Having so much money and choosing to invest some of it in the East African country of Kenya may soon attract you the citizenship of the country. Under new proposals from Kenya’s Trade Ministry, high net worth foreign investors in Kenya will be allowed to automatically apply for citizenship and a permanent residence status may be gifted to them after vetting. Such status will be an equivalent of the Green Card in the US.
Here Is All You Need To Know
- Under the proposed arrangement by Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) high net worth investors, whose enterprises are appraised to have high impact on new jobs and exports earnings, will be allowed to automatically apply for citizenship, under the new proposals.
- To make this happen, Moses Ikiara, KenInvest managing director, said the agency held “positive discussions” with Interior Secretary Fred Matiang’i with a view to developing a framework to ensure the vetting is watertight and free from abuse.
“If somebody has created impact and you can see the jobs created why don’t we extend an incentive to them and say we invite to be our citizen in three, two years,” Dr Ikiara said.
“Giving incentives to those people with a lot of money could be among the non-monetary incentives.”
- Kenya’s Immigration laws presently require a foreigner to continuously live in the country for at least seven years to qualify for citizenship by registration.
This Proposal Is Part Of Kenya’s First Ever Investment Policy
The proposal is part of targeted interventions the country intends to implement under its first ever investment policy, unveiled Wednesday, nearly five years since its formulation started.
Officials said the Kenya Investment Policy seeks to guide attraction, facilitation, retention, monitoring and evaluation of the impact of private investments at national and county levels.
Under the new framework, investors will be offered conditional incentives tailored at unique needs of their respective sectors, including land banks in partnership with the county governments.
This will be guided by the proposed National Investment Council to be chaired by the with representation from the private sector.
“This is the key document that contains the policy that brings certainty and stability in terms of investment environment,” Industry and Trade Secretary Peter Munya said.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world