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{
    "id": 736756,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/736756/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 91,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Aden",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak to this very important piece of legislation. From the outset, Kenya is known to be amongst the best economies in Africa and one headed towards sustainable growth and an economy that attracts the attention and interest of many international investors. For that reason, the establishment of the Nairobi International Financial Centre is the right thing for an economy such as Kenya for the many reasons of the benefits and confidence that the creation of this international financial centre brings. An efficiently operating financial centre is critical to our economy. Kenyans need a reliable financial centre which will ensure that laws are in place to protect their wealth. Confidence is one of the very important pillars in any economy. The lack of a proper financial investment regulatory authority causes many people - local and international - who would have otherwise have had the confidence to invest in this economy, to shy away or feel insecure to the extent of not putting their wealth into this economy. This piece of legislation goes a long way in creating this international financial centre which will put Kenya or Nairobi at par with many other financial centres in the world that are known. A well regulated financial centre will attract international investments, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). We know the benefits of FDI into our economy which will now attract the big names of businesses out there to come into our economy, which in turn will create employment for our people. This is what we need very much. This is what this country has not had or has not been able to do very well. Fortunately, Kenya is not short of experts in the financial sector to work and implement the suggestions in this law into an international best practice. Kenyans are known to be innovative in the financial sector. I want to pick the example of something that might look very simple but is one of its kind in the world. This is the Mpesa which Kenya was the pioneer of and is now being adopted or replicated in many other parts of the world. Development of this international financial centre will show confidence to anybody out there that Kenyans are not only innovative when it comes to financial instruments or creation of financial institutions, but Kenya will have a very well-regulated sector of financial corporations. As I said earlier, this will boost the confidence of the people or international businesspeople out there so that they can come into our economy, which we need very much. This piece of legislation is headed towards ensuring that Kenya achieves the Vision 2030 objectives by creating a vibrant and globally competitive financial sector that drives high level of savings and takes care of the financial investment needs of Kenyans. Nairobi is known to be a hub in Africa. With the creation of this international financial centre, Nairobi will now be amongst the well-known international financial centres or hubs like those of London, New York and Singapore, Hong Kong and the like. This is an idea whose time has come. The governance around this particular entity is very good. The establishment of the Steering Council consists of the President as the chair and the Deputy President as the deputy. The Council needs to meet at least four times a year. Knowing the schedules of the Head of State and his deputy, I wonder whether we should reconsider letting the Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury be the chair of this Council. We want to take duties away from the President because he is a very busy person and the entity must work within time frameworks. According to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}