By HELEN ZULU –
KENYA has advised Zambian potential investors to take advatange of various investment opportunities in that country and gain access to the East African region.
Kenyan High Commissioner to Zambia, Sophy Kombe said her country had many investment opportunities which made it a good choice for settlement.
Ms Kombe said during the 15th anniversary celebrations of Davis and Shirtliff Limited in Lusaka at the weekend that investing in Kenya enables investors  gain access to the East African  Community market that has 140 million people.
“The Government of Kenya has consistently focused on creating a robust friendly and open business environment for investors in the country.
“Today, Kenya is rated among the top preferred destinations of Foreign Direct Investments in Africa and the world at large. Therefore, I would like to encourage all potential investors to consider Kenya as an investment destination,” she said.
Ms Kombe said Kenya had continued to invest in Zambia through companies like Davis and Shirtliff which had five locations in the country.
She said the company was planning to establish additional outlets around the country in the coming five years.
“From its humble beginnings with only three staff, the company has grown, and today has a staff complement of more than 70 members.
“Davis and Shirtliff has continued to provide a wide selection of high quality water equipment and other appliances. It is also a leading renewable energy company, with its presence in Zambia and other African countries,” she said.
Some of the major Kenyan investors in Zambia include Kenya Airways, which operates two daily flights to Lusaka, direct flights from Nairobi to Livingstone, and daily flights to Ndola.
Others are Kobil, which operates stations dealing with petrol and petroleum products, Pembe Millers (Z), Continental Tobacco, which imports and distributes mastermind tobacco products on the Zambian market, Crystal Solutions, an Information and Communication Technology security firm, Ndola Energy and Dalbit International.