” he encouraged.
He urged KEPSA members to modify their business plans accordingly, underlining the potential for substantial returns on investment while also contributing to Kenya’s climate response efforts.
“The private sector can play a pivotal role in our national agenda for wealth and employment creation, especially as we push towards the final stretch of Vision 2030,” Kingi said.
The Senate’s Clerk, Jeremiah Nyegenye, reiterated the significance of the private sector’s involvement in governance and stressed the benefit of the Senate-KEPSA collaboration in tackling legislative and policy matters that impact the county-level business climate.
“The private sector plays an important role in the governance of this country,” Nyegenye noted.
He brought up ongoing legislative initiatives aimed at boosting economic growth, create jobs and competitiveness.
“It is my hope that at the end of this engagement, we will have bolstered our partnership to address emerging policies, legislation, and processes impacting the business environment in the counties.” Jeremiah expressed.
The engagement’s successes were emphasized by the KEPSA CEO, Carole Kariuki, who also urged lawmakers to continue supporting the effort.
“KEPSA championed the Development of the own source revenue policy to address conflicting regulations on double taxation and multiplicity of charges across County Governments. The policy should be fully implemented to ease doing business at the sub-national level,” Carole said.
To increase the ease of doing business at the sub-national level, she listed specific efforts including the creation of the own source revenue policy to streamline taxation across county governments.
In general, the Senate and KEPSA meetings aim to establish the legislative agenda, promote cooperation between lawmakers and members of the private sector, and increase public awareness of Parliament’s influence on the economic environment.