NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 9 – The United States has hailed President William Ruto’s investment strategy as “bold” and progressive, with Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia saying Kenya is emerging as a leading gateway to the continent’s rapidly expanding market.Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Kenya Business Summit in Nairobi, Garcia said Washington was shifting its engagement with Africa from traditional aid-based relations towards trade, investment and mutually beneficial commercial partnerships.“Let me be direct: this is not a room for talk. This is a room built on deals,” Garcia told business and government leaders, praising President Ruto’s administration for implementing reforms aimed at improving Kenya’s investment climate.He singled out changes to transfer pricing regulations, Kenya’s move towards accession to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and the Strategic Goods Control Bill before Parliament as evidence of progress in creating a more predictable environment for investors.Garcia said Africa was at a “strategic inflection point” and could become a global economic powerhouse if governments embraced open and collaborative approaches to investment.“The continent has it all: human talent, natural resources, and entrepreneurial drive. When African nations and the United States choose to work together, we unlock prosperity, safeguard freedoms, and win together,” he said.The senior US official said the Trump administration was seeking to redefine America’s relationship with Africa, with commercial partnerships taking precedence over open-ended assistance.“For too long, US policy toward Africa meant aid and dependency open-ended commitments that asked nothing of anyone. Not anymore,” Garcia said.He said the US State Department had, since the beginning of the Trump administration, closed 50 transactions worth $28.2 billion across sub-Saharan Africa.“Our partners want deals; they are tired of lectures and want opportunity, innovation, and cooperation,” he said.Kenya as regional hubGarcia described Kenya as strategically positioned as global companies seek resilient supply chains and access to Africa’s growing consumer market.He said the continent represented a $3.4 trillion market, with Kenya positioned to serve as a regional hub.The Assistant Secretary also welcomed the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), saying President Donald Trump had signed legislation extending the trade arrangement by two years on September 2.More than 70 per cent of Kenya’s exports to the US enter the American market duty-free under AGOA, he said.The remarks came as President Ruto sought to position Kenya as more than a destination for foreign investment, urging American companies to establish regional headquarters in the country and use it as a springboard into the wider African market.“Do not look at Kenya simply as a market; look at Kenya as your platform to a continent of 1.4 billion people,” Ruto said.“Build your regional headquarters here and serve the African continent from here. Kenya is very open for business, ready for business, and means business.”The President said Kenya was connected to a market of more than 300 million people through the East African Community, another 700 million through Comesa and 1.4 billion through the African Continental Free Trade Area.He said foreign direct investment into Kenya had increased from $1.5 billion in 2022 to a record $3.2 billion last year.US firms expand footprintGarcia pointed to a growing list of American investments as evidence of deepening commercial ties.He cited an $81 million agreement between US company Sabre and Kenya Airways for a new passenger service and ticketing platform, while US-financed Zaria Group is expected to develop a multi-purpose arena in Nairobi.He also said Pfizer was bringing 15 new pharmaceutical products to Kenya’s cancer treatment efforts, while SC Johnson was establishing a malaria spatial emanator facility capable of producing 20 million repellent units a day and supporting 200 Kenyan jobs.The US official also highlighted technology investments, saying Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, Google and Meta had launched initiatives to train more than 150,000 Kenyans.He said Meta and its US parent Digital Realty had unveiled an $80 million data centre in Nairobi.On critical minerals, Garcia said Washington wanted American investment to go beyond extraction and instead support local processing and manufacturing.“American companies are not here to extract and ship. That is not partnership; that is extraction. We reject that model,” he said.“We want processing done right here on the ground in Kenya, not thousands of miles away. You keep the value here, create Kenyan jobs, and build a true regional processing hub.”He welcomed the government’s planned competitive process for the Mrima Hill mineral deposits.Business Reforms AmCham Kenya board president Angela Ngan’ga said American businesses were increasingly viewing Kenya as a launchpad for regional and continental growth.She said the private sector had tracked nine priority reforms at the centre of the Kenya-US commercial relationship, with several resolved or nearing completion.These include VAT refunds, transfer pricing, cross-border data flows and the proposed Sports Bill.“Your government has taken bold steps to strengthen the business environment and reinforce investor confidence. American companies increasingly see Kenya not just as a market, but a launchpad for regional and continental growth,” Ngan’ga said.She called for completion of outstanding reforms, a more predictable tax environment and harmonisation of Kenya’s economic zones to make it easier for investors to navigate different agencies and regulatory requirements.Ngan’ga also called for a formal high-level review mechanism between AmCham and the government to monitor reforms, resolve emerging challenges and maintain momentum.“Our asks are deliberately practical. Let us jointly accelerate what is within reach. Let us convert the strength of our political relationship into even stronger commercial outcomes,” she said.Mastercard senior vice-president for government affairs and policy, EEMEA, Azam Alammedine, meanwhile described Kenya as a role model in government-private sector engagement.He said nine out of 10 Kenyan small and medium enterprises had adopted digital payments, while Mastercard had expanded its digital payments acceptance network across Africa by 45 per cent last year.Alammedine said digital payments could help small businesses access formal financial services, generate transaction records and reach customers beyond their immediate markets.New initiatives unveiledUS Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Susan Burns announced several new initiatives at the summit, including a blockchain-powered mobility financing platform developed in Kenya by American companies Telcoin and PowerHive.The platform will allow investors to finance electric assets and settle payments through mobile wallets.The US and Kenya are also deepening cooperation on cargo screening, container security and customs enforcement at the ports of Mombasa and Lamu.Ms Burns announced a five-year, $19.2 million US Department of Agriculture livestock innovation and feed transformation programme aimed at improving access to affordable and quality livestock feed.The US embassy will also facilitate Kenyan-American business delegations focused on creative industries and cybersecurity.A SelectUSA Tech competition for Kenyan startups was also launched, with the winner expected to travel to the US to pitch to venture capital investors.President Ruto said the government had implemented more than 50 business-enabling interventions over the past three years covering taxation, finance, regulation, county licensing and special economic zones.He cited the removal of VAT on exported services, payment of verified tax refunds within six months or through tax offsets, removal of premature taxation of shares allocated to startup employees and scrapping of the 30 per cent local equity requirement for major technology firms.“Capital goes where there is opportunity, but it stays where there is confidence,” Ruto said.He added that American companies had committed more than $600 million to new projects since the previous summit, including Oracle’s selection of Kenya as its first public cloud region in Africa, Coca-Cola’s $175 million commitment and Mars Wrigley’s $100 million production line at Athi River.The summit, the fifth AmCham flagship meeting since 2018, brought together government officials, investors and business leaders from Kenya, the US and other African countries to discuss trade, investment and regional economic integration.